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HOLY BIBLE
(Notes prepared by: Jose Isagani L. Flores, Ph.D.)

A collection of religious books written during a period of over 900 Years, including…
1. HISTORIES of heroes and events
2. CODES OF LAWS
3. ORATIONS
4. REFLECTIVE LITERATURE
5. POETRY

Looking forward to a Mission for Israel on earth….

OLD TESTAMENT
39 BOOKS in Protestant Bibles
46 BOOKS in Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Anglican Bibles

5 COVER“THE LAW” GENESIS, EXODUS, LEVITICUS, NUMBERS, DEUTERONOMY

21 COVER “THE PROPHETS” JOSHUA, JUDGES, I SAMUEL, II SAMUEL, I KINGS, II KINGS,

ISAIAH, JEREMIAH, EZEKIEL, HOSEA, JOEL, AMOS, OBADIAH, JONAH, MICAH, NAHUM,
HABAKKUK, ZEPHANIAH, HAGGAI, ZECHARIAH, MALACHI

13 COVER“THE WRITINGS” PSALMS, PROVERBS, JOB, DANIEL, EZRA, NEHEMIAH, I

CHRONICLESII CHRONICLES, SONGS OF SONGS, RUTH, LAMENTATIONS, ECCLESIASTES,
ESTHER

7 COVER“THE SECOND CANON” TOBIT, JUDITH, Wisdom of Solomon, SIRACH, BARUCH,

IMACCABEES, II MACCABEESPlus additions toESTHER and DANIEL

…the first 5 cover “THE LAW”these are sometimes called the “PENTATEUCH” or “THE 5
BOOKS OF MOSES”

GENESIS
How the world began
Beliefs about the origins of the human race
Origins of Hebrews and their place as the “Chosen People”
50 CHAPTERS 1ST II: Story of the origins of mankind NEXT 39: Story of Patriarchs, the fathers of
Jewish race—Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph

EXODUS
How Israelites fled from Egypt
The laws they swore to observe when they made their covenant with Yahweh at Mt. Sinai
40 CHAPTERS 1ST 18: Historical Next 22: Laws, including the 10 COMMANDMENTS

LEVITICUS
More laws
Regulations for sacrifices
How to observe Holy Days
27 Chapters 1st 7: Law of Sacrifice Next 3: Consecration of the Priesthood Next 6: Law of “Clean”
and “Unclean” Next 10: The Holiness Code

NUMBERS
Census of people
Story of Israelites wandering in the wilderness
36 Chapter1st 4 and 26– Census other chapters—historical

DEUTERONOMY
Story of Moses’ last discourses repeats laws
34Chapters 1st11: Moses’ address chapters 12-26, 29: revised laws Deutoronomy: Greek for “second
law”
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21 Books makeup “The Prophets” mostly history and sermons

Including 6 HISTORICAL BOOKS (“former prophets”)

1. JOSHUA. Story of Joshua, a successor of Moses as leader of Israelites. Conquest of Canaan.
2. JUDGES. Troubles in Promised Land. Fortunes of Israel depended on obedience to God’s law.
Rule of tribal chiefs.
3. I SAMUEL. Continues story to death of Saul, Israel’s first King.
4. II SAMUEL. Continues story to last year of King David.
5. I KINGS. Death of David. Reign of his son Solomon. History up to Ahaziah, son of Ahab.
6. II KINGS. Continued story. Division into two Kingdoms. Events leading to captivity of both.

Plus 3 “major” prophets

7. ISAIAH. Proto Isaiah (1-39) - speeches of the prophet Isaiah on many subjects and occasions.
Deutero Isaiah (40-66) - messianic oracles.
8. JEREMIAH. Prophecies to a nation in crisis during 40 turbulent years. Oracle of the New
Covenant
9. EZEKIEL. Reproaches to Israel’s sins. Promise of salvation in a new covenant. Conditions of
new covenant

..And 12“minor”Prophets..Called minor because their books are smaller.

10. HOSEA. First of 12 Minor Prophets. Preached that Yahweh was a God of love and would
forgive those who repented.
11. JOEL. Call to repentance through fasting and prayer. Promise of the outpouring of the spirit.
12. AMOS. Earliest recorded sermons of a prophet. Preached to northern Kingdom that Yahweh
would destroy Israel for its sins.
13. OBADIAH. Sermons denouncing Edom for joining Judah’s Enemies.
14. JONAH. A parable of mercy. Showed God loves all, not just the Jews.
15. MICAH. Judgment of Judah for infidelity. Predictions of the birth of Christ in Bethlehem.
16. NAHUM. Sermons against Nineveh (Assyria). Soon after Nineveh had terrorized Judah, late 7 th
century B.C.
17. HABAKKUK. Prophet in Judah shortly after Nahum. God’s use of Babylon as a rod of
chastisement for Judah.
18. ZEPHANIAH. Sermons against idolatry and foreign ways. He prophesied during reign of
Josiah
19. HAGGAI. Preached to Jews returning to Jerusalem after exile in Babylonia. Message was to
rebuild Temple of Yahweh in Jerusalem.
20. ZECHARIAH. Partner of Haggai in effort to rebuild the Temple. Messianic vision of Prince of
peace.
21. MALACH. Means “My Messenger.” Preaches against abuses and indifference.

13 Books make up “THE WRITINGS” (Hagiography) history, poetry,

philosophy

1. PSALM. 150 songs of prayer and praise. Many traditionally ascribed to King David, but
authorship of most is unknown.
2. PROVERBS. A collection of maxims and sayings. Religious and worldly. By Solomon and others
3. JOB. Narrative drama. Story of troubles that afflict a good man. Why evil should happen to the
righteous.
4. DANIEL. Story of a young Jew, taken captive to Babylon, who rose to become governor. Gives an
interpretation of history and hope for a “new order” on earth.
5. EZRA. Story of the return of exiles from Babylon to Judea in 536 B.C. Starts with proclamation of
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Cyrus, King of Persia.

6. NEHEMIAH. Story of how a great leader left Persian Court to help returned exiles rebuild
Jerusalem and their lives.
7. I CHRONICLES. History from Adam to Jacob.
8. II CHRONICLES. History of Israelites from David through the Babylonian exile.
9. Songs of Songs or song of Solomon. A love lyric which many feel is an allegory of God’s love for
all Israel and Christ’s love for the Church.
10. RUTH. A pastoral story. How a Moabite became a daughter of Israel and the ancestress of
King David and of Jesus Christ.
11. LAMENTATIONS. A book of dirges on the fall of Jerusalem with its consequent chaos and
oppression. It reflects the spirit and style of Jeremiah.
12. ECCLESIASTES. An account of divine wisdom reflected in nature, sovereign and independent
of man.
13. ESTHER. A story of a Jewish girl who became Queen of Persia and saved her people from
destruction. No mention of God in the Hebrew text of the entire work.

…and 7 books make up “the second canon”

Included in Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Bibles and called the “DEUTEROCANONICAL”
BOOKS. Anglican bibles include these plus a few additional books, but they are not considered to be
part of either canon. Protestants omit this section and call it the “APOCRYPHA.”

1. TOBIT. A religious story emphasizing the validity of faith in times of apparent abandonment by
God. Israel’s role of salvation.

2. JUDITH. A story which teaches Israel’s role of salvation and destiny in human history.

3. WISDOM OF SOLOMON. Praise of Divine Wisdom. Personifies Wisdom as defender of

Righteous. Condemnation of idolatry.

4. SIRACH. Also called Wisdom of Jesus Son of Sirach. Asserts principles of divine moral law,
moral responsibility for sin, divine retribution.

5. BARUCH. A retelling of the history of the exile to give the Jews of the depression the reason for
their distress and the assurance of restoration.

6. I MACCABEES. Historical account of Jews struggle to defend worship of Israel and fidelity to
the law.

7. II MACCABEES. Account of same revolt, through Jewish victory and subsequent

independence. Purpose is instruction and edification.

…plus additions to
DANIEL. Song of Three Children (Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego), their prayers and
blessings to God. Susanna and the Elders; Bel and the Dragon - both
independent stories loosely connected by a common hero, Daniel.

ESTHER. Greek portion of Esther which demonstrate her religiousness. Spiritualizes the
otherwise nonreligious tone of the book in its Hebrew form.

NEW TESTAMENT
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(Christian Scriptures)
A collection of 27 BOOKS written in Colloquial Greek in less than 100 years (51 to 105 A.D.)
after Christ as a MISSIONARY HANDBOOK -- proclaims the birth, growth and teachings of the
Christian Church.

27 BOOKS
FIRST 4 called “THE GOSPELS”
1. MATTHEW 2. MARK 3. LUKE 4. JOHN

THE ACTS of the APOSTLES Peter and Paul 1. ACTS

13 EPISTLES (LETTERS) From PAUL to churches and people

1. ROMANS 2. I CORINTHIANS 3. II CORINTHIANS 4. GALATIANS 5. EPHESIANS 6. PHILIPPIANS

7. COLOSSIANS 8. I THESSALONIANS 9. II THESSALONIANS 10. I TIMOTHY 11. II TIMOTHY
12. TITUS 13. PHILEMON

8 OTHER LETTERS

1. HEBREWS 2. JAMES 3. I PETER 4. II PETER 5. I JOHN 6. II JOHN 7. III JOHN 8. JUDE

A “vision”
REVELATION

The 4 GOSPELS “GOSPEL” means “GOOD NEWS”

MATTHEW
 Includes most of Mark (about ½)
 Written about 85 A.D. after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.
 Seems written for Jews to prove Jesus fulfilled prophecies of coming of the Messiah
MARK
 Earliest and shortest story of Jesus’ life
 Written about 70 A.D. and published after the fall of Jerusalem
 Seems written for Gentiles to present Jesus as Messiah and Son of God
 Used by Matthew and Luke
LUKE
 Written about 75 A.D.
 About 1/3 based on Mark
 Provides a chronological sequence
 Seems written for Greeks to show Jesus as a universal savior
Note: these first 3 are called “SYNOPTICS” meaning “seen with the same eye”. They cover the same
events.
JOHN
 Written between 90 and 100 A.D.
 Written for INSTRUCTION of early Christian Church
 Presents Jesus as the eternal Word of God who descended from heaven and became man.

THE ACTS—the story of a NEW RELIGION

 The only early account of the Christian community
 How it spread from Palestine to Rome, the capital of the world
 A sequel to Luke, the 3rd Gospel and by the same author
 Covers first 30 years after Jesus’ death
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 Written about 75 A.D.

 28 CHAPTERS
 1st 12
-Events in Palestine and Asia Minor
 NEXT 16
-Paul’s missionary tours to Judea, and throughout Roman world, up to his imprisonment in
Rome

13 LETTERS of PAUL
TO CHURCHES AND TO INDIVIDUALS…written before the Gospels…20 to 30 years after Jesus’ death
—so they are the EARLIEST Christian writings…some question on authorship of some letters.

1. The EPISTLE to the ROMANS

-from Corinth to the Roman Church
-To prepare Church for this visit
-just before final visit to Jerusalem
-principal theme: relationship between Judaism and Christianity
about 57-58 A.D.

2. The first Epistle to the CORINTHIANS

-advice to the Corinthian Church on insubordination, chastity and marriage, etc.—the Resurrection.
about 57 A.D.

3. The second Epistle to the Corinthians

-Paul’s suffering and consolation
-warns He will get after evil-doers on his next visit.
-collection for poor in Jerusalem
about 57 A.D.

4. The Epistle to the GALATIANS

-concerns Galatians converts to Christianity who were backsliding to strict Jewish laws.
-true nature of Justification by faith.
about 54-55 A.D.

5. The Epistle to EPHESIANS

-a letter to a city in Asia Minor
-discusses mystery of salvation and the mystery of the church.
about 62 A.D.

6. The Epistle to the PHILIPPIANS

-written when Paul was a prisoner in Rome
-warns against false teachings
-a plea for unity.
about 62 A.D.

7. The Epistle to the COLOSSIANS

-written to the church at Colossae in highly developed Christology.
about 62 A.D.

8. The first Epistle to the THESSALONIANS

-written from Corinth on Paul’s first visit
-praises the people
-tells of Christ’s second coming about 51 A.D.
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9. The Second Epistle to the THESSALONIANS

-a follow-up to his first
-Paul is concerned about their attitude expecting a second coming of Christ too soon.
about 52 A.D.

10. The first Epistle to TIMOTHY

-after Paul’s release from his imprisonment in Rome
-advice to Timothy about handling wrong ideas of some Ephesians.
about 63 A.D.

11. The second Epistle to TIMOTHY

-from Rome at time of Paul’s Second imprisonment
-as a Timothy to protect community against false teachings
-expresses great love
about 63 A.D.

12. The Epistle to TITUS

-written before Timothy letters
-advice to young co-workers to help them in Christianizing the social world.
about 62 A.D.

13. The Epistle to PHILEMON

-to Christian whose slave Onesimus had run away, been converted and was ready to return
-asks Philemon to be merciful and express Christian brotherhood.
about 62 A.D.

…and 8 other LETTERS

1. The Epistle to the HEBREWS

-author unknown
-treats the dignity of the person of Christ—God’s ultimate word of salvation.
about 66 A.D.

2. The Epistle of JAMES

-probably by a relative of Jesus who became head of the Church at Jerusalem
-teaches necessity of good works to accompany faith.
before 62 A.D.

3. The first Epistle of PETER

-from Rome to Christian churches in Asia Minor
-Christ’s death and resurrection.
about 64-67 A.D.

4. The second Epistle of PETER

-exhorts readers to be faithful and blameless
-helps build hope for a second coming
-warns against false teachers
about 100 A.D.
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567
the first Epistle of JOHN
the second Epistle of JOHN
the third Epistle of JOHN
-all concern various theological matters.
about 100 A.D.

8. The Epistle of JUDE

-possibly by brother of James
-to Christians who had back tracked to pagan immoralities.
about 90 A.D.

and finally…the REVELATION of JOHN

-struggle of Christ and His followers against Satan and his cohorts
-defeat of Satan and ultimate triumph of the kingdom of God
about 96 A.D.