Summary of the Books of the Bible - Book Report/Review Example

Dealing with the Old Testament and the New Testament, Fee and Stuart divided the biblical literature over ten chapters. These are the Epistles, Old Testament narratives, Acts, Gospels, Parables, Laws, Prophets, Psalms, Wisdom and Revelation. In the New Testament we see the Biographical, Historical, Correspondence and Prophecy genres. In the Preface to the book ‘How to Read the Bible for All It’s Worth’, Fee and Stuart clearly state that the aim of the book is to help the reader understand the “different types of the literature (the genres) that make up the Bible.” They wish to make the reader take a generic approach so as to help them understand the messages applicable for the present day generation that is contained in the Bible. The generic approach also helps the reader understand the non- narrative part of the Bible. The head of Biblical studies, the department of philosophy and Christian education at the Taylor University, Michael Harbin (ThD and ThM, Dallas Theological Seminary) enlightens us on his seminal work that covers both the Testaments of the Bible in a colorful and historical survey. Harbin’s account is most intriguing in the explanation he renders of the accounts in the Bible. Chronologically arranged from the inception of God’s creation, the fall of man, the solution to the different problems and finally how the gospel is spread throughout the world. Harbin’s book titled “The Promise and the Blessing” (Harbin Michael, 2005) is it easy to follow because of the rich narrative style used by the author. There are four major divisions in the New Testament of the Bible. They are the Gospels, Act of the Apostles, Pauline and General Epistles and Prophecy. Of the twenty seven books that make the New Testament four books belong to the genre of biography. There is one book in the historical genre. A major portion of the twenty seven books, the twenty one epistles are written in the form of letters and the concluding book belongs to the prophecy genre. Except the four Gospels, the Acts ,and the Revelation, all the others are written in the epistle form.( Fee , 56) and of these, the Pauline epistles as well as two and three John are “real letters” .( Fee , 56). Luke and the Acts can be seen as history and it is an excellent example of Hellenistic historiography. (Fee, 109) “Most of the local churches within the Roman world agreed to which writings should be included in the NT canon by the second century; however, this agreement was not formalized until the third council of Carthage in 397.” (Michael Harbin, 2005) according to Harbin 2005) The Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament), was in the Canon as the New Testament began to be added over a period of 400 years. THE GOSPEL “The four Gospels form a unique literary genre for which there are few real analogies.”(127). In the New Testament the first four books are the Gospel of Matthew, Gospel of Mark, Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of John. The genre in the Gospel of Matthew is biographical. It comes under the category of the synoptic gospel and the main theme is the “Kingdom of Heaven”. The Sermon on the Mount is contained in this Gospel. It traces the genealogy of Christ. The Gospel of Mark is attributed to John Mark of Jerusalem. This Gospel was addressed to the Gentiles who were facing persecution. It narrates the actions and death of Jesus. It contains the preaching of John the Baptist The Gospel of Luke is attributed to the physician Luke, who was a companion of Paul. It challenged the readers to put into action their faith with full vigor. The final gospel in the New Testament is different from the Synoptic gospel as it contains records of several miracles and sayings of Jesus. These are not found in the other gospels. The author of this gospel is John one of the twelve apostles. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are the authors of the four books of the Gospels. Four different accounts of the birth, life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are found in the Gospels. The Gospels lay the foundation for the teaching of the New Testament and demonstrate to us that the promised Messiah was Jesus. The four Gospels have a common thread running which is the period of history it deals with. They set forth the miracles and teachings of the Savior and also describe His death and resurrection. They are fully inspired by the Holy Spirit and though they do not portray the complete biography of the Lord they are complete in themselves. Each of the Gospels contemplates Him in a different light. Matthew portrays the Lord as King, Mark shows Him as Servant, Luke as Son of Man and John as Son of God. These Gospels were written between 70A.D and 95 A.D. Forty years after Christ was crucified, the Gospel of Mark was written. The Gospel of Matthew and Luke was written between 80A.D. and 90A.D. and the final form of the Gospel of John appeared in 95A.D. THE BOOK OF ACTS The book of Acts belongs to the historical genre. These books are a record of the ‘acts’ or actions of the apostles. It is a record of the history and spread of the Church all over the world. The second book of the New Testament, Acts of the Apostles is addressed to the unknown reader Theophilus. The narrator speaks as an uninvolved third party with a changing voice and person who sometime lapses into plural. The religious purpose of the text remains unaffected by the inaccuracies and the Acts are read as instructional and devotional history. These Acts depicts the story of the spread of Christianity, the triumph of the message of Christ despite persecution, the growth of differences between Judaism and Christianity and the move towards earthly concerns away from apocalypse. The sequel to the Gospel of Luke is the Acts of the Apostles. It tells the story of the first thirty years of the Christian Church. The preeminent leaders of Christianity, Apostles Peter and Paul, are the main focus of the stories of this book. THE PAULINE EPISTLES Pauline Epistles were letters which addressed individuals or congregations. Many of these epistles are attributed to Paul the apostle, whereas the authorship of some of the epistles is a debated issue. These letters were written by Paul to the Christian communities for the purpose of instruction and encouragement in the faith. Another purpose was to settle disputes and address specific problems that had arisen in the communities. These epistles have all the four general characteristics of the epistle genre prevalent in the Greco – Roman time. They contain an opening salutation, a prayer, blessing or Thanksgiving, the body of the letter and the final greeting and farewell. The General Epistles of the New Testament are written in the form of letters. They are so called because their audiences were the Christians in general. The epistles appear in the New Testament in the following order- Epistle of James, First Epistle of Peter, Second Epistle of Peter, First Epistle of John, Second Epistle of John, Third Epistle of John and finally Epistle of Jude. The genre of these epistles is investigative. The Letter of Paul to the Romans is a personal letter of introduction. In some parts it is formal like an exhortation or sermon. The purpose of this book written by Paul is to introduce him and to put forward his theology. This book laid stress on the unity of Gentiles and Jews in Christianity. The First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians is the second book in the Acts, the authorship of which is attributed to Apostle Paul. It is a personal letter of exhortation and instruction. This letter was written to resolve the problems which he was made aware of by ways of letters and oral reports. The Second Letter of Paul to the Corinthians is a letter written in a personal style with instructions and exhortations. It is a composite of about two to five letters which had varied purposes that include instruction, admonition and warning. The First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians is the second book in the Acts, the authorship of which is attributed to Apostle Paul. It is a personal letter of exhortation and instruction. This letter was written to resolve the problems which he was made aware of by ways of letters and oral reports. The Second Letter of Paul to the Corinthians is a letter written in a personal style with instructions and exhortations. It is a composite of about two to five letters which had varied purposes that include instruction, admonition and warning. The Letter of Paul to the Galatians is a real personal letter of exhortation and admonishment. The recipients of these letters were the churches of Galatia. The purpose of writing was to admonish them for abandoning the faith as preached by Paul. The Letter of Paul to the Ephesians was possibly a cover letter for a collection of letters written by Paul which was pseudonymous. Paul wrote this letter to guide the new converts in their new life as Christians who were no longer living as pagans. The Letter of Paul to the Philippians was written in the genre of a real personal letter of encouragement and friendship. This book is attributed to Paul and Timothy who wrote them to thank the saints of Philippi for their support, encouragement and faith. These letters also warned them against errors. The Letter of Paul to the Colossians is a letter of exhortation addressed to the saints and faithful of Colossae. This epistle was written to warn against the principles that threatened Pauline Christianity. The First Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians is attributed to Paul, Silvanus and Timothy. It is addressed to the Church of Thessalonica, a culturally rich Greek city. It is a personal letter of encouragement and instruction. It exhorts them to preserve their faith and gives assurance about the future. The Second Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians is attributed to Paul, Silvanus and Timothy. It is in the literary genre of a personal letter of instruction. It sought to correct the false belief that the Day of the Lord had already come. The First Letter of Paul to Timothy has the literary genre of a church order and is one among the three Pastoral Epistles. This letter provided rules for ethical living, contained warning against false teachers and provided guidelines for the leadership of the Church. The Second Letter of Paul to Timothy, attributed to Apostle Paul, comes under the genre of Pastoral Epistles. It asked the believers to pursue their faith irrespective of suffering. The Letter of Paul to Titus was addressed to Titus and is in the genre of church order. It is also a pastoral epistle. The Letter of Paul to Philemon was probably written by Paul from the prison. It is a single letter written in the personal genre and trying to influence someone. Paul wrote this letter to Philemon to ask him to free his slave Onesimus so that he could work with Paul as a missionary. THE GENERAL EPISTLES The Epistle (or Letter) to the Hebrews The Epistle to the Hebrews marked the end of the apostolic era. This epistle is considered to be exceptionally unique because it contains approximately 35 references to the Bible of the Hebrews which has its roots in the Septuagint translation. The First Letter (or Epistle) of James This book belongs to the New Testament and comes under the genre of patience and perseverance. In his epistle, James calls all Christians to be patient while awaiting the coming of Jesus. He condemns their sins calling upon them to change their wicked ways. It was this epistle by James that caused a lot of controversy for the Protestant reformer Martin Luther King The First Letter (or Epistle) of Peter Traditionally this book belonging to the New Testament in the genre of holy teachings was said to have been written by the apostle Saint Peter himself. Saint Peter addresses this letter directly, to the different churches in Asia Minor for those suffering from the scourge of religious persecution. The letter spoke of steadfastness, perseverance, patience, holiness and the practical duties to be followed for a religious and holy life. The Second Epistle (or Letter) of Peter This epistle from the New Testament is in the genre of criticism where Peter criticizes “false teachers” who distort the faith through the teaching of religion and the apostolic traditions. He called upon them to change the evil ways and find salvation even while predicting judgment up on them. The First Epistle (or Letter) of John This epistle of John is from the New Testament and written about AD 85 – 90 and in the genre of a sermon to counter the different heresies among the people. He lays down the definition of how Christians are to discern true teachers from the false ones. Such teachers were considered Antichrists (2.18-19) who taught the people the Jesus was just a spirit without the body and his death was not performed as atonement for our sins. The Second Letter (or Epistle) of John This book of John belongs to the Christian Holy Scriptures and is the shortest book belonging to the Bible in the genre of love and truth. He calls upon all the followers to walk in accordance with the commandments of Christ and to believe in the love and truth of God. He asks the people not to get carried away by the teachings of the Antichrist because they are false and are considered as deceivers. The Third Letter (or Epistle) of John John’s third letter is in the genre of an epistle and is the second shortest book in the Bible. The genre is a private or personal letter written to warn Gaius a group of Christians whose leader was Demetrius and were on a mission to preach the Word of God. John wrote this letter for the purpose of strengthening and encouraging Caius and warning him against another party led by Diorephes. The Letter (or Epistle) of Jude Jude’s brief epistle is considered to be the penultimate book in the New Testament canon of the Christians. Written during the first century and the beginning of the second century is considered to be a pseudonymous work that is in opposition to ‘Gnosticism.’ Jude’s encyclical letter consists of 25 verses contained in a single chapter and it was directed to all Christians in general. The Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation is an apocalypse which is written in the epistolary frame. The introduction and conclusion are in the form of a letter. It is written by a Christian person named John and not by the brother James. The final book of the New Testament, The Book of Revelation, has themes of divine truth that are brought to their climactic conclusion. It is the conclusion to the revelation of God and His plan for the human family. It is the only book in the Bible that begins and ends with a distinct promise of blessing for the reader and observer of its instruction. The Book of Revelation speaks of things past, present and future. It tells the stories through images, symbols and numbers. This book offers comfort to the Christians and tells them that God would destroy all evil and His Kingdom will come to fulfillment. References Harbin, Michael A., The Promise and the Blessing: A Historical Survey of the Old and New Testaments. Grand Rapids, Michigan Zondervan 2005. (550 pages) Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart., How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth. 3rd Edition. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan 2003. (264 pages) Summary of the Bible http://www.twopaths.com/summary.htm BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT: "PAULINE EPISTLES" http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_ntb3.htm New Testament Survey http://www.gotquestions.org/New-Testament-Survey.html Why Four Gospels? http://www.ccel.org/osis/xml/pink-gospels.xml SparkNotes: The New Testament: Acts of the Apostles (Acts) http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/newtestament/section5.rhtml http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/General-epistles Dennis Bratcher, Copyright © , Dennis Bratcher - All Rights Reserved http://www.cresourcei.org/ntletters.html Literary Overviews of the New Testament Books http://catholic-resources.org/Bible/NT_Overviews.html Read More