V. STRUCTURE OF THE BIBLE
The Bible is comprised of 66 books which were written over a period of roughly 1,500 years by various individuals as the Holy Spirit moved them. The books themselves fall into different categories which are determined by their literary structure. Between categories there is often some overlap. Prophecy is not restricted to the prophetic books but is found as well in other historical writing and much that is within the prophetic books themselves is in the form of poetry (Isaiah is a good example of prophecy in poetic form).
A. Old Testament (39 books)
HISTORICAL
Genesis #1
Exodus #1
Leviticus #1
Numbers #1
Deuteronomy #1
Joshua
Judges
Ruth
1 & 2 Samuel #2
1 & 2 Kings #2
1 & 2 Chronicles #2
Ezra
Nehemiah
Esther
POETICAL
Job #3
Psalms
Proverbs #3
Ecclesiastes #3
Song of Songs #3, #4
PROPHETIC
Isaiah #5
Jeremiah #5
Lamentations #5
Ezekiel #5
Daniel #5
Hosea #6
Joel #6
Amos #6
Obadiah #6
Jonah #6
Micah #6
Nahum #6
Habakkuk #6
Zephaniah #6
Haggai #6
Zechariah #6
Malachi #6
#1. These are also referred to as "The Law," "The Law of Moses" or "The Pentateuch."
#2. The books of Samuel and Kings give the history of both Israel and Judah from a moral standpoint, while the books of Chronicles give the history of the kings of Judah alone to a restored nation from an idealistic perspective.
#3. Though poetical these are also known as "Wisdom Literature," they also contain a great deal of prophecy and refer frequently to events recorded in the historical writings
#4. Also called "The Song of Solomon"
#5. Major prophets*
# 6. Minor prophets*
*Note that the major and minor prophets are not named to signify their importance or the importance of their message but to indicate the size of their prophetic writings, both together are referred to as "The Prophets" by the Jews.
B. New Testament (27 books)
BIOGRAPHICAL
Matthew #1
Mark #1
Luke #1
John #1
HISTORICAL
Acts #2
TEACHING/LETTERS
Romans #3
1 & 2 Corinthians #3
Galatians #3
Ephesians #3
Philippians #3
Colossians #3
1 & 2 Thessalonians #3
1 & 2 Timothy #4
Titus #4
Philemon #4
Hebrews #3
James #3
1 & 2 Peter #3
1 & 2 &3 John #3
Jude #3
PROPHETIC
Revelation #5
#1. Known as the “Gospels," biographical accounts of the life of Jesus
#2. The history of the early Church beginning at Jesus' ascension, overlaps most of the letters
#3. Letters to churches, not churches as we know them today groups of believers in various regions
#4. Letters to individuals
#5. An apocalyptic account of the end times and the beginning of eternity, although most of the other books of the New Testament also contain prophecy they are not devoted entirely to prophecy
C. The Bible Timeline
The foundation of Christianity is the Bible. It is the only dependable source for humankind to know God's voice. It has the answers to all eternal questions. The focus of all Scripture is ultimately on Jesus. It is the blueprint of Heaven and the only reliable source of truth for all moral and spiritual information by which humans can successfully live each day and build a foundation for any endeavor. In its original text, the Bible is the all-inclusive, inerrant, divinely inspired word of God (2 Timothy 3:16).
The Bible was written with a consistent theme by about 40 authors over an approximately 1,500-year period in three languages on three continents with no evident contradictions. Its writers were scholars, ranchers, shepherds, and fishermen.
The Book of Job is considered the oldest book in the Bible. BC 2000-1500
The stone tablets of the Ten Commandments were given to Moses. BC 1500-1400
The original 39 books were completed. BC 1400–400
The original 39 books were canonized BC 300
The Greek Septuagint was produced. BC 250–200
Old Testament Timeline
Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers) BC 1445-1406
Deuteronomy BC 1406
Joshua BC 1370
Judges BC 1085-971
Ruth BC 1085-971
Samuel BC 1030-931
Job BC 1030-931 BC (Poetic parts of the book date back to 2000 BC)
Proverbs BC 971-686
Ecclesiastes BC 940+-
Song of Songs BC 940+-
Joel BC 800-700
Amos BC 792-752
Hosea BC 782-722
Jonah BC 745-630
Isaiah BC 739-686
Micah BC 733-701
Nahum BC 663-626
Zephaniah BC 636-627
Kings BC 627-574
Habakkuk BC 626-590
Jeremiah BC 605-580
Ezekiel BC 597-573
Lamentations BC 586
Obadiah BC 586+-
Daniel BC 550-530
Haggai BC 520
Zechariah BC 520-480
Malachi BC 515-415+-
Esther BC 474-450
Chronicles BC 450-400
Ezra BC 440 BC
Psalms BC 440-400+- Oldest Psalm (90) BC 1406, David’s Psalms BC 1030+-.
Nehemiah BC 430
New Testament Timeline
The historic church has had the complete written “logos/graphe” Word since before 100 AD. Below is the consensus of Bible-believing Scholars for the timeline each book was written.
James - 40-46 AD
1 Thessalonians - 50-52 AD
2 Thessalonians - 51-53 AD
Galatians - 53-56 AD
1 + 2 Corinthians - 56-57 AD
Romans and 1 Peter - 57-58 AD
Philippians - 59 AD
Matthew - 35-60 AD
Titus, Philemon, Mark - 61 AD
Ephesians, Colossians, 1 Timothy - 61-63 AD
Hebrews - 61-63 AD
2 Peter, 2 Timothy, Luke, Jude - 58-67 AD
Acts - 58-67 AD
John, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John - 63-80 AD
Revelation - 89-95 AD
Both the Old (OT) and entire New Testament (NT) could be reconstructed from the writings of the early Church Fathers such as Clement of Rome who wrote a letter to the church at Corinth in 95 AD that contained numerous OT Scriptures as well as the writings of the Apostles Jesus had hand-picked, that were considered as sacred Scripture.
The OT Scriptures were completed by 400 BC+-. The NT Scriptures (27) were compiled into one book in 144 A.D. by Marcion of Sinope (85 AD -160 AD), the son of the Bishop of Pontus.
Another early church father was Irenaeus, who lived from 130 AD to 202 AD. In his writings, he quoted from 24 books of the NT over 1,800 times.
Justin Martyr wrote a letter known as his first Apology to the Roman Emperor around 150 AD in which he described what happened during a typical Sunday church service. He wrote that the Scriptures of the OT (the writings of the Prophets) and the writings of the NT were read out loud, and then a message (discourse) was preached, songs were sung, and people prayed together. Then, an offering was taken, part of which was used to help those who were sick, as well as for widows and orphans, and all those that were in need (First Apology, 67).
There was also Origen Adamantius, who lived from 185 AD - 254 AD in Alexandria, Egypt. He was a theologian and scholar who made over 18,000 references to the books in the NT in his writings.
