A Book of many Books: OT, NT @museum.de

A book?

Or many books?

The Bible isn’t a book in the conventional sense. It’s more of a collection of books, an entire library!

The 77 books of the Bible were written over a period of a thousand years by many different authors in various places across the ancient Near East. They can be traced back to oral traditions passed down for thousands of years. A lot of scripture was revised many times until it became part of the "canon" – in other words, until it was included in the Bible in its present form.

The Bible consists of two parts: the Old Testament, which Christians share with the Jews, and the New Testament, the stories of Jesus's ministry, the reports surrounding the first Christian communities, Paul’s letters and the Book of Revelation. You’ll find these two parts on the two sides of our giant book sculpture.

When you take the individual volumes off the large shelf, you’ll find that each of them contains a brief summary of the contents, a chapter overview and a key passage or familiar story. You’ll discover the common themes of humanity – ancient tales that still affect us and remain relevant today: joy and sorrow / hope and disappointment / love and hate / trust and doubt.

The stories of the bible question the origins of injustice, suffering, death and explore our own limitations. We encounter people with their own particular hopes and fears, faith and doubts, people who search for purpose in their lives and stand in wonder before the beauties and wonders of this world.

The Bible can help us to discover evidence of God in our own lives. It can become a book of life, a book of books, where we – like the people of the past – come face to face with God.