There is a book that has sold more than 18 million copies, in reality we don't even know the exact number of copies. A book that has been translated into 349 languages ​​and distributed throughout the world. This book is obviously The Bible, a book written within time itself, the history book par excellence. A book that has stood the test of time and has embarked on a long journey to become the mass-distributed book it is today. A book that was widely accepted, but also widely hated and even outlawed. It gave some people a reason to live and some people a reason to die. It is a book written not by one author, but by 40 authors. The Bible is undoubtedly an extremely complex book, there are tons of books written about the Bible, some dedicated only to small parts, others that examine the historical aspects of Say No to Plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay on the Bible, some of which analyzes material that is difficult to understand. It is unclear how much the scripture branched out from the Bible itself. So why should we still study this ancient book? To answer this question you need to know a little history and general information about the Bible. With so much information and material about the Bible it is difficult to choose a starting point. Let's start with the organization of the Bible. The book is divided into two main sections, "The Old Testament" and "The New Testament". Testaments are divided into books, books into chapters, and chapters into verses. The Old Testament is also known as "The Jewish Tanakh" and is composed of the first 39 books which in order are: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1st Samuel, 2nd Samuel, 1 1st Kings, 2nd Kings, 1st Chronicles, 2nd Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah , Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi. The New Testament consists of the last 27 books and in order: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 ° Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1st Peter, 2nd Peter, 1st John, 2nd John, 3rd John, Jude and Revelation. The Old Testament mainly covers the creation of the universe, much history, the promise with God (before his coming in the New Testament), the words of the prophets, and "wisdom books" which are classified as books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs , Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs. The New Testament primarily covers the life of Jesus Christ, the early church, and the instructions given to the early church. The New Testament contains a new promise between God and humans that occurs through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the New Testament are also known as "The Gospels" which describe the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Matthew, Mark and Luke are known as "synoptic" gospels, which translates to "common vision" and contain miracles and parables of Jesus. While John contains other miracles and demonstrates Jesus' identity as a human being. Now let's look at a brief history of how the Bible came to be. The Bible was written over 1500 years by 40 different people, it is the only book of its kind. It is God's communication to humanity through the writings of the chosen people that tell of His creation and His glory, as well as what it is like to know Him and first-hand accounts of Jesus' life, miracles, and wisdom. From the dawn of time, until 2000 BCaround, the scriptures and story of God's creation were passed down orally from generation to generation. From then until around 1400 BC the book of Job and the Ten Commandments was written by God himself in stone and given to Moses. From 1400 to 300 BC, Old Testament manuscripts are written, collected, and organized into the Old Testament. Subsequently the 27 books of the New Testament were written, from 45 to 100 AD. From here until 500 AD the Bible has now been translated and copied into many different languages. It was not until 1381 AD that the Bible was translated into English by John Wycliffe and his associates. And finally in 1539 AD the Bible was printed for the public in English. Through multiple translations into our modern English language we get the Bible in the English language we read today. Yet, even through all the translations throughout history, historians have confirmed that the Bible has maintained the same meanings throughout, yet some passages need to be analyzed more deeply for different word meanings from English to Greek or Hebrew . Aside from a religious point of view, the Bible contains much valuable information regarding history and literature. Through archeology in relatively recent times, the Bible has continued to uphold its historical accuracy, and has progressively proven itself more and more accurate. Entire cities mentioned in the Bible, such as Jericho, have been excavated. Many original manuscripts and writings of the Bible have also been found. The people mentioned in the Bible and the book writers have been proven to be real people through other historical accounts and writings. In addition to its historical value, the Bible as literature is also valuable. About a third of the Old Testament is poetry, entire books like Proverbs, Psalms, and Song of Solomon are poems. The book of Job is even considered by some to be the greatest poem in literature as a whole. A good example of this poetry can be seen in Psalms 1:3 which says "He shall be like a tree planted by streams of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season, and his leaves shall not wither; and whatsoever he will prosper." As well as Psalms 18:2 "The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my fortress." which is an example of the use of metaphors, comparing God to a rock, a shield, and a horn. Poetry and metaphors are both aspects taught in literary arts classes, and the Bible can be used as an example for these. Here we can see that the Bible is a good book to study based solely on historical and literary values. The Bible can be used in conjunction with textbooks in history and literature lessons to provide examples of what is being taught. Many poems we have studied in English class this semester directly reference the Bible, or talk about God or stories from the Bible. If you plan to study literature, the Bible certainly cannot be left out when it is part of a large chunk of literature. Back in the day many of the poems were written about religion and God was what people lived for. The Bible has had a much greater presence in these times and so you can find references to it in tons of literature. The Bible has influenced our society so much that most don't realize how much influence it has had. Its influence can be seen in books, such as C.S. Lewis' entire "Chronicles of Narnia" series, which is based on several stories and books from the Bible. C.S. Lewis converted to Christianity at the age of 33 and the Chronicles of Narnia series is said to be a great definition of the Christian faith. In the book "The Lion, the Witch andthe wardrobe" you can see a clear background story of the coming of Jesus Christ, the lion in the story, and his death and resurrection. This comes directly from the Gospels in the New Testament mentioned before. In 2005 from "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" was made into a film that has since won an Oscar along with many other awards. All of the books in the series contain underlying biblical themes and stories, and some have even been made into films and more. They have been created many films on stories taken from the Bible or biblical themes, some of the most successful were "The Prince of Egypt", "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", "Noah", "Forsaken". The Passion of the Christ", released in 2004 and was directed by Mel Gibson. The film has won numerous awards and has been described as beautiful, emotional and moving. There is no doubt that the Bible has played an important role in the films of Hollywood, is a popular and controversial topic full of platforms to build on. It is clear that the Bible is not disappearing from our culture in terms of its themes and stories, yet fewer and fewer people are reading it today. I realize that reading the entire Bible is time consuming and honestly quite boring at times, but most people haven't even read the well-known Bible stories and verses that are helpful in understanding movies and literature discussed previously. The Bible has been almost completely removed from school curricula, except in private schools, yet literature and history that are related to the Bible are taught. If the Bible were also studied, students would have this extra source that could help them understand the material they are being taught. However, the Bible has been eliminated from school curricula due to its religious significance. This was decided in the court case "School District of Abbington Township v. Schempp". The case was decided by the United States Supreme Court in 1963, which concluded that Bible reading and prayer in public schools were unconstitutional. This was ultimately decided based on the Establishment Clause, included in the First Amendment. The clause essentially says that the U.S. government cannot establish a national religion, which led the Supreme Court to rule that Bible reading in public schools is unconstitutional. By doing so they believed they were upholding the Constitution, but at a cost that I think the founding fathers who wrote the Constitution would have found unacceptable. founded on. Many know the story of the pilgrims who came to America and know that it was because of religious persecution that they undertook their long journey. Fast forward from the colonial period to just after the Revolutionary War, America had just won its freedom from Great Britain and needed to start its own form of government. The founders of this new nation drafted the Constitution of the United States. Many of the men who created The Constitution were Christians and had a great knowledge of the Bible, so naturally many of the concepts contained in the Constitution can be found in the Bible. In the book Dueteronomy of the Bible you will find God's instructions to Israel for creating a government, of course this is where the founders got most of the information to create their new government. John Adams, the second president of the United States, went so far as to say, "Our Constitution was created only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." There is no doubt that this country was founded on the morals and principles of the Bible, and the founding fathers wanted this to be known. For example, on the Liberty Bell ofPhiladelphia has the Bible verse Leviticus 25:10, "Proclaim liberty throughout the land to all the inhabitants thereof", the Bible verses can also be found on the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, and the walls of the Library of Congress. There is no denying that the Bible is an important aspect of American history, it is literally engraved in the most treasured monuments, buildings, and documents of America's founding. You cannot do justice to teaching American history without including the Bible, and yet you are trying to do so. Surely the men who fought for the freedom of this country and signed documents knowing that it could mean their death would want future generations to know the principles on which they founded this great country. An immense sacrifice was made for this country to become what it is. It is a duty to those who have given their lives to learn the rich history of this country, and the Bible is obviously an important part of that history. It doesn't have to be taught religiously, but it should at least be included for what it's worth in American history. To study American history and American government it is necessary to understand the principles used in the founding of American government from the Bible and why they were involved. That said, American history is a subject studied in American high schools, meaning that a general understanding of the Bible is necessary to fully understand the history behind America. Of course, the Bible also has religious importance. The Bible is considered God's message to humanity and is his way of telling us about life and death. This is where the Bible seems to become controversial and is probably the main reason it was removed from school, as discussed above. This also ties back to the United States Constitution, which in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights gives citizens the freedom to practice any religion of their choice. So it is understandable that some people may not want the Bible taught to their children in school. However, the points I have made so far suggested that only the historical and literary aspects of the Bible were taught in school. Although for those who want to read the Bible for its religious significance, it is still a book that should be studied in 2016. The Bible is like an instruction manual for life, and when read and applied to one's life, it can have results surprising. It is well known that life can be tough, everyone goes through difficult times sooner or later. The Bible includes uplifting verses and stories for anything life may throw at you, whether it's financial hardship, depression, loss of a loved one, marriage problems, anxiety, tiredness, whatever you're going through. There are many stories that tell of God's grace and people who have trusted God to overcome some things that can make many of our problems seem insignificant. For example the story of Daniel who was thrown into the lions' den for praying to God, and God sent an angel into the lions' den to shut the lions' mouths, and Daniel was not harmed. Someone going through a hard time could read this story and see if God helped Daniel get through a night with a group of hungry lions, and if they stay faithful to God he will get them through their problem, which may not even seem like it anymore serious. The Bible also contains wisdom and virtues that, if followed, can save a person much pain. The Bible talks about virtues such as faith, self-control, patience, kindness, morality and love. By studying these virtues and implementing them in your life, you can save yourself from things like stress,anxiety, anger issues and even problems with the law. It is because God wants you to have a good life that these principles are given to us through the Bible, and the only way to know the way God wants you to live is to read His word, the Bible. Another important religious aspect of the Bible The Bible is creation. There are many theories about the origin of life and how the earth was formed. The Bible offers the idea of ​​creation, in which the earth, plants, water, animals and people were created in six days. One of the most controversial topics is the origin of life, there are many books, websites and documentaries dedicated to investigating how this earth came to be. If a person wants to look at all the possibilities and make his own decision about where he thinks life originated, he should study the Bible as an option for this. There are always debates about evolution versus creation and to fully understand the topic and be able to think for themselves and make their own decision a person must read the story of creation in the Bible. The story goes that God created the universe in six days and rested on the seventh day. From here we also get the structure of the week, which is seven days. So on the first day God created the Heavens and Earth, as well as light and darkness. On the second day he created the sky, on the third day the earth, and on the fourth the stars. On the fifth day He created life in water, and on the sixth day life on earth, including man. So why does it matter? Deep down, every person questions their existence and how life began. Did their ancestors crawl out of a mud puddle and through centuries of evolution become the humans they are now, or did life come from a comet that crashed into the earth, where does the earth come from? Or the sun and the moon? Well, the Bible has an answer to all these questions and more, whether you believe them to be true or not should depend on your logical decision after reading all the theories, including the Bible. There are obviously many reasons why the Bible should be studied in 2016, as I have stated The Bible is significant in historical, literary and religious aspects. In what aspect a person decides to study the Bible is entirely up to him. However, I think that if you tried, you would find yourself intrigued to examine the Bible in its other aspects as well. It is, after all, the only book of its kind. There are areas of the world where studying the Bible is prohibited, in America we still have the right to study the Bible, perhaps not in the public education system, but in our free time. And America's rich history with the Bible suggests you should at least try it, who knows you might like it. The Bible is often a ridiculed book in today's society and is becoming less and less studied in modern times. Perhaps some may find it irrelevant to read stories and writings from long ago, but it is actually filled with tons of useful material about life. We are all trying to live the best life possible, so why not read what is like the instruction manual for living a happy life. If you were to assemble something, why wouldn't you use the instructions provided if they were available? The same can be applied to the Bible. God has given man his instruction manual for living life as it should be lived, yet people still choose to try to figure it out on their own. I believe that if more people studied the Bible in 2016, the world would be a happier and safer place to live. Of course there would still be problems, human nature is not perfect, and that is why God gave us the Bible, so we could work on our imperfections and live a life pleasing to Him. Therefore, if more people studied wisdom and.