Claim: The Bible contains epistles.

The Bible -LRB- from Koine Greek τὰ βιβλία , tà biblía , `` the books '' -RRB- is a collection of sacred texts or scriptures that Jews and Christians consider to be a product of divine inspiration and a record of the relationship between God and humans .   Many different authors contributed to the Bible . What is regarded as canonical text differs depending on traditions and groups ; a number of Bible canons have evolved , with overlapping and diverging contents . 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 disciples of Christ , written in first-century Koine Greek . These early Christian Greek writings consist of narratives , letters , and apocalyptic writings . Among Christian denominations there is some disagreement about the contents of the canon , primarily 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 , Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox Christians stress the harmony and importance of the Bible and sacred tradition , while Protestant churches 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 .   With estimated total sales of over 5 billion copies , the Bible is widely considered to be the best-selling book of all time . It has estimated annual sales of 100 million copies , and has been a major influence on literature and history , especially in the West , where the Gutenberg Bible was the first book printed using movable type .