bible contents

• what books do the bible contain?

  • old testament
  • new testament
• old testament

  the jewish scriptures before jesus
• new testament


  all about the life of jesus and his apostles teachings and revelations
• 4 types of literature in old testament

  • laws
  • history
  • writings
  • prophets
• laws in old testament


  commands from god like the 10 commandments
• history in old testament

  the history of the jewish people

  for example kings
• writings in old testament


  poetry and wisdom, revealing the nature of god

  example is psalms
• prophets in old testament


  recorded messages from god, including guidance on how people should behave

  example is the book of isaiah
• 3 types of literature in new testament

  • gospels
  • letters
  • revelation
• gospels in new testament


  this means 'good news'

  4 gospels all record the same key events in jesus life

  example is gospel of mark
• letters in new testament


  written by apostles to early christian communities

  example is hebrews
• revelation in new testament


  books describing the end of the world, sometimes called apocalyptic

  book called revelation
• early christians accepted that the jewish scriptures should be in the bible because they were jewish and always accepted them as revelations of god
• early christians wanted the new testament in the bible because it was recorded by those who knew jesus
• by the 3rd century, the church had agreed which books were accurate and genuine so should be in the bible

  they are called canonical
• the catholic bible has 73 books
• the catholic church contains some books called deuterocanonical
• what are deuterocanonical books?


  second list of approved books
• all christian bibles have the same number of books in the new bible
• why do all christian bibles have the same number of books in the new bible?


  they all agree that they are important reflections on the life of christ
• different christian views

  1. catholics decided at council of trent in 1545 that there should be 46 books in the old testament
  2. protestants deleted 7 of these books , known as deuterocanonical books, because they believe that those books were not in jewish scriptures
  3. orthodox christians have extra books not recognised by the catholic church as they are also important revelations of god
• catholic view of interpreting the bible

  • inspired word
  • gods message interpreted by humans
  • there to tell us about god and his relationship with humanity
  • some bits are true, like the resurrection of jesus
  • some bits have spiritual truth, like genesis
• quotes from catechism that shows catholic interpretation of the bible


  god inspired the human authors of the sacred books
• evangelical interpretation of the bible

  • it is the literal word of god
  • the bible writers were told by god what to write
  • none of it is wrong
  • they take genesis literally, so they reject big bang theory and evolution
• liberal christian views

  • the bible was written by humans that were inspired
  • it has spiritual truth
  • not literal
  • the miracles of jesus are symbolic language