INTERMEDIATE
AGE: 12 - 13
YEARS
STANDARD/GRADE:
VII & VIII
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is granted only for free distribution among Sunday School children.
No part of
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LESSON – 1
THE BOOKS OF
THE HOLY BIBLE
The Christian Protestant Holy Bible consists of 66 books that
are divided into two major sections: The Old Testament and the New
Testament. These 66 books are included in the Holy
Bible based on a canon. The English word
"canon" comes from the Greek word 'kanon' meaning 'rule' or
'measuring stick'. A biblical canon or canon of scripture* is a set of
texts or books which the Christians consider as authoritative Scripture.
Arrangement of the Holy Bible:
The books of the Holy Bible are arranged by type (law books, historical events, prophecies etc.), rather than in a chronological order i.e. their year of occurrence. Hence a book written much later is placed much ahead in the order and vice versa. Example: Book of Job written much earlier was placed along with books written much later. The Holy Bible is also a unique and exceptional literary work, since it is a mixture of various interesting forms of literature such as stories, poems, allegories and many more.
The Old Testament:
The Old Testament of the Holy Bible was originally written in Hebrew Language and it is the equivalent to the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh). It was written from approximately 1600 BC to 400 BC. All the books of the Old Testament were written before the birth of Christ (BC).
The
Old Testament consists of 39 books which are grouped into 5 categories:
1. The Pentateuch (5 books of Moses)
2. Books of History
3. Books of Wisdom & Poetry
4. Major Prophets (because of the large size of the prophetic
books)
5. Minor Prophets (because of the small size of the
books)
Old Testament & Jewish Scriptures: Although the content of the Old Testament and the Jewish Scriptures (Tanakh) are the same, they differ in their organization. The Jewish Scriptures are organized into three parts: 1. The Law (Torah) 2. The Prophets (Nevi’im) 3. The Writings (Ketuvim). The Jewish Scriptures is also called the Tanak, taking the first letter of these sections.
|
S. No. |
Divisions |
Books |
|
1. |
Pentateuch (5 books) |
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy |
|
2. |
The Books of History (12 books) |
Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, 1 &
2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther. |
|
3. |
Books of Wisdom & Poetry |
Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon. |
|
4. |
Major Prophets |
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel. |
|
5. |
Minor Prophets |
Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk,
Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi |
The New Testament:
The New Testament of the Holy Bible only exists in Christianity.
It was originally written in Greek, the common language of the world at that
time. The New Testament was written during the last half of the first century
A.D. The New Testament consists of 27 books. They are grouped into 5
categories:
1. The Gospels
2. Church History
3. Pauline Epistles
4. General Epistles
|
S. No. |
Divisions |
Books |
|
1. |
The Gospels |
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. |
|
2. |
Church History |
Acts of the Apostles |
|
3. |
Pauline Epistles |
Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians,
Philippians, Colossians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus,
and Philemon. |
|
4. |
General Epistles |
Hebrews, James, 1 & 2 Peter, 1,2 & 3 John, and Jude. |
|
5. |
Apocalyptic |
Revelation |
The Message of the Old Testament
The books of the Old Testament tell us about
• Creation of the universe, Fall of mankind or
how man lost eternal life
• God's salvation plan & how satan tried to
prevent God's salvation plan
• How the world was prepared for the arrival of
the Messiah.
The Message of the New Testament:
The books of the New Testament tell us about
• Birth of the Messiah, Jesus Christ
• Fulfillment of God's salvation plan through the atoning death of Jesus
• Receiving eternal life through belief in
Jesus Christ
• End of the ages, Second Coming of Jesus
Christ & Eternity with God.
The Authenticity of the Holy Bible:
Although many people have tried to discredit the authenticity of
the Holy Bible, it has withstood the test of time. Thousands of copies of the
Scriptures were made by hand before the invention of the printing press. There
are 24,000 manuscripts still available including 5300
Greek manuscripts from the New Testament alone. Hence, the Holy Bible has better
preserved writings than those the of most famous ancient authors such as Homer,
Plato and Aristotle, which are accepted as authentic and read widely. Better
preserved and a greater number of copies of manuscripts of the Holy Bible is
available than the religious books of other religions which originated much
later. (1)
Accuracy in Translation of the Holy Bible:
The Holy Bible was carried to many countries and continents and
translated into many languages that were entirely different from the original
languages in which the Holy Bible was written. Some of these languages did not
even have the necessary words in their linguistic repertoire for translation.
Apart from the discrepancies that arose from such cultural differences, the
message of the Holy Bible has been accurately conveyed through all the
translations of the Holy Bible. God's word, the Holy Bible has been remarkably
preserved and translated and gives hope and life to millions of people around
the world.
The Holy Bible is God's living word. It is active and powerful. Although the main theme of the Holy Bible is eternal life with God, the books of the Holy Bible cover every aspect of human life and is sufficient for every human need and concern.
Footnotes:
The canon of the New
Testament: During
the first century, the Church began to grow and expand. The Apostles who lived
with Jesus, their disciples and other
scholars recorded the events surrounding the birth of Jesus Christ, his life on
earth, his death, the growth and expansion of Church and also about the ministry
of the Apostles. Many of these books were read along with other Old Testament
books such as Psalms. The epistles (letters) written by the Apostles to these
Churches were also read when the early Christians gathered for worship. We can
read about it in Bible verses such as Colossians 4:16. Since many such books
started to be circulated among the Churches, there arose a need to authenticate
these books. Hence, to decide whether a book measured up to the standard of the
Holy Scriptures four main criteria were used by the
early church fathers. This is called the Biblical canon. The English
word "canon" comes from the Greek word 'kanon' meaning 'rule' or
'measuring stick'.
Some of the main criteria were
Apostolic Origin: The books must be attributed to and/or based on the preaching/teaching of the first-generation apostles (apostles who lived with Jesus) or their closest companies.
Universal Acceptance: The books must be acknowledged by all major Christian communities in the Mediterranean World (around the fourth century).
Liturgical Use: The books must be read publicly along with the Old Testament when the early Christians gathered for the Lord's supper (their weekly worship services).
Consistent Message: The books must contain theological ideas compatible with other accepted Christian writings (including the divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ. The books that satisfied these criteria were included as part of the Holy Bible. (3)
The other books were considered non-canonical or apocryphal books and left out of the Holy Bible. The word “apocrypha” comes from the Greek word meaning "hidden" or "secret." Apocrypha are works usually written of unknown authorship or of doubtful origin, hence these books are not held equal to the Sacred Scriptures, and they were not included in the Christian Protestant Holy Bible. The canon of the New Testament was well established by the 5th century AD.
Reference:
1. Slick M. (2008, October 12). Manuscript evidence for superior New Testament Reliability (Retrieved 5th August 2020 from https://carm.org/manuscript-evidence)
2. Felix Just S. J., The New Testament Canon (Retrieved 5th August 2020 from http://catholic-resources.org/Bible/NT_Canon.htm#Stages)
Fill in the blanks:
1. The 66 books are included in the Holy Bible
based on a …………………..
2.
All the books of the …….………………….
were written before the birth of Christ.
3.
The Jewish Scriptures is
also called the …………………..
4.
…………………. Greek
manuscripts from the New Testament are available.
Give
short answers:
1. How are the books of the Holy Bible arranged?
2. What are the five main categories of the Old Testament books?
3. How do the Old Testament and the Jewish Scriptures differ?
4. What is the collective message of the New Testament books?
Answer
in brief:
1. How do we know the authenticity of the Holy Bible?
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