“Bible” is a Greek word which means “the books”; for the Jews these are documents written by the prophets for the people of Israel, before the coming of Christ; for Christians they are the same books, to which the letters and gospels written by the disciples of Jesus and the apostles have been added for the Christian churches. For these reasons, the first are called Old Testament and the second New Testament.The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, the New in Greek.

Christians read the Bible as a message which God still offers humanity today. This does not mean that every single word was dictated by God, it means that God inspired the authors, who proclaimed and then accurately wrote those things concerning Himself and our faith in Him. What would merely be a “dead word”, is vivified by the Holy Spirit, who thus enables both individual believers as well as the whole Church to receive God’s Word. This word is centred on Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Word incarnate, on whom our Christian faith is founded.

All Christians recognize the authority of the Bible, but for Protestants it is the only source of our beliefs.
For this reason, Waldensian and Methodist believers base their faith, their devotion and their  moral principles solely on the Bible, as their Confession of Faith confirms. The Bible is not only a book to be studied, however; it is a message of life which is still "at work" today in those who believe (1 Thessalonians, ch.2 v.13b).