Bible

Definition and Meaning

The Bible (Korean seonggyeong, "holy book") is the collection of books that Christianity accepts as Scripture recording the word of God, that is, revelation (God's making himself known). In Korean it is also called seongseo. The Protestant Bible consists of sixty-six books: thirty-nine in the Old Testament and twenty-seven in the New Testament. Protestants regard the Bible as the final authority for faith and life.

Biblical and Historical Background

The Old Testament was written mainly in Hebrew, with some portions in Aramaic. The New Testament was written in Greek, the common language of the Mediterranean world at the time. The list of books that the church recognizes as Scripture is called the canon. The twenty-seven-book New Testament list is generally said to appear in its present form in documents from the late fourth century.

The extent of the canon differs among traditions.

• Roman Catholic Church: Recognizes seventy-three books in all, adding seven deuterocanonical books, such as Tobit and Judith, to the Old Testament.
• Eastern Orthodox Church: Recognizes a somewhat broader canon.
• Protestantism: Calls these books the "Apocrypha" and does not include them in the canon.

The sixteenth-century Reformation proclaimed sola scriptura ("Scripture alone"), placing Scripture above church tradition. This principle is counted as one of the Five Solas.

Practice in Korean Churches

Korean Bible translation is generally traced to the 1880s in Manchuria, where the Scottish missionary John Ross and his colleagues published Gospel portions (individual biblical books issued separately) and a New Testament. The Korean Bible has since undergone several translations and revisions (see Bible translations).

The translation used in worship varies by denomination.

• Most denominations: Use the New Korean Revised Version, published by the Korean Bible Society. Some also read the New Korean Standard Version, a translation in plain contemporary Korean, alongside it.
• Anglican Church of Korea: Has reportedly used primarily the Common Translation, produced jointly by Catholics and Protestants.

Denominations also differ in emphasis in how they understand the authority of Scripture.

• Conservative Presbyterians: Bodies such as the Presbyterian Church in Korea (HapDong) and the Presbyterian Church in Korea (Kosin), on the basis of the Westminster Confession of Faith, strongly confess the inspiration (its having been written under God's divine influence) and inerrancy (freedom from error) of Scripture (see biblical inerrancy).
• Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea: While affirming the authority of Scripture, is relatively open to historical-critical scholarship.

In church life, members often bring their own Bibles to worship. During services, the Scripture passage is read aloud before the sermon. In addition, quiet time (QT), reading through the Bible, Bible study, and the hand-copying and memorization of Scripture are widely practiced. Many churches observe Bible Sunday to commemorate the distribution of the Scriptures.