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Categories |The Bible is composed of 66 books and is divided up into two main sections - the Old Testament and the New Testament. In Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy there are some additional books collectively known as the Apocrypha that are not considered to be part of the Bible in Protestantism.
The Old Testament tells the story of the creation of the universe and God's intervention in early history and his guidance of the people of Israel. There are three main sections that make up the Old Testament - The Books of the Law, History and Poetry, and the Books of the Prophets. The Old Testament is a Christian term for the original Hebrew Bible which is known as the Tanak (which is an acronym for what the OT contains Law, Prophets, and Writings). The Old Testament sets the stage for what happens in the New Testament it provides the rules, the nature of God, the promise of GOD which are fulfilled further in the New Testament.
Books of the Law
The first 5 books of the Bible Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. These five books tell us of Creation, the Fall, the emergence of the children of Israel and the legal codes that God gave them. Some of the law codes remain relevant to Christians today including are the Ten Commandments, the Shema ("Love the Lord your God with all your heart"), and "Love your neighbour".
Prophets
The Prophets take up a large body of space. They range from the Book of Isaiah and the Book of Jeremiah who are classified as the major prophets to Hosea, Joel, and Jonah who are minor prophets. Prophets were divinely appointed spokesman for God. The Hebrew word for prophet 'nabi' means spokesman. They preached about the corruption of Israel, God's judgement and His future restoration. One vital cornerstone that has bearing for us would be the coming of the Messiah. This is mentioned in Isaiah 53 in the major prophets and last chapters of Zechariah in the minor prophets.
History and Poetry
Writings range from the historical such as Joshua, the Samuels, Chronicles, or Kings to poetry such as Song of Solomon, or Psalms and wisdom such as Job, Ecclesiastes, and Proverbs. They describe the nature of God such as Psalm 23, the wisdom of God and man's reaction such as in Job, or the History of Israel and God's involvement such as establishing King David and his legacy which led to Jesus Christ his most famous descendant of all.
The New Testament tells the story of Jesus, his ministry and death and resurrection, and the formation of the early church. It contains a number of letters that circulated in the early church. It is sub-divided into a number of categories including the Gospels, Epistles, history and prophecy.
Gospel means good news - the good news was that Jesus had arrived and was the Messiah that would fulfil the Old Testament bringing salvation through forgiveness of sins. There are books in the Bible that tell this story and they are known as the gospels. Specifically, they are the accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Mark is thought to be the oldest Gospel and was probably used as a source for Matthew and Luke. Together these three gospels are known as the Synoptic Gospels. John is quite different from the synoptic gospels in style. It contains the well known "I am" statements of Jesus. Together these four books tell the story of Jesus walking on earth and show why he came - to die on the cross and to rise again so that our sins could be forgiven and we would be made right with God.
Epistles are letters to Christian communities. The major letter writers in the early church were Paul, Peter, James, John, and Jude. Peter and Paul were major missionaries in their day and they wrote letters to the communities they preached to. Paul wrote towards Gentile communities such as the churches in Corinth, Ephesus and Rome. The letters contain explanations of core Christian beliefs and advise on issues relating to how to live godly lives.
History
New Testament history is seen in the Book of Acts. Acts was written by Luke and tells of the persecution of the early church and the work of Peter and Paul. It shows God's hand in the founding of the early church.
Prophecy and Apocalyptic Literature
Prophecy is a thread constant in the gospels and the epistles but it is also found in the Book of Revelation. Revelation gives us a symbolic understanding of the last days with vivid descriptions of the end times.
Though the early church used the Old Testament, the apostles did not otherwise leave a defined set of new scriptures. Instead the New Testament developed over time. By the fourth century the Biblical Canon, or the books included by today's Bible, were roughly agreed upon.