Old Testament Apocryphal
/ Deuterocanonical
New Testament
Why these books?
TOC Information on the Books of the Bible
The Bible,
also called the Holy Bible, the sacred book or Scriptures of Judaism and of
Christianity. The Bible of Judaism and the Bible of Christianity are different,
however, in some important ways. The Jewish Bible is the Hebrew Scriptures, 39
books originally written in Hebrew, except for a few sections in Aramaic. The
Christian Bible is in two parts, the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New
Testament. The Old Testament is structured in two slightly different forms by
the two principal divisions of Christendom. The version of the Old Testament
used by Roman Catholics is the Bible of Judaism plus 7 other books and additions
to books (see the accompanying table); some of the additional books were
originally written in Greek, as was the New Testament. The version of the Old
Testament used by Protestants is limited to the 39 books of the Jewish Bible.
The other books and additions to books are called the Apocrypha
by Protestants; they are generally referred to as deuterocanonical
books by Roman Catholics.
The term Bible is derived through Latin from the Greek biblia, or
"books," the diminutive form of byblos, the word for
"papyrus" or "paper," which was exported from the ancient
Phoenician port city of Biblos. By the time of the Middle Ages the books of the
Bible were considered a unified entity.
The order as well as the number of books differs between the Jewish Bible and the
Protestant and Roman Catholic versions of the Bible. The Bible of Judaism is in
three distinct parts: the Torah, or Law, also called the books of Moses; the
Nebiim, or Prophets, divided into the Earlier and Latter Prophets; and the
Ketubim, or Writings, including Psalms, wisdom books, and other diverse
literature. The Christian Old Testament organizes the books according to their
type of literature: the Pentateuch, corresponding to the Torah; historical
books; poetical or wisdom books; and prophetical books. Some have perceived in
this table of contents a sensitivity to the historical perspective of the books:
first those that concern the past; then, the present; and then, the future. The
Protestant and Roman Catholic versions of the Old Testament place the books in
the same sequence, but the Protestant version includes only those books found in
the Bible of Judaism.
The book Genesis is thought to have been written about 1500 B.C. and Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, about 425 B.C.
Jesus made a very clear statement about the value of the Old Testament when He said, " "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill." Matthew 5:17 NRSV.
Today we arrange the books of the Old Testament into four groups: The five books of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and Numbers). The 12 Historical books from Joshua to Ester. The five books written in the form of poetry; from Job to the Song of Solomon. The five Major Prophets from Isaiah to Daniel and the 12 Minor Prophets (smaller books) from Hosea to Malachi.
There is a period of about 400 years between the Old Testament and the New Testament that is called the inter-testamental period. Most Protestants and Jews see it as rich in history but empty of inspired writing. During this time many books were written, but all books that call themselves religious are not necessarily equal. Such is the case with the group of books called "The Apocrypha" pronounced (a pock ra fa). The term apocrypha comes from a Greek word which means hidden or secret. Originally the word was used to suggest that these books contained hidden truth that only privileged people could know. Over the years some of these books were included into an ancient Egyptian Greek version of the Old Testament called the Septuagint (pronounced sep too a gint) and eventually found their way into later versions of the Bible as we know it today.
As history the books and writings from this period have importance because they fill in the time gap between Malachi of the Old Testament and John the Baptist of the New Testament. However, their doctrinal content, as compared to the universally accepted books of the Bible has long been questioned. Originally it was the Roman Catholic scholar, Jerome (died 420 A.D.), who challenged the use of these books for church doctrine and made up the title "Apocrypha" to describe these types of writings.
Later,in the 1500's, the founder of the Lutheran Church, Martin Luther, also doubted the content of the apocryphal books and had them placed in a group at the end of the German Old Testament. He objected to the teachings that were not in harmony with the Bible. In the Apocrypha can be found the idea of purgatory and the supposed benefit of prayers for the dead (2 Maccabees 12:43-45). Also Dr. Luther took exception to the teachings promoting the merit of good works for salvation. (Tobit 12:9; Ecclesiasticus 3:33; 2 Esdras 8:33; etcetera).
In 1546 the Roman Catholic church at the Council of Trent, officially overruled the earlier objections of their own scholar, Jerome, and declared the Apocrypha part of their Holy Scriptures. The official Roman Catholic Bible, the Douay-Rheims (1609) includes the Apocrypha scattered throughout.
Today, Protestants choose not to accept the books of the Apocrypha as inspired. The printing of the Apocrypha as part of the Bible was discontinued in 1827 by the British and Foreign Bible Society and later on by the American Bible Society. However, it can be found as supplemental material in The New English Bible published in 1970.
Also see: The Old Testament Description
The New Testament is a collection of books about the life and times of Jesus and the events that happened to His early followers. The time of the writing of the New Testament books dates from after the crucifixion of Jesus to around the end of the first century, perhaps 45 to 95 A.D. The first four books are called the Gospels. The four authors take entirely different approaches in telling their story but share much overlapping information. The book written by Matthew begins with something very important to the Jews, that is establishing that Jesus, the Messiah, had the proper family blood line through the tribe of Judah. The book of Mark begins his Gospel when Jesus is already a grown man and just beginning His public ministry. Doctor Luke, a physician, writes with the careful detail of a man whose occupation trained him to be a careful observer. The doctor opens with the angel Gabriel visiting the yet-to-be father of John the Baptist. The Gospel of John takes us far back in time and informs us that the Word (Jesus Christ) was with God in the beginning.
The book, Acts of the Apostles, also written by Dr. Luke, records the events in the daily lives of the Apostles after Jesus rose from the dead. His account of the history of the early Christian church ends in about 60 A.D. with Paul's imprisonment in Rome. Most of the rest of the New Testament books are letters from the early church leaders to various congregations and groups. Please make a mental note, we only have half of the story when we read these letters. In a way, it is like reading some else's mail. The exact meaning of some of the comments still escapes us today. These letters show that the early church congregations had many problems which prompted much Christian counseling and some stern correction. For instance, to the Corinthian church members, St. Paul wrote, "It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you..." 1 Corinthians 5:1 Another time Paul writes to Timothy advising, "Let no man despise thy youth..." 1 Timothy 4:12
The bulk of the letters of the New Testament are letters of advice to specific churches or groups of people. While the letters were not written directly to us, we can and do apply the principles to life today. Good advice is timeless. The New Testament closes with the Book of Revelation, a book of prophecy, thought to have been written by John, the author of the Gospel of John.
The Jewish Bible has 24 books, most of the Protestant Bibles have 66 and the Catholic Bible includes 73 books. There seems to be a disagreement, but it is really a difference of definition. Of course, the Jews do not accept the New Testament because they do not believe Jesus of Nazareth to be the Messiah. The Protestants and Catholics only have differences over part the Old Testament. The difference is over the canon or the list of the books of the Holy Scriptures accepted.
It is said that at the end of the first century, the Jewish rabbis in the councils of Jamnia (90 and 118 A.D) agreed on which of the Hebrew books they felt measured up to be considered authoritative. In reality, they were only confirming what had already been accepted by public opinion of the faithful. We do know that after the councils of Jamnia the questions of which books should be officially included in the Old Testament were no longer considered to be of any consequence. Four criteria were thought to be considered in their deliberations about books to include: (1) the book must come within the period to be considered inspired since prophetic inspiration was thought to have started with Moses and ended with Ezra; (2) what was presented in the books must be in harmony with the Law (the first five books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy); (3) the language of the original book should be Hebrew; (4) and generally written within the geographical limits of Palestine. On this basis the books of the Old Testament were chosen for the Palestinian Canon of Scriptures.
In the Christian church during its early years, twenty-seven more books were counted as measuring up to the canon or standard. They also had four basic tests they used to determine whether to include a writing. The criteria were: (1) the book should be written by an apostle or by a person with such a close relationship with the early church leaders that the book would be of an apostolic caliber: (2) the book was to give clear evidence that it was divinely inspired; (3) the book was to be universally accepted by the church; (4) the contents of the book were to be in harmony with other scripture and of a high spiritual nature. The Third Council of Carthage in 397 A.D. seems to have agreed that the 27 books of the New Testament we have today measured up for use in the Church. "It is a remarkable fact that no early Church Council selected the books that should constitute the New Testament Canon. The books that we now have crushed out all rivals, not by any adventitious authority, but by their own weight and worth," so says Henry Thiessen Ph.D in his book Introduction to the New Testament.
Also see: The New Testament Description