After Adam and Eve the Hebrew ancestry grew on the shoulders of Abraham. From there we learn of the many books that comprise and make up the collection of stories that is The Bible. Depending on who you ask, The Bible according to the first full English translation (, King James Version,) construes the Old Testament and the New Testament, and in the process offers information for guidance and faith. What ultimately leads countless people to believe and religiously care for the works in this book solely is determined upon the reader’s perception and dogmatic beliefs. Of course none of this translates into why the Bible remains the most widely read book of all time. Morality, creation of time, and the purpose of life associate and form the backbone. These themes incorporated, through poems, hymns, proverbs, and dictation’s, enrapture the reader, even atheists, for the styles utilized gives the moral book a place on the shelf of every individual who can read and write.
Genesis, Exodus, Job, and Matthew are a few selections that begin to explain the creation of time into the lineage of Jesus Christ. Now what prompts a sensible individual to believe that Eve was created by Adam’s rib or the devil took form into a snake, which lost it’s upright standing, in more ways than one? The use of allegories, aphorisms, parables, and proverbs place a broader meaning left for the reader to interpret the best it applies to them. Though some translate it literally, the masses understand it on its basis, uniquely, and the originators of this text simply wrote to enlighten and encourage despite religious preference.
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth,” so the story goes into distinct and simple details of how earth was formed. “God proceeded to create the great sea monsters and every living soul that moves about,” with an air of nonchalance, stories told and retold were written and convinces the reader that this is exactly how it occurred. No room for questioning, Genesis continues in explaining the ancestry of Adam and Eve and Abraham. God’s contract with Abraham,” God said that Abraham would be the father of “many nations” and that Abraham and his descendants should circumsize the male babies on the eighth day after birth to seal the contract,” rules applied stray away from conventional history but go under the verisimilitude of truth. The explanation of morality and the changes God had to undergo displays itself in the story of Noah’s Ark. “… the earth is full of violence as a result of them; and here I am bringing them to ruin together with the earth,” God, the principal character, shows his disapproving side of an immoral society. Through Noah, the “righteous man,” God regenerates the population from suitable ancestors and brings the immoral society a new image. In doing this, the observant reader understands that moral stability is the role he or she must play or they may risk certain death physically and spiritually. Though God’s admittance of not repeating this form of punishment if things do not turn to his liking, he uses the rainbow to signify all that ended will not repeat, giving a sign that stubbornness and learning from history must be achieved for a society to thrive. All this said in so many words. Having understood this, the future links Moses, who he himself has sinned, with the bearing of the Ten Commandments. Immorality reigned supreme again, and when Moses begged for God to give him a replacement for the tablets destroyed earlier one wonders if God would trust and accept an offer placed before him- with the promises of the people obedience should God risk his making another set of tablets. “Carve out for yourself two tablets of stone like the first ones, and I must write upon the tablets the words that appeared on the first tablets, which you shattered,” hence the rules and guidelines to acting and playing the role of an upright citizen devoted to God is given once more. The purpose to living and showing devotion to God is questioned by Job and he feels the adverse effects of doing so. “…The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the Name of the Lord be praised,” and Job embarks on his routine not having the best of situations. The Book of Job points out that suffering or wealth should not be directly related to sin: sometimes good people suffer and sometimes bad people prosper. This realization lends itself to the birth of Jesus Christ who, in Matthew, wrestles with individuals in giving pointed tips on how their lives should run its course. Jesus had many statements regarding how to live; some important ones were: “But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also…And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men…But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” Direct statements and the existence of Jesus paralleled with the acknowledgment of his stature in common society add fire to the embers of the purpose and convert ability of this book.
The Bible, in ancient Hebrew, simply translates to a collection of books. These collections of “stories” go far beyond in asserting the faith and well-being of a volatile and unconventional society- a melting pot of cultures changing through the generations. One can perceive how a group of people can gather and relate on one item- this item the Bible. For the reason can only contribute itself to the way the Bible is handled, past through time, and taken down to scripture. Genesis, Exodus, Job, and Matthew summarize the important proverbs that have captured the attention of people, stemming from the Roman Catholic Church to the Lutherans, since the beginning of recorded time to the presence of modern sects beneath an established religious organization which incorporate the same beliefs. The only difference: with sophistication.
Used and affiliated with numerous religious organizations, the Bible has undergone the test of time and considered to be the ultimate in theories of how the universe was created, as well as a study guide on the meaning of life. Despite the Darwin’s and Castro’s, many still turn to the Bible for inspiration and purpose. All of this achieved by the dogmatism, installation of guidelines, and universal perception of morality that made this book a “religious” experience for many.
