Lesson 4 - Notes for Confirmands - The Bible

1. The Bible is not just one book, but comprises many ‘books’ varying greatly in content and style, and written by different authors. (Bible – Greek: ‘biblia = books)

 2. The collection consists of two main parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament. “Testament’ means ‘covenant’ or ‘ mutual understanding’. In the Biblical context it refers to a mutual agreement between God and his people.

 The Old Testament is the holy book of the Jewish people. It contains their history as well as their religious teachings. The New Testament is a record of the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.

 3. The writings of both the Old and New Testament were selected from many existing manuscripts. This selection is called ‘canonical’, meaning that these ‘books’ are genuinely inspired.

4. Both the Old and New Testaments can be divided into three major groups: the historical, the doctrinal and the prophetic group of books. Each book is divided into chapters (except for those consisting of one chapter only) and these, in turn, are subdivided into verses, which are numbered. This makes identification of passage and quotations easy.

 5. Christian theological teaching sees in the life and death of Jesus Christ the fulfilment of the prophecies of the Old Testament. This forms the link between the two main parts of the Bible, and this is why the Old Testament was also accepted by the Christian Church as canonical.

 6. Most of the Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew, whereas the language of the New Testament texts was Greek.

 After the invention of the printing press the Holy Scriptures gradually spread and were read all over the world. In the course of time they were translated into 1785 languages (more now?). Two of the well-known translations were one by Martin Luther (1522 & 1534) in Germany and the Authorised Version commissioned by King James I (1621) in England. Recent discoveries of old manuscripts brought a new understanding of Biblical texts and stimulated many modern translations.

 7. For Christians the New Testament is indispensable because it is the only authoritative record of the origin of their faith. It contains the basic tenets of Christianity.

 8. The Old Testament is a valuable complement to it because it helps our understanding of the New Testament. In addition, many sections in themselves contain words of wisdom and portray human situations and conditions that are still relevant and meaningful today.

 9. The orthodox Christian Churches believe that the Bible was totally inspired by God. It is regarded as the ‘Word of God’. Therefore their members have to believe in the literal truth of everything written in it.

 10. As a Christian Society, we Templers accept the Biblical records and regard them with reverence. But we do not believe that they were ‘dictated’ verbatim by God. We believe that in parts the Bible was a result of divine inspiration, but that on other parts the authors were speaking as ordinary human beings who can be prone to errors and subjectivity.

 11. We Templers endeavour to approach the Bible with an open mind, receptive for all that is good and meaningful for us at a given time.

 We aim at studying the texts with honesty and sincerity, being guided by our reason as well as our intuition in the hope that our understanding and insight will grow and deepen in the course of time.

 12. We regard the Bible as a great source of spiritual enlightenment.

 The Bible can help increase our awareness of God’s existence and presence within and around us. It can strengthen our relationship with God and comfort us in times of trouble. It can guide us in our daily life and help us to cope with it.

 Lesson 4  QUESTIONNAIRE FOR CONFIRMANDS

Lesson 4 - The Bible Quiz

You should refer to your ‘Bible for today’.

  1.      The Bible has been translated into __________ languages.

  2.      The Bible was the first book ever ____________________ .

 3.      The Bible is the world’s _____________________________ .

 4.      What three key pieces of information does the following give: ‘Matthew 6: 33’

 5.      According to your ‘Bilbe for today’, what are the first three ‘top stories’ in the Bible?

 6.      Which book and testament are they from?

  7.      What is a parable, and who used them?

  8.      If you were feeling angry, where could you find information in this Bible?

  9.      What does the passage suggest?

  10.  According to this Bible, what four words are the guide to becoming a Christian?

 11.  What are the first and last books of the Old and New Testaments?

        12.   Where in the Gospels would you find this scene described?

13.  Find Matthew 22: 37-39. What is this section called? What is it about?

  14.  Find James 2: 18. What is this verse about?

  15.  How does Ephesians 2: 22 relate to our Templer belief?