The Bible is arguably the most read book in the world today and in human history. According to Guinness World Records, it is the best-selling book of all time with over five billion copies sold and distributed worldwide. What makes this book so popular? What is it all about? It is a question that Bible students, scholars, and casual readers alike ask. Depending on who you ask, the answer varies. The answer is not only of interest to the evangelical community, but also to non-church goers, and even atheists who wonder why this book has generated such attention over the centuries. What is the general overall subject of the Bible? This is a question I would like to try and address in this book.
To answer this question about the overall subject of the Bible, we have to dive into history, because the Scripture covers so many historical periods. We will also need to wrestle with theology because the Bible is ultimately a book about God and his purposes with the world and beyond. To a lesser degree we will need to consider a few literary genres in the Bible because those genres inform our interpretation. Ultimately, we will need to apply hermeneutics (theory of interpretation) to this task. But in all this, I do not want us to-so to speak-"miss the forest by seeing the trees." My goal is for the reader to acquire a general understanding of what the Bible is all about.