Jacob and Eimear are sitting at a desk in the library, reading books.
NARRATOR: Hello there! Oh you’re in the library, I love libraries.
EIMEAR: We’re reading about famous explorers!
JACOB: And volcanoes!
NARRATOR: There are so many books to choose from! But have you ever heard of one big book that is a library of lots of different books?
JACOB: That would be ginormous!
A tower of books appears on the table.
NARRATOR: Well it’s about average size but it has a lot of information.
A Bible plonks down on the table in front of them. The book opens and flicks from page to page as the narrator speaks.
NARRATOR: This is a Bible, a sacred and holy book for Christians. It contains many books, about many different things - from poetry to lessons, songs, the law, letters and gospels.
As the narrator speaks the book separates into two books.
NARRATOR: The Bible is split into two sections. The ‘Old Testament’ was written before the time of Jesus and was a book he knew and read. The ‘New Testament’ on the other hand was written after Jesus’ death to spread his teachings.
The two books join back into one book, which Jacob catches.
JACOB: Whoever wrote the Bible must have been pretty old to have written all that.
*An ancient man with a very long beard, a scroll and a quill appears beside the kids. *
EIMEAR: Hi!
*The man looks up in surprise. *
NARRATOR: Not quite - the Bible was written by many different people. Everyone from kings to fishermen were involved, over a period of almost 2000 years!
People from biblical times appear behind the children.
NARRATOR: Christians use the Bible to learn about Jesus and God, just like how you read to learn about explorers and volcanoes.
The kids laugh and wave goodbye.
The best-selling book of all time
Let’s play a game. Can you guess the book?
It's the best-selling book of all time.
It was written by at least 40 different authors, ranging from kings to fishermen.
There are at least 185 songs contained within this book.
Any ideas?
Old and New
We are referring to the Bible, the sacred and holy book for Christians.
Perhaps you have seen a copy of the Bible around your house, in school or even in the top drawer of a cabinet in a hotel room. You may have heard some of its stories, but how much do you know about the make-up of the book itself?
The Bible is separated into two sections, the Old Testament and the New Testament.
The Old Testament was written before the time of Jesus. It prepares the way for Jesus and makes prophecies about his arrival.
The New Testament was written after Jesus died. It explains who he is and why he is so important.
A book of many books
In addition to being separated into Old and New Testaments, the Bible is actually a series of smaller books.It is often described as a 'library’ of books.
It was written over the course of hundreds of years and on three different continents.
It was written in three different languages: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.
It has over 40 different authors. Some authors were responsible for writing more than one book, whereas there are some books whose author remains a mystery.
It’s safe to say that most of these different authors never met each other, even though they were writing part of the same book!
Still relevant
Even though the writings were completed by men, Christians believe that the words were inspired by God.
In the New Testament book of Hebrews, it states that, *“the word of God is alive and active.” *
Despite the fact that the Bible was written many years ago, Christians accept that the instructions, promises and advice from this book are still relevant and useful today.
Now that you know about the Bible, learn about the Fall, one of the most important Bible stories.
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