Structure of the Bible

The Structure of the Holy Bible

2 Main Sections
The Old Testament The New Testament
(Hebrew Scripture) (Christian Scripture)
Each testament is divided into:
4 Sections: 4 Sections:
1. The Pentateuch or Torah 1. The Gospels
2. The Historical Books 2. The Acts of the Apostles
3. The Wisdom and Poetry Books 3. The Epistles (Letters)
4. The Book of Prophets 4. The Book of Revelation
Individual Books
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Chapter and Verse

“In the beginning was the word and the word was with God” Jn 1:1
 The Bible

 The Catholic Christian Bible contains 73* "Books (as opposed to 66 in the
Christian Bible)."
There are 7 books that are in the Old Testament that have always
been part of the Cannon of Scripture. Protestant reformers removed
these books but the Council of Trent in 1546 declared that they are
indeed part of our scriptures.
 These books contain stories of God’s working in the lives of heroic
individuals.
 The Books of the Bible are divided into Chapters.
 The Chapters are divided into Verses.

So, if you wanted to locate John 3:16, you would open the Bible to the Book of
John, then turn to Chapter 3, and then look for Verse 16. And there you would
find one of the most popular Bible passages: For God so loved the world that
he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but
have eternal life. - John 3:16
 The Bible
 Christians believe the Bible is the inspired word of God.

 The Christian Bible is divided into two parts - the Old Testament and
the New Testament.

 The books of the Bible were written by about 40 different people,

including prophets, poets and historians. •

 The Old Testament books of the Bible were composed during a

period of time that lasted about 1000 years. That period of time began
with Moses and ended during the time the prophet Malachi lived.
 Old Testament

The Pentateuch or Torah.

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. These 5 books
were written perhaps as long ago as 3400 years ago, traditionally they
are attributed to Moses. These five books are sometimes called the Law
Books and contain stories of humanity’s origins, the patriarchs, Israel’s
escape from slavery and their journey to the promised land. It contains
the social, moral, and religious guidelines for living in response to God’s
love.
The
 History

The History Books

Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1
Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Ester.
These include the stories of Israel’s conquest of the Promised Land, their
growth as a nation, their exile in a foreign land, and their return from exile
to a land occupied by a foreign government
The
 Poetry and Wisdom

The Poetry and Wisdom Books

Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs. These books are
sometimes called the books of Writings, or the books of Poetry, or the
books of Wisdom. These books contain ancient hymns of personal
struggles and national pride as well as lessons about suffering, finding
meaning in everyday life, and love.
 Prophetic Books

The Prophetic Books

Jeremiah, Lamentations, Isaiah, Ezekiel and Daniel, Hosea, Joel,
Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai,
Zechariah, Malachi. Prophets reveal God’s message calling us back to
hope, forgiveness and justice. These books teach us how to treat one
another and remain faithful to God. The references of major and minor
prophets refer to the length of the respective compositions not any
prophetic distinction among the writers.
 Deuterocanonical Books

Deuterocanonical Books (Second

Canon)
Baruch, Sirach (Ecclesiates), Judith, Tobit, Wisdom, 1 Macabees, 2
Macabees. These texts are all contained in Catholic Bibles but not
Jewish or Protestant. These books were in the Jewish scriptures at
the time of Jesus and He taught His disciples from them. The Jewish
scholars took them out about 250 years after Jesus Passion
because the followers of Jesus, Christians, looked to them to give
evidence of the existence of heaven, life after death. The Protestant
reformers removed them from the Christian scriptures in the 16th
century because the Jews didn’t use them any longer.
 New Testament

The New Testament books of the Bible were written sometime from about
50 AD to about 95 AD. Jesus was crucified by the Romans in about 30 AD.

 The New Testament contains the "four Gospels," which refers to the
books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Early church history is
contained in The Acts of the Apostles. Also in the New Testament are
"epistles" or "letters" that were written by Peter, Paul, James and other
followers of Jesus. It also contains the book of Revelation.
 The New Testament

The New Testament

The New Testament was originally written in Greek because it was
the most commonly spoken language of the Mediterranean world. It
contains the four Gospels, Act of the Apostles, Epistles, and Book of
Revelation.
 New Testament

The Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles

Matthew, Mark, Luke, John

The Gospels were written about 2000 years ago by the followers of
Jesus. Each Gospel is an account of the life, teachings, suffering,
death and resurrection of Jesus Christ written for different audiences.
The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke together are referred to as
the synoptic gospels. "Synoptic" is derived from a Greek word
meaning "one eye,' since these gospels look alike in structure and
content.
The Gospel of John differs in structure and contains some stories and
sayings of Jesus that are not found the synoptic gospels
 Acts of the Apostles

Acts of the Apostles

Is the book immediately following the Gospel of John. It is written by
Luke as a sequel to his gospel account it describes the faith, growth
and way of life of early Christianity. The story of the Ascension of
Jesus into heaven, the coming of the Holy Spirit to the church at
Pentecost, the martyrdom of St. Stephen and the conversion of St.
Paul can all be found in this book.
 The Epistles

The Epistles

The Epistles or Letters make up the largest part of the New

Testament. They are divided into two categories: the Pauline Letters
and other Apostolic Letters. All the letters follow the format of letter
writing in the ancient world. Each letter usually begins with a greeting
and an identification of the sender and the recipients. This is
followed by a prayer, usually in the form of a thanksgiving. The body
of the letter is an exposition of Christian teaching, usually responding
to the circumstances of the recipients. It may be followed by a
discussion of the author's future travel plans and conclude with
practical advice and a farewell.
 The Pauline Letters

The Pauline Letters

Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians,

Colossians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon
These were written by St. Paul or one of his disciples; not long after
the death and resurrection of Jesus, between 54 A.D. and 80 A.D.
They indicate early developments of Christian theology and
practice.
 Apostolic Letters

Apostolic Letters
James, 1 & 2 Peter, Jude
The Apostolic Letters are thought to be addressed, not so much to a
particular community or individual, but to a more universal audience.
They were written by various authors between 65 A.D. and 95 A.D
John’s letters and the Book
of Revelation

John’s Letters

1 John, 2 John, 3 John. This book was written by John about 1900
years ago. He was shown visions of the future by Jesus. This book
contains many prophecies about the End Times, or the Apocalypse.
Biblical scholars have concluded that the Gospel of John and the
Letters of John were written by the same author. The letters were
probably composed at the end of the first century.
 Revelation

The last book contained in Christian scripture, Revelation is

perhaps the most misinterpreted and problematic. The book is an
example of apocalyptic literature popular from 200 B.C. to 200
A.D. This literary form included use of symbolic numbers, colors,
animals and cosmic images. All of these devices and
their meaning would have been familiar to the original audience,
but have proven a puzzlement to succeeding generations.
What Language was the Bible
written

Two books of the Old Testament - Wisdom and II

Machabees - were written in Greek. The rest of the Old
Testament was written in the Hebrew language. The New
Testament was written in Greek, with the exception of St.
Matthew's Gospel which - according to the unanimous
testimony of Christian antiquity - was written in Hebrew or
Aramaic.
Scripture’s authors: human and divine

Just as we humans participate in God’s ongoing creation

through procreation, we also had a part in creating the
Scriptures. God and his people have always worked side by
side. God chose Mary to bear Jesus.

The prophets brought God’s message to Israel. Jesus sent

the Apostles on a mission to preach the Gospel to the
whole world. The message that God wants conveyed is
contained in the Scriptures, but the way in which it is
conveyed was left up to the specific authors.
 Who is the Author of the
Scriptures
Therefore, it is very true to say that God is the author of
the Scriptures, but it is also true that the human
authors are the authors of the various books of the
Bible. For example, St. Paul is the author of the First Letter
to the Corinthians. God is also its author. Each Gospel has a
different “flavor” based on the personality and goals of its
human author.
 Experience

The Bible is the written account of the human

experience with God. Many parts of the Bible are oral
tradition that was written down.

Most people were illiterate and relied much more on

their memories to pass on traditions and stories.
Oral tradition was the norm long before writing and
reading was popular.
 Different Histories

Different books have different histories. For example, Genesis

likely involved many sources passed down over hundreds of
years.

Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians has one human author

(Paul) and was written within 30 years of Jesus’ death and
resurrection.
 Different Genres

Furthermore, different books of the Bible belong to

different genres. Obviously, a New Testament epistle is a
letter. 1 and 2 Samuel were histories. The Song of Songs is a
love poem. The way in which the author wrote was due in
part to the genre in which he wrote.
 When Written

The Old Testament is the original Hebrew Bible, the sacred

scriptures of the Jewish faith, written at different times between
about 1200 and 165 BC.

The New Testament books were written by Christians in the first

century AD. About 50-100 A.D.
 Literal Intention

Should Catholics take the Bible literally? If by literal we are

referring to the intention of the author, then yes, Catholics do take
the Bible literally. For such a literal reading respects the author's
intention it reads poetry poetically, metaphors metaphorically,
and history historically.

The aim of interpreting the Bible is to discern what the author

intended by the words he used. For example, when we read that
Jesus says it is better to lose a member of one's body than to sin,
we understand that Jesus is teaching about the gravity of sin
through hyperbole. We do not take Him as literally commanding
dismemberment.
Genres of Reading Scripture

A. The Narrative: Tells story of God’s People

B. The Liturgical: The sacrifices (Leviticus) and Song’s (Psalms)
C. The Law: Legal and Juridical norms (Deuteronomy)
Customary Law (Proverbs, Sirach , etc.)
D. The Prophetic: Prose and Poetry (Isaiah, Zachariah)
Apocalyptic Daniel

Each one of these lead into the other

How Can I Understand the Bible

As part of a thorough, accurate application of Scripture it is wise to

ask questions such as these:

To whom was it written? By Whom?

What were the circumstances ?

Always use a Bible commentary when reading the Bible