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The second
major division of the Christian Bible (Matthew—Revelation).
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Christian Bibles are divided into two main parts: The Old Testament and the New Testament. A testament
is the written expression of someone’s will, and the Old and New Testaments
express God’s will for people. The New Testament includes 27 books.
First are the four gospels, which narrate Jesus’ life, death
and resurrection. Next is the New Testament's Historical Narrative: the book of Acts, which
recounts the missionary outreach of the early church. The rest of the New
Testament consists of letters or “epistles” written by early Christian
leaders to members of Christian congregations. There are thirteen Pauline epistles, which are named for the cities
or individuals to which the letters were sent (Romans—Philemon). Next
come the General Epistles and Revelation,
all of which except Hebrews are letters named after their authors (James—The
Revelation to John). |
