In 5 BC, when Herod was the Roman king in charge of Judah, a priest named Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth were living in Hebron, about 25 miles south of Jerusalem. Both were descendants of Aaron, the first high priest, and both were righteous in God’s sight and obeyed all of God’s commands. They had grown old without having any children, even though they often prayed to have a son.

People have been pursuing the truth for many centuries. Aristotle lived in Greece in the third century BC and pioneered techniques of observation and inquiry we still use today. Galileo, the Italian astronomer and physicist, questioned conventional wisdom and used scientific methods in the early 1600s to discover the earth was not the center of the universe.

Science and religion are often seen as polar opposites on the “truth” spectrum, but this is based on a misunderstanding of both. In fact, they complement each other.

Nationalism is generally defined as a political belief that a person’s loyalty, devotion, and allegiance to a group of people who share a history, culture, language, and religion takes priority over the interests of individuals or other groups.

The term freedom is used in different ways in the Bible. The freedoms that governments provide are implied in the biblical narratives. People were free to live and travel where they want, to do business with others and spend their money how they want, to follow and believe different religions and philosophies, to choose their vocations and friends, to discuss and debate the merits of an argument, and to act in immoral ways that don’t interfere with the freedoms and safety of others.

The Bible teaches a number of principles related to government authority and power. The first principle is that God is the supreme authority. The Old Testament has many verses that say God is sovereign over the kings on Earth (Prov 8:15–16; Isa 9:6–7, 45:1; Dan 2:21,37; 4:17; 5:21; Job 12:23).

This modified excerpt comes from Chapter 17, Government, Politics, And Citizenship, The Bible I Never Knew: A Closer Look at Christianity’s Main Themes. (Dr. Peter Bylsma, Byblio Press, 2024).

The early chapters of the Bible describe God’s beautiful creation that was tainted by evil forces. Humans were given the ability to discern right from wrong and the freedom to choose their own path.

Revelation is the last book of the Bible and was written by John around AD 95. The Christian movement grew rapidly throughout the Roman Empire for several centuries thanks in part to the 200 years of peace in the empire (Pax Romana) and an excellent road system.

Whenever an author plans to summarize a vast amount of complicated material, the first step is to identify the common themes and messages. Once these are identified, the themes and messages need to be woven together into a narrative that flows naturally from a beginning to the end

Many Christians make a resolution to read the entire Bible in one year. There are some Bibles that are organized in a way that includes all 66 books in daily readings over a 365-day period.

Interpreting the Bible can sometimes be a challenge. In some cases, the author or character in the story tells the audience the meaning of a story.

The amount of detail that the Bible includes ranges from a great deal to very little.

The Holy Bible is a collection of ancient documents written by many authors over nearly 2,000 years.

A good story has a beginning, a plot and subplots that build on each other, major and minor characters, conflicts and drama, and a clear ending.