We are about to begin a long journey, an excursion through the Bible and its historical background. We want to open the Bible and let it speak first. This can have an amazing effect: after all, the Bible is a big book, or rather, a collection of books. It is a whole library of no less than sixty-six books: historical reports, biographies, collections of poems, prophecies, letters, stories, etc. It is no small thing to try to open the Bible with the serious intention of becoming familiar with its contents. The Bible is a very old book, some parts of it are about 3,400 years old or more. This is a book that came to us from completely different times, a different culture, and we will definitely have to take this into account.

One thing needs to be said right away: since so many people today treat the Bible negatively and critically, we must seriously consider these common biases to understand why they occur. These two points - the historical conditions that form the general background of the Bible, and the critical questions regarding the Bible - we will have to consider in detail first. SUMMARY: Preface (9).1. The Bible is an amazing book! (11).2. From clay tablets to modern printing (29).3. Who gave us the Old Testament? (51).4. Who gave us the New Testament? (75).5. Canonical books and apocrypha (99).6. What is inspiration? (119).7. Biblical Criticism: Old Testament (139).8. Biblical Criticism: New Testament (161).9. Contents of the Old Testament (181).10. Contents of the New Testament (203).