Lesson 13: Where Did We Get the Bible?

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness . . .” (2 Timothy 3:16).

The universe and all in it screams, “There is a God!” (Romans 1:18–21), but the universe cannot tell us how it was made, its history, how we should live our lives, or about when its Creator came to earth.

For that, God has given us His Word, the Bible. Because of the Word of God, we know that God created all things in six normal-length days, that it was originally a “very good” place, and that the first man, Adam, disobeyed the Creator, thus corrupting the entire creation (Genesis 1–3; Romans 8:20–22). We know that Jesus Christ (the Creator) came to earth to save His people from their sins, died, was buried, and rose again on the third day, according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3–4).

Where Did the Bible Come From?

What we today call “the Bible” is actually a collection of 66 books, written by about 40 different authors from all walks of life (kings, fishermen, a tax collector, tent maker, etc.) over a period of 1,600 years. Each book was considered God-breathed and was received as part of the canon of Scripture, since it came from a recognized speaker of God (normally a prophet or apostle, or someone under their supervision), and contained no historical, factual, or doctrinal mistakes.

The various authors wrote their books under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (2 Timothy 3:16, literally “All Scripture is God-breathed”). This means that God the Holy Spirit guided the writers so that all of the very words they recorded in their own distinctive styles on the original scrolls were without error (2 Peter 1:21). The men who penned the books listed in what we call the “Old Testament” (OT) wrote mainly in the Hebrew language (a few parts were written in Aramaic). The writers of the “New Testament” (NT) books (written after Jesus returned to Heaven) wrote mainly in the common language of their time—Greek.

Since the Bible is the complete Word of God, who cannot lie, we can trust it to tell us the truth about the things we need to know. Because it is the Word of the Creator, we accept it as our final authority in every area it touches on. When we take the Bible as the writer intended, and in the way his original audience would have understood it, we have a basis for understanding and explaining what we observe in the world.

Want to learn more? Read the entire Answers for Kids Student Handout Set online!