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The first
major division of the Christian Bible (Genesis—Malachi).
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Christian Bibles
are divided into two main parts: the Old Testament and the New
Testament. A “testament” is a written expression of someone’s
will, and the Old and New Testaments express God’s will for people.
The Old Testament used by most Protestants includes 39 books that are arranged
in four categories: Pentateuch (Genesis-Deuteronomy), Historical Narrative Joshua-Esther), Psalms and Wisdom Writings (Psalms-Song of Solomon),
and Prophets (Isaiah-Malachi). The Jewish
or Hebrew Bible consists of these same 39 books, although they are organized
in three different categories: Torah--Prophets--Writings. Roman Catholics
include in the Old Testament a number of other books, which are sometimes
called the Apocrypha. |
