The Bible: Revelation and Inspiration
Revelation is how Christians believe God makes himself known to humans, reaching its peak in Jesus Christ. The Bible is divided into the Old Testament (Law, History, Wisdom, and Prophets) and New Testament (Gospels, Acts, Letters, and Revelation).
Biblical inspiration means God "breathed" through the Holy Spirit to guide the writers. However, Catholics don't take this literally - they see Genesis 1-3 as myths that contain spiritual truth rather than scientific facts. When there are contradictions, Catholics believe it shows we need deeper understanding.
Fundamentalist views are completely different - they believe the Holy Spirit literally dictated the Bible word-for-word. For them, the Bible is the literal word of God with no errors whatsoever.
Key Insight: The Bible serves as a guide for acting with goodness and truth, but different Christians interpret how literally to take its words - this affects everything from science to ethics.