John Chrysostom (around 387 CE) appears to be the first writer to use the word Bible to refer to the Old and New Testaments together. It later became a favorite destination for the collection of writings.
Since then, a lot of false expectations have arisen about the Bible. Many have become stumbling blocks to people.
One of those false expectations is in treating the Bible as a history book, or a science book. The Bible is not a history book, it’s not a science book, it’s a book about the relationship between God and humankind.
Science and History
Now, it is true, that the Bible does contain history and science. But that’s beside the point. The Bible is not a history book, and it is not a science book,. Therefore, the accuracy of its science and history is not that important.
A lot of ink has been spilled trying to defend the non-essential parts of the Bible. The Bible is filled with myth, metaphor and parables. This is how you use language to hint at what can’t be defined in literal language.
Essentials and Non-essentials
It takes a little bit of wisdom to understand the difference between what’s essential and what is non-essential when it deals with God. And unfortunately, in the modern age, people have mistakenly thought the non-essential was the important part.
In essentials, the Bible is true. In non-essentials, the Bible is fallible. The Bible is both human and divine. It is divine and true regarding God and our relationship to him. It is human and fallible regarding the world and our understanding of it.
A Relationship Book
The Bible is not written to tell us about the world, the Bible was written to tell us about people’s relationship with God. It documents how God dealt with humankind throughout the ages.
A lot of doubt has been created in the world, because of false expectations of the Bible. The Bible is a book that God inspired men to write down, not about science and history, but about their relationship with Him. That’s what the Bible is. It’s a relationship book.