Beginner's Guide to Reading the Bible II

In modern society we think of the Bible as a single book. It is a singular volume of pages that we leaf through and read passages from without a thought that what we are really looking at is a library of books. The word Bible is borrowed from the Greek word, biblia which means scrolls or little books. The Bible is a library of little books that we can hold in our hand. The biblical library that Protestants use is a collection of sixty-six of such little books, which are listed in the front of any modern Bible. The Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches have additional books in their Bibles called the apocrypha.

The books of the Bible have been written down over centuries by scribes who copied and preserved the biblical library. Over those years they developed a reference system to help the readers of the Bible locate specific items within the books. They divided each book into chapters, some short and some long, and marked numbers within the text that were larger than the text and easy to read - chapters. Each chapter is then divided into verses that generally run from one to two sentences in length. These verses build the chapters that are generally divided up based on subject matter or an event. By numbering these chapters and verses it is very easy to find and reference things within the Bible. References are written as Genesis 1:31 which would reference the book of Genesis, chapter 1 and verse 31. This verse begins, "And God saw everything that he had made...".

The books of the Bible are organized into different subject areas. It is first separated into the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament is comprised of stories recorded over centuries prior to the coming of Christ. It is the witness to the promises God made to the people of Israel. For Jewish people, what Christians refer to as the Old Testament is their entire Bible. The New Testament was written between A.D. 50 and A.D. 110 and is the story of the life and works of Jesus Christ. The Christian Bible Old Testament is broken up into the following groupings: The Pentateuch (Law), History, Wisdom and Prophets. The New Testament is divided into: The Gospels, History, The Letters.

The Pentateuch (Law)
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy constitutes the law portion of the Bible. Although it is referred to as "The Pentateuch," it not only offers the ordinances that governed the people of Israel but also songs, poems and narratives about these people.

History
Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther comprise the historical portion of the Old Testament. These books were all written in different places and in different times but were arranged in a sequence that recounts history over a period of several centuries. They are not comprehensive history textbooks, but focus on God's people and different important historical events.

Wisdom

Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon account for the wisdom section of the Bible. If you read different Bibles you will notice that many print these books line by line instead of paragraph form, like the rest of the Bible, in order to highlight the beauty and poetry of these books. This grouping of books is meant to give counsel to the reader and help make sense of problems many people face.

Prophets

The prophets of the Old Testament are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi. Of these, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel are thought of as the "major prophets." The rest are called the "minor prophets." These books do not simply foretell of things to come, but also give perspective on the life and times of the prophets and advocate faithfulness toward God.

The Gospels

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John comprise the Gospels. These are four separate and varying accounts of the life of Jesus Christ by four of his disciples. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were impassioned messengers of the life and good news of Jesus. Although they all basically tell the same story, it is intriguing to read the differing accounts and perspectives. Matthew often depicts Jesus as a great teacher while Mark's portrayal is skewed more toward that of the suffering Messiah. Luke tells the story of the Savior while John focuses more on Jesus as the divine Son of God.

History

The book of Acts reveals the history of the early church. It recounts events that show the true purpose of God and describes how Jesus' followers were empowered through the Holy Spirit.

The Letters

Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1, 2 and 3 John, Jude and Revelation comprise the epistles, or, Letters of the Bible. These epistles were written by early Christian leaders to members of Christian congregations. Thirteen of these collections are attributed to Paul and are referred to by the names of the cities in which the congregations were located or the individuals the letters were written to. The other letters are named for the authors. These letters are excellent reading material for understanding what it was to be a Christian in the Roman Empire.