The Bible: what it is

The Bible is the name by which the collection of Books beginning with Genesis and ending with Revelations is commonly known. It is derived from the Greek word (Books), and this name is supposed to have been first applied in the fifth century by Chrysostom, before which time those books were known as holy writings, sacred writings, writings of God. The Bible is divided into three parts: the Old Testament, containing thirty-nine books, the New Testament, containing twenty-seven books, and the Apocrypha, containing fourteen books; making in the whole eighty books. It is only the first portion, known as the Old Testament, upon which I intend to treat at present. It professes to be translated from the Hebrew, in which Language (according to the learned Parkhurst) God communicated with Adam; or, perhaps to quote the learned divine more correctly, I ought to say that 'Hebrew was the language in which God taught Adam to speak. ' It has been suggested by other saintly writers that Hebrew will be the language spoken in Paradise by the Saints.