What is the Bible? | How to Read the Bible Semester Discussion Guide

Part 1: What is the Bible?

The following should be read aloud as a group, with each person reading one paragraph before passing on to the next person. Afterwards discussion will follow with the provided discussion questions.

In the Bible, God has said absolutely everything that was necessary to be said to men. The biography of every man—everyone without exception—is found in the Bible.

St. Justin Popovich ¹

The Bible is the word of God in human words.

Fr. Theodore Stylianopoulos ²

The Bible plays a central role in the life and worship of Orthodox Christians. Our prayers are filled with quotes from the Bible, our hymns are suffused with innumerable references to the Bible, and, most importantly, every Divine Liturgy has its first half centered around the public reading of the Bible in the form of the Epistle and Gospel readings. And yet, despite this central role of the Bible, little time is often given in Orthodox circles to discussing what the Bible actually is and why we pray and read from it so often. What is the Bible, and where did it come from?

 Although we often use the phrase “the Bible,” in the singular, as if it were a singular book by a singular author (such as Moby Dick or The Scarlet Letter), the Bible is in fact a small library of books by numerous authors written across the span of many centuries, often called by these authors “the Scriptures,” meaning “that which is written.” This library of books of Scripture is further divided into two subsections: the Old Testament, which tells the story of God’s creation of the world, its fall, and his creation of a people called Israel in whom he planned to call the world back to himself, and the New Testament, which tells about how God redeemed the world by sending his Son as a human being in Israel in order to be crucified and raised from the dead so that humanity might be reconciled to God by the power of his Spirit and live eternally with him. These books, in both the Old and New Testaments, have many different authors and genres, spanning historical narrative, poetry, biography, personal letters, and apocalyptic visions. And yet, despite the different authors, genres, and times in which these books were written, they have a common theme and purpose: to reveal to us the person of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, and his immense love for each of us. In this sense, we can say that although composed of many books written by many human authors, the Bible is indeed one book with one message written by one author: God.³ “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work,” said Paul the Apostle writing to his spiritual son Timothy, and the same remains true for us in our spiritual lives today.⁴

 For the Orthodox Christian, the way in which we encounter the Bible is in and through the Church. The Bible developed as an identifiable and specific collection of writings because they were books liturgically read in the worship of God’s people, first in the Jewish temple and synagogues before Christ’s resurrection, and later in the Orthodox Christian Church made manifest after Christ’s resurrection. The Bible is the book of the Church and thus can only be properly interpreted, understood, and lived within the Church. Indeed, which books are considered Scripture and which books are not is itself a liturgical determination made by the Church’s bishops as to what books are permitted to be read publicly in worship.⁵

 Although the Bible is mainly a liturgical book, reading the Bible outside of church services can greatly strengthen our faith. In an era when printed versions of the Bible are easily accessible to all, many modern saints and elders recommend daily reading of the Bible in order to strengthen our love for Christ. The 20th-century St. Justin Popovich writes:

If you are mournful, you will find consolation in the Bible; if you are sad, you will find joy; if you are angry—tranquility; if you are lustful—continence; if you are foolish—wisdom; if you are bad—goodness; if you are a criminal—mercy and righteousness; if you hate your fellow man—love.

In it, you will find a remedy for all your vices and weak points, and nourishment for all your virtues and accomplishments.

If you are good, the Bible will teach you how to become better; if you are kind, it will teach you angelic tenderness; if you are intelligent, it will teach you wisdom.

If you appreciate the beauty and music of literary style, there is nothing more beautiful or more moving than what is contained in Job, Isaiah, Solomon, David, John the Theologian, and the Apostle Paul. Here music—the angelic music of the eternal truth of God—is clothed in human words. ⁶

Given the many spiritual benefits of reading the Bible, it is helpful to have a general outline of what books are in the Bible and what they speak about. The outline below is a summary of the content of the various books of the Bible: ⁷

The Old Testament

The Orthodox Church uses a Greek version of the Old Testament that was translated from Hebrew into Greek hundreds of years before Christ (called the Septuagint, abbreviated “LXX”). The texts of the New Testament almost always cite this Greek version of the Old Testament (about ten times more often than they cite Hebrew versions), and this was the version of the Old Testament used by early Christians. The Church uses this Greek version of the Old Testament to be in accord with the practice of the New Testament. Christian groups started using the Hebrew version of the Old Testament only after the Protestant Reformation.

 The Law of Moses: The first five books of Bible (called “the Pentateuch”) describe God’s creation of humanity and the world, humanity’s fall, God’s establishment of a covenant with Abraham, the enslavement of the Israelites (Abraham’s descendants) in Egypt, God’s rescue of Israel from Egypt by the Prophet Moses, and his giving them a distinct law by which they were to be separated and holy. These books include Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

 The Books of History: These books tell the story of the Israelites from the time of Joshua’s establishment of Israel in Canaan (the land promised to Abraham by God) and Israel’s subsequent establishment of a monarchy there, typified by the rule of King David and his son King Solomon. They also narrate Israel’s exile into captivity by Babylon due to their failure to follow the law of Moses and their later return to the Holy Land. Furthermore, various accounts of faithful Israelites in exile and revolts by the Hasmonean family (the Maccabees) against rulers trying to prevent them from following the Jewish law are also told. The historical books are Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Kingdoms, 2 Kingdoms, 3 Kingdoms, 4 Kingdoms, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, 1 Ezra, 2 Ezra, Nehemiah, Tobit, Judith, Esther, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, and 3 Maccabees.

 The Books of Wisdom: These are poetic books that contain wisdom, instruction on how to be faithful, and songs praising God. Especially important among these books is the Psalms (psalmoi, literally “chants” in Greek), which the Church regularly uses in personal prayer at home and public worship in church services. The Books of Wisdom include the Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Wisdom of Solomon, and Wisdom of Sirach.

 The Books of Prophecy: These are books that record the revelations which God gave to prophets in Israel. They call the people of Israel to repentance and also predict the future, namely Israel’s return from exile in Babylon and the eventual coming of a Messiah who will save God’s people from their enslavement to sin and death. These include Hosea, Amos, Micah, Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Baruch, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel. The Septuagint version of Baruch used in the Orthodox Bible includes the work called the Epistle of Jeremiah, and the version of Daniel includes the work called Susanna as a prologue, the work called Bel and the Dragon as an epilogue, and the work called the Hymn of the Three Young Men in the middle.

The New Testament

The New Testament was written exclusively in Greek and is translated from various ancient Greek manuscripts. The Orthodox Church has a preference for the Byzantine manuscripts that were used for the daily readings at Divine Liturgy in antiquity.

 The Gospels: The Gospels are ancient biographies of the life of Jesus of Nazareth, detailing his existence from all eternity as the Logos (Word) of God, his becoming human in the womb of the Virgin Mary, his life and teaching, his crucifixion, his resurrection, and his ascension into heaven. These include the Gospel of Matthew, the Gospel of Mark, the Gospel of Luke, and the Gospel of John. The first three gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) are often called the synoptic gospels because they contain similar stories about Jesus’ life and teachings. While the synoptics present the revelation of Christ slowly over the course of the gospels, culminating in his death and resurrection, John embeds this knowledge of who Christ fully is from the opening words.

Acts: The Acts of the Apostles, written by Luke the Evangelist (same author as the Gospel of Luke), is a book detailing the growth of the early Church by the preaching of the Apostles who were empowered by the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Roughly the first half of Acts focuses on the ministry of the Apostle Peter, while the latter half of Acts focuses on the ministry of the Apostle Paul.

The Epistles of Paul: These are letters that Paul the Apostle wrote to various churches and persons. Within the context of addressing specific pastoral contexts and situations, Paul reveals important theological truths about the person and message of Christ. These include Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, and Hebrews. The Book of Hebrews is stylistically very different from Paul’s other epistles and is often thought to be a sermon that was preached by Paul but later written down and edited by an unknown author.⁸

The Catholic Epistles: The Catholic (or General) Epistles are letters written by Apostles other than Paul. They are generally written to a wider audience of Orthodox Christians rather than to a specific church in a specific city. These include James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, and Jude. 

Revelation: The Book of Revelation is sometimes called “The Apocalypse of St. John.” It is a written record of a vision that John the Apostle (the same author as the Gospel) had while in exile on the island of Patmos. In it are seven letters that Christ tells John to write to various churches in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey) as well as the content of John’s visions, which include an upcoming persecution of Christians and Christ’s second coming to raise the dead, judge the nations, and unite heaven and earth.

While the Church considers all books of Scripture to be true and inspired by God, some books have a more frequent use in the life of the Church than others. The Gospels in particular hold a special place of honor, being the sole books of Scripture placed on the altar with the Eucharist and read in liturgical settings exclusively by ordained bishops, priests, and deacons.⁹ The Epistles are close after the Gospels, also being liturgically read in every Divine Liturgy but able to be read by minor orders of clergy (reader, subdeacon) and sometimes by laity. The Psalms also hold a prime place in the life of the Church, functioning as a prayer book that is read from or chanted from at nearly every one of our services. On the other hand, while books such as Esther, Tobit, and Revelation are referenced in our hymns and prayers, they are never read liturgically in their entirety. 

As we begin our journey into how to read and interpret the Bible as Orthodox Christians, it is important that we pray for God’s guidance and ask for the intercession of the biblical authors before reading the Bible. As St. Justin Popovich says, “Prayer, together with the other virtues found in the Gospel, is the best preparation a person can have for understanding the Bible.”¹⁰

Discussion Questions:

1. How does the view of the Bible laid out here differ from other views of the Bible you have come across?
2. In what contexts do you normally encounter the Bible, and how does this connect with your experience in Liturgy?
3. If you could change one thing about how you approach and read the Bible, what would it be and why?

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1: St. Justin Popovich, “How to Read the Bible and Why” in The Struggle for Faith Vol. IV: A Treasury of Serbian Orthodox Spirituality.

 2: Fr. Theodore Stylianopoulos, “Scripture and Tradition in the Church” in The Cambridge Companion to Orthodox Christian Theology. 

3: Metropolitan Kallistos Ware, “How to Read the Bible” in The Orthodox Study Bible.

4: 2 Timothy 3:16-17 RSV.

5: See, for example, St. Athanasius of Alexandria’s 39th Festal Letter, which details which books his presbyters and deacons are allowed and not allowed to read publicly in church services.

6: St. Justin Popovich, “How to Read the Bible and Why.”

7: Adapted from Bishop Basil, “Overview of the Books of the Bible” in The Orthodox Study Bible.

8: See, for example, Matthew Thomas’ article “Origen on Paul’s Authorship of Hebrews.”

9: A notable exception to this rule is Agape Vespers on Pascha.

10: St. Justin Popovich, “How to Read the Bible and Why.”