Categories

The eleven kinds of writing that make up the Bible — law, history, poetry, prophecy, gospel, letter and apocalypse — and which books belong to each.

• Law 5 booksThe five books of Moses: creation, covenant, exodus, and the instruction given at Sinai.
• History 12 booksIsrael's story from entering the land to returning from exile.
• Poetry 5 booksWisdom and worship: prayer, proverb, lament, protest, and love song.
• Major Prophets 5 booksThe long prophetic books, Isaiah through Daniel, spanning crisis, exile, and hope.
• Minor Prophets 12 booksTwelve short prophetic books, minor only in length.
• Gospels 4 booksFour accounts of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
• Church History 1 bookActs: how the good news travelled from Jerusalem to Rome.
• Pauline Epistles 13 booksThirteen letters from Paul to young churches and to individual coworkers.
• General Epistles 8 booksEight letters to the wider church, from Hebrews through Jude.
• Eschatology 1 bookRevelation: the vision that closes the canon.
• Deuterocanonical 14 booksBooks received as scripture by Catholic and Orthodox Christians, and valued but not treated as canonical by Protestants.