THE BIBLE

Bible is the most sacred book of jewish and Christian religions. It is considered to be the Word of God and they base their most important beliefs, ceremonies and holidays on it. The Bible is also known as the Holy Writ or the Holy Scriptures. It has two major parts, commonly called the Old Testament and the New Testament.

The Old Testament begins with an account of God’s creation of the heavens and the earth. It deals with the history and religious life of Israel. The New Testament covers about 100 years describing the birth of the son of God, Jesus Christ. The word ‘Bible’ comes from a Greek word that means books. It is a widely read book, most influential with more translations in other languages and most widely distributed. The authors of the Bible have used many forms of literature which include poetry, hymns, songs, riddles, fiction, history, proverbs and essays. The Bible stories tells the tales of struggles, hopes, failures and triumphs. It has stirring descriptions of the glory of faith and its vivid portraits of people. The Gutenberg Bible was the first Bible printed from movable type. It was produced in the workshop of Johannes Gutenberg in Mainz, Germany during the mid 1400’s.

Jesus Christ, the son of God, the Messiah was sent to earth to save Humanity. The word Christ comes from the Greek word 'Christos'. The greek word is a translation of the Hebrew word Messiah meaning the anointed one. Four books of the New Testament, the Gospels (means good news) were written by Mathew, Mark, Luke and John which gave accounts of the life of Jesus. It is said Jesus was born during the lifetime of Herod, the great who rules palestine. No one knows exact time of the year when Jesus was born but the day of his birth was first celebrated on 25th December in the early 300s. The gospels of Mathew and Luke record that Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea. His mother Virgin Mary and Father Joseph. He was brought up in Nazareth, a town in Galilee. The angel Gabriel visited Mary and announced that her child would be the son of God and the Messiah that was promised in the Hebrew bible. It would be a Holy spirit. Sometime before Jesus was born, Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem to record their names in a census. They found shelter in a stable. The seven year old crippled boy of the Inn keeper had compassion and allowed the couple to stay in a stable where Jesus was born and Mary made a cradle for him in the Manger. Shepherds saw angels in the sky who sang 'Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward men'(Luke2:14). A bright star shined in the sky and the three wise men, travelled and found Jesus and gave him gifts. Due to Herod's wrath, the wise men took different route home. Herod feared this new 'King of Jews' and ordered the deaths of all boys in Bethlehem 2 years old and younger. Joseph fled to Egypt and returned to Nazareth in Galilee after the death of Herod.Jesus probably grew up in Nazareth and help his father in carpentry work.

CHRISTMAS
Faith

"HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS"