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Communism

2018-12-27T22:15:48Z

LeeDidNothingWrong:

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{{distinguish|Communitarianism|Communalism}}
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{{Short description|socialist political movement and ideology}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2014}}
{{Communism sidebar}}
In [[Political science|political]] and [[social science]]s, '''communism''' (from [[Latin]] ''{{lang|la|communis}}'', "common, universal")<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Communism|encyclopedia=Britannica Encyclopedia|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/129104/communism}}</ref><ref>''World Book'', 2008, p. 890.</ref> is the [[Political philosophy|philosophical]], [[Social philosophy|social]], [[Ideology|political]], and [[economic ideology]] and [[Political movement|movement]] whose ultimate goal is the establishment of the [[communist society]], which is a [[Socioeconomics|socioeconomic]] order structured upon the [[common ownership]] of the [[means of production]] and the absence of [[social class]]es, [[money]],<ref>[http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1847/11/prin-com.htm ''Principles of Communism''], Frederick Engels, 1847, Section 18. "Finally, when all capital, all production, all exchange have been brought together in the hands of the nation, private property will disappear of its own accord, money will become superfluous, and production will so expand and man so change that society will be able to slough off whatever of its old economic habits may remain".</ref><ref>[http://www.marxists.org/archive/bukharin/works/1920/abc/03.htm ''The ABC of Communism''], Nikoli Bukharin, 1920, Section 20.</ref> and the [[State (polity)|state]].<ref>[http://www.marxists.org/archive/bukharin/works/1920/abc/03.htm ''The ABC of Communism''], Nikoli Bukharin, 1920, Section 21.</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Encyclopedia of Political Science|url=http://sk.sagepub.com/reference/the-encyclopedia-of-political-science|doi=10.4135/9781608712434|editor=George Thomas Kurian|publisher=CQ Press|date=2011|isbn=9781933116440|chapter=Withering Away of the State|accessdate=January 3, 2016}}</ref>

Communism includes a variety of schools of thought, which broadly include [[Marxism]] and [[anarchism]] ([[anarcho-communism]]), as well as the political ideologies grouped around both. All of these share the analysis that the current order of society stems from its economic system, [[capitalism]]; that in this system there are two major social classes; that [[class conflict|conflict between these two classes]] is the root of all problems in society; and that this situation will ultimately be resolved through a [[social revolution]].
The two classes are the [[proletariat|working class]]—who must work to survive and who make up the majority within society—and the [[Bourgeoisie|capitalist class]]—a minority who derives profit from employing the working class through private ownership of the [[means of production]].
The revolution will put the working class in power and in turn establish [[social ownership]] of the means of production, which according to this analysis is the primary element in the transformation of society towards communism.
[[Communism#Criticism|Critics of communism]] can be roughly divided into those concerning themselves with the practical aspects of 20th century [[communist state]]s<ref name="Bruno Bosteels 2014">Bruno Bosteels, ''The Actuality of Communism'' (Verso Books, 2014).</ref> and those concerning themselves with communist principles and theory.<ref>Raymond C. Taras, ''The Road to Disillusion: From Critical Marxism to Post-communism in Eastern Europe (Routledge, 2015).</ref>

==History==
===Early communism===
{{main|History of communism}}
The term "communism" was first coined and defined in its modern definition by the [[French people|French]] philosopher and writer [[Victor d'Hupay]]. In his 1777 book ''[[Projet de communauté philosophe]]'', d'Hupay pushes the philosophy of the [[Lumières|Enlightenment]] to principles which he lived up to during most of his life in his [[bastide]] of [[Fuveau]] ([[Provence]]). This book can be seen as the cornerstone of communist philosophy as d'Hupay defines this lifestyle as a "[[commune]]" and advises to "share all economic and material products between inhabitants of the commune, so that all may benefit from everybody's work".<ref name="Jean-Pierre Cassely, 2016">Cassely, 2016 : ''Aix insolite et secrète'' JonGlez {{pp.|192–193}} ([http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb45058387v références Bibliothèque nationale de France]).</ref>

[[File:Portrait de Victor d'Hupay (cropped).png|thumb|left|upright=0.9|Portrait of [[Victor d'Hupay]] (c. 1790), founder and first theoretician of modern communism]]
[[File:Portrait Pierre-Joseph Proudhon.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|[[Pierre-Joseph Proudhon]], theoretician of [[libertarian socialism]]]]
According to [[Richard Pipes]], the idea of a classless, egalitarian society first emerged in [[Ancient Greece]].<ref name="Pipes">[[Richard Pipes]] ''Communism: A History'' (2001) {{ISBN|978-0-8129-6864-4}}, pp. 3–5.</ref> The 5th-century [[Mazdak]] movement in [[Iran|Persia (Iran)]] has been described as "communistic" for challenging the enormous privileges of the noble classes and the clergy, for criticizing the institution of [[private property]] and for striving to create an egalitarian society.<ref>''The Cambridge History of Iran'' Volume 3, {{cite web|url=http://www.derafsh-kaviyani.com/english/mazdak.html|title=The Seleucid, Parthian and Sasanian Period|accessdate=March 30, 2008|deadurl=bot: unknown|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080611075040/http://www.derafsh-kaviyani.com/english/mazdak.html|archivedate=June 11, 2008|df=}}, edited by [[Ehsan Yarshater]], Parts 1 and 2, p. 1019, [[Cambridge University Press]] (1983).</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Communism: The Great Misunderstanding|last=Ermak|first=Gennady|publisher=|year=2016|isbn=978-1533082893|location=|pages=|via=}}</ref> At one time or another, various small communist communities existed, generally under the inspiration of [[Scripture]].<ref name="Lansford_pp24–25">{{harvnb|Lansford|2007|pp=24–25}}.</ref> For example, in the [[Middle Ages|medieval]] [[Christian Church|Christian church]] some [[Monasticism|monastic]] communities and [[religious order]]s shared their land and their other property (see [[Religious communism|religious]] and [[Christian communism]]).

Communist thought has also been traced back to the works of the 16th-century English writer [[Thomas More]]. In his treatise ''[[Utopia (book)|Utopia]]'' (1516), More portrayed a society based on [[common ownership]] of property, whose rulers administered it through the application of reason. In the 17th century, communist thought surfaced again in England, where a [[Puritan]] [[Religious denomination|religious group]] known as the "[[Diggers]]" advocated the abolition of private ownership of land.<ref name="diggers">{{cite web|url=http://www.rogerlovejoy.co.uk/philosophy/diggers/diggers3.htm|title=Diggers' Manifesto|accessdate=July 19, 2011|archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/60XT6NLIO?url=http://www.rogerlovejoy.co.uk/philosophy/diggers/diggers3.htm|archivedate=July 29, 2011|deadurl=no|df=}}</ref> In his 1895 ''Cromwell and Communism'',{{sfn|Bernstein|1895}} [[Eduard Bernstein]] argued that several groups during the [[English Civil War]] (especially the Diggers) espoused clear communistic, agrarian ideals and that [[Oliver Cromwell]]'s attitude towards these groups was at best ambivalent and often hostile.{{sfn|Bernstein|1895}} Criticism of the idea of private property continued into the [[Age of Enlightenment]] of the 18th century through such thinkers as [[Jean Jacques Rousseau]] in [[France]]. Later, following the upheaval of the [[French Revolution]] communism emerged as a political doctrine.<ref>"Communism" ''A Dictionary of Sociology''. John Scott and [[Gordon Marshall (sociologist)|Gordon Marshall]]. Oxford University Press 2005. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.</ref>

In the early 19th century, various social reformers founded communities based on common ownership. However, unlike many previous communist communities they replaced the religious emphasis with a rational and philanthropic basis.<ref name="britannica">"Communism". ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. 2006. [[Encyclopædia Britannica]] Online.</ref> Notable among them were [[Robert Owen]], who founded [[New Harmony, Indiana|New Harmony]] in Indiana (1825), as well as [[Charles Fourier]], whose followers organized other settlements in the United States such as [[Brook Farm]] (1841–1847).<ref name="britannica"/>

In its modern form, communism grew out of the socialist movement in 19th-century Europe. As the [[Industrial Revolution]] advanced, socialist critics blamed [[capitalism]] for the misery of the [[proletariat]]—a new class of urban factory workers who labored under often-hazardous conditions. Foremost among these critics were [[Karl Marx]] and his associate [[Friedrich Engels]]. In 1848, Marx and Engels offered a new definition of communism and popularized the term in their famous pamphlet ''[[The Communist Manifesto]]''.<ref name="britannica"/>

===Communism in the Soviet Union===
{{main|Communist state}}
[[File:Soviet Union - Russian SFSR (1922).svg|thumb|The [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]] as a part of the [[USSR]] in 1922]]
The [[October Revolution|1917 October Revolution]] in Russia set the conditions for the rise to state power of [[Vladimir Lenin]]'s [[Bolsheviks]], which was the first time any avowedly communist party reached that position. The revolution transferred power to the [[All-Russian Congress of Soviets]], in which the Bolsheviks had a majority.<ref name="or_soviets_1">''Russia in the Twentieth Century: The Quest for Stability''. David R. Marples. p. 38.</ref><ref name="or_soviets_2">''How the Soviet Union is Governed''. Jerry F. Hough. p. 81.</ref><ref name="or_soviets_3">''The Life and Times of Soviet Socialism''. Alex F. Dowlah, John E. Elliott. p. 18.</ref> The event generated a great deal of practical and theoretical debate within the Marxist movement. Marx predicted that [[socialism]] and communism would be built upon foundations laid by the most advanced capitalist development. However, [[Russia]] was one of the poorest countries in Europe with an enormous, largely illiterate peasantry and a minority of industrial workers. Marx had explicitly stated that Russia might be able to skip the stage of bourgeois rule.<ref>Marc Edelman, "Late Marx and the Russian road: Marx and the 'Peripheries of Capitalism'"—book reviews. ''Monthly Review'', December 1984.</ref>

The moderate [[Menshevik]]s (minority) opposed Lenin's Bolshevik (majority) plan for [[Communist revolution|socialist revolution]] before capitalism was more fully developed. The Bolsheviks' successful rise to power was based upon the slogans such as "Peace, bread and land" which tapped into the massive public desire for an end to Russian involvement in the [[World War I|First World War]], the peasants' demand for [[land reform]], and popular support for the [[Soviet (council)|soviets]].<ref>[[#Hol09|Holmes 2009]], p. 18.</ref> The [[Soviet Union]] was established in 1922.

Following Lenin's [[democratic centralism]], the Leninist parties were organized on a hierarchical basis, with active cells of members as the broad base. They were made up only of elite [[Professional revolutionaries|cadres]] approved by higher members of the party as being reliable and completely subject to [[party discipline]].<ref>[[Norman Davies]]. "Communism". ''The Oxford Companion to World War II''. Ed. I. C. B. Dear and [[M. R. D. Foot]]. Oxford University Press, 2001.</ref> The [[Great Purge]] of 1937–1938 was [[Joseph Stalin]]'s attempt to destroy any possible opposition within the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Communist Party]]{{Citation needed|date=December 2018}}. In the [[Moscow Trials]], many old Bolsheviks who had played prominent roles during the Russian Revolution of 1917 or in Lenin's Soviet government afterwards, including [[Lev Kamenev|Kamenev]], [[Grigory Zinoviev|Zinoviev]], [[Alexei Rykov|Rykov]] and [[Nikolai Bukharin|Bukharin]], were accused, pleaded guilty of conspiracy against the Soviet Union and were executed.<ref>Sedov, Lev (1980). ''[http://www.marxists.org/history/etol/writers/sedov/works/red/index.htm The Red Book on the Moscow Trial: Documents]''. New York: New Park Publications. {{ISBN|0-86151-015-1}}.</ref>

===Cold War===
{{main|Cold War}}
Its leading role in the [[World War II|Second World War]] saw the emergence of the [[Soviet Union]] as a [[superpower]], with strong influence over [[Eastern Europe]] and parts of [[Asia]]. The [[Colonial empire|European]] and [[Empire of Japan|Japanese]] empires were shattered and communist parties played a leading role in many independence movements. Marxist–Leninist governments modeled on the Soviet Union took power with Soviet assistance in [[Bulgaria]], [[Czechoslovakia]], [[East Germany]], [[Poland]], [[Hungary]] and [[Romania]]. A Marxist–Leninist government was also created under [[Joseph Tito|Marshal Tito]] in [[Yugoslavia]], but Tito's independent policies led to the expulsion of [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]] from the [[Cominform]] which had replaced the [[Comintern]] and [[Titoism]] was branded "[[Deviationism|deviationist]]". [[People's Socialist Republic of Albania|Albania]] also became an independent Marxist–Leninist state after World War II.<ref name="communistalbania">{{cite web|url=http://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/1880822|title=Kushtetuta e Republikës Popullore Socialiste të Shqipërisë : [miratuar nga Kuvendi Popullor më 28. 12. 1976]. – SearchWorks (SULAIR)|language=Albanian|accessdate=June 3, 2011|archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/60XT817wU?url=http://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/1880822|archivedate=July 29, 2011|deadurl=no|df=}}</ref> Communism was seen as a rival of and a threat to western capitalism for most of the 20th century.<ref name="Georgakas1992">{{cite encyclopedia|title=The Hollywood Blacklist|last=Georgakas|first=Dan|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of the American Left|publisher=University of Illinois Press|year=1992}}</ref>

===Dissolution of the Soviet Union===
{{main|Dissolution of the Soviet Union}}
The Soviet Union was dissolved on December 26, 1991. It was a result of the declaration number 142-Н of the [[Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union|Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union]].<ref name="ReferenceC">{{ru icon}} [[:s:ru:Декларация Совета Республик ВС СССР от December 26, 1991 № 142-Н|Declaration № 142-Н]] of the [[Soviet of Nationalities|Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union]], formally establishing the dissolution of the Soviet Union as a state and subject of international law.</ref> The declaration acknowledged the independence of the former [[Soviet republics]] and created the [[Commonwealth of Independent States]], although five of the signatories ratified it much later or did not do it at all. On the previous day, Soviet President [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] (the eighth and final [[leader of the Soviet Union]]) resigned, declared his office extinct and handed over its powers – including control of the [[Cheget|Soviet nuclear missile launching codes]] – to [[President of Russia|Russian President]] [[Boris Yeltsin]]. That evening at 7:32, the [[Flag of the Soviet Union|Soviet flag]] was lowered from the [[Moscow Kremlin|Kremlin]] for the last time and replaced with the pre-revolutionary [[Flag of Russia|Russian flag]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1225.html|title=Gorbachev, Last Soviet Leader, Resigns; U.S. Recognizes Republics' Independence|work=New York Times|accessdate=April 27, 2015}}</ref>

Previously, from August to December all the individual republics, including Russia itself, had seceded from the union. The week before the union's formal dissolution, eleven republics signed the [[Alma-Ata Protocol]] formally establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States and declaring that the Soviet Union had ceased to exist.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/22/world/end-soviet-union-text-declaration-mutual-recognition-equal-basis.html|title=The End of the Soviet Union; Text of Declaration: 'Mutual Recognition' and 'an Equal Basis'|work=The New York Times|date=December 22, 1991|accessdate=March 30, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1225.html|title=Gorbachev, Last Soviet Leader, Resigns; U.S. Recognizes Republics' Independence|work=The New York Times|accessdate=March 30, 2013}}</ref>

===Present situation===
{{see also|List of anti-capitalist and communist parties with national parliamentary representation}}
[[File:Communism.svg|thumb|upright=1.25|Countries of the world now (red) or previously (orange) having nominally [[Marxism–Leninism|Marxist–Leninist]] governments]]
At present, states controlled by Marxist–Leninist parties under a single-party system include the [[People's Republic of China]], [[Cuba]], [[Laos]] and [[Vietnam]]. [[North Korea]] currently refers to its leading ideology as ''[[Juche]]'', which is portrayed as a development of Marxism–Leninism. Communist parties, or their descendant parties, remain politically important in a number of other countries. The [[South African Communist Party]] is a partner in the [[African National Congress]]-led government. In [[Socialism in India|India]], {{as of|2018|March|lc=y}}, communists lead the government of only one [[states and territories of India|state]], Kerala. In [[Nepal]], communists hold a majority in the [[Nepalese Constituent Assembly|parliament]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11057207|title=Nepal's election The Maoists triumph Economist.com|publisher=Economist.com|date=April 17, 2008|accessdate=October 18, 2009|archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/60XT8Sk3J?url=http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11057207|archivedate=July 29, 2011|deadurl=no|df=}}</ref> The [[Communist Party of Brazil]] was a part of the parliamentary coalition led by the ruling [[Democratic socialism|democratic socialist]] [[Workers' Party (Brazil)|Workers' Party]] until August 2016.

The People's Republic of China has reassessed many aspects of the Maoist legacy and along with Laos, Vietnam and to a lesser degree Cuba has decentralized state control of the economy in order to stimulate growth. [[Chinese economic reform]]s were started in 1978 under the leadership of [[Deng Xiaoping]] and since then China has managed to bring down the poverty rate from 53% in the Mao era to just 6% in 2001.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://econ.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTDEC/EXTRESEARCH/0%2C%2CcontentMDK%3A20634060~pagePK%3A64165401~piPK%3A64165026~theSitePK%3A469382%2C00.html|title=Fighting Poverty: Findings and Lessons from China's Success|publisher=World Bank|accessdate=August 10, 2006|deadurl=yes|archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/60XT8XpKl?url=http://econ.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTDEC/EXTRESEARCH/0,,contentMDK:20634060~pagePK:64165401~piPK:64165026~theSitePK:469382,00.html|archivedate=July 29, 2011|df=}}</ref> These reforms are sometimes described by outside commentators as a regression to [[capitalism]], but the communist parties describe it as a necessary adjustment to existing realities in the post-Soviet world in order to maximize industrial productive capacity. In these countries, the land is a universal public monopoly administered by the state, as are natural resources and vital industries and services. The [[public sector]] is the dominant sector in these economies and the state plays a central role in coordinating economic development.

==Marxist communism==
===Marxism===
[[File:Marx et Engels à Shanghai.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|A monument dedicated to [[Karl Marx]] (left) and [[Friedrich Engels]] (right) in Shanghai, China]]
[[Marxism]], first developed by [[Karl Marx]] and [[Friedrich Engels]] in the mid-1800s, has been the foremost ideology of the communist movement. Marxism considers itself to be the embodiment of [[scientific socialism]], and rather than model an "ideal society" based on intellectuals' design, it is a non-idealist attempt at the understanding of society and history through an analysis based in real life. Marxism does not see communism as a "state of affairs" to be established, but rather as the expression of a real movement, with parameters which are derived completely from real life and not based on any intelligent design.<ref>Marx, Karl. The German Ideology. 1845. Part I: Feuerbach. Opposition of the Materialist and Idealist Outlook. A. Idealism and Materialism. "Communism is for us not a state of affairs which is to be established, an ideal to which reality [will] have to adjust itself. We call communism the real movement which abolishes the present state of things. The conditions of this movement result from the premises now in existence".</ref> Therefore, Marxism does no blueprinting of a communist society and it only makes an analysis which concludes what will trigger its implementation and discovers its fundamental characteristics based on the derivation of real life conditions.

At the root of Marxism is the [[materialist conception of history]], known as historical materialism for short. It holds that the key characteristic of economic systems through history has been the [[mode of production]] and that the change between modes of production has been triggered by [[class struggle]]. According to this analysis, the Industrial Revolution ushered the world into a new mode of production: [[Capitalist mode of production (Marxist theory)|capitalism]]. Before capitalism, certain working classes had ownership of instruments utilized in production, but because machinery was much more efficient this property became worthless and the mass majority of workers could only survive by selling their labor, working through making use of someone else's machinery and therefore making someone else profit. Thus with capitalism the world was divided between two major classes: the proletariat and the bourgeoisie.<ref>Engels, Friedrich. Marx & Engels Selected Works, Volume One, pp. 81–97, Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1969. "Principles of Communism". No. 4 – "How did the proletariat originate?".</ref> These classes are directly antagonistic: the bourgeoisie has private ownership of the means of production and earns a profit off [[surplus value]], which is generated by the proletariat, which has no ownership of the means of production and therefore no option but to sell its labor to the bourgeoisie.

Historical materialism goes on and says: the rising bourgeoisie within feudalism, through the furtherance of its own material interests, captured power and abolished, of all relations of private property, only the feudal privileges and with this took out of existence the feudal ruling class. This was another of the keys behind the consolidation of capitalism as the new mode of production, which is the final expression of class and property relations and also has led into a massive expansion of production. It is therefore only in capitalism that private property in itself can be abolished.<ref>Engels, Friedrich. Marx & Engels Selected Works, Volume One, pp. 81–97, Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1969. "Principles of Communism". No. 15 – "Was not the abolition of private property possible at an earlier time?".</ref> Similarly, the proletariat will capture political power, abolish bourgeois property through the common ownership of the means of production, therefore abolishing the bourgeoisie and ultimately abolishing the proletariat itself and ushering the world into a new mode of production: communism. In between capitalism and communism there is the [[dictatorship of the proletariat]], a democratic state where the whole of the public authority is elected and recallable under the basis of [[universal suffrage]].<ref>Thomas M. Twiss. ''Trotsky and the Problem of Soviet Bureaucracy''. Brill. pp. 28–29.</ref> It is the defeat of the bourgeois state, but not yet of the capitalist mode of production and at the same time the only element which places into the realm of possibility moving on from this mode of production.

An important concept in Marxism is socialization vs. nationalization. Nationalization is merely state ownership of property, whereas socialization is actual control and management of property by society. Marxism considers socialization its goal and considers nationalization a tactical issue, with state ownership still being in the realm of the capitalist mode of production; in the words of Engels: "[The transformation [...] into State-ownership does not do away with the capitalistic nature of the productive forces. [...] State-ownership of the productive forces is not the solution of the conflict, but concealed within it are the technical conditions that form the elements of that solution".<ref>Engels, Friedrich. [[Socialism: Utopian and Scientific]]. Chapter 3. "But, the transformation—either into joint-stock companies and trusts, or into State-ownership—does not do away with the capitalistic nature of the productive forces. In the joint-stock companies and trusts, this is obvious. And the modern State, again, is only the organization that bourgeois society takes on in order to support the external conditions of the capitalist mode of production against the encroachments as well of the workers as of individual capitalists. The modern state, no matter what its form, is essentially a capitalist machine—the state of the capitalists, the ideal personification of the total national capital. The more it proceeds to the taking over of productive forces, the more does it actually become the national capitalist, the more citizens does it exploit. The workers remain wage-workers—proletarians. The capitalist relation is not done away with. It is, rather, brought to a head. But, brought to a head, it topples over. State-ownership of the productive forces is not the solution of the conflict, but concealed within it are the technical conditions that form the elements of that solution".</ref> This has led some Marxist groups and tendencies to label states such as the Soviet Union—based on nationalization—as [[State capitalism|state capitalist]].<ref name="hetsa.org.au">[http://www.hetsa.org.au/pdf/34-A-08.pdf "State capitalism" in the Soviet Union], M.C. Howard and J.E. King.</ref>

===Leninism===
[[File:Lenin-statue-in-Kolkata.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|[[Vladimir Lenin]]'s statue in Kolkata, West Bengal]]
{{quotation|We want to achieve a new and better order of society: in this new and better society there must be neither rich nor poor; all will have to work. Not a handful of rich people, but all the working people must enjoy the fruits of their common labour. Machines and other improvements must serve to ease the work of all and not to enable a few to grow rich at the expense of millions and tens of millions of people. This new and better society is called socialist society. The teachings about this society are called 'socialism'.<br>–Vladimir Lenin, 1903<ref>[http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1903/rp/1.htm "To the Rural Poor" (1903)]. ''Collected Works''. vol. 6. p. 366.</ref>}}
[[Leninism]] is the body of political theory, developed by and named after the Russian revolutionary and later Soviet premier [[Vladimir Lenin]] for the democratic organisation of a revolutionary vanguard party and the achievement of a dictatorship of the proletariat, as political prelude to the establishment of socialism. Leninism comprises socialist political and economic theories developed from Marxism, as well as Lenin's interpretations of Marxist theory for practical application to the socio-political conditions of the agrarian early-twentieth-century [[Russian Empire]]. In February 1917, for five years Leninism was the Russian application of Marxist economics and political philosophy, effected and realised by the Bolsheviks, the vanguard party who led the fight for the political independence of the working class.

===Marxism–Leninism, Stalinism and Trotskyism===
====Marxism–Leninism and Stalinism====
[[File:JStalin Secretary general CCCP 1942 flipped.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|[[Joseph Stalin]], 1942]]
[[Marxism–Leninism]] is a political ideology developed by [[Joseph Stalin]],<ref name="made_by_stalin">Г. Лисичкин (G. Lisichkin), Мифы и реальность, Новый мир (''[[Novy Mir]]''), 1989, № 3, p. 59 {{ru icon}}.</ref> which according to its proponents is based in [[Marxism]] and [[Leninism]]. The term describes the specific political ideology which Stalin implemented in the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] and in a global scale in the [[Comintern]]. There is no definite agreement between historians of about whether Stalin actually followed the principles of Marx and Lenin.<ref name="stalin_follow_marx_lenin">Александр Бутенко (Aleksandr Butenko), Социализм сегодня: опыт и новая теория// Журнал Альтернативы, №1, 1996, pp. 2–22 {{ru icon}}.</ref> It also contains aspects which according to some are deviations from Marxism, such as "[[socialism in one country]]".<ref name="sioc1">''Contemporary Marxism'', issues 4–5. Synthesis Publications, 1981. p. 151. "[S]ocialism in one country, a pragmatic deviation from classical Marxism".</ref><ref name="sioc2">North Korea Under Communism: Report of an Envoy to Paradise. Cornell Erik. p. 169. "Socialism in one country, a slogan that aroused protests as not only it implied a major deviation from Marxist internationalism, but was also strictly speaking incompatible with the basic tenets of Marxism".</ref> Marxism–Leninism was the ideology of the most clearly visible communist movement. As such, it is the most prominent ideology associated with communism.

Marxism–Leninism refers to the socioeconomic system and political ideology implemented by Stalin in the Soviet Union and later copied by other states based on the [[Ideology of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Soviet model]] (central planning, [[one-party state]] and so on), whereas [[Stalinism]] refers to Stalin's style of governance. Marxism–Leninism stayed after [[de-Stalinization]], Stalinism did not. In the last letters before his death, Lenin in fact warned against the danger of Stalin's personality and urged the Soviet government to replace him.<ref>{{cite book|title=Communism: The Great Misunderstanding|last=Ermak|first=Gennady|year=2016|isbn=978-1533082893}}</ref>

[[Maoism]] is a form of Marxism–Leninism associated with Chinese leader [[Mao Zedong]]. After de-Stalinization, Marxism–Leninism was kept in the Soviet Union, but certain [[Anti-revisionism|anti-revisionist]] tendencies such as [[Hoxhaism]] and Maoism argued that it was deviated from, therefore different policies were applied in Albania and China, which became more distanced from the Soviet Union.

Marxism–Leninism has been criticized by other communist and Marxist tendencies. They argue that Marxist–Leninist states did not establish socialism, but rather [[state capitalism]].<ref name="hetsa.org.au"/> According to Marxism, the dictatorship of the proletariat represents the rule of the majority (democracy) rather than of one party, to the extent that co-founder of Marxism [[Friedrich Engels]] described its "specific form" as the [[republicanism|democratic republic]].<ref>''A Critique of the Draft Social-Democratic Program of 1891''. "Marx & Engels Collected Works", Vol 27, p. 217. "If one thing is certain it is that our party and the working class can only come to power under the form of a democratic republic. This is even the specific form for the dictatorship of the proletariat".</ref> Additionally, according to Engels state property by itself is private property of capitalist nature<ref>"Socialism: Utopian and Scientific". Friedrich Engels. [http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1880/soc-utop/ch03.htm Part III]. Progress Publishers. "But, the transformation—either into joint-stock companies and trusts, or into State-ownership—does not do away with the capitalistic nature of the productive forces".</ref> unless the proletariat has control of political power, in which case it forms public property.<ref>"Socialism: Utopian and Scientific". Friedrich Engels. [http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1880/soc-utop/ch03.htm Part III]. Progress Publishers. "The proletariat seizes the public power, and by means of this transforms the socialized means of production, slipping from the hands of the bourgeoisie, into public property. By this act, the proletariat frees the means of production from the character of capital they have thus far borne, and gives their socialized character complete freedom to work itself out".</ref> Whether the proletariat was actually in control of the Marxist–Leninist states is a matter of debate between Marxism–Leninism and other communist tendencies. To these tendencies, Marxism–Leninism is neither Marxism nor Leninism nor the union of both, but rather an artificial term created to justify Stalin's ideological distortion,<ref name="stalin_distortion">History for the IB Diploma: Communism in Crisis 1976–89. Allan Todd. p. 16. "The term Marxism–Leninism, invented by Stalin, was not used until after Lenin's death in 1924. It soon came to be used in Stalin's Soviet Union to refer to what he described as 'orthodox Marxism'. This increasingly came to mean what Stalin himself had to say about political and economic issues." [...] "However, many Marxists (even members of the Communist Party itself) believed that Stalin's ideas and practices (such as socialism in one country and the purges) were almost total distortions of what Marx and Lenin had said".</ref> forced into the CPSU and Comintern. In the Soviet Union, this struggle against Marxism–Leninism was represented by [[Trotskyism]], which describes itself as a Marxist and Leninist tendency.

====Trotskyism====
[[Trotskyism]] is a Marxist and Leninist tendency that was developed by [[Leon Trotsky]], opposed to Stalinism. It supports the theory of [[permanent revolution]] and [[world revolution]] instead of the [[two stage theory]] and [[socialism in one country]]. It supported [[proletarian internationalism]] and another communist revolution in the Soviet Union, which Trotsky claimed had become a "[[degenerated worker's state]]" under the leadership of Stalin, in which class relations had re-emerged in a new form, rather than the [[dictatorship of the proletariat]].

Trotsky and his supporters, struggling against Stalin for power in the Soviet Union, organized into the [[Left Opposition]] and their platform became known as Trotskyism. Stalin eventually succeeded in gaining control of the Soviet regime and Trotskyist attempts to remove Stalin from power resulted in Trotsky's exile from the Soviet Union in 1929. While in exile, Trotsky continued his campaign against Stalin, founding in 1938 the [[Fourth International]], a Trotskyist rival to the [[Comintern]] In August 1940, Trotsky was assassinated in Mexico City on Stalin's orders.

Trotsky's politics differed sharply from those of Stalin and Mao, most importantly in declaring the need for an international proletarian revolution (rather than socialism in one country) and support for a true dictatorship of the proletariat based on democratic principles.

===Libertarian Marxism===
[[Libertarian Marxism]] is a broad range of economic and political philosophies that emphasize the [[anti-authoritarian]] aspects of [[Marxism]]. Early currents of libertarian Marxism, known as left communism,<ref>Pierce, Wayne.[http://www.utopianmag.com/files/in/1000000034/12___WayneLibMarx.pdf Libertarian Marxism's Relation to Anarchism]. "The Utopian". 73–80.</ref> emerged in opposition to [[Marxism–Leninism]]<ref name="Non-Leninist Marxism">{{cite book|title=Non-Leninist Marxism: Writings on the Workers Councils|date=2007|publisher=Red and Black Publishers|isbn=978-0-9791813-6-8|location=St. Petersburg, Florida|page=|pages=|authors=Hermann Gorter, Anton Pannekoek and Sylvia Pankhurst}}</ref> and its derivatives, such as [[Stalinism]], [[Maoism]] and [[Trotskyism]].<ref>Marot, Eric. [http://libcom.org/library/trotsky-left-opposition-rise-stalinism-theory-practice-john-eric-marot "Trotsky, the Left Opposition and the Rise of Stalinism: Theory and Practice"]</ref> Libertarian Marxism is also critical of [[reformist]] positions, such as those held by [[social democrats]].<ref>[http://libcom.org/library/social-democracy-1-aufheben-8 The Retreat of Social Democracy ... Re-imposition of Work in Britain and the 'Social Europe']. ''Aufheben''. Issue No. 8. 1999.</ref> Libertarian Marxist currents often draw from Marx and Engels' later works, specifically the ''[[Grundrisse]]'' and ''[[The Civil War in France]]'',<ref>Ernesto Screpanti, ''Libertarian Communism: Marx Engels and the Political Economy of Freedom'', Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2007.</ref> emphasizing the Marxist belief in the ability of the [[working class]] to forge its own destiny without the need for a revolutionary party or [[State (polity)|state]] to mediate or aid its liberation.<ref>{{cite book|author=[[Hal Draper]]|title=The Principle of Self-Emancipation in Marx and Engels|url=http://socialistregister.com/index.php/srv/article/view/5333|location=|publisher=The Socialist Register|page=|date=1971|isbn=|accessdate=April 25, 2015}}</ref> Along with [[anarchism]], libertarian Marxism is one of the main currents of [[libertarian socialism]].<ref>Chomsky, Noam. [https://web.archive.org/web/20130116194522/http://www.chomsky.info/audionvideo/19700216.mp3 "Government In The Future"] Poetry Center of the New York YM-YWHA. Lecture.</ref>

Libertarian Marxism includes such currents as [[Luxemburgism]], [[council communism]], [[left communism]], ''[[Socialisme ou Barbarie]]'', the [[Johnson-Forest tendency]], [[world socialism]], [[Lettrism]]/[[Situationist International|Situationism]] and [[operaismo]]/[[autonomism]] and [[New Left]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://libcom.org/library/libertarian-marxist-tendency-map|title=A libertarian Marxist tendency map|publisher=libcom.org|date=|accessdate=October 1, 2011}}</ref> Libertarian Marxism has often had a strong influence on both [[Post-left anarchism|post-left]] and [[Social anarchism|social anarchists]]. Notable theorists of libertarian Marxism have included [[Anton Pannekoek]], [[Raya Dunayevskaya]], [[CLR James]], [[Antonio Negri]], [[Cornelius Castoriadis]], [[Maurice Brinton]], [[Guy Debord]], [[Daniel Guérin]], [[Ernesto Screpanti]] and [[Raoul Vaneigem]].

===Council communism===
{{main|Council communism}}
[[Council communism]] is a movement originating in [[Germany]] and the [[Netherlands]] in the 1920s. Its primary organization was the [[Communist Workers Party of Germany]]. Council communism continues today as a theoretical and activist position within both left-wing Marxism and [[libertarian socialism]].

The central argument of council communism, in contrast to those of [[social democracy]] and Leninist communism, is that democratic [[workers' councils]] arising in the factories and municipalities are the natural form of working class organization and governmental power. This view is opposed to both the [[reformist]] and the Leninist [[ideology|ideologies]], with their stress on respectively parliaments and [[New institutionalism|institutional]] government (i.e. by applying social reforms on the one hand and [[Vanguard party|vanguard parties]] and participative [[democratic centralism]] on the other).

The core principle of council communism is that the government and the [[economic system|economy]] should be managed by [[workers' councils]] composed of delegates elected at workplaces and [[recall election|recallable]] at any moment. As such, council communists oppose [[Planned economy|state-run]] [[Authoritarianism|authoritarian]] "[[state socialism]]"/"[[state capitalism]]". They also oppose the idea of a "revolutionary party", since council communists believe that a revolution led by a party will necessarily produce a party dictatorship. Council communists support a worker's democracy, which they want to produce through a federation of workers' councils.

===Left communism===
[[File:Rosa Luxemburg.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|[[Rosa Luxemburg]]]]
[[Left communism]] is the range of communist viewpoints held by the communist left, which criticizes the political ideas and practices espoused—particularly following the series of revolutions which brought the [[First World War]] to an end—by [[Bolshevik]]s and by [[Social Democracy|social democrats]]. Left communists assert positions which they regard as more authentically [[Marxism|Marxist]] and [[Proletariat|proletarian]] than the views of [[Marxism–Leninism]] espoused by the [[Comintern|Communist International]] after its [[1st Congress of the Comintern|first congress]] (March 1919) and during its [[2nd World Congress of the Comintern|second congress]] (July–August 1920).<ref>''Non-Leninist Marxism: Writings on the Workers Councils'' (includes texts by [[Herman Gorter|Gorter]], [[Antonie Pannekoek|Pannekoek]], [[Sylvia Pankhurst|Pankhurst]] and [[Otto Rühle|Rühle]]), Red and Black Publishers, St. Petersburg, Florida, 2007. {{ISBN|978-0-9791813-6-8}}.</ref>

Left communists represent a range of political movements distinct from Marxist–Leninists (whom they largely view as merely the left-wing of capital), from [[anarcho-communist]]s (some of whom they consider internationalist socialists) as well as from various other revolutionary socialist tendencies (for example [[De Leonist]]s, whom they tend to see as being internationalist socialists only in limited instances).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.internationalism.org/book/export/html/761|title=The Legacy of De Leonism, part III: De Leon's misconceptions on class struggle|date=2000–2001|accessdate=|website=Internationalism|publisher=|last=|first=}}</ref>

==Non-Marxist communism==
The dominant forms of communism are based on Marxism, but non-Marxist versions of communism (such as [[Christian communism]] and [[anarcho-communism]]) also exist.

===Anarcho-communism===
[[Anarcho-communism]] (also known as [[libertarian communism]]) is a theory of [[anarchism]] which advocates the abolition of the [[State (polity)|state]], [[private property]] and [[capitalism]] in favor of [[common ownership]] of the [[means of production]],<ref name="Mayne">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6MkTz6Rq7wUC&pg=PA131|title=From Politics Past to Politics Future: An Integrated Analysis of Current and Emergent Paradigms|author=Alan James Mayne|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|page=316|isbn=978-0-275-96151-0|year=1999}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/?id=jeiudz5sBV4C&pg=PA14|title=Anarchism for Know-It-Alls|publisher=Filiquarian Publishing|year=2008|isbn=978-1-59986-218-7}}</ref> [[direct democracy]] and a horizontal network of [[voluntary association]]s and [[workers' council]]s with production and consumption based on the guiding principle: "[[From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs|From each according to his ability, to each according to his need]]".<ref>{{cite web|last=Fabbri|first=Luigi|title=Anarchism and Communism. Northeastern Anarchist #4. 1922|date=13 October 2002|url=http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/anarchist_archives/worldwidemovements/fabbrianarandcom.html|deadurl=yes|archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/60XT4dCPz?url=http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/anarchist_archives/worldwidemovements/fabbrianarandcom.html|archivedate=29 July 2011|df=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Makhno, Mett, Arshinov, Valevski, Linski (Dielo Trouda)|website=The Organizational Platform of the Libertarian Communists|year=1926|title=Constructive Section|url=http://www.nestormakhno.info/english/platform/constructive.htm|deadurl=yes|archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/60XT4n8gw?url=http://www.nestormakhno.info/english/platform/constructive.htm|archivedate=July 29, 2011|df=}}</ref>

[[File:Kropotkin2.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|[[Peter Kropotkin]], main theorist of [[anarcho-communism]]]]
Anarcho-communism differs from Marxism rejecting its view about the need for a state socialism phase before building communism. The main theorist of anarcho-communism, [[Peter Kropotkin]], argued that a revolutionary society should "transform itself immediately into a communist society", that is should go immediately into what Marx had regarded as the "more advanced, completed, phase of communism".<ref name="theanarchistlibrary.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.theanarchistlibrary.org/HTML/Wayne_Price__What_is_Anarchist_Communism_.html|title="What is Anarchist Communism?" by Wayne Price|archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/60XT4wIPV?url=http://www.theanarchistlibrary.org/HTML/Wayne_Price__What_is_Anarchist_Communism_.html|archivedate=July 29, 2011|deadurl=no|df=}}</ref> In this way, it tries to avoid the reappearance of "class divisions and the need for a state to oversee everything".<ref name="theanarchistlibrary.org"/>

Some forms of anarcho-communism such as [[insurrectionary anarchism]] are [[Egoist anarchism|egoist]] and strongly influenced by radical [[individualism]],<ref>Christopher Gray, ''Leaving the Twentieth Century'', p. 88.</ref><ref name="creativenothing">{{cite web|url=http://www.theanarchistlibrary.org/HTML/Renzo_Novatore__Toward_the_Creative_Nothing.html|title=Towards the creative Nothing|first=Renzo|last=Novatore|authorlink=Renzo Novatore|deadurl=yes|archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/60XT5H7mi?url=http://www.theanarchistlibrary.org/HTML/Renzo_Novatore__Toward_the_Creative_Nothing.html|archivedate=July 29, 2011|df=}}</ref><ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite web|url=http://www.theanarchistlibrary.org/HTML/Bob_Black__Nightmares_of_Reason.html#toc22|title=Bob Black. ''Nightmares of Reason''|archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/60XT5e8sI?url=http://www.theanarchistlibrary.org/HTML/Bob_Black__Nightmares_of_Reason.html#toc22|archivedate=July 29, 2011|deadurl=no|df=}}</ref> believing that anarchist communism does not require a communitarian nature at all. Most anarcho-communists view anarchist communism as a way of reconciling the opposition between the individual and society.<ref>"Communism is the one which guarantees the greatest amount of individual liberty—provided that the idea that begets the community be Liberty, Anarchy ... Communism guarantees economic freedom better than any other form of association, because it can guarantee wellbeing, even luxury, in return for a few hours of work instead of a day's work". {{cite web|url=http://www.theanarchistlibrary.org/HTML/Petr_Kropotkin__Communism_and_Anarchy.html|title=Communism and Anarchy|last=Kropotkin|first=Peter|authorlink=Peter Kropotkin|archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/60XT5iyby?url=http://www.theanarchistlibrary.org/HTML/Petr_Kropotkin__Communism_and_Anarchy.html|archivedate=July 29, 2011|deadurl=yes|df=}}</ref><ref>This other society will be libertarian communism, in which social solidarity and free individuality find their full expression, and in which these two ideas develop in perfect harmony. {{cite web|url=http://www.theanarchistlibrary.org/HTML/Dielo_Truda__Workers__Cause___Organisational_Platform_of_the_Libertarian_Communists.html|title=Organisational Platform of the Libertarian Communists|author=Dielo Truda (Workers' Cause)|deadurl=yes|archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/60XT5tf40?url=http://www.theanarchistlibrary.org/HTML/Dielo_Truda__Workers__Cause___Organisational_Platform_of_the_Libertarian_Communists.html|archivedate=July 29, 2011|df=}}</ref><ref>"I see the dichotomies made between individualism and communism, individual revolt and class struggle, the struggle against human exploitation and the exploitation of nature as false dichotomies and feel that those who accept them are impoverishing their own critique and struggle". {{cite web|url=http://www.reocities.com/kk_abacus/vb/wd12persp.html|title=MY PERSPECTIVES – Willful Disobedience Vol. 2, No. 12|archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/60XT65UUG?url=http://www.reocities.com/kk_abacus/vb/wd12persp.html|archivedate=July 29, 2011|deadurl=yes|df=}}</ref>

To date in human history, the best-known examples of an anarcho-communist society, established around the ideas as they exist today and that received worldwide attention and knowledge in the historical canon, are the anarchist territories during the [[Spanish Revolution of 1936|Spanish Revolution]] and the [[Free Territory]] during the [[Russian Revolution (1917)|Russian Revolution]]. Through the efforts and influence of the [[Anarchism in Spain|Spanish anarchists]] during the [[Spanish Revolution of 1936|Spanish Revolution]] within the [[Spanish Civil War]], starting in 1936 anarcho-communism existed in most of [[Aragon]], parts of the [[Levante, Spain|Levante]] and [[Andalusia]] as well as in the stronghold of [[Anarchist Catalonia]] before being brutally crushed. During the Russian Revolution, anarchists such as [[Nestor Makhno]] worked to create and defend—through the [[Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine]]—anarcho-communism in the [[Free Territory]] of the Ukraine from 1919 before being conquered by the Bolsheviks in 1921.

===Christian communism===
{{main|Christian communism}}
[[Christian communism]] is a form of [[religious communism]] based on [[Christianity]]. It is a theological and political theory based upon the view that the teachings of [[Jesus in Christianity|Jesus Christ]] compel Christians to support communism as the ideal social system. Although there is no universal agreement on the exact date when Christian communism was founded, many Christian communists assert that evidence from the [[Bible]] suggests that the first Christians, including the [[Acts of Apostles|Apostles]], established their own small communist society in the years following Jesus' death and resurrection. As such, many advocates of Christian communism argue that it was taught by Jesus and practiced by the Apostles themselves.

Christian communism can be seen as a radical form of [[Christian socialism]]. Christian communists may or may not agree with various aspects of [[Marxism]]. They do not agree with the [[Marxism and religion|atheist and antireligious views held by secular Marxists]], but they do agree with many of the economic and existential aspects of Marxist theory, such as the idea that [[capitalism]] exploits the [[working class]] by extracting [[surplus value]] from the workers in the form of [[Profit (economics)|profits]] and the idea that [[Wage labour|wage labor]] is a tool of human [[Social alienation|alienation]] that promotes arbitrary and unjust [[authority]]. Like Marxism, Christian communism also holds the view that capitalism encourages the negative aspects of humans, supplanting values such as mercy, kindness, justice and compassion in favor of greed, selfishness and blind ambition.

==Criticism==
{{main|Criticism of communist party rule|Criticisms of Marxism}}
{{see also|Anti-communism}}
[[Criticism of communism (disambiguation)|Criticism of communism]] can be divided into two broad categories: that which concerns itself with the practical aspects of 20th century [[communist state]]s<ref name="Bruno Bosteels 2014"/> and that which concerns itself with communist principles and theory.<ref>Raymond C. Taras, ''The Road to Disillusion: From Critical Marxism to Post-communism in Eastern Europe'' (Routledge, 2015).</ref>

Marxism is also subject to general criticisms, criticisms related to [[historical materialism]] that it is a type of [[historical determinism]], the necessary suppression of [[Liberal democracy|liberal democratic rights]], issues with the implementation of communism and economic issues such as the distortion or absence of [[price signal]]s. In addition, empirical and epistemological problems are frequently identified.<ref name=howard>See M. C. Howard and J. E. King, 1992, ''A History of Marxian Economics: Volume II, 1929–1990''. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press.</ref><ref name=popper>{{cite book|last=Popper|first=Karl|authorlink=Karl Popper|title=Conjectures and Refutations: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge|publisher=Routledge|year=2002|isbn=978-0-415-28594-0|page=49}}</ref><ref name=keynes>John Maynard Keynes. Essays in Persuasion. W. W. Norton & Company. 1991. p. 300. {{ISBN|978-0-393-00190-7}}.</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Communism}}
* [[Commons-based peer production]]
* [[:Category:Communism by country|Communism by country]]
* [[Communist party]]
* [[List of communist parties]]
* [[Post-scarcity economy]]
* [[Socialist state]]
* [[Sociocultural evolution]]

==References==
===Citations===
{{reflist|30em}}

=== Bibliography ===
{{refbegin}}
{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|
* {{cite book|last=Bernstein|first=Eduard|date=1895|title=Kommunistische und demokratisch-sozialistische Strömungen während der englischen Revolution|trans-title=Cromwell and Communism: Socialism And Democracy in the Great English Revolution|language=en|publisher=J.H.W. Dietz|location=Stuttgart|url=http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/bernstein/works/1895/cromwell|website=marxists.org|oclc=36367345|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book|last=Holmes|first= Leslie|title=Communism: A Very Short Introduction|year=2009|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford and New York|isbn=978-0-19-955154-5|nopp=|ref=Hol09}}
* {{cite book|last=Lansford|first=Tom|title=Communism|publisher=Marshall Cavendish|year=2007|isbn=978-0-7614-2628-8|ref={{harvid|Lansford|2007}}}}
* {{cite book|last=Link|first=Theodore|title=Communism: A Primary Source Analysis|publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group|year=2004|isbn=978-0-8239-4517-7|ref={{harvid|Link|2004}}}}
* {{cite book|last=Rabinowitch|first=Alexander|title=The Bolsheviks come to power: the Revolution of 1917 in Petrograd|publisher=Pluto Press|year=2004|ref={{harvid|Rabinowitch|2004}}}}
* {{cite encyclopedia|year=2008|title=Ci–Cz Volume 4|encyclopedia=World Book|publisher=World Book, Inc.|location=Chicago, Illinois|isbn=978-0-7166-0108-1}}
}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
* Adamczak, Bini. ''Communism for Kids''. Translated by Jacob Blumenfeld and Sophie Lewis. [[MIT Press]], 2017. {{ISBN|9780262533355}}.
* Adami, Stefano. "Communism", in ''Encyclopedia of Italian [[Literary criticism|Literary Studies]]'', ed. Gaetana Marrone – P. Puppa, Routledge, New York, London, 2006.
* Beer, Max. ''The General History of Socialism and Social Struggles Volumes 1 & 2''. New York, Russel and Russel, Inc. 1957.
* Daniels, Robert Vincent. ''A Documentary History of Communism and the World: From Revolution to Collapse''. University Press of [[New England]], 1994. {{ISBN|978-0-87451-678-4}}.
* [[Jodi Dean|Dean, Jodi]]. ''The Communist Horizon''. Verso, 2012. {{ISBN|978-1844679546}}.
* Dirlik, Arif. ''Origins of Chinese Communism''. Oxford University Press, 1989. {{ISBN|978-0-19-505454-5}}.
* Forman, James D. ''Communism From Marx's Manifesto To 20th century Reality''. New York, Watts. 1972. {{ISBN|978-0-531-02571-0}}.
* [[François Furet|Furet, Francois]] and Deborah Kan (translator). ''The Passing of An Illusion: The Idea of Communism In the Twentieth Century''. [[University of Chicago Press]], 2000. {{ISBN|978-0-226-27341-9}}.
* [[Kristen R. Ghodsee|Ghodsee, Kristen R.]] ''Red Hangover: Legacies of Twentieth-Century Communism''. [[Duke University Press]], 2017. {{ISBN|978-0822369493}}.
* [[Karl Marx|Marx, Karl]] and [[Friedrich Engels]]. ''[[The Communist Manifesto|Communist Manifesto]]''. (Mass Market Paperback – REPRINT), Signet Classics, 1998. {{ISBN|978-0-451-52710-3}}.
* Pons, Silvio and Robert Service. ''A Dictionary of 20th century Communism''. 2010.
* [[Alexandre Zinoviev|Zinoviev, Alexandre]]. ''The Reality of Communism'' (1980), Publisher Schocken, 1984.

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051211121016/http://libcom.org/library/ Libcom.org]. Extensive library of almost 20,000 articles, books, pamphlets and journals on [[libertarian communism]].
* {{cite EB1911|wstitle=Communism|short=x}}
* {{cite NIE|last=Lindsay|first=Samuel McCune|wstitle=Communism|year=1905|short=x}}
* [https://www.loc.gov/rr/rarebook/coll/rad.html The Radical Pamphlet Collection] at the [[Library of Congress]] contains materials on the topic of communism.

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Bible

2018-12-27T22:10:51Z

LeeDidNothingWrong:

{{other uses}}
{{redirect|Biblical|the song by Biffy Clyro|Biblical (song)|the song cycle by Antonín Dvořák|Biblical Songs}}
{{pp-semi-protected|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2012}}{{Use British English Oxford spelling|date=September 2016}}
{{Infobox religious text
| religion = [[Christianity]]
| image = Gutenberg Bible, Lenox Copy, New York Public Library, 2009. Pic 01.jpg
| image_size = 289px
| language = [[Biblical Hebrew]], [[Koine Greek]], [[Aramaic]]
| alt =
| chapters = varies; see ''[[Books of the Bible]]''
| caption = The [[Gutenberg Bible]], the first printed Bible
| period = ''4000s'' BC – 96 AD
}}
{{Bible sidebar}}

The '''Bible''' (from [[Koine Greek]] τὰ βιβλία, ''tà [[biblía]]'', "the books")<ref>{{cite book|title=The Bible: the making and impact on the Bible a history.|edition=|last=Miller & Huber|first=Stephen & Robert|year=2003|publisher=Lion Hudson|location=England|isbn=0-7459-5176-7|page=21}}</ref> is a collection of [[sacred texts]] or scriptures that [[Jews]] and [[Christians]] consider to be a [[Biblical inspiration|product of divine inspiration]] and a record of the relationship between [[God in Abrahamic religions|God]] and [[human]]s. With estimated total sales of over 5 billion copies, it is widely considered to be the most influential and best-selling book of all time.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1601845,00.html|title=The Case For Teaching The Bible|last=Biema|first=David|date=March 22, 2007|website=[[Time Magazine]]|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=August 11, 2018|quote=Simply put, the Bible is the most influential book of all-time... The Bible has done more to shape literature, history, entertainment, and culture than any book ever written. Its influence on world history is unparalleled, and shows no signs of abating. Even pop culture is deeply influenced by the Bible.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/best-selling-book-of-non-fiction|title=Best selling book of non-fiction|publisher=Guinness World Records|accessdate=9 December 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424053111903918104576502782310557332|title=How We Got the Best-Selling Book of All Time|last1=Ryken|first1=Leland|publisher=The Wall Street Journal|accessdate=9 December 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-30036581|title=The Bible tops 'most influential' book survey|last=|first=|date=November 13, 2014|website=[[BBC]]|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=August 11, 2018}}</ref>

Many different authors contributed to the Bible. What is regarded as [[Biblical canon|canonical]] text differs depending on traditions and groups; a number of Bible canons have evolved, with overlapping and diverging contents.{{sfn|Riches|2000|pp=7–8}} The Christian [[Old Testament]] overlaps with the [[Hebrew Bible]] and the Greek [[Septuagint]]; the Hebrew Bible is known in [[Judaism]] as the [[Tanakh]]. The [[New Testament]] is a collection of writings by [[early Christians]], believed to be mostly [[Jewish Christian|Jewish disciples of Christ]], written in first-century [[Koine Greek]]. These early Christian Greek writings consist of [[Gospels]], [[epistle|letters]], and [[Apocalyptic literature|apocalyptic writings]]. Among [[Christian denomination]]s there is some disagreement about what should be included in the canon, primarily about the [[Apocrypha]], a list of works that are regarded with varying levels of respect.

Attitudes towards the Bible also differ amongst Christian groups. [[Roman Catholics]], [[high church]] [[Anglicanism|Anglicans]] and [[Eastern Orthodox]] Christians stress the harmony and importance of the Bible and [[sacred tradition]], while [[Protestantism|Protestant]] churches, including [[Evangelical Anglicans]], focus on the idea of ''[[sola scriptura]]'', or scripture alone. This concept arose during the [[Protestant Reformation]], and many denominations today support the use of the Bible as the only source of Christian teaching.

The Bible has been a massive influence on literature and history, especially in [[Western world|the Western World]], where the [[Gutenberg Bible]] was the first book printed using [[movable type]].<ref name=":0" /> According to the March 2007 edition of ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', the Bible "has done more to shape literature, history, entertainment, and culture than any book ever written. Its influence on world history is unparalleled, and shows no signs of abating."<ref name=":0" /> As of the 2000s, it sells approximately 100 million copies annually.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.economist.com/node/10311317?story_id=10311317|title=The battle of the books|date=22 December 2007|work=The Economist}}</ref><ref name="RussellAsh">{{cite book|title=Top 10 of Everything 2002|author=Ash, Russell|publisher=Dorling Kindersley|year=2001|isbn=0-7894-8043-3|authorlink=Russell Ash}}</ref>
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==Etymology==
The English word ''[[:wikt:Bible|Bible]]'' is from the Latin {{lang|la|biblia}}, from the same word in [[Medieval Latin]] and [[Late Latin]] and ultimately from {{lang-grc-x-koine|τὰ βιβλία|translit=ta biblia}} "the books" (singular {{lang-grc-x-koine|βιβλίον|translit=biblion|label=none}}).<ref name="etymonline-bible">{{OEtymD|bible}}</ref>

[[Medieval Latin]] ''biblia'' is short for ''biblia sacra'' "holy book", while ''biblia'' in Greek and Late Latin is neuter plural (gen. ''bibliorum''). It gradually came to be regarded as a feminine singular noun (''biblia'', gen. ''bibliae'') in medieval Latin, and so the word was loaned as a singular into the vernaculars of Western Europe.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02543a.htm|title=The Catholic Encyclopedia|publisher=Newadvent.org|year=1907|accessdate=2010-04-23}}</ref>
Latin ''biblia sacra'' "holy books" translates Greek {{lang|grc|τὰ βιβλία τὰ ἅγια}} ''tà biblía tà ágia'', "the holy books".<ref>[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%2319917 Biblion, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A'' Greek-English Lexicon'', at Perseus].</ref>

The word {{lang|grc|βιβλίον}} itself had the literal meaning of "paper" or "scroll" and came to be used as the ordinary word for "book".
It is the diminutive of {{lang|grc|βύβλος}} ''byblos'', "Egyptian papyrus", possibly so called from the name of the [[Phoenicia]]n sea port [[Byblos]] (also known as Gebal) from whence Egyptian [[papyrus]] was exported to Greece.
The Greek ''ta biblia'' (lit. "little papyrus books")<ref name="Stagg">[[Frank Stagg (theologian)|Stagg, Frank]]. ''New Testament Theology.'' Nashville: Broadman, 1962. {{ISBN|0-8054-1613-7}}.</ref> was "an expression [[Hellenistic Jews]] used to describe their sacred books (the [[Septuagint]]).<ref>[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/first/scriptures.html "From Hebrew Bible to Christian Bible" by Mark Hamilton] on PBS's site [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/ From Jesus to Christ: The First Christians].</ref><ref>[http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=Bible Dictionary.com etymology of the word "Bible"].</ref> Christian use of the term can be traced to c. 223 CE.<ref name="etymonline-bible" /> The biblical scholar [[F.F. Bruce]] notes that [[Chrysostom]] appears to be the first writer (in his ''Homilies on Matthew'', delivered between 386 and 388) to use the Greek phrase ''ta biblia'' ("the books") to describe both the Old and New Testaments together.{{sfn|Bruce|1988|p=214}}

===Textual history===
By the 2nd century [[Common Era|BCE]], Jewish groups began calling the books of the Bible the "scriptures" and they referred to them as "holy", or in Hebrew כִּתְבֵי הַקֹּדֶשׁ (Kitvei hakkodesh), and Christians now commonly call the Old and New Testaments of the Christian Bible "The Holy Bible" (in Greek {{lang|grc|τὰ βιβλία τὰ ἅγια}}, {{lang|grc-Latn|tà biblía tà ágia}}) or "the Holy Scriptures" ({{lang|grc|η Αγία Γραφή}}, {{lang|grc-Latn|e Agía Graphḗ}}).<ref>[http://biblehub.com/greek/1124.htm Bible Hub] – The NT generally uses 1124 (graphḗ) for the Hebrew Scriptures (the OT) – but see also 2 Tim 3:16 and 2 Pet 3:16. 1124 (graphḗ) was used for the Hebrew Scriptures as early as Aristeas (about 130 bc; so MM)</ref> The Bible was [[Chapters and verses of the Bible|divided into chapters]] in the 13th century by [[Stephen Langton]] and it was divided into verses in the 16th century by French printer [[Robert Estienne]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Where did the chapter and verse numbers of the Bible originate?|url=http://www.catholic.com/quickquestions/where-did-the-chapter-and-verse-numbers-of-the-bible-originate|publisher=CA|deadurl=yes|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120505012549/http://www.catholic.com/quickquestions/where-did-the-chapter-and-verse-numbers-of-the-bible-originate|archivedate=5 May 2012|df=dmy-all}}</ref> and is now usually [[Citation|cited]] by book, chapter, and verse. The division of the Hebrew Bible into verses is based on the ''[[sof passuk]]'' [[cantillation]] mark used by the 10th-century [[Masoretes]] to record the verse divisions used in earlier oral traditions.

The oldest extant copy of a complete Bible is an early 4th-century parchment book preserved in the [[Vatican Library]], and it is known as the [[Codex Vaticanus]]. The oldest copy of the [[Tanakh]] in Hebrew and Aramaic dates from the 10th century CE. The oldest copy of a complete Latin ([[Vulgate]]) Bible is the [[Codex Amiatinus]], dating from the 8th century.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/?id=M1rS4Kce_PMC&pg=PA7#v=onepage|title=Memories of ancient Israel|first=Philip R.|last=Davies|authorlink=Philip R. Davies|page=7|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|year=2008|isbn=978-0-664-23288-7}}{{dead link|date=January 2012}}</ref>

==Development==
{{see also|Authorship of the Bible}}
[[File:Great Isaiah Scroll.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|right|The [[Isaiah scroll]], which is a part of the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]], contains almost the whole [[Book of Isaiah]]. It dates from the 2nd century BCE.]]
[[File:PaulT.jpg|thumb|right|''Saint Paul Writing His Epistles'', 16th-century painting.]]
Professor John K. Riches, [[Professor of Divinity and Biblical Criticism]] at the University of Glasgow, says that "the biblical texts themselves are the result of a creative dialogue between ancient traditions and different communities through the ages",{{sfn|Riches|2000|p=83}} and "the biblical texts were produced over a period in which the living conditions of the writers – political, cultural, economic, and ecological – varied enormously".{{sfn|Riches|2000|p=9}} Timothy H. Lim, a professor of Hebrew Bible and Second Temple Judaism at the [[University of Edinburgh]], says that the [[Old Testament]] is "a collection of authoritative texts of apparently divine origin that went through a human process of writing and editing."<ref>{{cite book |title= The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Very Short Introduction|edition= |last= Lim|first= Timothy H.|year= 2005|publisher= Oxford University Press |location= Oxford|isbn= |page= 41}}</ref> He states that it is not a magical book, nor was it literally written by [[God in Judaism|God]] and passed to mankind.
Parallel to the solidification of the Hebrew canon (c. 3rd century BCE), only the Torah first and then the Tanakh began to be translated into Greek and expanded, now referred to as the [[Septuagint]] or the Greek Old Testament.{{sfn|Riches|2000|p=37}}

In Christian Bibles, the New Testament Gospels were derived from oral traditions in the second half of the first century CE. Riches says that:

<blockquote>Scholars have attempted to reconstruct something of the history of the oral traditions behind the Gospels, but the results have not been too encouraging. The period of transmission is short: less than 40 years passed between the death of Jesus and the writing of Mark's Gospel. This means that there was little time for oral traditions to assume fixed form.<ref name="Riches 2000 23, 37">{{harvnb|Riches|2000|pp=23, 37}}</ref></blockquote>

The Bible was later translated into Latin and other languages. John Riches states that:

<blockquote>The translation of the Bible into Latin marks the beginning of a parting of the ways between Western Latin-speaking Christianity and Eastern Christianity, which spoke Greek, Syriac, Coptic, Ethiopic, and other languages. The Bibles of the Eastern Churches vary considerably: the Ethiopic Orthodox canon includes 81 books and contains many apocalyptic texts, such as were found at Qumran and subsequently excluded from the Jewish canon. As a general rule, one can say that the Orthodox Churches generally follow the Septuagint in including more books in their Old Testaments than are in the Jewish canon.<ref name="Riches 2000 23, 37"/></blockquote>

==Hebrew Bible==
{{Tanakh}}
{{Main|Hebrew Bible|Development of the Hebrew Bible canon}}
[[File:2nd century Hebrew decalogue.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[Nash Papyrus]] (2nd century BCE) contains a portion of a pre-Masoretic Text, specifically the [[Ten Commandments]] and the [[Shema Yisrael]] prayer.]]
The [[Masoretic Text]] is the authoritative [[Biblical Hebrew|Hebrew]] text of the [[Hebrew Bible]], or [[Tanakh]]. It defines the books of the Jewish canon, and also the precise letter-text of these biblical books, with their [[niqqud|vocalization]] and [[cantillation|accentuation]].

The oldest extant manuscripts of the Masoretic Text date from approximately the 9th century CE,<ref>A 7th-century fragment containing the Song of the Sea (Exodus 13:19–16:1) is one of the few surviving texts from the "silent era" of Hebrew biblical texts between the Dead Sea Scrolls and the [[Aleppo Codex]]. See [https://archive.is/20120527082242/http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1178708654713&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull "Rare scroll fragment to be unveiled," Jerusalem Post, May 21, 2007].</ref> and the [[Aleppo Codex]] (once the oldest complete copy of the Masoretic Text, but now missing its [[Torah]] section) dates from the 10th century.

The name [[Tanakh]] ([[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]: {{Hebrew|תנ"ך}}) reflects the threefold division of the Hebrew Scriptures, [[Torah]] ("Teaching"), [[Nevi'im]] ("Prophets") and [[Ketuvim]] ("Writings").

===Torah===
{{Main|Torah}}
{{See also|Oral Torah}}
[[File:Köln-Tora-und-Innenansicht-Synagoge-Glockengasse-040.JPG|thumb|A [[Torah scroll]] recovered from [[Glockengasse Synagogue]] in [[Cologne]].]]
The Torah (תּוֹרָה) is also known as the "Five Books of [[Moses]]" or the [[Pentateuch]], meaning "five scroll-cases".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=CakJchHfN1QC&pg=PA647&lpg=PA647&dq=Pentateuch+from+Greek+meaning+%22five+scroll-cases#v=onepage&q=Pentateuch%20from%20Greek%20meaning%20%22five%20scroll-cases] The Restored New Testament: A New Translation with Commentary, Including the Gnostic Gospels Thomas, Mary, and Judas by [[Willis Barnstone]] – W. W. Norton & Company. p. 647</ref> 
[[File:Samaritan Inscription containing portion of the Bible in nine lines of Hebrew text, currently housed in the British Museum.jpg|thumb|Samaritan Inscription containing portion of the Bible in nine lines of Hebrew text, currently housed in the British Museum]]
The Hebrew names of the books are derived from the [[Incipit|first words]] in the respective texts. The Torah consists of the following five books:
* [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]], ''Beresheeth'' (בראשית)
* [[Book of Exodus|Exodus]], ''Shemot'' (שמות)
* [[Book of Leviticus|Leviticus]], ''Vayikra'' (ויקרא)
* [[Book of Numbers|Numbers]], ''Bamidbar'' (במדבר)
* [[Book of Deuteronomy|Deuteronomy]], ''Devarim'' (דברים)

The first eleven chapters of Genesis provide accounts of the [[Genesis creation narrative|creation]] (or ordering) of the world and the history of God's early relationship with humanity. The remaining thirty-nine chapters of Genesis provide an account of God's [[Biblical covenant|covenant]] with the [[Patriarchs (Bible)|Biblical patriarchs]] [[Abraham]], [[Isaac]] and [[Jacob]] (also called [[Israel (name)|Israel]]) and Jacob's children, the "[[Children of Israel]]", especially [[Joseph (Hebrew Bible)|Joseph]]. It tells of how God commanded Abraham to leave his family and home in the city of [[Ur of the Chaldees|Ur]], eventually to settle in the land of [[Canaan]], and how the Children of Israel later moved to Egypt. The remaining four books of the Torah tell the story of [[Moses]], who lived hundreds of years after the patriarchs. He leads the Children of Israel from slavery in [[Ancient Egypt]] to the renewal of their covenant with God at [[Biblical Mount Sinai|Mount Sinai]] and their wanderings in the desert until a new generation was ready to enter the land of Canaan. The Torah ends with the death of Moses.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=AzZlANCOIRgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:%22Seymour+Rossel%22#v=onepage] The Torah: Portion by Portion By [[Seymour Rossel]] – Torah Aura Productions, 2007, p. 355</ref>

The Torah contains the commandments of God, revealed at Mount Sinai (although there is some debate among traditional scholars as to whether these were all written down at one time, or over a period of time during the 40 years of the wanderings in the desert, while several modern Jewish movements reject the idea of a literal revelation, and critical scholars believe that many of these laws developed later in Jewish history).<ref>[[Mordecai Kaplan]] 1934 ''Judaism as a Civilization'' MacMillan Press</ref><ref>[[Elliot N. Dorff]] 1979 ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=diqTpD-UbW0C&lpg=PA98&pg=PA98#v=onepage Conservative Judaism: Our Ancestors to Our Descendants]''. United Synagogue. p. 98–99 (114–15 in 1978 edition) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906083910/https://books.google.com/books?id=diqTpD-UbW0C&lpg=PA98&pg=PA98#v=onepage |date=6 September 2015 }}</ref><ref>[[Milton Steinberg]] 1947 ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=iBu5Tpc4DtcC&lpg=PA27&pg=PA27&dq=isbn%3A0156106981#v=onepage Basic Judaism]'' Harcourt Brace, pp. 27–28 {{ISBN|0-15-610698-1}} {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906092316/https://books.google.com/books?id=iBu5Tpc4DtcC&lpg=PA27&pg=PA27&dq=isbn%3A0156106981#v=onepage |date=6 September 2015 }}</ref><ref>Gilbert Rosenthal 1973 ''Four paths to One God'' Bloch Publishing pp. 116–28, 180–92, 238–42</ref> These commandments provide the basis for [[Halakha|Jewish religious law]]. Tradition states that there are [[613 commandments]] (''taryag mitzvot'').

===Nevi'im===
{{Main|Nevi'im}}
{{Books of Nevi'im}}
''Nevi'im'' ({{lang-he|נְבִיאִים|translit=Nəḇî'îm}}, "Prophets") is the second main division of the Tanakh, between the ''Torah'' and ''Ketuvim.'' It contains two sub-groups, the Former Prophets ({{lang|he-Latn|Nevi'im Rishonim}} {{lang|he|נביאים ראשונים|rtl=yes}}, the narrative books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings) and the Latter Prophets ({{lang|he-Latn|Nevi'im Aharonim}} {{lang|he|נביאים אחרונים|rtl=yes}}, the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel and the [[Twelve Minor Prophets]]).

The Nevi'im tell the story of the rise of the Hebrew monarchy and its division into two kingdoms, [[ancient Israel and Judah]], focusing on conflicts between the Israelites and other nations, and conflicts among Israelites, specifically, struggles between believers in "the {{LORD}} God"<ref>{{bibleref2|1Kings.18:24;1Kings.18:37–39|9}}</ref> and believers in foreign gods,<ref>George Savran "I and II Kings" in ''The Literary Guide to the Bible'' edited by [[Robert Alter]] and [[Frank Kermode]]. "Each king is judged either good or bad in black-and-white terms, according to whether or not he "did right" or "did evil" in the sight of the Lord. This evaluation is not reflective of the well-being of the nation, of the king's success or failure in war, or of the moral climate of the times, but rather the state of cultic worship during his reign. Those kings who shun idolatry and enact religious reforms are singled out for praise, and those who encourage pagan practices are denounced." 146</ref><ref>[[Yehezkel Kaufmann]] "Israel In Canaan" in ''Great Ages and Ideas of the Jewish People'' edited by Leo Schwartz, The Modern Library. "The fight against Baal was initiated by the prophets" 54</ref> and the criticism of unethical and unjust behaviour of Israelite elites and rulers;<ref>[[Yehezkel Kaufmann]] "The Age of Prophecy" in ''Great Ages and Ideas of the Jewish People'' edited by Leo Schwartz, The Modern Library. "The immediate occasion of the rise of the new prophecy was the political and social ruin caused by the wars with Israel's northerly neighbor, Aram, which continued for more than a century. They raged intensely during the reign of Ahab, and did not end until the time of Jeroboam II (784–744). While the nation as a whole was impoverished, a few – apparently of the royal officialdom – grew wealthy as a result of the national calamity. Many of the people were compelled to sell their houses and lands, with the result that a sharp social cleavage arose: on the one hand a mass of propertyless indigents, on the other a small circle of the rich. A series of disasters struck the nation – drought, famine, plagues, death and captivity (Amos 4: 6–11), but the greatest disaster of all was the social disintegration due to the cleavage between the poor masses and the wealthy, dissolute upper class. The decay affected both Judah and Israel ... High minded men were appalled at this development. Was this the people whom YHWH had brought out of Egypt, to whom He had given the land and a law of justice and right? it seemed as if the land was about to be inherited by the rich, who would squander its substance in drunken revelry. it was this dissolution that brought the prophetic denunciations to white heat." 57–58</ref><ref>[[Abraham Joshua Heschel]] 1955 ''The Prophets'' Harper and Row: "What manner of man is the prophet? A student of philosophy who runs from the discourses of the great metaphysicians to the orations of the prophets may feel as if he were going from the realm of the sublime to an area of trivialities. Instead of dealing with the timeless issues of being and becoming, of matter and form, of definitions and demonstrations, he is thrown into orations about widows and orphans, about the corruption of judges and affairs of the market place. Instead of showing us a way through the elegant mansions of the mind, the prophets take us to the slums. The world is a proud place, full of beauty, but the prophets are scandalized, and rave as if the whole world were a slum. They make much ado about paltry things, lavishing excessive language upon trifling subjects. What if somewhere in ancient Palestine poor people have not been treated properly by the rich? .... Indeed, the sorts of crimes and even the amount of delinquency that fill the prophets of Israel with dismay do not go beyond that which we regard as normal, as typical ingredients of social dynamics. To us a single act of injustice – cheating in business, exploitation of the poor – is slight; to the prophets, a disaster. To us an injustice is injurious to the welfare of the people; to the prophets it is a deathblow to existence; to us an episode; to them, a catastrophe, a threat to the world." 3–4</ref><ref>Joel Rosenberg "I and II Samuel" in ''The Literary Guide to the Bible'' edited by [[Robert Alter]] and [[Frank Kermode]]. "Samuel is thus a work of national self-criticism. It recognizes that Israel would not have survived, either politically or culturally, without the steadying presence of a dynastic royal house. But it makes both that house and its subjects answerable to firm standards of prophetic justice – not those of cult prophets or professional ecstatics, but of morally upright prophetic leaders in the tradition of Moses, Joshua, Deborah, Gideon, and others ..." 141</ref> in which prophets played a crucial and leading role. It ends with the conquest of the Kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians followed by the conquest of the Kingdom of Judah by the Babylonians and the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.

====Former Prophets====
The Former Prophets are the books Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings. They contain narratives that begin immediately after the death of Moses with the divine appointment of Joshua as his successor, who then leads the people of Israel into the [[Promised Land]], and end with the release from imprisonment of the last [[king of Judah]]. Treating Samuel and Kings as single books, they cover:
* Joshua's conquest of the land of Canaan (in the [[Book of Joshua]]),
* the struggle of the people to possess the land (in the [[Book of Judges]]),
* the people's request to God to give them a king so that they can occupy the land in the face of their enemies (in the [[Books of Samuel]])
* the possession of the land under the divinely appointed kings of the House of David, ending in conquest and foreign exile ([[Books of Kings]])

====Latter Prophets====
The Latter Prophets are divided into two groups, the "major" prophets, [[Book of Isaiah|Isaiah]], [[Book of Jeremiah|Jeremiah]], [[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]], [[Book of Daniel|Daniel]], and the [[Twelve Minor Prophets]], collected into a single book. The collection is broken up to form twelve individual books in the Christian [[Old Testament]], one for each of the prophets:
* [[Book of Hosea|Hosea]], ''Hoshea'' (הושע)
* [[Book of Joel|Joel]], ''Yoel'' (יואל)
* [[Book of Amos|Amos]], ''Amos'' (עמוס)
* [[Book of Obadiah|Obadiah]], ''Ovadyah'' (עבדיה)
* [[Book of Jonah|Jonah]], ''Yonah'' (יונה)
* [[Book of Micah|Micah]], ''Mikhah'' (מיכה)
* [[Book of Nahum|Nahum]], ''Nahum'' (נחום)
* [[Book of Habakkuk|Habakkuk]], ''Havakuk'' (חבקוק)
* [[Book of Zephaniah|Zephaniah]], ''Tsefanya'' (צפניה)
* [[Book of Haggai|Haggai]], ''Khagay'' (חגי)
* [[Book of Zechariah|Zechariah]], ''Zekharyah'' (זכריה)
* [[Book of Malachi|Malachi]], ''Malakhi'' (מלאכי)

===Ketuvim===
{{Main|Ketuvim}}
{{Books of Ketuvim}}
''Ketuvim'' or ''Kəṯûḇîm'' (in {{lang-hbo|כְּתוּבִים}} "writings") is the third and final section of the Tanakh. The Ketuvim are believed to have been written under the [[Ruach HaKodesh]] (the Holy Spirit) but with one level less authority than that of [[prophecy]].<ref>[[Jacob Neusner|Neusner, Jacob]], The Talmud Law, Theology, Narrative: A Sourcebook. University Press of America, 2005</ref>

====The poetic books====
[[File:Bhs psalm1.png|thumb|[[Hebrew]] text of {{bibleverse|Psalm|1:1–2}} ]]
In [[Masoretic]] manuscripts (and some printed editions), Psalms, Proverbs and Job are presented in a special two-column form emphasizing the parallel stichs in the verses, which are a function of their [[Biblical poetry|poetry]]. Collectively, these three books are known as ''Sifrei Emet'' (an acronym of the titles in Hebrew, איוב, משלי, תהלים yields ''Emet'' אמ"ת, which is also the Hebrew for "truth").

These three books are also the only ones in Tanakh with a special system of [[cantillation]] notes that are designed to emphasize parallel stichs within verses. However, the beginning and end of the book of Job are in the normal prose system.

====The five scrolls (''Hamesh Megillot'')====
The five relatively short books of [[Song of Songs]], [[Book of Ruth]], the [[Book of Lamentations]], [[Ecclesiastes]] and [[Book of Esther]] are collectively known as the ''Hamesh Megillot'' ([[Five Megillot]]). These are the latest books collected and designated as "authoritative" in the Jewish canon even though they were not complete until the 2nd century CE.<ref name="Coogan2009">Coogan, Michael D. ''A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament: the Hebrew Bible in its Context.'' Oxford University Press. 2009; p. 5</ref>

====Other books====
Besides the three poetic books and the five scrolls, the remaining books in Ketuvim are [[Book of Daniel|Daniel]], [[Ezra–Nehemiah]] and Chronicles. Although there is no formal grouping for these books in the Jewish tradition, they nevertheless share a number of distinguishing characteristics:
* Their narratives all openly describe relatively late events (i.e., the Babylonian captivity and the subsequent restoration of Zion).
* The Talmudic tradition ascribes late authorship to all of them.
* Two of them (Daniel and Ezra) are the only books in the Tanakh with significant portions in [[Biblical Aramaic|Aramaic]].

====Order of the books====
The following list presents the books of Ketuvim in the order they appear in most printed editions. It also divides them into three subgroups based on the distinctiveness of ''Sifrei Emet'' and ''Hamesh Megillot''.

The Three Poetic Books (''Sifrei Emet'')
* ''Tehillim'' ([[Psalms]]) תְהִלִּים
* ''Mishlei'' ([[Book of Proverbs]]) מִשְלֵי
* ''Iyyôbh'' ([[Book of Job]]) אִיּוֹב
The [[Five Megillot]] (''Hamesh Megillot'')
* ''Shīr Hashshīrīm'' ([[Song of Songs]]) or (Song of Solomon) שִׁיר הַשׁשִׁירִים ([[Passover]])
* ''Rūth'' ([[Book of Ruth]]) רוּת ([[Shābhû‘ôth]])
* ''Eikhah'' ([[Book of Lamentations|Lamentations]]) איכה ([[Ninth of Av]]) [Also called ''Kinnot'' in Hebrew.]
* ''Qōheleth'' ([[Ecclesiastes]]) קהלת ([[Sukkôth]])
* ''Estēr'' ([[Book of Esther]]) אֶסְתֵר ([[Pûrîm]])
Other books
* ''Dānî’ēl'' ([[Book of Daniel]]) דָּנִיֵּאל
* ''‘Ezrā'' ([[Book of Ezra]]–[[Book of Nehemiah]]) עזרא
* ''Divrei ha-Yamim'' ([[Books of Chronicles|Chronicles]]) דברי הימים

The Jewish textual tradition never finalized the order of the books in Ketuvim. The [[Talmud|Babylonian Talmud]] ([[Bava Batra]] 14b–15a) gives their order as Ruth, Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Lamentations of Jeremiah, Daniel, Scroll of Esther, Ezra, Chronicles.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=9NUejG2IGPMC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage] The Babylonian Talmud, Vol. 7 of 9: Tract Baba Bathra (Last Gate) translated by Michael L. Rodkinson, first published 1918 – published 2008 by Forgotten Books, p. 53</ref>

In Tiberian [[Masoretic]] codices, including the [[Aleppo Codex]] and the [[Leningrad Codex]], and often in old Spanish manuscripts as well, the order is Chronicles, Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ruth, Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations of Jeremiah, Esther, Daniel, Ezra.<ref>[http://www.beitemet.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10:ketuvim&catid=39:about-the-bible&Itemid=57&fontstyle=f-smaller] Ketuvim כְּתוּבִים 30 July 2008</ref>

====Canonization====
The Ketuvim is the last of the three portions of the Tanakh to have been accepted as [[biblical canon]]. While the Torah may have been considered canon by Israel as early as the 5th century BCE and the [[Former Prophets|Former]] and [[Latter Prophets]] were canonized by the 2nd century BCE, the Ketuvim was not a fixed canon until the 2nd century of the [[Common Era]].<ref name="Coogan2009"/>

Evidence suggests, however, that the people of Israel were adding what would become the Ketuvim to their holy literature shortly after the canonization of the prophets. As early as 132 BCE references suggest that the Ketuvim was starting to take shape, although it lacked a formal title.{{sfn|Henshaw|1963|pp=16–17}} References in the four [[Gospels]] as well as other books of [[the New Testament]] indicate that many of these texts were both commonly known and counted as having some degree of religious authority early in the 1st century CE.

Many scholars believe that the limits of the Ketuvim as canonized scripture were determined by the [[Council of Jamnia]] c. 90 CE. ''[[Against Apion]]'', the writing of [[Flavius Josephus|Josephus]] in 95 CE, treated the text of the Hebrew Bible as a closed canon to which "... no one has ventured either to add, or to remove, or to alter a syllable..."<ref>Lightfoot, Neil R. ''How We Got the Bible'', 3rd edition, rev. and expanded. Baker Book House Company. 2003, pp. 154–55.</ref> For a long time following this date the divine inspiration of Esther, [[the Song of Songs]], and [[Ecclesiastes]] was often under scrutiny.{{sfn|Henshaw|1963|p=17}}

===Original languages===
The Tanakh was mainly written in [[biblical Hebrew]], with some small portions ({{Bibleref2|Ezra|4:8–6:18}} and {{Bibleref2-nb|Ezra|7:12–26}}, {{Bibleref2|Jeremiah|10:11}}, {{Bibleref2|Daniel|2:4–7:28}}) written in [[biblical Aramaic]], a sister language which became the ''[[lingua franca]]'' for much of the Semitic world.<ref name="Driver">[[Sir Godfrey Driver]]. "Introduction to the Old Testament of the New English Bible." Web: 30 November 2009</ref>

== Septuagint ==
{{main|Septuagint}}
[[File:Codex vaticanus.jpg|thumb|upright|Fragment of a Septuagint: A column of [[uncial]] book from [[1 Esdras]] in the ''[[Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1209|Codex Vaticanus]]'' c. 325–350 CE, the basis of Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton's Greek edition and [[Brenton's English Translation of the Septuagint|English translation]].]]
The [[Septuagint]], or the LXX, is a translation of the Hebrew Scriptures and some related texts into [[Koine Greek]], begun in the late 3rd century BCE and completed by 132 BCE,<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=owd9zig7i1oC&pg=PA369 ''Life after death: a history of the afterlife in the religions of the West'' (2004)], Anchor Bible Reference Library, [[Alan F. Segal]], p. 363</ref><ref>Gilles Dorival, Marguerite Harl, and Olivier Munnich, ''La Bible grecque des Septante: Du judaïsme hellénistique au christianisme ancien'' (Paris: Cerfs, 1988), p. 111</ref><ref name="ndq" /> initially in [[Alexandria]], but in time it was completed elsewhere as well.<ref name="Jobes and Silva">{{cite book|author=[[Karen H. Jobes]] and [[Moises Silva]]|title=Invitation to the Septuagint|year=2001|publisher=[[Paternoster Press]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OysSAQAAIAAJ|isbn=1-84227-061-3}}</ref> It is not altogether clear which was translated when, or where; some may even have been translated twice, into different versions, and then revised.<ref>Joel Kalvesmaki, [http://www.kalvesmaki.com/LXX/ The Septuagint]</ref>

As the work of translation progressed, the canon of the Greek Bible expanded. The Torah always maintained its pre-eminence as the basis of the canon but the collection of prophetic writings, based on the ''Nevi'im'', had various [[hagiographa|hagiographical]] works incorporated into it. In addition, some newer books were included in the Septuagint, among these are the [[Books of the Maccabees|Maccabees]] and the [[Wisdom of Sirach]]. However, the book of [[Sirach]], is now known to have existed in a Hebrew version, since ancient Hebrew manuscripts of it were rediscovered in modern times. The Septuagint version of some Biblical books, like [[Book of Daniel|Daniel]] and [[Book of Esther|Esther]], are longer than those in the Jewish canon.<ref>Rick Grant Jones, ''Various Religious Topics'', "[https://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pines/7224/Rick/Septuagint/sp_books.html&date=2009-10-25+07:45:33 Books of the Septuagint]", (Accessed 2006.9.5).</ref> Some of these [[deuterocanonical books]] (e.g. the [[Book of Wisdom|Wisdom of Solomon]], and the [[2 Maccabees|second book of Maccabees]]) were not translated, but composed directly in Greek.{{citation needed|date=October 2012}}

Since [[Late Antiquity]], once attributed to a hypothetical late 1st-century [[Council of Jamnia#Developments attributed to Jamnia|Council of Jamnia]], mainstream [[Rabbinic Judaism]] rejected the Septuagint as valid Jewish scriptural texts. Several reasons have been given for this. First, some mistranslations were claimed. Second, the Hebrew source texts used for the Septuagint differed from the Masoretic tradition of Hebrew texts, which was chosen as canonical by the Jewish rabbis.<ref>"The translation, which shows at times a peculiar ignorance of Hebrew usage, was evidently made from a codex which differed widely in places from the text crystallized by the Masorah." {{cite web|title=Bible Translations – The Septuagint|url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/3269-bible-translations|publisher=JewishEncyclopedia.com|accessdate=10 February 2012}}</ref> Third, the rabbis wanted to distinguish their tradition from the newly emerging tradition of Christianity.<ref name="ndq">"[...] die griechische Bibelübersetzung, die einem innerjüdischen Bedürfnis entsprang [...] [von den] Rabbinen zuerst gerühmt (.) Später jedoch, als manche ungenaue Übertragung des hebräischen Textes in der Septuaginta und Übersetzungsfehler die Grundlage für hellenistische Irrlehren abgaben, lehte man die Septuaginta ab." Verband der Deutschen Juden (Hrsg.), neu hrsg. von Walter Homolka, Walter Jacob, Tovia Ben Chorin: Die Lehren des Judentums nach den Quellen; München, Knesebeck, 1999, Bd.3, S. 43ff</ref><ref>"Two things, however, rendered the Septuagint unwelcome in the long run to the Jews. Its divergence from the accepted text (afterward called the Masoretic) was too evident; and it therefore could not serve as a basis for theological discussion or for homiletic interpretation. This distrust was accentuated by the fact that it had been adopted as Sacred Scripture by the new faith [Christianity] [...] In course of time it came to be the canonical Greek Bible [...] It became part of the Bible of the Christian Church."{{cite web|title=Bible Translations – The Septuagint|url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/3269-bible-translations|publisher=JewishEncyclopedia.com|accessdate=10 February 2012}}</ref>
Finally, the rabbis claimed a divine authority for the Hebrew language, in contrast to Aramaic or Greek – even though these languages were the ''[[lingua franca]]'' of Jews during this period (and Aramaic would eventually be given a holy language status comparable to Hebrew).<ref>Mishnah Sotah (7:2–4 and 8:1), among many others, discusses the sacredness of Hebrew, as opposed to Aramaic or Greek. This is comparable to the authority claimed for the original Arabic Koran according to Islamic teaching. As a result of this teaching, translations of the Torah into Koine Greek by early Jewish [[Rabbi]]s have survived as rare fragments only.</ref>

The Septuagint is the basis for the [[Vetus Latina|Old Latin]], [[Old Church Slavonic language|Slavonic]], [[Syro-hexaplar version|Syriac]], Old [[Armenian language|Armenian]], Old [[Georgian language|Georgian]] and [[Coptic language|Coptic]] versions of the Christian [[Old Testament]].<ref name="Würthwein">Ernst Würthwein, ''The Text of the Old Testament'', trans. Errol F. Rhodes, Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. Eerdmans, 1995.</ref> The [[Roman Catholic]] and [[Eastern Orthodox]] Churches use most of the books of the Septuagint, while [[Protestant]] churches usually do not. After the [[Protestant Reformation]], many [[Protestant Bibles]] began to follow the Jewish canon and exclude the additional texts, which came to be called [[Biblical apocrypha]]. The Apocrypha are included under a separate heading in the [[Authorized King James Version|King James Version]] of the Bible, the basis for the [[Revised Standard Version]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/nets/edition/|title=NETS: Electronic Edition|publisher=Ccat.sas.upenn.edu|date=2011-02-11|accessdate=2012-08-13}}</ref>

===Incorporations from Theodotion===
In most ancient copies of the Bible which contain the Septuagint version of the Old Testament, the [[Book of Daniel]] is not the original Septuagint version, but instead is a copy of [[Theodotion]]'s translation from the Hebrew, which more closely resembles the Masoretic Text.{{citation needed|date=June 2014}} The Septuagint version was discarded in favour of Theodotion's version in the 2nd to 3rd centuries CE. In Greek-speaking areas, this happened near the end of the 2nd century, and in Latin-speaking areas (at least in North Africa), it occurred in the middle of the 3rd century. History does not record the reason for this, and St. [[Jerome]] reports, in the preface to the [[Vulgate]] version of Daniel, "This thing 'just' happened."<ref name="EncBibTV">{{EncyclopaediaBiblica|article=Text and Versions|section=Text and Versions}}</ref> One of two Old Greek texts of the Book of Daniel has been recently rediscovered and work is ongoing in reconstructing the original form of the book.<ref name="Dines">Jennifer M. Dines, ''The Septuagint'', Michael A. Knibb, Ed., London: T&T Clark, 2004.</ref>

The canonical [[Ezra–Nehemiah]] is known in the Septuagint as "Esdras B", and 1 Esdras is "Esdras A". 1 Esdras is a very similar text to the books of Ezra–Nehemiah, and the two are widely thought by scholars to be derived from the same original text. It has been proposed, and is thought highly likely by scholars, that "Esdras B" – the canonical Ezra–Nehemiah – is Theodotion's version of this material, and "Esdras A" is the version which was previously in the Septuagint on its own.<ref name="EncBibTV"/>

===Final form===
Some texts are found in the Septuagint but are not present in the Hebrew. These additional books are [[Book of Tobit|Tobit]], [[Judith]], [[Book of Wisdom|Wisdom of Solomon]], [[Sirach|Wisdom of Jesus son of Sirach]], [[Book of Baruch|Baruch]], the [[Letter of Jeremiah]] (which later became chapter 6 of Baruch in the Vulgate), [[additions to Daniel]] ([[The Prayer of Azariah|The Prayer of Azarias]], the [[The Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Holy Children|Song of the Three Children]], [[Susanna (Book of Daniel)|Susanna]] and [[Bel and the Dragon]]), additions to [[Book of Esther|Esther]], [[1 Maccabees]], [[2 Maccabees]], [[3 Maccabees]], [[4 Maccabees]], [[1 Esdras]], [[Book of Odes (Bible)|Odes]], including the [[Prayer of Manasseh]], the [[Psalms of Solomon]], and [[Psalm 151]].

Some books that are set apart in the Masoretic Text are grouped together. For example, the [[Books of Samuel]] and the [[Books of Kings]] are in the LXX one book in four parts called Βασιλειῶν ("Of Reigns"). In LXX, the [[Books of Chronicles]] supplement Reigns and it is called ''Paralipomenon'' (Παραλειπομένων – things left out). The Septuagint organizes the [[minor prophets]] as twelve parts of one Book of Twelve.<ref name="Dines"/>

{|class="toccolours" cellspacing="0px" style="width:75%; margin:auto; clear:center; text-align:left; font-size:85%;"
|- style="vertical-align:bottom; font-weight:bold;"
| style="border-bottom:2px groove #aaa; "| The Orthodox <br />Old Testament<ref name="Jobes and Silva"/><ref name="McLay">Timothy McLay, ''The Use of the Septuagint in New Testament Research {{ISBN|0-8028-6091-5}}.'' – The current standard introduction on the NT & LXX.</ref>{{efn|The canon of the original Old Greek LXX is disputed. This table reflects the canon of the Old Testament as used currently in Orthodoxy.}}
| style="border-bottom:2px groove #aaa; "|Greek-based<br /> name
| style="border-bottom:2px groove #aaa; "|Conventional<br /> English name
|-
!colspan=3|Law
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Γένεσις}} || Génesis || Genesis
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἔξοδος}} || Éxodos || Exodus
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Λευϊτικόν}} || Leuitikón || Leviticus
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἀριθμοί}} || Arithmoí || Numbers
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Δευτερονόμιον}} || Deuteronómion || Deuteronomy
|-
!colspan=3|History
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἰησοῦς Nαυῆ}} || Iêsous Nauê || Joshua
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Κριταί}} || Kritaí || Judges
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ῥούθ}} || Roúth || Ruth
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Βασιλειῶν Αʹ{{efn|{{lang|grc|Βασιλειῶν}} (Basileiōn) is the genitive plural of {{lang|grc|Βασιλεῖα}} (Basileia).}}}} || I Reigns || I Samuel
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Βασιλειῶν Βʹ}} || II Reigns || II Samuel
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Βασιλειῶν Γʹ}} || III Reigns || I Kings
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Βασιλειῶν Δʹ}} || IV Reigns || II Kings
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Παραλειπομένων Αʹ}} || I Paralipomenon{{efn|That is, ''Things set aside'' from {{lang|grc|Ἔσδρας Αʹ}}.}} || I Chronicles
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Παραλειπομένων Βʹ}} || II Paralipomenon || II Chronicles
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἔσδρας Αʹ}} || I Esdras || 1 Esdras
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἔσδρας Βʹ}} || II Esdras || Ezra–Nehemiah
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Τωβίτ}}{{efn|Also called Τωβείτ or Τωβίθ in some sources.}} || Tobit || Tobit or Tobias
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἰουδίθ}} || Ioudith || Judith
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἐσθήρ}} || Esther || Esther with additions
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Μακκαβαίων Αʹ}} || [[I Maccabees|I Makkabaioi]] || 1 Maccabees
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Μακκαβαίων Βʹ}} || [[II Maccabees|II Makkabaioi]] || 2 Maccabees
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Μακκαβαίων Γʹ}} || [[III Maccabees|III Makkabaioi]] || 3 Maccabees
|-
!colspan=3|Wisdom
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ψαλμοί}} || [[Psalms]] || Psalms
|-
| style="text-indent:2em"|{{lang|grc|Ψαλμός ΡΝΑʹ}} || [[Psalm 151]] || Psalm 151
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Προσευχὴ Μανάσση}} || [[Prayer of Manasseh]] || Prayer of Manasseh
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἰώβ}} || Iōb || Job
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Παροιμίαι}} || [[Book of Proverbs|Proverbs]] || Proverbs
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἐκκλησιαστής}} || [[Ecclesiastes|Ekklesiastes]] || Ecclesiastes
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἆσμα Ἀσμάτων}} || [[Shir Hashirim|Song of Songs]] || Song of Solomon or Canticles
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Σοφία Σαλoμῶντος}} || [[Wisdom of Solomon]] || Wisdom
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Σοφία Ἰησοῦ Σειράχ}} || [[Sirach|Wisdom of Jesus the son of Seirach]] || Sirach or Ecclesiasticus
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ψαλμοί Σαλoμῶντος}} || [[Psalms of Solomon]] || Psalms of Solomon<ref>Not in Orthodox Canon, but originally included in the LXX. http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/nets/edition/</ref>
|-
!colspan=3|Prophets
|-
!style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Δώδεκα}} || The Twelve || Minor Prophets
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ὡσηέ Αʹ}} || I. Osëe || Hosea
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ἀμώς Βʹ}} || II. Amōs || Amos
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Μιχαίας Γʹ}} || III. Michaias || Micah
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ἰωήλ Δʹ}} || IV. Ioël || Joel
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ὀβδίου Εʹ}}{{efn|Obdiou is genitive from "The vision ''of'' Obdias", which opens the book.}} || V. Obdias || Obadiah
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ἰωνᾶς Ϛ'}} || VI. Ionas || Jonah
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ναούμ Ζʹ}} || VII. Naoum || Nahum
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ἀμβακούμ Ηʹ}} || VIII. Ambakum || Habakkuk
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Σοφονίας Θʹ}} || IX. Sophonias || Zephaniah
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ἀγγαῖος Ιʹ}} || X. Angaios || Haggai
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ζαχαρίας ΙΑʹ}} || XI. Zacharias || Zachariah
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ἄγγελος ΙΒʹ}} || XII. Messenger || Malachi
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἠσαΐας}} || Hesaias || Isaiah
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἱερεμίας}} || Hieremias || Jeremiah
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Βαρούχ}} || Baruch || Baruch
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Θρῆνοι}} || Lamentations || Lamentations
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἐπιστολή Ιερεμίου}} || [[Epistle of Jeremiah]] || Letter of Jeremiah
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἰεζεκιήλ}} || Iezekiêl || Ezekiel
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Δανιήλ}} || Daniêl || Daniel with additions
|-
!colspan=3|Appendix
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Μακκαβαίων Δ' Παράρτημα}} || [[IV Maccabees|IV Makkabees]] || 4 Maccabees{{efn|Originally placed after 3 Maccabees and before Psalms, but placed in an appendix of the Orthodox Canon}}
|}

==Christian Bibles==
{{Christianity}}
{{Main|Christian biblical canons|List of English Bible translations}}
[[File:Gutenberg Bible scan.jpg|thumb|A page from the [[Gutenberg Bible]] ]]
A Christian Bible is a set of books that a [[Christian denomination]] regards as [[Biblical inspiration|divinely inspired]] and thus constituting [[Religious text|scripture]]. Although the [[Early Christianity|Early Church]] primarily used the Septuagint or the [[Targum]]s among [[Aramaic]] speakers, the [[Apostle (Christian)|apostles]] did not leave a defined set of new scriptures; instead the canon of the New Testament [[Development of the New Testament canon|developed over time]]. Groups within Christianity include differing books as part of their sacred writings, most prominent among which are the biblical apocrypha or deuterocanonical books.

Significant versions of the English Christian Bible include the [[Douay-Rheims Bible]], the [[Authorized King James Version]], the [[English Revised Version]], the [[American Standard Version]], the [[Revised Standard Version]], the [[New American Standard Version]], the [[New King James Version]], the [[New International Version]], and the [[English Standard Version]].

===Old Testament===
{{Main|Old Testament}}
The books which make up the Christian Old Testament differ between the Catholic (see [[Catholic Bible]]), Orthodox, and Protestant (see [[Protestant Bible]]) churches, with the Protestant movement accepting only those books contained in the Hebrew Bible, while Catholics and Orthodox have wider canons. A few groups consider particular translations to be divinely inspired, notably the Greek Septuagint and the Aramaic [[Peshitta]].{{citation needed|date=June 2012}}

====Apocryphal or deuterocanonical books====
In [[Eastern Christianity]], translations based on the Septuagint still prevail. The Septuagint was generally abandoned in favour of the 10th-century Masoretic Text as the basis for translations of the Old Testament into [[Western world|Western]] languages.{{citation needed|date=October 2012}} Some modern Western translations since the [[Wycliffe's Bible|14th century]] make use of the Septuagint to clarify passages in the Masoretic Text, where the Septuagint may preserve a variant reading of the Hebrew text.{{citation needed|date=October 2012}} They also sometimes adopt variants that appear in other texts, e.g., those discovered among the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]].<ref>[http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/bible-versions-and-translations/the-masoretic-text-and-the-dead-sea-scrolls/ The Masoretic Text and the Dead Sea Scrolls] – ''biblicalarchaeology.org.'' Retrieved 26 December 2012.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/03d/sine-data,_Absens,_Dead_Sea_Scrolls_%5BTexts_And_Translations%5D,_EN.pdf |title=Dead Sea Scrolls |format=PDF |accessdate=2013-06-06}}</ref>

A number of books which are part of the [[Syriac versions of the Bible|Peshitta]] or the Greek Septuagint but are not found in the Hebrew (Rabbinic) Bible (i.e., among the protocanonical books) are often referred to as deuterocanonical books by Roman Catholics referring to a later secondary (i.e., deutero) canon, that canon as fixed definitively by the [[Council of Trent]] 1545–1563.<ref>[http://www.bible-researcher.com/trent1.html Council of Trent: ''Decretum de Canonicis Scripturis'' "Decree Concerning the Canonical Scriptures"], from the Council's fourth session, of 4 April 1546: Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent, The Fourth Session, ''Celebrated on the eighth day of the month of April, in the year 1546'', English translation by James Waterworth (London 1848).</ref><ref>The Council of Trent confirmed the identical list/canon of sacred scriptures already anciently approved by the [[Synod of Hippo]] (Synod of 393), [[Council of Carthage (397)|Council of Carthage, 28 August 397]], and [http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Councils/ecum17.htm Council of Florence (originally Council of Basel), Session 11, 4 February 1442]  – [Bull of union with the Copts] ''seventh paragraph down''.</ref> It includes 46 books for the Old Testament (45 if Jeremiah and Lamentations are counted as one) and 27 for the New.<ref name=120_>{{CCC|120|accessdate=6 Aug 2014|long=yes}}</ref>

Most Protestants term these books as [[Biblical apocrypha|apocrypha]]. Modern [[Protestantism|Protestant]] traditions do not accept the deuterocanonical books as canonical, although Protestant Bibles included them in Apocrypha sections until the 1820s. However, Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches include these books as part of their Old Testament.

The Roman Catholic Church recognizes:<ref>[[Canon of Trent#List|Canon of Trent: List of the Canonical Scriptures]].
{{quote|But if anyone receive not, as sacred and canonical, the said books entire with all their parts, as they have been used to be read in the Catholic Church, and as they are contained in the old Latin vulgate edition; and knowingly and deliberately [[contemn]] the traditions aforesaid; let him be [[anathema]].|''Decretum de Canonicis Scripturis'', Council of Trent, 8 April 1546}}</ref>
* [[Book of Tobit|Tobit]]
* [[Book of Judith|Judith]]
* [[1 Maccabees]]
* [[2 Maccabees]]
* [[Book of Wisdom|Wisdom]]
* [[Wisdom of Sirach|Sirach]] (or Ecclesiasticus)
* [[Book of Baruch|Baruch]]
* [[The Letter of Jeremiah]] ([[Book of Baruch|Baruch]] Chapter 6)
* [[Additions to Esther|Greek Additions to Esther]] (Book of Esther, chapters 10:4–12:6)
* [[The Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Holy Children]] ''verses 1–68'' (Book of Daniel, chapter 3, verses 24–90)
* [[Susanna (Book of Daniel)|Susanna]] (Book of Daniel, chapter 13)
* [[Bel and the Dragon]] (Book of Daniel, chapter 14)

In addition to those, the [[Greek Orthodox Church|Greek]] and [[Russian Orthodox Church]]es recognize the following: {{citation needed|date=June 2012}}
* [[3 Maccabees]]
* [[1 Esdras]]
* [[Prayer of Manasseh]]
* [[Psalm 151]]

Russian and Georgian Orthodox Churches include:{{citation needed|date=June 2012}}
* [[2 Esdras]] i.e., Latin Esdras in the Russian and Georgian Bibles

There is also [[4 Maccabees]] which is only accepted as canonical in the [[Georgian Orthodox Church|Georgian Church]], but was included by [[St. Jerome]] in an appendix to the [[Vulgate]], and is an appendix to the Greek Orthodox Bible, and it is therefore sometimes included in collections of the Apocrypha.{{citation needed|date=June 2012}}

The [[Syriac Orthodox Church|Syriac Orthodox tradition]] includes:{{citation needed|date=June 2012}}
* [[Psalms 152–155|Psalms 151–155]]
* The [[Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch|Apocalypse of Baruch]]
* [[2 Baruch#The Letter of Baruch|The Letter of Baruch]]

The [[Ethiopian Biblical canon]] includes:{{citation needed|date=June 2012}}
* [[Jubilees]]
* [[Book of Enoch|Enoch]]
* [[Meqabyan|1–3 Meqabyan]]
and some other books.

The [[Anglican Church]] uses some of the [[Deuterocanonical books|Apocryphal books]] liturgically. Therefore, editions of the Bible intended for use in the Anglican Church include the Deuterocanonical books accepted by the Catholic Church, plus [[1 Esdras]], [[2 Esdras]] and the [[Prayer of Manasseh]], which were in the Vulgate appendix. {{citation needed|date=June 2012}}

==== Pseudepigraphal books ====
{{Main|Pseudepigrapha}}

The term Pseudepigrapha commonly describes numerous works of Jewish religious literature written from about 300 BCE to 300 CE. Not all of these works are actually pseudepigraphical. It also refers to books of the New Testament canon whose authorship is misrepresented. The "Old Testament" Pseudepigraphal works include the following:<ref name ="Harris">[[Stephen L Harris|Harris, Stephen L.]], ''Understanding the Bible''. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985.</ref>
* [[3 Maccabees]]
* [[4 Maccabees]]
* [[Assumption of Moses]]
* Ethiopic [[Book of Enoch]] (1 Enoch)
* Slavonic [[Second Book of Enoch|Book of Enoch]] (2 Enoch)
* Hebrew [[3 Enoch|Book of Enoch]] (3 Enoch) (also known as "The Revelation of Metatron" or "The Book of Rabbi Ishmael the High Priest")
* [[Book of Jubilees]]
* [[Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch]] (2 Baruch)
* [[Letter of Aristeas]] (Letter to Philocrates regarding the translating of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek)
* [[Life of Adam and Eve]]
* [[Martyrdom and Ascension of Isaiah]]
* [[Psalms of Solomon]]
* [[Sibylline Oracles]]
* [[Greek Apocalypse of Baruch]] (3 Baruch)
* [[Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs]]

===== Book of Enoch =====
Notable pseudepigraphal works include the Books of Enoch (such as [[1 Enoch]], [[Second Book of Enoch|2 Enoch]], surviving only in [[Old Church Slavonic|Old Slavonic]], and [[3 Enoch]], surviving in [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], c. 5th to 6th century CE). These are ancient [[Jewish]] religious works, traditionally ascribed to the prophet [[Enoch (Biblical figure)|Enoch]], the great-grandfather of the patriarch [[Noah]]. They are not part of the [[biblical canon]] used by [[Jews]], apart from [[Beta Israel]]. Most Christian denominations and traditions may accept the Books of Enoch as having some historical or theological interest or significance. It has been observed that part of the Book of Enoch is quoted in the [[Epistle of Jude]] (part of the New Testament) but Christian denominations generally regard the Books of Enoch as non-canonical or non-inspired.<ref>[http://reluctant-messenger.com/enoch.htm The Book of Enoch] – The Reluctant Messenger. Retrieved 14 June 2014.</ref> However, the Enoch books are treated as canonical by the [[Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church]] and [[Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church]].

The older sections (mainly in the Book of the Watchers) are estimated to date from about 300 BCE, and the latest part (Book of Parables) probably was composed at the end of the 1st century BCE.<ref>Fahlbusch E., Bromiley G.W. ''The Encyclopedia of Christianity: P–Sh'' p. 411, {{ISBN|0-8028-2416-1}} (2004)</ref>

===== Denominational views of Pseudepigrapha =====
There arose in some Protestant biblical scholarship an extended use of the term ''pseudepigrapha'' for works that appeared as though they ought to be part of the biblical canon, because of the authorship ascribed to them, but which stood outside both the [[biblical canon]]s recognized by Protestants and Catholics. These works were also outside the particular set of books that Roman Catholics called ''deuterocanonical'' and to which Protestants had generally applied the term Apocryphal. Accordingly, the term ''pseudepigraphical'', as now used often among both Protestants and Roman Catholics (allegedly for the clarity it brings to the discussion), may make it difficult to discuss questions of pseudepigraphical authorship of canonical books dispassionately with a lay audience. To confuse the matter even more, Eastern Orthodox Christians accept books as canonical that Roman Catholics and most Protestant denominations consider pseudepigraphical or at best of much less authority. There exist also churches that reject some of the books that Roman Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants accept. The same is true of some [[Jewish denominations|Jewish sects]]. Many works that are "apocryphal" are otherwise considered genuine.

====Role of the Old Testament in Christian theology====
{{further|Sola scriptura|Christian theology}}
The Old Testament has always been central to the life of the Christian church. Bible scholar [[N.T. Wright]] says "Jesus himself was profoundly shaped by the scriptures."{{sfn|Wright|2005|p=3}} He adds that the earliest Christians also searched those same Hebrew scriptures in their effort to understand the earthly life of Jesus. They regarded the "holy writings" of the Israelites as necessary and instructive for the Christian, as seen from Paul's words to Timothy (2 Timothy 3:15), and as pointing to the Messiah, and as having reached a climactic fulfillment in Jesus himself, generating the "[[new covenant]]" prophesied by [[Jeremiah]].<ref name="Wright">{{harvnb|Wright|2005|p=}}</ref>

===New Testament===
{{Main|Development of the New Testament canon}}
The New Testament is the name given to the second and final portion of the Christian Bible. [[Jesus]] is its central figure.

The term "New Testament" came into use in the second century during a controversy among Christians over whether or not the Hebrew Bible should be included with the Christian writings as sacred scripture. The New Testament presupposes the inspiration of the Old Testament.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=O5BHAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA343&lpg=PA343&dq=The+New+Testament+presupposes+the+inspiration+of+the+Old+Testament#v=onepage&q=The%20New%20Testament%20presupposes%20the%20inspiration%20of%20the%20Old%20Testament] ''Inspiration and Inerrancy: A History and a Defense'', Henry Preserved Smith – R. Clarke, 1893, p. 343</ref> Some other works which were widely read by early churches were excluded from the New Testament and relegated to the collections known as the [[Apostolic Fathers]] (generally considered orthodox) and the New Testament [[Apocrypha]] (including both orthodox and heretical works).

The New Testament is a collection of 27 books<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=m2Lz7iwklhAC&pg=PA439&lpg=PA439&dq=The+New+Testament+is+a+collection+of+27+books#v=onepage&q=The%20New%20Testament%20is%20a%20collection%20of%2027%20books] What the Bible is All About Visual Edition by Henrietta C. Mears – Gospel Light Publications, 2007. pp. 438–39</ref> of 4 different [[genres]] of Christian literature ([[Gospels]], one account of the [[Acts of the Apostles]], [[Epistles]] and an [[Apocalyptic literature|Apocalypse]]). These books can be grouped into:

{{Col-begin}}
{{Col-break}}
[[Gospel|The Gospels]]
* [[Synoptic Gospels]]
** [[Gospel of Matthew|Gospel According to Matthew]]
** [[Gospel of Mark|Gospel According to Mark]]
** [[Gospel of Luke|Gospel According to Luke]]
* [[Gospel of John|Gospel According to John]]
[[Acts of the Apostles (genre)|Narrative literature]], account and history of the Apostolic age
* [[Acts of the Apostles]]

[[Pauline Epistles]]
* [[Epistle to the Romans]]
* [[First Epistle to the Corinthians]]
* [[Second Epistle to the Corinthians]]
* [[Epistle to the Galatians]]
* [[Epistle to the Ephesians]]
* [[Epistle to the Philippians]]
* [[Epistle to the Colossians]]
* [[First Epistle to the Thessalonians]]
* [[Second Epistle to the Thessalonians]]
{{Col-break}}

[[Pastoral epistles]]
* [[First Epistle to Timothy]]
* [[Second Epistle to Timothy]]
* [[Epistle to Titus]]
* [[Epistle to Philemon]]
* [[Epistle to the Hebrews]]

[[General epistles]], also called catholic epistles
* [[Epistle of James]]
* [[First Epistle of Peter]]
* [[Second Epistle of Peter]]
* [[First Epistle of John]]
* [[Second Epistle of John]]
* [[Third Epistle of John]]
* [[Epistle of Jude]]

[[Apocalyptic literature]], also called Prophetical
* [[Book of Revelation|Revelation]], or the Apocalypse
{{Col-end}}

The New Testament books are ordered differently in the Catholic/Orthodox/Protestant tradition, the [[Slavonic translations of the Bible|Slavonic tradition]], the [[Syriac versions of the Bible|Syriac]] tradition and the Ethiopian tradition.

====Original language====
{{see also|Language of the New Testament}}
The mainstream consensus is that the New Testament was written in a form of [[Koine Greek]],<ref>Kurt Aland, Barbara Aland The text of the New Testament: an introduction to the critical 1995 p. 52 "The New Testament was written in Koine Greek, the Greek of daily conversation. The fact that from the first all the New Testament writings were written in Greek is conclusively demonstrated by their citations from the Old Testament ..."</ref><ref>Archibald Macbride Hunter Introducing the New Testament 1972 p9 "How came the twenty-seven books of the New Testament to be gathered together and made authoritative Christian scripture? 1. All the New Testament books were originally written in Greek. On the face of it this may surprise us."</ref> which was the [[lingua franca|common language]] of the [[Eastern Mediterranean]]<ref>Wenham The elements of New Testament Greek p. xxv Jeremy Duff, John William Wenham – 2005 "This is the language of the New Testament. By the time of Jesus the Romans had become the dominant military and political force, but the Greek language remained the 'common language' of the eastern Mediterranean and beyond, and Greek ..."</ref><ref>Daniel B. Wallace Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament 1997</ref><ref>Henry St. John Thackeray Grammar of New Testament Greek ed. Friedrich Wilhelm Blass, 1911 "By far the most predominant element in the language of the New Testament is the Greek of common speech which was disseminated in the East by the Macedonian conquest, in the form which it had gradually assumed under the wider development ..."</ref><ref>David E. Aune The Blackwell companion to the New Testament 2009 p.61 Chapter 4 New Testament Greek Christophe Rico "In this short overview of the Greek language of the New Testament we will focus on those topics that are of greatest importance for the average reader, that is, those with important ..."</ref> from the [[Conquests of Alexander the Great]] (335–323 BCE) until the evolution of [[Byzantine Greek]] (c. 600).

====Historic editions====
{{See also|Biblical manuscript|Textual criticism}}
[[File:Lutherbibel.jpg|thumb|right|An early German translation by [[Martin Luther]]. His translation of the text into the [[vernacular]] was highly influential.]]

The original [[autograph]]s, that is, the original Greek writings and [[Biblical manuscript|manuscripts]] written by the original authors of the New Testament, have not survived.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Ze16lRIzIzcC&pg=PA9&lpg=PA9&dq=The+autographs,+the+Greek+manuscripts+written+by+the+original+authors,+have+not+survived#v=onepage&q=The%20autographs%2C%20the%20Greek%20manuscripts%20written%20by%20the%20original%20authors%2C%20have%20not%20survived] Manuscripts and the Text of the New Testament: An Introduction for English Readers by Keith Elliott, Ian Moir – Continuum International Publishing Group, 2000, p. 9</ref> But historically ''copies'' exist of those original autographs, transmitted and preserved in a number of [[Bible manuscript#Textual criticism|manuscript traditions]]. There have been some minor variations, additions or omissions, in some of the texts. When ancient scribes copied earlier books, they sometimes wrote notes on the margins of the page (''[[Glosses to the Bible#Glosses as marginal notes|marginal glosses]]'') to correct their text – especially if a scribe accidentally omitted a word or line – and to comment about the text. When later scribes were copying the copy, they were sometimes uncertain if a note was intended to be included as part of the text.

The three main textual traditions of the Greek New Testament are sometimes called the [[Alexandrian text-type]] (generally minimalist), the [[Byzantine text-type]] (generally maximalist), and the [[Western text-type]] (occasionally wild). Together they comprise most of the ancient manuscripts.

===Development of the Christian canons===
{{Main|Development of the Old Testament canon|Development of the New Testament canon}}
[[File:Marinus_Claesz._van_Reymerswaele_002.jpg|thumb|[[Jerome]] (pictured) produced a 4th-century [[Latin]] edition of the Bible, known as the ''[[Vulgate]]'', that became the Catholic Church's official translation.]]
The Old Testament canon entered into Christian use in the Greek Septuagint translations and original books, and their differing lists of texts. In addition to the Septuagint, Christianity{{vague|date=December 2014}} subsequently added various writings that would become the New Testament. Somewhat different lists of accepted works continued to develop in antiquity. In the 4th century a series of [[synod]]s produced a list of texts equal to the 39, 46, 51, or 54-book canon of the Old Testament and to the 27-book canon of the New Testament that would be subsequently used to today, most notably the [[Synod of Hippo]] in 393 CE. Also ''c''. 400, [[Jerome]] produced a definitive Latin edition of the Bible (see [[Vulgate]]), the canon of which, at the insistence of the Pope, was in accord with the earlier Synods. With the benefit of hindsight it can be said that this process effectively set the New Testament canon, although there are examples of other canonical lists in use after this time.

The Protestant Old Testament of today has a 39-book canon – the number of books (though not the content) varies from the Jewish Tanakh only because of a different method of division – while the Roman Catholic Church recognizes 46 books (51 books with some books combined into 46 books) as the canonical Old Testament. The Eastern Orthodox Churches recognize 3 Maccabees, 1 Esdras, Prayer of Manasseh and Psalm 151 in addition to the Catholic canon. Some include 2 Esdras. The Anglican Church also recognizes a longer canon.{{citation needed|date=June 2016}} The term "Hebrew Scriptures" is often used as being synonymous with the Protestant Old Testament, since the surviving scriptures in Hebrew include only those books, while Catholics and Orthodox include additional texts that have not survived in Hebrew. Both Catholics and Protestants (as well as Greek Orthodox) have the same 27-book New Testament Canon.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=gxEONS0FFlsC&pg=PA103&lpg=PA103&dq=Both+Catholics+and+Protestants+have+the+same+27-book+New+Testament+Canon#v=onepage&q=Both%20Catholics%20and%20Protestants%20have%20the%20same%2027-book%20New%20Testament%20Canon] ''Encyclopedia of Catholicism'', Frank K. Flinn, Infobase Publishing, Jan 1, 2007, p. 103</ref>

The New Testament writers assumed the inspiration of the Old Testament, probably earliest stated in {{Bibleref2|2Tim|3:16|9|2 Timothy 3:16}}, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God".<ref name="Stagg" />

====Ethiopian Orthodox canon====
{{Main|Ethiopian Biblical canon}}
The Canon of the [[Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church]] is wider than the canons used by most other Christian churches. There are 81 books in the Ethiopian Orthodox Bible.<ref name="Ethiopian">{{cite web|url=http://www.ethiopianorthodox.org/english/canonical/books.html|title=The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church|publisher=Ethiopianorthodox.org|accessdate=2010-11-19|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101105112040/http://ethiopianorthodox.org/english/canonical/books.html| archivedate=5 November 2010 |deadurl=no}}</ref> The Ethiopian Old Testament Canon includes the books found in the [[Septuagint]] accepted by other Orthodox Christians, in addition to [[Book of Enoch|Enoch]] and [[Jubilees]] which are ancient Jewish books that only survived in [[Ge'ez language|Ge'ez]] but are quoted in the New Testament,{{citation needed|date=February 2012}} also Greek Ezra [[1 Esdras|First]] and the [[Jewish Apocalypse of Ezra|Apocalypse of Ezra]], 3 books of [[Meqabyan]], and [[Psalm 151]] at the end of the Psalter. The three books of Meqabyan are not to be confused with the books of Maccabees. The order of the other books is somewhat different from other groups', as well. The Old Testament follows the Septuagint order for the Minor Prophets rather than the Jewish order.{{citation needed|date=June 2012}}

==Divine inspiration==
{{main|Biblical inspiration|Biblical literalism|Biblical infallibility|Biblical inerrancy}}

[[File:Altar and bible st Johns Lutheran.jpg|thumb|A Bible is placed centrally on a [[Lutheran]] altar, highlighting its importance]]The Second Epistle to Timothy says that "all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness". ({{bibleref2|2 Timothy|3:16|KJV}})<ref>{{cite book|last= Grudem|first= Wayne|title= Systematic Theology|year= 1994|publisher= Inter-Varsity Press|location= Leicester, England|pages= 49–50}}</ref> Various related but distinguishable views on divine inspiration include:
* the view of the Bible as the inspired word of God: the belief that God, through the [[Holy Spirit]], intervened and influenced the words, message, and collation of the Bible<ref>Rice, John R. – ''Our God-Breathed Book: The Bible'' – {{ISBN|0-87398-628-8}}, Sword of the Lord Publishers, 1969, pp 68–88.</ref>
* the view that the Bible is also [[Biblical infallibility|infallible]], and incapable of error in matters of faith and practice, but not necessarily in historic or scientific matters
* the view that the Bible represents the [[biblical inerrancy|inerrant word of God]], without error in any aspect, spoken by God and written down in its perfect form by humans

Within these broad beliefs many schools of [[hermeneutics]] operate. "Bible scholars claim that discussions about the Bible must be put into its context within church history and then into the context of contemporary culture."<ref name="Wright" /> [[Christian fundamentalism|Fundamentalist Christians]] are associated{{by whom|date=July 2016}} with the doctrine of biblical literalism, where the Bible is not only inerrant, but the meaning of the text is clear to the average reader.<ref>"Beyond Biblical Literalism and Inerrancy: Conservative Protestants and the Hermeneutic Interpretation of Scripture", John Bartkowski, ''Sociology of Religion'', 57, 1996.</ref>

Jewish antiquity attests to belief in sacred texts,<ref>Philo of Alexandria, ''De vita Moysis'' 3.23.</ref><ref name="Josephus">Josephus, ''Contra Apion'' 1.8.</ref> and a similar belief emerges in the earliest of Christian writings. Various texts of the Bible mention divine agency in relation to its writings.<ref name="Original Source">{{cite web|url= http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Sam%2023:2,2%20Tim%203:16,Luke%201:70,Heb%203:7,10:15-16,1%20Peter%201:11,Mark%2012:36,2%20Peter%201:20-21,Acts%201:16,Acts%203:18,Acts%2028:25;&version=50 |title= Basis for belief of Inspiration Biblegateway |publisher= Biblegateway.com |accessdate= 2010-04-23}}</ref> In their book ''A General Introduction to the Bible'', [[Norman Geisler]] and William Nix write: "The process of inspiration is a mystery of the providence of God, but the result of this process is a verbal, plenary, inerrant, and authoritative record."<ref>Norman L. Geisler, William E. Nix. ''A General Introduction to the Bible.'' Moody Publishers, 1986, p. 86. {{ISBN|0-8024-2916-5}}</ref> Most evangelical biblical scholars<ref>For example, see Leroy Zuck, Roy B. Zuck. ''Basic Bible Interpretation.'' Chariot Victor Pub, 1991, p. 68. {{ISBN|0-89693-819-0}}</ref><ref>Roy B. Zuck, Donald Campbell. ''Basic Bible Interpretation.'' Victor, 2002. {{ISBN|0-7814-3877-2}}</ref><ref>Norman L. Geisler. ''Inerrancy.'' Zondervan, 1980, p. 294. {{ISBN|0-310-39281-0}}</ref> associate inspiration with only the original text; for example some American Protestants adhere to the 1978 [[Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy]] which asserted that inspiration applied only to the [[autograph]]ic text of Scripture.<ref>{{cite journal|author=International Council on Biblical Inerrancy |title=The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy |publisher=International Council on Biblical Inerrancy |year=1978 |url=http://www.churchcouncil.org/ccpdfdocs/01_Biblical_Inerrancy_A&D.pdf |format=PDF |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080413180222/http://www.churchcouncil.org/ccpdfdocs/01_Biblical_Inerrancy_A%26D.pdf |archivedate=13 April 2008 |df= }}</ref> Among adherents of Biblical literalism, a minority, such as followers of the [[King-James-Only Movement]], extend the claim of inerrancy only to a particular translation.<ref>
{{cite web
|url= http://www.ruckmanism.org/advancedrevelation
|accessdate= 27 February 2014
|title = Ruckman's belief in advanced revelations in the KJV
}}
</ref>

==Versions and translations==
{{Further|Bible translations|List of Bible translations by language}}
[[File:1588 First Welsh Bible.jpg|thumb|Title page from the first [[Welsh language|Welsh]] translation of the Bible, 1588. [[William Morgan (Bible translator)|William Morgan]] (1545–1604)]]
The original texts of the Tanakh were mainly in Hebrew, with some portions in Aramaic. In addition to the authoritative Masoretic Text, Jews still refer to the Septuagint, the translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek, and the [[Targum Onkelos]], an Aramaic version of the Bible. There are several different ancient versions of the Tanakh in Hebrew, mostly differing by spelling, and the traditional Jewish version is based on the version known as Aleppo Codex. Even in this version there are words which are traditionally read differently from written, because the oral tradition is considered more fundamental than the written one, and presumably mistakes had been made in copying the text over the generations.{{citation needed|date=June 2012}}

The primary biblical text for early Christians was the Septuagint. In addition, they translated the Hebrew Bible into several other languages. Translations were made into Syriac, [[Coptic language|Coptic]], [[Ge'ez language|Ethiopic]], and Latin, among other languages. The Latin translations were historically the most important for the Church in the West, while the Greek-speaking East continued to use the Septuagint translations of the Old Testament and had no need to translate the New Testament.

The earliest Latin translation was the [[Old Latin]] text, or ''[[Vetus Latina]]'', which, from internal evidence, seems to have been made by several authors over a period of time. It was based on the Septuagint, and thus included books not in the Hebrew Bible.

According to the Latin [[Decretum Gelasianum]] (also known as the Gelasian Decree), thought to be of a 6th-century document<ref>{{cite book|last1=Clark|first1=Francis|title=The Pseudo-Gregorian dialogues|date=1987|publisher=E.J. Brill|location=Leiden|isbn=978-9004077737|pages=601–02|url=https://books.google.com/?id=oJg3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA601&lpg=PA601&dq=Decretum+Gelasianum#v=onepage&q=Decretum%20Gelasianum|accessdate=13 January 2017}}</ref>{{sfn|Bruce|1988|p=234}} of uncertain authorship and of pseudepigraphal papal authority (variously ascribed to [[Pope Gelasius I]], [[Pope Damasus I]], or [[Pope Hormisdas]])<ref>{{cite book|last1=Frazier|first1=Alison|title=Essays in Renaissance Thought and Letters: In Honor of John Monfasani|date=2015|publisher=Brill|location=Leiden, Netherlands|isbn=9004294473|page=465|url=https://books.google.com/?id=Iw15CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA465&dq=Decretum+Gelasianum#v=onepage&q=Decretum%20Gelasianum|accessdate=13 January 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Burkitt|title=The Decretum Geladianum|journal=Journal of Theological Studies|date=1913|volume=14|pages=469–71|url=http://www.tertullian.org/articles/burkitt_gelasianum.htm|accessdate=13 January 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Ellis|first1=E. Earle|title=The Old Testament in early Christianity : canon and interpretation in the light of modern research|date=2003|publisher=Wipf & Stock|location=Eugene, Oregon|isbn=978-1592442560|page=26|url=https://books.google.com/?id=-XKvCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA26&dq=Decretum+Gelasianum#v=onepage&q=Decretum%20Gelasianum|accessdate=13 January 2017}}</ref> but reflecting the views of the Roman Church by that period,<ref>{{cite web|title=The Christian canon|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/biblical-literature/The-Christian-canon#ref597321|website=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.|accessdate=13 January 2017}}</ref> the [[Council of Rome]] in 382 AD under Pope Damasus I (366–383) assembled a list of books of the Bible. Damasus commissioned Saint [[Jerome]] to produce a reliable and consistent text by translating the original Greek and Hebrew texts into Latin. This translation became known as the [[Vulgate|Latin Vulgate Bible]], in the fourth century AD (although Jerome expressed in his prologues to most [[Biblical apocrypha|''deuterocanonical'']] books that they were non-[[Biblical canon|canonical]]).<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kelly|first1=J. N. D.|title=Early Christian Doctrines|date=1960|publisher=Harper|location=San Francisco|page=55}}</ref><ref>[http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/bible/prologi.shtml ''Prologues of Saint Jerome,''Latin text]</ref> In 1546, at the [[Council of Trent]], Jerome's Vulgate translation was declared by the Roman Catholic Church to be the only authentic and official Bible in the [[Latin Church]].

Since the [[Protestant Reformation]], [[Bible translations]] for many languages have been made. The Bible continues to be translated to new languages, largely by Christian organizations such as [[Wycliffe Bible Translators]], [[New Tribes Mission]] and [[Bible society|Bible societies]].

{|class="wikitable"
|+Bible translations, worldwide ({{as of|2018|October|lc=y}})<ref name="wycliffe.org.uk">[http://www.wycliffe.net/resources/scriptureaccessstatistics/tabid/99/Default.aspx (Figures correct as of 2018.)]</ref>
! Number !! Statistic
|-
| 7,099 || Approximate number of languages spoken in the world today
|-
| 2,659 || Number of translations into new languages currently in progress
|-
| 1,534 || Number of languages with a translation of the New Testament
|-
| 683 || Number of languages with a translation of the Bible (Protestant Canon)
|}

==Views==
John Riches, professor of Divinity and Biblical Criticism at the University of Glasgow, provides the following view of the diverse historical influences of the Bible:

<blockquote>It has inspired some of the great monuments of human thought, literature, and art; it has equally fuelled some of the worst excesses of human savagery, self-interest, and narrow-mindedness. It has inspired men and women to acts of great service and courage, to fight for liberation and human development; and it has provided the ideological fuel for societies which have enslaved their fellow human beings and reduced them to abject poverty. ... It has, perhaps above all, provided a source of religious and moral norms which have enabled communities to hold together, to care for, and to protect one another; yet precisely this strong sense of belonging has in turn fuelled ethnic, racial, and international tension and conflict.{{sfn|Riches|2000|p=134}}</blockquote>

===Other religions===
{{main|Islamic view of the Christian Bible}}
In [[Islam]], the Bible is held to reflect true unfolding [[revelation]] from [[God in Islam|God]]; but revelation which had been corrupted or distorted (in Arabic: ''[[tahrif]]''); which necessitated the giving of the [[Qur'an]] to the [[Prophets of Islam|Islamic prophet]], [[Muhammad]], to correct this deviation.

Members of other religions may also seek inspiration from the Bible. For example, [[Rastafari]]s view the Bible as essential to their religion<ref>Becoming Rasta: Origins of Rastafari Identity in Jamaica. p. 171, Charles Price. 2009</ref> and [[Unitarian Universalism|Unitarian Universalists]] view it as "one of many important religious texts".<ref>Unitarian Universalism. p. 42, Zondervan Publishing, 2009</ref>

===Biblical studies===
{{Main|Biblical studies|Biblical criticism}}
[[Biblical criticism]] refers to the investigation of the Bible as a text, and addresses questions such as authorship, dates of composition, and authorial intention. It is not the same as [[criticism of the Bible]], which is an assertion against the Bible being a source of information or ethical guidance, or observations that the Bible may have [[translation]] errors.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.baptistlink.com/creationists/expondoerrossbinvi.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021029221934/http://www.baptistlink.com/creationists/expondoerrossbinvi.htm|dead-url=yes|archive-date=2002-10-29|title=Expondo Os Erros Da Sociedade Bíblica Internacional|publisher=Baptistlink.com|year=2000|accessdate=2012-01-13}}</ref>

===Higher criticism===
{{Main|Higher criticism|Lower criticism}}
In the 17th century [[Thomas Hobbes]] collected the current evidence to conclude outright that Moses could not have written the bulk of the Torah. Shortly afterwards the philosopher [[Baruch Spinoza]] published a unified critical analysis, arguing that the problematic passages were not isolated cases that could be explained away one by one, but pervasive throughout the five books, concluding that it was "clearer than the sun at noon that the Pentateuch was not written by Moses . . ."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=gvrcHyusPbMC&pg=PA121&lpg=PA121&dq=clearer+than+the+sun+at+noon+that+the+Pentateuch+was+not+written+by+Moses#v=onepage&q=clearer%20than%20the%20sun%20at%20noon%20that%20the%20Pentateuch%20was%20not%20written%20by%20Moses ''Ten More Amazing Discoveries By George Potter''], Cedar Fort, 2005, p. 121</ref>

==Archaeological and historical research==
{{Main|Biblical archaeology school|The Bible and history}}
Biblical archaeology is the [[archaeology]] that relates to and sheds light upon the Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian Greek Scriptures (or the "New Testament"). It is used to help determine the lifestyle and practices of people living in biblical times. There are a wide range of interpretations in the field of biblical archaeology. One broad division includes [[biblical maximalism]] which generally takes the view that most of the Old Testament or the [[Hebrew Bible]] is based on history although it is presented through the religious viewpoint of its time. It is considered to be the opposite of [[Biblical Minimalism|biblical minimalism]] which considers the Bible to be a purely [[post-exilic]] (5th century BCE and later) composition. Even among those scholars who adhere to biblical minimalism, the Bible is a historical document containing first-hand information on the [[Hellenistic period|Hellenistic]] and [[Roman era]]s, and there is universal scholarly consensus that the events of the 6th century BCE [[Babylonian captivity]] have a basis in history.

The historicity of the biblical account of the [[history of ancient Israel and Judah]] of the 10th to 7th centuries BCE is disputed in scholarship. The biblical account of the 8th to 7th centuries BCE is widely, but not universally, accepted as historical, while the verdict on the earliest period of the [[United Monarchy]] (10th century BCE) and the [[historicity of David]] is unclear. Archaeological evidence providing information on this period, such as the [[Tel Dan Stele]], can potentially be decisive. The biblical account of events of the [[Exodus from Egypt]] in the [[Torah]], and the migration to the [[Promised Land]] and the period of [[Biblical judges|Judges]] are not considered historical in scholarship.<ref>* {{cite journal|last=Finkelstein|first=Israel|authorlink=Israel Finkelstein|last2=Silberman|first2=Neil Asher|authorlink2=Neil Asher Silberman|title=The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts|publisher=Simon & Schuster|location=New York|year=2001|isbn=0-7432-2338-1|url=https://books.google.com/?id=lu6ywyJr0CMC&pg=PA57&dq=Finkelstein+Bible+Unearthed+Exodus+unoccupied#v=onepage&q=unoccupied}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Dever|first=William|authorlink=William G. Dever|title=[[Who Were the Early Israelites and Where Did They Come from?]]|location=Grand Rapids, Michigan|publisher=William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company|date=2003|isbn=0-8028-0975-8}}</ref>

== Bible museums ==
* The '''Durham Bible Museum''' is located in [[Houston, Texas]]. It is known for its collection of rare Bibles from around the world and for having many different Bibles of various languages.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.visithoustontexas.com/listings/dunham-bible-museum/19803/|title=Durham Bible Museum|last=|first=|date=|website=VisitHoustonTexas.com|access-date=}}</ref>
* The '''[[Museum of the Bible]]''' opened in [[Washington, D.C.]] on December 1, 2017. It was built for all guests to understand and appreciate the existence of the Bible. Furthermore, the museum seeks to disperse historical information regarding the Bible as well as portray the significance of the Bible in a neutral way.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/religion/museum-bible-opens-washington-d-c-celebration-amid-cynicism-n821996|title=Museum of the Bible opens in Washington, D.C., with celebration amid cynicism|last=|first=|date=|work=NBC News|access-date=}}</ref>

==Image gallery==
<gallery widths="200" heights="200" perrow="5" caption="Bibles">
File:Bibel Kloster Paleokastritsa.jpg|Old Bible from a Greek monastery
File:Imperial Bible.jpg|Imperial Bible, or [[Vienna Coronation Gospels]] from Wien (Austria), c 1500.
File:Kennicott Bible.jpg|The [[Benjamin Kennicott|Kennicott]] Bible, 1476
File:A religious Baroque Bible - 7558.jpg|A [[Baroque]] Bible
File:Lincoln inaugural bible.jpg|The [[Lincoln Bible|Bible used by Abraham Lincoln]] for his oath of office during his first inauguration in 1861
File:Bible and Key Divination.jpg|A miniature Bible
File:Bibel-1.jpg|1866 [[Victorian era|Victorian]] Bible
File:Bizzell Bible Collection.jpg|Shelves of the Bizzell Bible Collection at [[Bizzell Memorial Library]]
</gallery>

==Illustrations==
Most old Bibles were illuminated, they were [[manuscript]]s in which the [[Writing|text]] is supplemented by the addition of decoration, such as decorated [[initial]]s, borders ([[marginalia]]) and [[Miniature (illuminated manuscript)|miniature illustrations]]. Up to the twelfth century, most manuscripts were produced in monasteries in order to add to the library or after receiving a [[Commission (art)|commission]] from a wealthy patron. Larger monasteries often contained separate areas for the [[monks]] who specialized in the production of manuscripts called a [[scriptorium]], where "separate little rooms were assigned to book copying; they were situated in such a way that each scribe had to himself a window open to the cloister walk."<ref name="autogenerated1962">Putnam A.M., Geo. Haven. Books and Their Makers During The Middle Ages. Vol. 1. New York: Hillary House, 1962. Print.</ref> By the fourteenth century, the [[cloisters]] of monks writing in the scriptorium started to employ laybrothers from the urban scriptoria, especially in Paris, Rome and the Netherlands.{{sfn|De Hamel|1992|p=45}}
Demand for manuscripts grew to an extent that the Monastic libraries were unable to meet with the demand, and began employing secular scribes and illuminators.{{sfn|De Hamel|1992|p=57}} These individuals often lived close to the monastery and, in certain instances, dressed as monks whenever they entered the monastery, but were allowed to leave at the end of the day.{{sfn|De Hamel|1992|p=65}}

The manuscript was "sent to the [[rubricator]], who added (in red or other colours) the titles, [[headlines]], the initials of chapters and sections, the notes and so on; and then – if the book was to be illustrated – it was sent to the illuminator."<ref name="autogenerated1962"/> In the case of manuscripts that were sold commercially, the writing would "undoubtedly have been discussed initially between the patron and the scribe (or the scribe's agent,) but by the time that the written gathering were sent off to the illuminator there was no longer any scope for innovation."{{sfn|De Hamel|1992|p=60}}

<gallery widths="200" heights="200" perrow="5" caption="Bible illustrations">
File:Bible chartraine - BNF Lat116 f193.jpg|Bible from 1150, from Scriptorium de Chartres, Christ with angels
File:Bible of St Louis detail.jpg|Blanche of Castile and Louis IX of France Bible, 13th century
File:Maciejowski Bible Leaf 37 3.jpg| Maciejowski Bible, Leaf 37, the 3rd image, [[Abner]] (in the center in green) sends [[Michal]] back to David.
File:Jephthah's daughter laments - Maciejowski Bible.JPG|Jephthah's daughter laments – Maciejowski Bible (France, ca. 1250)
File:Whore-babylon-luther-bible-1534.jpg|Coloured version of the [[Whore of Babylon]] illustration from Martin Luther's 1534 translation of the Bible
File:Malnazar - Bible - Google Art Project.jpg|An Armenian Bible, [[Illuminated manuscript|illuminated]] by Malnazar
File:Foster Bible Pictures 0031-1.jpg|Fleeing Sodom and Gomorrah, Foster Bible
File:Kennicott Bible 305r.l.jpg|Jonah being swallowed by the fish, [[Benjamin Kennicott|Kennicott]] Bible, 1476
</gallery>

==See also==
* {{Portal inline|size=tiny|Bible}}
* [[Bible box]]
* [[Bible case]]
* [[Bible paper]]
* [[Biblical software]]
* [[Code of Hammurabi]]
* [[Family Bible (book)]]
* [[List of major biblical figures]]
* [[List of nations mentioned in the Bible]]
* [[Outline of Bible-related topics]]
* [[Scriptorium]]
* [[Theodicy and the Bible]]
* [[Typology (theology)|Typology]] – incorporating approaches to Biblical symbolism
* [[Protestant Bible]]
* [[Catholic Bible]]

==Notes==
{{notelist|30em}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

===Works cited===
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite book|ref=harv|last=Bruce|first=Frederick|authorlink=F. F. Bruce|title=The Canon of Scripture|publisher=IVP Academic|location=Downers Grove, Illinois|year=1988|page=214|isbn=083081258X}}
* {{cite book|ref=harv|last=De Hamel|first=Christopher|title=Medieval Craftsmen: Scribes and Illuminations|location=Buffalo|publisher=University of Toronto|date=1992}}
* {{cite book|ref=harv|last=Henshaw|first=T.|title=The Writings: The Third Division of the Old Testament Canon|publisher=George Allen & Unwin Ltd.|date=1963}}
* {{cite book |ref=harv|title= The Bible: A Very Short Introduction|edition= |last= Riches|first= John|year= 2000|publisher= Oxford University Press|location= Oxford|isbn= 978-0-19-285343-1}}
* {{cite book|ref=harv|last=Wright|first=N.T.|title=The Last Word: Scripture and the Authority of God – Getting Beyond the Bible Wars|publisher=HarperCollins|date=2005|isbn=0-06-087261-6}}
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
{{Sister project links|v=Portal:Biblical studies}}










{{Refbegin}}
* [[Bernhard Anderson|Anderson, Bernhard W.]] ''Understanding the Old Testament''. {{ISBN|0-13-948399-3}}.
* [[Isaac Asimov|Asimov, Isaac]]. ''[[Asimov's Guide to the Bible]]''. New York: Avenel Books, 1981. {{ISBN|0-517-34582-X}}.
* [[Adele Berlin|Berlin, Adele]], [[Marc Zvi Brettler]] and [[Michael Fishbane]]. [https://books.google.com/books?id=aDuy3p5QvEYC ''The Jewish Study Bible'']. Oxford University Press, 2003. {{ISBN|0-19-529751-2}}.
* Bible, Authorized Version. ''The New Cambridge Paragraph Bible, with the Apocrypha, King James Version'', ed. by David Norton. Cambridge, Eng.: Cambridge University Press, 2005. ''N.B''.: This is a critically reconstructed text of the Authorized "King James" Bible with its entire contents (including all of its ''marginalia'', fore-matter, the Apocrypha, etc.), as close to the original translators' intentions and wording as possible at the time of this edition, with spelling modernized according to current Commonwealth usage. {{ISBN|978-0-521-84386-7}}
* [[Raymond E. Brown|Brown, Raymond E.]], [[Joseph Fitzmyer|Joseph A. Fitzmyer]], and [[Roland E. Murphy]], eds. (1990). ''The New Jerome Biblical Commentary''. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. {{ISBN|0-13-614934-0}}.
* {{cite journal| last=Finkelstein|first=Israel|last2=Silberman|first2=Neil Asher|title=Review: "The Bible Unearthed": A Rejoinder|journal=Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research|volume=327|date=August 2002|pages=63–73|jstor=1357859}}
* {{cite journal|last=Herzog |first=Ze'ev |authorlink=Ze'ev Herzog |title=Deconstructing the walls of Jericho |publisher=[[Ha'aretz]] |date=29 October 1999 |url=http://mideastfacts.org/facts/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=32&Itemid=34 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081221231334/http://mideastfacts.org/facts/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=32&Itemid=34 |archivedate=21 December 2008 }}
* {{cite journal|last=Dever| first=William G.|authorlink=William G. Dever|title=Losing Faith: Who Did and Who Didn't, How Scholarship Affects Scholars|journal=Biblical Archaeology Review|date=March–April 2007|volume=33|issue=2|page=54|url=http://creationontheweb.com/images/pdfs/other/5106losingfaith.pdf}}
* [[Bart D. Ehrman|Ehrman, Bart D.]] ''Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why'' New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 2005. {{ISBN|0-06-073817-0}}.
* Head, Tom. ''The Absolute Beginner's Guide to the Bible''. Indianapolis: Que Publishing, 2005. {{ISBN|0-7897-3419-2}}
* [[Joel Manuel Hoffman|Hoffman, Joel M.]] [https://books.google.com/books?id=gpnWAAAAMAAJ ''In the Beginning: A Short History of the Hebrew Language'']. New York University Press, 2004. {{ISBN|0-8147-3690-4}}
* Hotchkiss, Gregory K. ''The Middle Way: Reflections on Scripture and Tradition'', in series, ''Reformed Episcopal Pamphlets'', no. 3. Media, Penn.: Reformed Episcopal Publication Society, 1985. 27 p. ''N.B''.: Place of publication also given as Philadelphia, Penn.; the approach to the issue is from an evangelical Anglican (Reformed Episcopal Church) orientation. Without ISBN
* Lienhard, Joseph T. ''The Bible, The Church, and Authority''. Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 1995.
* [[Harold Lindsell|Lindsell, Harold]]. ''The Battle for the Bible''. Zondervan Publishing House, 1978. {{ISBN|0-310-27681-0}}
* [[Nur-eldeen Masalha|Masalha, Nur]], ''The Bible and Zionism: Invented Traditions, Archaeology and Post-Colonialism in Palestine-Israel''. London, Zed Books, 2007.
* McDonald, Lee M. and [[James A. Sanders|Sanders, James A.]], eds. ''The Canon Debate''. Hendrickson Publishers (1 January 2002). 662p. {{ISBN|1-56563-517-5}} {{ISBN|978-1565635173}}
* Miller, John W. ''The Origins of the Bible: Rethinking Canon History'' Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist Press, 1994. {{ISBN|0-8091-3522-1}}.
* Roper, J.C., ''Bp''., '''''et al.'''''. ''The Bible''. Toronto: Musson Book Co., 1924. ''In series'', "The Layman's Library of Practical Religion, Church of England in Canada", vol. 4. ''N.B''.: Series statement given here in the more extended form of it on the book's front cover.
* [[Siku (comics)|Siku]]. ''The Manga Bible: From Genesis to Revelation''. Galilee Trade (15 January 2008). 224p. {{ISBN|0-385-52431-5}} {{ISBN|978-0385524315}}
* Taylor, Hawley O. "Mathematics and Prophecy." ''Modern Science and Christian Faith''. Wheaton: Van Kampen, 1948, pp. 175–83.
* ''Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia'', [[wikt:sv#English|s.vv.]] "Book of Ezekiel", p. 580 and "prophecy", p. 1410. Chicago: Moody Bible Press, 1986.
{{Refend}}

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