• The word “Bible” comes from biblion, a Greek word meaning “papyrus scroll.”
• It took several thousand years to construct the Bible.
• The book we call Deuteronomy was discovered hidden away in a dark corner during the reconstruction of the temple under King Josiah.
• The Apocrypha contains some of the earliest “detective” stories on record.
• Church councils had many disagreements about which books ought to be authoritative (a book called the Shepherd of Hermas almost made the cut; the book of Revelation almost didn’t).
• A heretic helped form the canon.
• Debate over the canon didn’t really end until the Protestant Reformation and the use of the printing press.

Preface: A Labor of Love



1. How This Book Was Built

   Benefits of Reading This Book

   The Inspiration According to Julia



2. How the Bible Was Built

   What the Word Bible Means

   Strange Ideas about the Bible

   A House with Two Wings and a Connecting Passage



3. The First Wing — the Old Testament

   The Cornerstone of the Bible

   What Was So Special about the Book of Deuteronomy?

   What Is the Pentateuch?

   The Story of the Samaritans

   The Prophets — the Walls of the House

   The Message of the Prophets

   Former Prophets and Latter Prophets

   The Writings — a Roof for the Old Testament

   The Writings Become Holy Scripture



4. The Apocrypha — Passageway from Old to New

   The First Detective Stories

   Are the Books Called Apocrypha Holy Scripture?

   The Significance of the Apocrypha

   The Apocrypha and Christianity



5. The New Wing — the New Testament

   The Q Document

   Mark — a Movie Scenario

   Matthew's Gospel and Luke's Gospel

   A Different Kind of Gospel

   Is One of the Gospels Best?

   Why Were These Four Books Perceived as Holy Scripture?

   What about the Book of Acts?

   The Letters of Paul — the Walls of the New Testament

   Did Paul Intend His Letters to Be Treated as Holy Scripture?

   How Many Letters Did Paul Write?

   How Did Paul's Letters to the Churches become a Collection?

   Were Paul's Letters to the Churches Recognized as Holy Scripture When They Were Published?

   A Variety of Writings Form the Roof of the New Testament

   The Letters to Timothy and Titus

   The Letter to the Hebrews

   The Catholic Letters and the Letters of John

   The Revelation of John



6. The Canon: or, Who Said, This Is the Official Bible?

   The Old Testament Canon

   The Council of Jamnia

   The Christian Old Testament

   The New Testament Canon

   Heretics Help Form the New Testament

   The First New Testaments

   Origen's New Testament

   The New Testament of Eusebius

   Athanasius

   Jerome

   Gutenberg Closes the Canon



7. Decorating the House — Translating the Bible into English

   Wyclif's Bible

   Opposition to English Translations

   William Tyndale

   The Coverdale Bible

   The Invention of Bible Verses

   Nicknaming Bibles

   The King James Translation

   Other English Translations

   Hebrew Poetry and Common Greek

   Recent Revisions and Paraphrases

   Are All These Revisions Necessary?

Appendix A: Biblical Terms You Need to Know

Appendix B: Some Dates That Will Help You Understand How the Bible Was Built