This book offers a concise history of the Bible: its creation, use, and interpretation. What is the Bible? To answer this question, we must understand the Bible's origins in the early church. In this book, a celebrated church historian introduces the reader to some important features of the earliest Bibles-for instance, the Bible's original languages, its division into chapters and verses, and even its physical appearance in its first forms. He also explores the use of the Bible in the early church (such as in worship or in private reading) and the interpretation of the Bible throughout the ensuing centuries, giving readers a holistic sense of the Bible's emergence as the keystone of Christian life, from its beginnings to present times.