If I understand Malcolm Mortindale (Letters, July 8) correctly, he is asking: "What's so special about the Bible?"

The answer is it claims to be inspired by God (2 Timothy, chapters 3 and 4) and consists of the 39 books of the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament, which has been authenticated by Jesus himself (Luke 24) and the 27 books of the New Testament written in Greek.

What is amazing is nearly all the books of the Bible point to Jesus Christ as the Messiah even though some of them were written around 3,000 years ago.

It is the most published book in history and is still going strong today.

The doctrine of the Church of England and many other churches is based on its message, many of the laws of our land have their origins in its teaching, and it also contains all the knowledge required for personal salvation.

Since it first appeared, charlatans and false teachers have tried to undermine its teaching with varying degrees of success but its truth still stands like a beacon to all who make the effort to try and understand it.

The Bible is the greatest book ever written and if that does not make it pretty special, I don't know what does.

-Alan Nunn, Hove