Where did they get the scrolls from?
Answer: Today, we use pencils and pens to write, and we write on paper. But the Bible was written a long time ago, long before these things were invented.
Instead of using paper, people would write on long strips of papyrus or parchment. Papyrus was made from a plant that grows in Bible lands. Parchment was made from animal skins.
Both papyrus and parchment could be sewn together and rolled up into long scrolls. Museums have some of these ancient scrolls. People read from these scrolls like books.
But there wasn’t a lot of them because each one had to be copied by hand. Today, everyone can have his or her own Bible to read.
But in those days, most synagogues and churches would only have one copy each. So the scrolls were very valuable, and the priests took good care of them. We should take care of our Bibles, too.
Key verse: When you come, bring the coat I left at Troas with Carpus. Also, bring the books, but especially bring the parchments. (2 Timothy 4:13)
Related verse: Jeremiah 36:2
Related question: Where did they get the Bible?
If lots of different people in different places wrote the bible, how did it get together in one big book?
Answer: The first books of the Bible, the Old Testament, were written to the Jewish people. The Jews took care of and protected these books and spent countless hours carefully copying them again and again.
Jesus often quoted from the Old Testament and said it was all true and that it was the Word of God. The books that we find in the New Testament were written by people who had seen Jesus or who were close to those who had contact with Jesus.
Their stories about Jesus (the Gospels) and their letters (the Epistles) were read in the local churches. Church leaders collected the writings and guarded them carefully.
For nearly 2,000 years now, all these Bible books have been together.
Key verse: Yes, being a Jew is good. First of all, God trusted them with his laws. That way they could know and do his will. (Romans 3:2)
Related verses: Matthew 5:17-20; Mark 14:49; Luke 24:27-46; John 2:22; 5:39; 7:38-42; 10:35; 17:12
Related question: What happened to the letters that Paul wrote to the churches?