The reformation of the 16th century was famous for its slogan Sola Scriptura, which means “The Scriptures only” and was intended to introduce a new approach whereby the Biblical Scriptures would become the single most important factor in the formulation and expression of belief. Sadly, this plan to restore the Biblical Scriptures to its proper position of supremacy has never fully realized. Today, there is a renewed outcry for a return to, and a restoration of the core principles of the Scriptures – including those ones that have been neglected, based upon a distorted view of what Y’shua the Messiah really came to do in this world. This website is intended to assist believers, in as many ways as possible, to rediscover the ultimate significance of the Word of Yahweh and to return to a lifestyle in which the Scriptures, as a complete unit, is restored to its proper place.
- You may want to find out more about the Afrikaans Bible translation called Woord en Getuienis
- You many want to find out more about the Xhosa Bible translation called Izibhalo
- You may want to take a look at the Torah reading portions (or Parashot) for this year
- You may want to find a way to use Woord en Getuienis on your mobile phone
- You may want to test your own knowledge of Scriptures by completing a quiz, or two (in English)
- You may want get hold of a few crossword puzzles (in Afrikaans) based on the Biblical Scriptures
Apart from the above mentioned activities and resources, you may read or download our weekly Shabbat Teachings, listen to the audio recordings of these services and visit our Online Shop, for a great variety of resource materials – all of which are intended to help believers grow in their knowledge and understanding of Scriptures.
It is a known fact that the 66 books that are normally included in what is traditionally called “The Bible”, originated from a great variety of genres, styles and authors – they were written during different periods of history, with different purposes in mind and aimed at different kinds of audiences and groups of recipients. We believe that the writers of these books were inspired by the Spirit of Yahweh but we are not turning a blind eye to the fact that these writers were human beings, children of their time and subject to the same limitations and imperfections that we as human beings know, all too well! We are not comfortable with the traditional dividing line that is drawn between those books that originated before the birth of Y’shua the Messiah and those that were written as a consequence of his coming. By calling the former “Old Testament” and the latter “New Testament” the unbiblical notion is nurtured that the coming of Y’shua rendered the Torah as redundant and outdated. We prefer, in stead, to use the terms Pre-Messianic Scriptures and Post-Messianic Scriptures.
As far as the Pre-Messianic Scriptures are concerned, we recognize the traditional division of these 39 books into three main categories, namely Torah (Translation: teaching), Nevi’im (translation: prophets) and Ketuvim (translation: writings). The acronym TaNaK is the widely accepted term that is used to refer to this threefold division. Within the posts and pages of this website, whenever the need arises to categorize all the books of the Bible, we shall use the categories and terminology as outlined in the list below. We are hoping that the information on this page will stimulate your appetite to really dig into the Word of Yahweh!
- The Teachings or Torah: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy (These books are sometimes also called “The Law” but this is not preferred here, as “Torah” literally refers to “teaching”, not “law”)
- Former Prophets or Nevi’im: Joshua, Judges, 1-2 Samuel, 1-2 Kings (Generally, these books are not considered to be prophetic, but the view among many commentators is that they have been the forerunners of the later prophets)
- Major Prophets or Nevi’im: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Revelation (There are not many who would list Revelation with these so-called “Old Testament Prophets” but it should be considered that for us, today, there is no essential difference between the yet-to-be fulfilled prophesies of Pre-Messianic and Post-Messianic times)
- Minor Prophets or Nevi’im: Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi (Contrary to the traditional view, the book of Daniel belongs here, as it is clearly also a prophetic book)
- Poetic Writings or Ketuvim: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Lamentations (Although there may be some people who would argue that the book of Ecclesiastes is not a poetic writing, we believe that it contains enough poetic elements to be included in this group)
- Historical Writings or Ketuvim: Ruth, Esther, Ezra, Nehemiah, 1-2 Chronicles (According to the traditional view, Ruth is not included here, but in our view it is sufficiently “historic” to be listed here)
- Introduction of the Messiah: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts (The word “gospel” – originally “godspell” – is in our view not a suitable description of these five books that mark the introduction of the most influential event that this world has ever known)
- Major letters of Paul: Romans, 1-2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1-2 Thessalonians (Even though some commentators are of the opinion that the book of Ephesians was not written by Paul, the style is very much Pauline and we have no objection against its inclusion in this category)
- Minor letters of Paul: 1-2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon (Although 1 Timothy has more verses than a book like Colossians, it is listed as “minor” because it was addressed to a single person, whereas Colossians was addressed to an entire assembly)
- General letters: Hebrews, James, 1-2 Peter, 1-3 John, Jude (Based upon the fact that there is a considerable degree of uncertainty surrounding the authorship of Hebrews, it is listed here as one of the general letters of Scriptures)
