Bible, by the Bible we mean the collection of writing that contain the records of divine revelation. The word itself is of Greek origin, being derived from ta biblia, "the books." In course of time "biblia," a neuter plural, was regarded as a feminine singular, and in that way "the books" came to be spoken of as "the book". By the work Bible therefore we must understand not a single book, but a divine library.

The Dead Sea scrolls, some of which are believed to be as early as the 2nd century B.C., give evidence that the Old Testament text was corrupted at least by that time.

the first attempt to translate the Bible into the English language were made in the 8th century, The Venerable Bede, who died at Jarrow in 735AD, was engaged on his translation of John's Gospel up to the very moment of his death.

after it was Aldhelm, the bishop of Sherborne (d.709) and King Alfred (d.900), Norman and John Wycliffe. There were two editions of this version were made from Latin in 1382. Making the first translation of the Bible into English from the languages in which it was originally written belongs to William Tindale, born about 1490.

After Mary daughter of Henry VIII died because of the translation the Bible. This version is familiarly known as the Breeches Bible, from the rendering in Gen. 3:7. Its strong Puritan flavor made it distasteful to many English churchmen, and accordingly Archbishop Parker devised a plan for the revision of the Great Bible by the joint labor of a number of learned men, mostly bishops.

In 3 or 4 years the bishops' bible was completed, and was presented to Queen Elizabeth I in 1568. It was regarded as the official English Church Bible. It was used in public worship, but otherwise had no great circulation. It was unfortunately printed very carelessly. Some years later English Roman Catholics issued at Douai (France) a version of the Old Testament and at Rheims (France) a version of the New Testament.

A new translation was published in 1611. The familiar dedication to the king, and also a long preface, ably setting forth the principles and aims of the work (unfortunately omitted by most modern editions), are said to have been written by Dr. Miles Smith, afterwards Bishop of Gloucester.

The position of the LDS church regarding the bible is that is contains the word of God as far as it is translated correctly. Joseph Smith taught that "many important points touching the salvation of men, had been taken from the Bible, or lost before it was complied." He also said that the Bible was correct as "it came from the pen of the original writers". But that "ignorant translators, careless transcribers, or designing and corrupt priest have committed many errors."

The LDS church reverse and respects the Bible, but recognizes that it is not a complete nor entirely accurate record, and affirms also that the Lord has given additional revelation through his prophets in the last days that sustains, supports, and verifies the biblical account of God's dealings with mankind.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search For other uses, see Bible (disambiguation).

The Gutenberg Bible owned by the United States Library of Congress The Bible (Hebrew: תנ״ך tanakh, Greek: η Βίβλος hē biblos) (sometimes The Holy Bible, The Book, Work of God, The Word, The Good Book or Scripture), from Greek (τα) βίβλια, (ta) biblia, "(the) books", is the name used by Jews and Christians for their differing (and overlapping) canons of sacred texts.

The Jewish and Christian Bibles are actually collections of what were originally a number of independent books. The overwhelming majority of Christians refer to the Bible as the combination of Hebrew Scripture, known to Christians as the Old Testament or First Testament, and the New Testament, which describes the life and message of Jesus.

For some (primarily Roman Catholics), the Apocrypha and Deuterocanonical books — various writings important in the Second-Temple period of Judaism — are also considered to be part of the Bible. For Jews, the term refers only to the Hebrew Bible, also called the Torah. Both Christians and Jews regard the Bible as the revealed word of God, with widespread variation on its accuracy, interpretation and legitimacy.

The Bible is the most widely distributed book in the world. Both Hebrew Scripture and the Christian Bible have been translated more times and into more languages — more than 2,100 languages in all — than any other book. It is said that more than five billion copies of the Bible have been sold since 1815, making it the best-selling book of all-time. In some cities, the Bible is considered to be the most frequently stolen book. [1]

Because of Christian domination of Europe from the late Roman era to the Age of Enlightenment, the Bible has influenced not only religion but language, law and the natural philosophy of mainstream Western Civilization.

The Age of Enlightenment and the Scientific Revolution in Europe and America brought skepticism regarding the divine origin and historical accuracy of the Bible. Some scholars continue to use the Bible as a historical document, as there are archeological sites that match biblical descriptions of events and places, including possible sites for Sodom and Gomorrah, and the ruins remaining after the fall of Jericho..

King James Version redirects here. For other uses of King James Version, see King James Version (disambiguation). King James Version

The frontispiece to the 1611 first edition of the King James Bible shows the Twelve Apostles at the top. Moses and Aaron flank the central text. In the four corners sit Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, authors of the four gospels, with their symbolic animals.

Full name: King James Version Complete Bible published: 1611 Translation type: literal Copyright status: No copyright outside of the United Kingdom Genesis 1:1-3 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

The King James Version of the Bible, first published in 1611, has had a profound impact on English literature as a whole. The works of famous authors such as John Bunyan, John Milton, Herman Melville, John Dryden, and William Wordsworth are replete with inspiration derived from the King James Version.

The New Testament of the King James Version was translated from the Received Text (Textus Receptus), called so because the majority of extant texts of the time were in agreement with it. The Old Testament of the King James Version is translated from the Ben Chayyim Masoretic Hebrew Text. (Abraham Ben Chayyim was a Masoretic scribe and a former Jewish Rabbi who converted to Christianity.)

Modern English Bibles such as the New American Standard Bible and the English Standard Version derive their authority from a completely different set of N.T. manuscripts (earlier Egyptian Minority Texts as opposed to the later Byzantine Majority Texts).

Though often referred to as the King James Version, the only active part King James took in the translation was lifting the criminal (death) penalty attached to its translation and setting very reasonable guidelines for the translation process (such as prohibiting partisan scholarship and footnotes).

The name Authorized Version was particularly used in the United Kingdom, where the name King James Version was known only as "what the Americans call it" until the AV's recent decline in popularity in its homeland.

It has no worldwide copyright, but its reproduction is perpetually restricted in certain parts of the United Kingdom under the Royal Prerogative. The King James Version, despite its age, is largely comprehensible to the average reader today. It is considered to be an instrumental founding block of Early Modern English, and remains one of the most widely-read literary works of all time.