How well do you know the Bible? The Bible is the Word of God, but even on the level of human it stands apart. No other book has sold so many copies, has been translated into so many languages, has been so often adapted, recited, and performed; or took so many years (centuries!) to write than the Holy Bible.
The Bible includes so many works from many literary genres.
The Bible isn’t only a collection of books. But It’s a collection of different kinds of books, histories, legal codes, poetry, letters, and a great symbolic form of resistance literature known as apocalypse .
In genres, there are also different kinds of writings.
Psalms has five main types which includes laments, hymns and others. Genesis also contains both literal and symbolic, or figurative, passages, and the Gospels record Jesus using parables and hyperbole.
Here are the facts you don’t know.
The occurrences in the Bible took place on three continents.
Most of the events of the Bible took place in what is currently called “The Holy Land” or modern-day Israel, but biblical events also occurred in Europe, Asia, and Africa. For instance, Abraham lived in the city of Ur (modern Iraq); Moses freed the Israelites from Pharaoh in Egypt; and the journeys of St. Paul took him to Rome, Greece, and Turkey.
The word trinity is not in the Bible.
The Holy Trinity’s doctrine is a mystery of faith at the heart of Christianity. The mystery is made known in various ways in the New Testament (for example, see 1 Jn 5:7 and Mt 28:18), and even gave a clue in Old Testament, as when God appears to Abraham in disguise of three men (Genesis 18). But the word trinity isn’t in the Bible. The first person to use the word was the early Christian writer Tertullian, when he wrote in the early 3rd century.
Mass is not a substitute for Bible reading.
Mass is a powerful way to witness the Bible. But you don’t expect to hear all of the Bible at Mass. Even if you attend Mass daily for three years, you will hear less than 14 percent of the Old Testament, excluding the Psalms. The New Testament fares much better. Still, almost 30 percent of the New Testament is not included in Mass readings. If you want to know more about the Scriptures go to Mass, but read the Bible too! Don’t substitute Bible for Mass.
Because you can receive a plenary indulgence for reading the Bible.
The Church gives indulgences, or remission of the penalties due to sin, to encourage spiritual practices. Read the Bible in a prayerful and spiritual way for a half hour or more, and you will receive a full or plenary indulgence. The usual conditions (Communion, recent confession, prayers for the pope, and detachment from sin) applies too.
