“Hobbits are Hobbits because of the stories that they tell and the songs that they sing.” -J.R.R. Tolkien

What details would you include in your story?

What details would you include in your story?

What are some examples of people telling their story in our culture today?

The Bible is the official collection of stories and songs that define the church and its people.

Define: Salvation History.

The *BIBLE* is the official collection of stories and songs that make the church what it is today.

Bible = The written account of God’s revelation and His relationship with His people.

Old Testament The first part of the Bible Containing 46

books. In them we read about the faith relationship between God and The Israelites, later called the Jews.

New TestamentThe Second Part of the Bible consisting of

27 books about Jesus Christ, The Son of God, his mission, and message, and his first followers

Old Testament New Testament

Gospels

History Letters

ProphecyPentateuch

History Poetry

Prophecy

Major Prophets Minor Prophets

Who wrote these stories? And with what help?

God worked through the human writers of the Bible. The Holy Spirit provided the writers of the Bible with *DIVINE INSPIRATION*.

Divine Inspiration = The special guidance that the holy spirit gave to the human authors of the bible.

God has revealed himself to us through the Bible and through *TRADITION*.

Tradition = The living transmission of God as entrusted to the apostles and their successors by Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

It includes the Church’s teachings, documents, worship, prayer, and other practices.