The Books Of The Bible

It is best to begin reading the Bible with the New Testament first. The Old Testament was written before Jesus came and the New Testament after. The New Testament revolves around the life of Jesus, the theology and meaning of his life and, the spread of the new church.

The first four books of the New Testament are the gospels. This is a term that means "good news". The news being that the messiah, Jesus, has come and the sacrifice of his life on the cross, as well-foretold in the Old Testament, paid the price for sin for anyone that accepts Jesus as his savior (saviour).

The first three gospels, Matthew, Mark and, Luke are known as the "synoptic gospels" for their similarity to each other. The fourth, John, is more spiritual and theological and concentrates more on what Jesus was than what he did. The Gospel written by John is different from the other three and includes some things not mentioned by the others and vice versa. Matthew is the most topical of the gospels and tends to group material by topic rather than chronology. Mark was the first written and Matthew and Luke add onto it. All four are versions of Jesus' life and the best way to get an understanding of it is to study all four.

The next book is the Acts of the Apostles. This is a continuation of the Gospel of Luke and is an adventure-packed story about the spread of the church. The first part of the book revolves around the apostle Peter and the second part around Paul. St. Paul was a great enemy of the new church until Jesus encountered him in spirit when he was heading to Damascus. He was suddenly converted and spent the rest of his life spreading the gospel.

The Epistle (letter) to the Romans by Paul is an exquisite theological treatise. Paul never met Jesus in the flesh but this could be called "The Gospel of Paul". This book explains Christianity from a spiritually legal point of view. Romans 3:28 (chapter 3, verse 28) is what really inspired Martin Luther and set off the Reformation.

The two Books of Corinthians are Paul"s advice to the believers at Corinth, a city near Athens. The Book of Galatians is one of the favorite (favourite) books of just about all Christians, certainly including me. It explains the legal foundation of Chritianity and is more concise than the Book of Romans. The next book, the Book of Ephesians, is also one of the best and is a general epistle (letter), meant to be circulated around all the churches because it does not discuss the local issues of any church. This book and the next two, Phillipians and Colossians, Paul wrote from prison.

Next are two double books, to the Thessalonians and to Timothy. All four are short and well-liked books containing various encouragements, warnings and explanations of the spiritual purpose of Jesus' life. The Book of Titus is directed to the new church on the island of Crete and the single chapter Book of Philemon is about a runaway slave named Onesimus. The Book of Hebrews is a classic and explains the life of Jesus in terms of Jewish, Old Testament religious rituals and sacrifices.

The Book of James is known as kind of a counterbalance to those of Romans and Galatians because it focuses on works rather than grace. The following Books of Peter and John are exhortations, advice and explanations for believers in the new churches. The Book of Revelation is highly supernatural and prophetic. It is similar in form to the Old Testament Book of Daniel and concerns the Last Days of the world.