. What is the Bible? 

The Bible is the account of God’s action in the world and his purpose with all 

creation. The writing of the Bible took place over sixteen centuries and is the 

work of over forty human authors. It is a quite amazing collection of 66 books 

with very different styles all containing the message God desired us to have. 

  

This compilation of booklets contains an astonishing variety of literary styles. It 

provides many stories about the lives of good and bad people, about battles and 

journeys, about the life of Jesus along with letters written to groups of Christians 

that met in homes. It comes to us in narratives and dialogues, in proverbs and 

parables, in songs and allegories, in history and prophecy.  

 

The accounts in the Bible were not generally written down as they occurred. 

Rather they were told over and over again and handed down through the years 

before someone finally wrote them down. Yet the same themes may be found 

throughout the book. So along with the diversity there is also a remarkable unity. 

 

So what is the Bible? Well, in addition to all the above, the Bible is this: 

v It is a guide for living life to the full. It gives us a road map for the perilous 

journey of life. Or to put it another way, on our voyage through life’s ocean, 

we find our anchor right here. 

v It is a storehouse of wonderful stories for children and grownups. Remember 

Noah and the ark? Joseph’s coat of many colors? Daniel in the lion’s den? 

Jonah and the fish? The parables of Jesus? In these stories we recognize the 

triumphs and failures of ordinary people – and we may even see ourselves! 

v It is a refuge in trouble. People in pain, in suffering, in prison, in mourning, 

tell how they turned to the Bible and found strength there in their desperate 

hours. 

v It is a treasury of insight as to who we are. We are not meaningless robots, but 

we are magnificent creatures of a God who loves us and gives us a purpose 

and a destiny. 

v It is a sourcebook for everyday living. We find standards for our conduct, 

guidelines for knowing right from wrong, principles to help us in a confused 

society where so often “anything goes.”

me getting baptized