The Bible is a collection of writings from many different authors about the God that they believed in.  It is divided into two parts:  the Old Testament and the New Testament.  The Old Testament consists of writings that come primarily from the Israelites and their prophets.  These writings describe God and His interactions with mankind since the beginning of time.  They also contain predictions about the future, known as prophecies, recorded by the Jewish prophets.  Many of these mention a “Messiah” that is predicted to come for the Jewish nation and also be “a light for the Gentiles” (Isa. 42:6-7).

        The New Testament consists of writings from the early followers of Jesus Christ, who claimed to be the “Messiah.”  These writings contain the teachings of Jesus, recorded by His followers, and they describe how Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies about the “Messiah.”  Most of these men personally knew Jesus, and they claimed to be eyewitnesses to many of the miracles that He performed.

        There are many claims that the Bible makes about itself.  One of these is that all scripture was inspired by God (2 Tim. 3:16, 2 Pet. 1:20-21).  Another claim the Bible makes is that God will protect His Word (Mark 13:31, Isa. 40:8).  Although people have many different opinions about the Bible, the message that the Bible teaches is clear.  The authors of the Bible claim that they know the truth of the world, and they testify that what they have said is true.  They describe what it means to have faith in the true God, and they teach what God wants mankind to do.  We believe that the Bible does indeed contain the truth of the world, and we profess that the faith it describes is real.