1. The Composition
The Bible consists of 66 books. The focus of all these books is the salvation through Jesus Christ. The 39 books about ‘Jesus Christ to come’ are referred to as the Old Testament, and the 27 books about ‘Jesus Christ who has come’ are referred to as the New Testament.
2. The Old Testament
The first 17 books in the Old Testament are called History. They are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther. Especially, the first 5 books, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, are called the Laws. It is because they are about the law of God for the mankind.
The next 5 books, which are Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, are called “Poetry” because they contain psalms, songs, and wisdom.
Next, there are 17 books that are categorizes as “Prophecies” or “Prophets.” They are once again divided into “Early Prophecies” and “Late Prophecies” according to the time it was written or “Great Prophets” and “Little Prophets” according to the volume. Early Prophecies (Great Prophets) are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel, and the Little Prophets are Hoseah, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.
3. The New Testament
The first 4 books are “Gospels.” They are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Among them, the three Gospels but John are called the “Synoptic Gospels”, because they have the same viewpoint.
Next, the book of Acts is a “History” which is a record about historical works of the apostles.
The next 21 books are Epistles since they are written in the form of letters. Among them, the 14 books are Pauline Epistles written by Paul, and the other are “General Epistles”.
Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, and Hebrews belong to ‘Pauline Epistles.’
Among them, Paul discusses doctrines in Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, and Galatians, and they are called, “Doctrinal Epistles.” Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon were written while the apostle Paul was in prison, so they are called, ‘Imprisonment Epistles.’ Also, 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus talk about ministry, so they are called ‘Pastoral Epistles’, and the other three letter, 1 & 2 Thessalonians and Hebrews are categorized as ‘Ordinary Epistles.’
James, 1 & 2 Peter, 1, 2, and 3 John, and Jude are called ‘General Epistles.’ The difference between the ‘Pauline Epistles’ and ‘General Epistles’ is that the name of the book is the name of the recipient for ‘Pauline Epistles’, but the name of the book is the name of the writer for ‘General Epistles’. The last book of all Old Testament and New Testament, the book of Revelation is categorized as a prophecy book.
