The Bible
C.R. Nichol & R.L. Whiteside

DIVISIONS IN THE BIBLE

The Bible contains sixty-six books, and is divided into two great sections, namely, the Old Testament and New Testament. The Old Testament contains thirty-nine books. The New Testament contains twenty-seven books.

CLASSIFYING BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT

The books of the Old Testament may be classed as follows:

LAW: The first five books of the Old Testament, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, are generally called law, because in them the law of Moses is found; yet much of the space is taken with a concise history of God’s dealing with man, from creation to the death of Moses.

HISTORY: The next twelve books - Joshua, Judges, Ruth, I Samuel, II Samuel, I Kings, II Kings, I Chronicles, II Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther - are history.

POETRY: There are six poetical books - Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, and the Lamentations of Jeremiah.

MAJOR PROPHETS: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel are the major prophets.

MINOR PROPHETS: The minor prophets are: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.

Law 5
History 12
Poetry 6
Major Prophets 4
Minor Prophets 12
Total 39

CLASSIFYING BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT

The books of the New Testament may be classed as follows:

BIOGRAPHY: The first four books - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

HISTORY: The fifth book - Acts of the Apostles - is history. This book contains the history of the first preaching under the Great Commission, as well as the history of the conversion of many thousands in the apostolic age.

SPECIAL LETTERS (or EPISTLES): Hebrews, James, I Peter, II Peter, I John and Jude.

PROPHECY: The book of Revelation is very largely a book of prophecy.

Biography 4
History 1
Special Letters 15
General Letters 6
Prophecy 1
Total 27

THE DISPENSATIONS

The Old Testament gives the history of the Patriarchal and Jewish dispensations, while the New Testament gives the history of the Christian dispensation.

Patriarchal Dispensation:

Patriarchal means the "rule of the father." In this system of worship the father was priest or ruler of the family or tribe. This seems to have been the only system of worship till the giving of the law of Moses. The patriarchal dispensation covered about twenty-five hundred years. Among the Gentiles this dispensation, or system of worship, evidently continued till the inauguration of the Christian dispensation.

Jewish Dispensation:

This covered about fifteen hundred years - from the giving of the law from Mount Sinai (Ex. 20) to the death of Christ. It was the national religion of the Jews, and with them, superseded the Patriarchal system.

The Christian Dispensation:

This began on the first Pentecost after the resurrection of Christ (Acts 2), and will continue till the end of time. Its laws and regulations are found in the New Testament.