Summarizing the Bible
The Bible can be intimidating to read. It’s a huge book with lots of different ways to read it. When we break it down, we can see that it's a little smaller than we thought. I hope this post makes it seem a little less intimidating!
Why are There "Mini Books" in the Big Book?
The Bible is a unique book. It doesn't only have one author nor is it in (exact) chronological order. Like I mentioned in my post titled, "How Do We Know the Bible is True," I mentioned that there are over 36 authors, written in three different languages (Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic), over the course of 1,500 years. What brings all of these texts together is the divine inspiration from the Holy Spirit. God used His Spirit to give each human author the words to write, so that is why we know we can trust those words as truth. Also because of the Holy Spirit, we can also trust that the texts aren't corrupted by the authors' sin (human nature), so we can study the Bible as Holy (If you want to read more about trusting the authority of the Bible, I highly recommend going back and reading that post!).
Each "mini book" in the Bible contributes to the same narrative: God revealing Himself to His creation, and the story of Jesus.
These texts were organized and put together to make the Bible by scholars and editors, also divinely inspired. If you want to look more into that, I highly recommend doing some research and checking out a YouTube channel called The Bible Project. They’re a group of seminary (Bible school) scholars and are great at explaining this!
Old Testament
The first chunk of the Bible is called the Old Testament. It's the first group of "mini books." This is the part of the Bible that takes place before Jesus descended from Heaven. In this time, people who wanted to follow God (mostly the people of Israel, God's chosen nation) had to follow a set of rules, known as Mosaic Law, which is a fancy way of saying it was the laws written by Moses. Moses was a man who was a messenger of God's word to the people, also known as a prophet. He also was a leader in Israel for a while.
The Old Testament is compiled of laws, history, poetry, teachings, and prophetic accounts. It tells the story of creation, sin entering the world, the Promised Land, and God continually redeeming, forgiving, and blessing Israel. God also prepares the way for the Messiah.
After the book of Malachi, there's a gap. A 400-year-long gap when God was silent. Then, we get the New Testament, the second part of the Bible.
The New Testament
The New Testament is the second chunk of the Bible, and a lot shorter than the Old Testament. It's a collection of eyewitness accounts of Jesus' life, letters to new churches, history of the birth of the Church, and John's vision of Jesus' return.
**Note: Church with a capital C refers to the entire following of Jesus, worldwide. Lower-case c refers to a specific church!
It's written by a handful of different authors, most of them being the title of each book. Many of them are written by the Apostle Paul, and other apostles.
The New Testament starts with four eyewitness accounts of Jesus' life, told by men named Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. This portion of the New Testament is known as The Gospels, which is where I recommend reading first when you start reading the Bible!
This post is the first of a series, and in the next post I will talk more about more beginner-friendly books in the Bible and then advanced ones, a quiet time guide, and how to read the Bible. For now, here's a list of categories of each book, and a short summary of what they're about.
Each Book, Summarized
Below, you’ll find the books of the Bible organized by topic, along with each book in its own simplified sentence (or two)!
Categories
Law: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
History: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther
Poetry: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon
Major Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel
Minor Prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John
History/Start of the Church: Acts
Epistles (Letters): Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 & 2 Peter, 1 & 2 & 3 John, Jude
Vision: Revelation
Old Testament
Genesis: Creation, sin enters the world, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph
Exodus: Moses, God delivers Israel from slavery in Egypt
Leviticus: Moses, laws recorded from the Levites (a tribe in Israel)
Numbers: Moses, data and measurements for the Tabernacle (God’s dwelling place in O.T.)
Deuteronomy: Moses’ last speeches to Israel
Joshua: Israel is led into the Promised Land
Judges: Several rulers over God’s people
Ruth: One of those judges; love story of redemption during the time of Judges
1 Samuel: First king of Israel appointed (Saul)
2 Samuel: Rule of king David
1 Kings: Rule of king Solomon
2 Kings: Rulers during the kingdom split (tribes of Israel and Judah)
1 & 2 Chronicles: Religious history during the rule of the kings
Ezra: Led group back from exile, restored proper worship
Nehemiah: Led another group back from exile, rebuilt wall around Israel
Job: Story of a man who trusted God throughout extreme hardship
Psalms: Poetry, praises and lamentations, mostly written by David
Proverbs: Wise, practical teachings of Solomon
Ecclesiastes: Wisdom about life and how God means everything, by Solomon
Song of Solomon: Love poems by Solomon
Isaiah: Book by the prophet Isaiah, tribe of Judah during kingdom split
Jeremiah: Book by the prophet Jeremiah, tribe of Judah during kingdom split
Lamentations: Written by Jeremiah, lamenting to God
Ezekiel: Book by the prophet Ezekiel, during exile
Daniel: Book by the prophet Daniel, during exile
Hosea: Book by the prophet Hosea, tribe of Israel during kingdom split
Joel: Book by the prophet Joel, possibly preached during plague of the locusts during Israel’s slavery in Egypt
Amos: Book by the prophet Amos, tribe of Israel during kingdom split
Obadiah: Book by the prophet Obadiah to Israel’s enemies
Jonah: Book by the prophet Jonah, story of God’s mercy on Jonah and a wicked nation
Micah: Book by the prophet Micah written after Israel’s exile
Nahum: Book by the prophet Nahum written after Israel’s exile
Habakkuk: Book by the prophet Habakkuk, tribe of Judah during kingdom split
Zephaniah: Book by the prophet Zephaniah, tribe of Judah during kingdom split
Haggai: Book by the prophet Haggai, after Israel’s exile
Zechariah: Book by the prophet Zechariah, after Israel’s exile
Malachi: Book by the prophet Malachi, after Israel’s exile
New Testament
Matthew: Eyewitness testimony of Jesus’ life told through the disciple Matthew, written to the Jews
Mark: Eyewitness testimony of Jesus’ life told through the disciple Mark, focuses more on Jesus’ actions, written to the Romans
Luke: Eyewitness testimony of Jesus’ life told through the disciple Luke, written to the Gentiles (anyone that wasn’t a Jew)
John: Eyewitness testimony of Jesus’ life told through the disciple John, written to everyone
Acts: Historical record of the birth of the Church, Holy Spirit comes after resurrection, apostles call for baptism and repentance, more leaders appointed, more people hear the Gospel, Saul’s divine transformation to Paul
Romans: Paul’s letter to the church in Rome about God’s gift of salvation to all
1 Corinthians: Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth about problems in their church and questions
2 Corinthians: Paul’s second letter to the church in Corinth about reconciliation and to be aware of false teachers
Galatians: Paul’s letter to the church in Galatia explaining Christian beliefs
Ephesians: Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus offering wisdom and advice for Christians there
Philippians: Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi, written on behalf of a friend while in prison for sharing the Gospel about joy in all circumstances through Jesus
Colossians: Paul’s letter to the church in Colossae, telling them that Christ has freed us
1 & 2 Thessalonians: Paul’s letters to the church in Thessalonica, encouraging them
1 Timothy: Paul’s letter to his friend Timothy, giving advice on how to be a minister
2 Timothy: Paul’s second letter to Timothy, asking him to be a minister
Titus: Paul’s letter to Titus, giving advice on leadership
Philemon: Paul’s letter to Philemon, writing on behalf of a friend in prison to owner
Hebrews: Letter to the Hebrews about Jesus’ authority and purpose, unknown author
James: Advice to new Christians, written by Jesus’ half-brother, James
1 & 2 Peter: Letters to Jewish Christians from Peter (Jews that believed in Jesus before the term “Christian” was invented)
1, 2, & 3 John: Letters to Christians from the Apostle John
Jude: Warnings about false teachers, written by Jesus’ half-brother, Jude
Revelation: Prophecy given to the Apostle John from Jesus about Jesus’ return