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Hi, I'm Tim Coombs, co-pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Scotia, NY and a member of the network
of biblical storytellers. To learn more about its mission, go to nbsint.org.
What is the Bible? Now, that's a small subject. In Christianity, the Bible is made up of what
is called the Old Testament an the New Testaments of the Hebrew scriptures and the Christian
scriptures. In Judaism, it is basically what we might call just the Hebrew scriptures.
Let's begin with the Old Testament, the Hebrew scriptures that begins with the Torah, the
first five books of the Bible. Then a series of historical books about the stories of the
people of God through the kings. Eventually, you come to the Psalms and wisdom literature
and then into the prophets and some of the more famous is Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel.
That makes up the Hebrew scriptures. Now, if you're a Christian, your Bible would also
include the New Testament, which begins with the Gospels, the acts of the apostles which
is the story of the early church, letters of Paul and other letters, and finally coming
to Revelation — the revelation of John. The scriptures are read in all different ways
by different people, depending on their perspective. Some people read it literally, some people
read it symbolically. We all view it as inspired by God in one way or another. And that is
what the Bible is.