Creation of the world
The Bible
The Christian holy book is the BibleThe holy book of Christians split into two sections: Old Testament and New Testament. and this is the most important sources of authorityReligious texts or bodies responsible for guiding people on how to live. for Christians, as it contains the teachings of God and JesusThe central figure of Christian history and devotion. The second person of the Trinity..
All Christians, regardless of denominationA group within a religion. Christian denominations include, for example, Roman Catholic and Anglican denominations., regard the Bible as the starting point for guidance about their faith. For Catholics it contains 73 books and is split into the Old Testament and the New Testament.
Old Testament
The Old Testament is a collection of books that were written before the life of Jesus. It contains the rules which Christians should live by, contained in the Ten CommandmentsThe list of rules, revealed by God to Moses, found in the Old Testament books of Exodus and Deuteronomy. Also known as the Decalogue. in the book of Exodus.
The Old Testament also contains examples of:
- other people that Christians can learn from, eg JobA person in the Book of Job in the Tanakh (also in the Old Testament) who undergoes immense suffering.
- prayers and songs that are used in worship eg psalms and Songs of SolomonA book in the Old Testament containing songs of praise and worship. which is a type of love poetry and part of the Wisdom tradition
- passages that are regarded as prophecyA prediction of what will happen in the future. of the Messiah, such as Isaiah chapter 53
New Testament
The New Testament is a collection of books that were written after Jesus died and rose from the dead. It contains the four gospelThe teachings of Jesus and the apostles. - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. It is in the gospels that Christians learn about the example that Jesus set and the teachings that he gave to his disciples and early followers.
The New Testament also contains the teachings of Saint Paul who helped to form the early church's teachings. He wrote some of the letters, sometimes called epistles, that are in the New Testament, such as RomansRomans or The Epistle to the Romans is a letter by St Paul and is the sixth book in the New Testament. and GalatiansA book of the New Testament, written by St. Paul to the Church in Galatia..
Some Christians also regard the Deuterocanonical booksBooks that are only found in some versions of the Old Testament. or ApocryphaA collection of ancient books that are in the Greek Old Testament, but not in the Hebrew Canon. Some Churches recognise the Apocrypha as part of the Old Testament Canon. as part of the Bible. The Deuterocanonical are books that are accepted as scripture by the Catholic Church and the Eastern Churches, but they were not in the Hebrew CanonIn Christianity, the accepted books of the Bible. A list. and are not regarded as canonical by the Protestant faith. These books are usually placed after the Old Testament in a Bible. They help to place other books in historical context and offer a different view on the Hebrew Bible. Examples of Deuterocanonical books include The Book of Wisdom and The Books of Maccabees.
Word of God
Catholics regard the Bible as the Word of God. This means that the authors of the Bible were by God to write down what they witnessed and what was to them. Therefore the belief is that Christians must follow what the Bible teaches.
You must neither add anything to what I command you nor take away anything from it, but keep the commandments of the LORD your God with which I am charging you.