Lenten campaign 2026
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While there are no exact figures to cite, most claim the Bible is the world's best-selling book of all time. It has been translated into countless languages and generally speaking it is a book most people own, or at least have a copy in their house.
Interestingly, even though it is a very popular book, relatively few know the origins of its name.
Origins of the word, "Bible"
The English word "Bible" has at its root the Latin word biblia, which in turn is derived from the Greek biblion. Both ancient words originally meant "book." Early on, Christians began to identify the collection of sacred writings as a single volume of inspired text. According to Douglas Harper, "The Christian scripture was referred to in Greek as Ta Biblia as early as c. 223."
Two phrases were eventually coined to identify the scriptures, one in Latin, biblia sacra (holy books), and biblia to hagia (the holy books) in Greek.
While it may seem strange (or anti-climatic) to identify the most sacred text of Christianity with such a mundane name, the point was to identify the scriptures as the book. Think of the name as calling it is the "book of all books;" a book that nothing else can compare with.
For this reason instead of calling it the "Holy Book" in English, tradition has preserved the original name and we continue to call it the "Holy Bible," differentiating it from every other book that has been (or ever will be) published.
The Bible is set apart in this way so that we don't think of it as just another "book" that contains an ordinary story. Instead, it is a book that contains everything that we need for our salvation, a book that has transformed the world in countless ways.
The challenge is to pick-up the Bible and brush the dust off it, so that we can become more familiar with it and receive all the "instructions" it has for us before God calls us home.
