How did we get the Bible? What is the Bible? Is the Bible a book that can be trusted? The great mystery of the Bible is whether or not it was actually authored by God.
What is the Bible? It is a collection of 66 books penned by several men who were told what to write by the Holy Spirit (a part of the triune Godhead). It took a little over 2,000 years to complete the Bible. The mystery of the Bible is that it has survived intact over hundreds of years and is a very accurate and reliable road-map of how to live life to the fullest and even tells our future. The Bible itself says that heaven and earth shall pass away but my word (God's) will last forever.
Matthew 24:35
The mystery of the bible is that it claims to be the word of God. Our very salvation hinges on whether this is true or false. In the book of Revelation God gives a warning in Chapter 22 Verses 18 & 19 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to them the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.NIV. According to these words, the Bible is complete. Nothing is to be added to it or taken away from it because God said so.
There are many who have written supposed "scriptures" claiming that they come from God. They have written other "Bibles", or books which are supposed to be God's Word to man. For example, the "Koran" is the Bible of Islam. The "Book of Mormon" is "scripture" to the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints or Mormons. They proclaim that it is "Another Testimony of Jesus Christ."
Often these false groups will use the Bible, but add other "scriptures" to support their unbiblical teachings. For example, the Roman Catholic Church have accepted other writings such as the fourteen or fifteen books of the Apocrypha as scripture and added them to the Bible. From these spurious "scriptures" the Roman Church gets its doctrine of purgatory, Maryology, etc. which are not taught in the Bible. Catholics also view the writings and decrees of their popes and councils as scripture.
The great mystery of the bible is that God warned against this. Christians believe that the Bible (the sixty six books that comprise the Old and New Testaments) is complete. They reject all other so-called "additions" and "new revelations" as being not from God.
A good example of an addition to God's word is the Book of Mormon. Christians reject this as being completely false because they believe it did not come from God as God's book (the Bible) is already complete. The book of Mormon teaches that Jesus came to the Americas and preached before he ascended into heaven,that we can hold baptisms for the dead and that God is flesh and bone. That Jesus and Lucifer (Satan) are brothers and many other things which are not found in the bible.
We will examine why we do not have to "blindly" accept the Bible as being the word of God. There is ample evidence that the Bible is indeed God's word to man.