Knowledge Library

Bible Introductions

How each book came to be, and how the Bible came to us.

Scripture first

2 Peter 1:20-21 · Luke 1:3

Prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. That God used real authors, in real settings, with real purposes, is the reason introductions are worth reading.

What this shelf holds

  • Author, audience, date, occasion, structure and purpose for each book.
  • Canon, manuscripts and translation: how the text was preserved and how it reached English.

How to use it

  • Read the introduction to a book before studying a chapter of it. Purpose governs interpretation.
  • Hold disputed authorship and dating loosely, and say when they are disputed.

What this cannot settle

Introductions carry the assumptions of their period more openly than any other reference work. A nineteenth century critical judgement is a judgement, not a datum.

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4 entries on these shelves

Reference works

Each of these is named so you can open it and check us. Each carries what it is good for and what it cannot decide.

Every entry below is labelled with the kind of evidence it is, so a lexicon is never mistaken for the text and a commentary is never mistaken for a conclusion Scripture has drawn.

  • An Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures

    Scholarly referenceSupports the text, never settles it · Thomas Hartwell Horne, 1818 · Public domain

    Canon, manuscripts, translation, geography and interpretation gathered in one work.

    Use forLearning how the Bible came to us and how it has been read.

    CautionIts manuscript evidence stops long before the great discoveries of the following century.

  • International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

    Scholarly referenceSupports the text, never settles it · James Orr, editor, 1915 · Public domain

    Long, signed articles on books, doctrines, peoples, languages and customs.

    Use forWorking through a subject at length when a dictionary entry is too thin.

    CautionArticles differ in quality and outlook because they have different authors. Where one contributor states a critical theory, that is his judgement, not a finding.

  • Ecclesiastical History

    Historical and cultural backgroundSupports the text, never settles it · Eusebius of Caesarea, Around 325 · Primary source

    The earliest continuous history of the church, quoting documents now otherwise lost.

    Use forEarly testimony about the apostles, the canon and the first generations after them.

    CautionEusebius selects to defend the church's standing and quotes sources he cannot always verify.

Back to Scripture

The order of authority

Scripture · Biblical cross references · Original Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek · Historical, cultural, geographical and archaeological background · Trusted biblical reference works · Explanation and application

Read how Audela weighs each rung

The Sunday Study

One deep study, every week.

Verse-by-verse teaching with historical context, and a prayer to close. Nothing else in the email.