The Holy Bible & Christian Literature 

The Holy Bible (Scriptures) and Christian Literature are both meant to help people follow Jesus and draw near to Him. There is a big difference between the two, the Scriptures are the written word of God and Christian literature is not always (Matthew 5:17-19, Psalm 19:7-10, 2 Timothy 3:16-17).

The Holy Bible

The Holy Bible is a divinely inspired and historical account of God’s interactions with people on earth. It contains 66 books written by multiple human authors. The Bible is split into 2 sections: The Old Testament and New Testament. The New Testament is about when Jesus came to earth and after he left. The Old Testament is about before then. The Bible contains words that are to be authoritative truth for all areas of life. They also show and reveal the sinful desire of people and their need for help. The Scriptures can only be used effectively when reading with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. They were originally read out loud, memorized and meditated on. It is highly recommended to do these things even though it is not a requirement (Psalms 1:2-3, Romans 7:7, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Revelation 1:3, 2 Peter 3:16-17).

How to Study the Holy Bible

The following are some suggestions for studying scripture

  1. Before reading any passage of scripture ask the Holy Spirit to give insight, understanding and belief about the passage (John 14:26, 1 John 2:27)

  2. What does the scripture say about who Jesus is or what He says? (John 5:39, 6:63)

  3. What does the scripture say about who you are and how God sees you? (John 20:30-31, Hebrews 4:12-13)

Tips: don’t take passages/verses out of context! Read the old testament (old covenant) while thinking about the new covenant (what Jesus has done to make us right with God). Also it is good to get a big picture overview of what the scriptures say in general before getting caught up in individual verses. John or 1 John are good books in the Bible to start with. The image below shows a good posture to take when reading the scriptures, you are the child and God is your father, let Him show you things!

Christian Literature

These are writings by Christians outside the Scriptures. The literature often contains further insight into the Scriptures and Biblical truths, as well as who the Lord is and what He does. They will often have practical methods to living out Kingdom principles in the world. It is recommended to always test these literatures against Scripture and to listen for the Holy Spirit’s guidance (1 Thessalonians 5:19-23, Jude 1:14).