The Bible is not a single book but an entire library of works in many forms. It contains history, poetry, prophecy, "wisdom literature," and stories of instruction, written over the span of many years. It is not a single sustained narrative. Nevertheless, there is a historical thread that runs through the Bible, the story of how one people found God and spread the news to the world. This story is the "main road" through the Bible that we shall be taking in order to clarify its message. The "side roads" (the poetry, the stories, the prophetic histories that do not form part of the main historical thread) invite the reader's exploration. But here we will focus on the Bible's central message as it emerges from tracing the central story.

It is no accident that the Bible opens with the creation of the world. The story begins with the beginning of our physical existence and proceeds gradually to the emergence of our spiritual awareness. The Bible's intent is not to be strictly a scientific or historical summary of human events. The Bible describes these events to show how they must be understood in the context of a higher, spiritual reality that provides them with meaning. The intention is not as much to inform as to instruct.

What follows is a very condensed description of the Bible's "main story line" as Judeochristianity would understand it. The intent is not to summarize or even touch upon all the books of the Bible but only to give the minimum necessary for understanding the Bible's core message. To make the main thread clear we will have to leave out a lot, but once the reader has gained a general perspective on the Bible's message, all that we have omitted will fit into place. So if you want to know any of the details we have skipped, they are right there in the Bible, waiting for you to look them up!

The summary of the Bible's main story that follows is intended for readers who are not very familiar with the Bible and who would like a guide or "roadmap" to help them navigate it. More experienced readers need not go through all of it. The entire story can be told very simply:

The Hebrew Bible (or "Old Testament") tells the story of the discovery of the covenantal relationship with God through the experience of the Hebrew people.

The New Testament tells of the extension of this covenant to all the peoples of the earth.

The ultimate basis of the covenant is the commitment to do God's will by practicing non-self-interested love.

That's all there is too it. All the rest is detail, the story of "how they got there from here."

The Bible contains all the wisdom we need to be redeemed from our suffering, but its message is not stated explicitly. It is set forth in terms of what we might call "spiritual history." Spiritual history is the place where human history and divine activity come together. The Bible shows us that this place exists, and tells us how to find it.

Since the word "spiritual" is used by many people to mean many different things, it is useful to have a definition. When we use the word here we will take it to mean:

Concerning a love and guidance beyond the self and greater than the self.

The message of the Bible, simply stated, is that the spiritual is real.