圣经基本介绍英文版

PAGE\*MERGEFORMAT#PartIAGeneralIntroductiontotheBible介绍一般的《圣经》1.WhatistheBibleabout圣经关于什么BeforewegettotheBibleStories,weshouldhaveanoverallviewoftheknowledgeoftheBible..WhatkindofbookistheBible什么书才是圣经WhenmentioningtheBible,weoftenrelateittoChristianityimmediately.Ofcourse,it’sareligiousbook.It’sthecanonofChristianity.Butit’snotonlyareligiousbook.Bytheway,it’sfarfromacollectionoffairytalesassomepeoplesupposedit.TheBibleinvolvesvarioussubjectsofreligion,history,legislation,ethics,literature,philosophy,wisdom,management,publicrelationship,counseling,etc.Therearesomeexamples.Genesis（创世记---圣经旧约的第一卷书）,Exodus（出埃及记---圣经旧约的第二卷书）andNumbers（民数记---圣经旧约的第四卷书）inthePentateuch（摩西五经---圣经旧约的首五卷书）andtheHistoricalBookstellaboutabriefhistoryoftheHebrewswithafocusontheformationoftheirbelief.InExodus,thefamousTenCommandsisproposed,whichisbelievedtheoriginofthewesternlegislation.Leviticus（利未记---圣经旧约的第三卷书）providesthestandardsfortheHebraic（希伯来的）religiouslife.Deuteronomy（申命记一圣经旧约的第五卷书）involvestheethicsandmanagementofanationandstandardsfordealingwithcivildisputes.SongofSolomon（雅歌---圣经旧约的其中一卷书）inthePoeticalBooks（诗歌智慧书一圣经旧约的一部分书卷）isawonderfulpoemaboutloveaffairs.Ecclesiastes（传道书---圣经旧约的其中一卷书）inthePoeticalBooksisabookofphilosophy,discussingthetruemeaningoflife.Proverbs（箴言---圣经旧约的其中一卷书）inthePoeticalBooksprovidesthewisdomfordailylife.Andthelistcanbegoingon.TheBibleiswidelyregardedasanimportantbook.It’salsotakenasanencyclopediaoflife.Itcanbecalledasaclassicofliterature,too.Ithasagreatinfluenceonwesternculture.ThefollowingisapopularizedintroductiontotheBible.“TheBibleisoftendescribedas‘thegreatestbookeverwritten.’Thisisbecauseofitsunendingsignificanceandinfluenceonpeoplethroughouttheages.NootherbookinhistoryhasimpactedpeoplesandculturesliketheBible.Sofar,theBiblehasbeentranslatedinto2,018languagesandeveryyearmorecopiesoftheBiblearesoldthananyothersinglebook.”（ABriefIntroductiontotheBible）.WhatdoestheBibletell圣经讲什么TheBibleitselfcontainsatotalof66booksandisdividedintotwoparts,theOldTestamentandtheNewTestament.TheOldTestamentcontains39booksandtheNewTestamentcontains27books.Thisword,“testament”,meansadeclarationorcontract.AsusedintheBible,itmeansthecontractorpromisetowhichGodhasboundhimselfinhisdealingswithmankind.ContractisakeywordintheBible.AccordingtotheChristiandoctrines,the“contract”ofsalvationthatGodhasgivenmankindisbaseduponthedeathofJesusChristonthecross;ChristiansbelievethatitisapromisethatGodhassavedmankindthroughJesusandmadethemheirsofhisKingdomofHeaven.BelieversareconfidentthatthesinsofmankindhavebeentakenawayforeverthroughthedeathofJesusonthecross---thatJesus,theSonofGod,whowasbornonthisearthabout2000yearsago,tookuponhimself,inman’splaceandashissubstitute,thepunishmentdeservedbysinfulmen.Thismeansthattheirsinsareforgiven,andthattheycanbelievethepromiseofGod,thenewsthattheyhavereceivedeverlastinglifefromhim.ItistheheartoftheBiblemessage.ThecontractwrittenbeforeChristiscalled“ThentOldTestament”andthecontractwrittenafterChristiscalled“TheNewTestament”.TheOldTestament,centeredontheJewishnation,wasauthoredbymanywritersbetween1500BCand400BC,andconsistsof39“books”containingtheirhistory,laws,prophesies,poetryandsongs.ThemessageofGod’snewkingdomandofthecomingChristisrepeatedinmanyprophesies.TheNewTestamentexplainsthefacts,howtheseprophesiesofChristwerefulfilledinJesus,andteachesabouthissalvation.ItwaswrittenbyJesus’disciplesbetween30AD,and90AD,andbeginswiththefourgospels---shorthistoriesofthelifeofJesus---includingalso21letterstoChristians,theActs---abriefaccountofthedisciplesandabookofprophesy---Revelation,foratotalof27“books”.TheJewishpeopleacceptonlytheOldTestamentastheBible,the“WordofGod”,whichtheycall“theLaw”or“theProphets”.Christians,however,believethatboththeOldandNewTestamentsare“theWordofGod”.TheBiblecoversawiderangeofliterarystyles.Itscontentincludeshistory,poetry,law,biography,prophecy,philosophy,scienceandinspirationalreading.Accordingtotheliterarystylesandthecontent,theBibleisdividedintothefollowingcategories:thePentateuch（摩西五经）,theHistoricalBooks（历史书）,thePoeticalBooks（诗歌智慧书）,theProphets（先知书）,theGospel（福音书）,andthelettersofthedisciples（使徒书信）.ThePentateuch（deemedtobewrittenbyMoses,agreatleaderoftheHebrews）includesGenesis（创世记）,Exodus（出埃及记）,Leviticus（利未记）,Numbers（民数记）andDeuteronomy（申命记）.GenesisisareligiousaccountoftheoriginoftheHebrewpeople,includingtheoriginoftheworldandofman,thecareerofAbrahamandhissonIssacandthelifeofJacob（sonofIssac）andhissonJoseph,whoarethefirstandmostrespectablepatriarchs（族长）oftheHebrews（希伯来人）.ExodusisareligioushistoryoftheHebrewsduringtheirflightfromEgypt,theperiodwhentheybegantoreceiveGod’sLaw.Leviticusisacollectionofprimitivelaws.NumbersisacontinuationoftheaccountoftheflightfromEgyptwithtwocensusesabouttheExodus.DeuteronomyisthefinalwordsofMosestohispeople,restatinghisordersandfiftyyears’experiencesasaleader.TheHistoricalBooksincludesthesebooks:BookofJoshua（约书亚记）,BookofJudges（士师记）,BooksofSamuel（?andn）（撒母耳记上下）,BooksofKings（?andn）（列王纪上下）,BooksofChronicles（?andn）（历代志上下），BookofExra（以斯拉记），BookofNehemiah（尼希米记），andBookofEsther（以斯帖记）.Theseworkswerewrittensometimebetween800BCand500BC,dealingwithhistoryoftheHebrewpeoplefromtheirentryintoPalestinearound1200BCtillthefallofPalestineintohandsofAssyrians（叙利亚人）andChaldeans（迦勒底人）in586BC.ThisperiodofHebrewhistorycoversthesettlementintheHighlandsbytheHebrews,thedevelopmentofsystemoflandednobles,thedevelopmentofmonarchy（君主制）,theageofgreatprosperityunderSaul,DavidandSolomon,andtheestablishmentofthetwoKingdoms.ThePoeticalBooksaresomeliteratureworksdescribingtheauthors’religiousfeelingsandexperiencesinformsofballads（民歌）,hymns（颂歌）,dramaticpoetry,prophecies（预言）,diaries,lovelyrics（抒情诗）,shortstoriesaswell.FormorethanathousandyearsintheMiddleEasttherehadbeenaclassofpeopleknownas“prophets”（先知）orthespokesmenofGod.TheProphets（先知书）areacollectionofbookswrittenbytheprophetstodeclarethemessagesfromGod,mostlytosummontheJewstorepenttheirsinsaccordingtothelawsmentionedinthePentateuch.TheGospelismadeupoffouraccounts,whichtellsthebeginningofChristianity.ThefouraccountswerebelievedtohavebeenwrittenbyMatthew（马太）,Mark（马可）,Luke（路力口）,andJohn（约翰）,fourofJesus'earlyfollowers.Theytellofthebirth,teaching,deathandResurrectionofJesus.TheActsoftheApostles（使徒行传）tellsahistoryoftheearlyChristianmovement,whichisincludedintheHistoricalBooks.TheEpistles（使徒书信）,lettersofthedisciples,arewrittenbythedisciplesabouttheChristianteachingtothechurchgroupsaroundtheMediterranean.LastlythebookofRevelation（启示录）isavisionaryaccountofthelifeinheavenandthefinaltriumphofGod’spurpose,whichisincludedintheProphets.ChristiansthinkthatthemajorthemeoftheBible,however,isGod'srelationshipwithman.Intheireyes,GodexpressesHimselftomankindthroughactsofprotection,provision,loveandjudgmentthroughouttheBible.TheBiblealsoanswersmanyimportantquestionsthatmenofallageshaveaskedsuchas,"WheredoIcomefrom""WhereamIgoing""WhydoIexist""Whatistruth".Howisitformed圣经从何而来？TheentireBiblewaswrittenoveraperiodof1,500yearsfromabout1450BCto100AD.TheBiblestatesthatitwaswrittenthroughthedivineinspirationofGod.（“AllScriptureisGod-breathedandisusefulforteaching,rebuking,correctingandtraininginrighteousness,”NIV）However,whatbooksshouldbeincludedintheBibleIttakesalongtimetocanonize（正典化）thebooksintheBible.Thecanon（真经）,orofficiallyacceptedlistofbooksintheHebrewBible,consistsof24booksaccordingtoJewishreckoningandisdividedintothreeparts:theLaw,theProphets,andtheWritings.TheLaw,oftencalledthePentateuch,comprisesfivebooks,GenesisthroughDeuteronomy.TheProphetsaredividedintothreeparts:theearlierprophets（Joshua,Judges,1and2Samuel,and1and2Kings）;thelaterprophets（Isaiah（以赛亚书）,Jeremiah（耶利米书）,andEzekiel（撒加利亚书））;andtwelvebookscalledtheMinorProphetsbecauseoftheirbrevity.The11Writingsincludethreepoeticbooks（Psalms（诗篇）,Proverbs（箴言）,andJob（约伯记））;thefivescrolls（书卷）（SongofSolomon（雅歌）,Ruth（路得记）,Lamentation（耶利米哀歌）,Ecclesiastes（传道书）,andEsther（以斯帖记））;anapocalypticwork（启示文学），Daniel（但以理书）；andEzra/Nehemiah（以斯拉-尼希米记）and1and2Chronicles（历代志）.ChristianBiblesarrangethebooksdifferently.TheLaw,orPentateuch,comesfirst,thenallthehistoricalbooks.Thesearefollowedbythepoetical,orwisdom,booksandfinallythepropheticbooks.ThusRuth,Chronicles,Ezra,Nehemiah,andEstherappearinthesecondgroupandDanielandLamentationsinthefourth.TheprocessbywhichthecanonoftheNewTestamentwasformedbeganinthe2dcentury,probablywithacollectionoftenlettersofPaul.Towardtheendofthatcentury,IrenaeusarguedfortheuniqueauthorityoftheportionoftheCanoncalledtheGospels.Acceptanceoftheotherbookscamegradually.ThechurchinEgyptusedmorethanthepresent27books,andtheSyriacspeaking（叙利亚语的）churchesfewer.Thequestionofanofficialcanonbecameurgentduringthe4thcentury.ItwasmainlythroughtheinfluenceofAthanasius,bishopofAlexandria,andbecauseJeromeincludedthe27booksinhisLatinversionoftheBiblecalledtheVulgate（拉丁文圣经）,thatthepresentcanoncametobeaccepted.Itsauthorsincludemorethan25menfromavarietyofbackgroundsincludingprophets,priests,fishermen,kings,taxcollectors,anddoctors.Eventhoughitwaswrittenmorethan2,000yearsago,theBiblecontinuestoinfluencepeopletoday.TheBiblehasbeenreadandstudiedbymanydifferentkindsofpeoplefromnationalleaderstofamoussportsfigurestoscientists.