Primer on the Bible

What is the Basic Structure and Divisions of the Bible?

The Bible is divided into the 46 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament

Main division

The Bible is mainly divided into the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament contains the books relating to the old covenant between Yahweh and Israel. The New Testament contains books and letters relating to the new covenant between God and the New Israel, the Church.

The Old Testament

The Old Testament is basically divided into three: the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings. The Torah is the Law given by Yahweh to the people of Israel. The books of the prophets are books which contain stories on how the prophets of Israel always remind the people to turn back from sin and return to Yahweh, their God. The Writings are books which contain all the writings of Israel's men of wisdom.

• Torah
• Genesis [Gn]
• Exodus [Ex]
• Leviticus [Lv]
• Numbers [Nm]
• Deuteronomy [Dt]

• Prophets
• Joshua [Jos]
• Judges [Jgs]
• Ruth [Ru]
• First Book of Samuel [1Sm]
• Second Book of Samuel [2Sm]
• First Book of Kings [1Kgs]
• Second Book of Kings [2Kgs]
• Some bible scholars make a further division of the Bible to signify the historical books. These historical books contain: 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles [1Chr], 2 Chronicles [2Chr], Ezra [Ez], Nehemiah [Neh], Tobit [Tb], Judith [Jdt], Esther [Est], 1 Maccabees [1Mc], and 2 Maccabees [2Mc]
• Isaiah [Is]
• Jeremiah [Jer]
• Lamentations [Lam]
• Baruch [Bar]
• Ezekiel [Ez]
• Daniel [Dn]
• The 12 Minor Prophets
• Hosea [Hos], c. 750-732 B.C.
• Joel [Jl], c. 500 B.C.
• Amos [Am], c. 750 B.C.
• Obadiah [Ob], c. 475-450 B.C.
• Jonah [Jon], c. 400-200 B.C.
• Micah [Mi], c. 740-700 B.C.
• Nahum [Na], c. 612 B.C.
• Habakkuk [Hb], c. 605-597 B.C.
• Zephaniah [Zep], 640-609 B.C.
• Haggai [Hg], c. 520 B.C.
• Zechariah [Zec], c. 520-518 B.C.
• Malachi [Mal], c. 440 B.C.

• The Writings
• Proverbs [Prv]
• The Psalms [Ps]
• Ecclesiastes [Eccl]
• Job [Jb]
• Song of Songs [Sng]
• Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) [Sir]
• The Book of Wisdom [Wis]

As a whole, from Genesis to the book of the prophet Malachi, the Old Testament comprises 46 books.

The New Testament

The New Testament is basically divided into the gospels, the epistles, and the Book of Revelation. The gospels give an account of the life and teachings of Jesus - with each gospel giving a particular focus depending on the community in which the gospel tradition has been used. The epistles or letters, are attributed to the apostle Paul and the other apostles. These letters were written for the benefit of the communities they were addressing. The book of Revelation, traditionally known to be written by John, is an apocalyptic writing that uses a lot of symbolism.

• The Gospels
• The gospel of Matthew [Mt], c. 85 A.D.
• The gospel of Mark [Mk], c. 70 A.D.
• The gospel of Luke [Lk], c. 75 A.D.
• The gospel of John [Jn], c. 90-100 A.D.

The book of the Acts of the Apostles [Acts] follows the book of John. It gives an account of the early Christian church and how it began to grow and spread throughout the many regions surrounding Jerusalem. Modern bible scholars refer to the book of the Acts of Apostles as belonging to the book Luke-Acts, which refers to the integration of the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts. It has been studied that the one who wrote the gospel of Luke also wrote the book of Acts.

• The Epistles or the New Testament Letters
• Letter to the Romans [Rom], c. 57 A.D.
• 1st Letter to the Corinthians [1Cor], c. 57 A.D.
• 2nd Letter to the Corinthians [2Cor], c. 57 A.D.
• Letter to the Galatians [Gal], c. 50 A.D.
• Letter to the Ephesians [Eph], c. 61-63 A.D.
• Letter to the Philippians [Phil], c. 62-63 A.D.
• Letter to the Colossians [Col], c. 61-63 A.D.
• 1st Letter to the Thessalonians [1Thes], c. 51-52 A.D.
• 2nd Letter to the Thessalonians [2Thes], c. 52 A.D.
• 1st Letter to Timothy [1Tm], c. 63 A.D.
• 2nd Letter to Timothy [2Tm], c. 63 A.D.
• Letter to Titus [Ti], c. 62 A.D.
• Letter to Philemon [Phlm], c. 62 A.D.
• Letter to the Hebrews [Heb]
• Letter of James [Jas]
• 1st Letter of Peter [1Pt]
• 2nd Letter of Peter [2Pt]
• 1st Letter of John [1Jn]
• 2nd Letter of John [2Jn]
• 3rd Letter of John [3Jn]
• Letter of Jude

• The book of Revelation [Rv] - the book of Revelation uses apocaplytic language. It uses a lot of symbols in its contents. Bible scholars have come to the conclusion that the book was written for a persecuted Christian church under the Roman Empire. Thus the symbols referring to, for example, dragons with seven heads, is a kind of 'code' among the persecuted Christians when referring to the Roman Empire.

As a whole, from the gospel of Matthew to the book of Revelation, the book of the New Testament comprises 27 mini-books.

Further divisions into the Bible

So quotes from the Bible can be referred to with ease, the books are further divided into chapters, passages, and verses. A good translation to have is the New American Bible. This is a good translation because the English is better than the Revised Standard Version. And this translation is the one used in Eucharistic liturgies. In the New American Bible, the chapters are further divided into passages or sections with a short caption describing the contents of the passage or the section. Then the passage or section is further divided into verses which are also numbered like the chapters. Thus, when you see the reference Mt 28:16-20, this means that it refers to the gospel of Matthew, chapter 28, verses 16-20. Sometimes the verses have an a, b, or c letter accompanying the number, this just means a further division of the verse itself. To be familiar with the abbreviations of the books of the Old Testament and the New Testament, you can refer to the list above.

Different ways of presenting the divisions of the Bible

The above divisions of the bible is only one of many standard ways of dividing the bible to have an idea what it is. In some versions of dividing the bible, some books that are placed in the historical are considered among the prophetic books. A better approach of understanding the bible is to research, and know the many ways the bible is categorized into different books and traditions. This will obtain for the reader a fuller understanding and comprehension of its eaning and contexts.

Israel's Conquest of Canaan

"The Promised Land" - Three Theories of Israel's Conquest of Canaan

Three theories have been proposed to by biblical scholars and archaeologists to understand how the early Hebrews were able to conquer Canaan and settle in the land.

The Three Theories of Israel's Conquest of Canaan

Because there are inconsistencies in the biblical account of the book of Joshua and there are missing information in archaeological findings, scholars have arrived at different conclusions on the early Hebrews conquest of Canaan. The three theories they have proposed are:

• 1 gradual infiltration
• 2 military invasion
• 3 peasant revolution

1 Gradual Infiltration

The theory of gradual infiltration proposes that the early Israelites settled in Canaan over the space of several generations. This gradual settlement was not completed until the time of David. In this theory, no military assault was made on the land. Rather, there was instead the gradual nomadic infiltration of pastoral nomads from the desert into the sparsely settled hill country. These nomads entered the land because they were in search of pasture for their flocks. Eventually, they became in good terms with the native Canaanites - eventually intermarrying with them.

The only drawback with this theory of gradual infiltration is that the story of Joshua's conquest in the bible would be interpreted as something of a myth meant to tell a story that conveys a present truth. The writer of this biblical account would have used the literary style of the epic to portray Yahweh's mighty power in providing the Israelites with land. Though this theory departs from the truth of the biblical account, on the other hand, the theory supports the archaeological findings that show that not all cities of Canaan and its environs were destroyed through battle.

2 Military Invasion

The second theory of military invasion proposes a view that is really in line with the biblical tradition of conquest. In this theory, biblical scholars say that the writer (known as the Deuteronomistic historian) of the Canaan conquest in the bible wrote the account to proclaim to the Israelite community that it is Yahweh, the Divine Warrior, who was responsible for the victory.

This view of military conquest has some support from archaeological excavations. There is archaeological evidence for the violent destruction of some Canaanite cities in the late thirteenth century (B.C.E.) Cities mentioned in the bible that were attacked by Joshua, notably Lachish and Hagar, actually did fall in that period.

Though there is evidence of such a military invasion to support the theory, there are also archaeological evidences in 1930-1936 A.D., during a British excavation, that the destruction of those cities may be due to an earthquake. This archaeological evidence depart from the truth of this second theory.

3 Peasant Revolution

This third theory of peasant revolution has gained more attention since it sheds light on some aspects of the biblical account of Joshua's conquest. It helps to understand why some cities fell to Israel without any reported military attack. It explains why there is no archaeological evidence of the destruction of some cities claimed by the "peasant" revolutionaries. It also explains why some Canaanite elements (the Gibeonites) joined the Israelite cause.

The only drawback with this theory of peasant revolution is that there is no explicit indication of a peasant's revolt in the biblical tradition of the book of Joshua and Judges.

Conclusion

Going through all the three theories, and seeing that, indeed, no one theory can completely reconcile both the truth found in biblical accounts and the material evidences in archaeological excavations, we can simply conclude that the Israelite occupation of Canaan was far more complex than what we apparently see. As biblical scholars, historians, and archaeologists make more in-depth studies, and place all their data and information in a joint project, they may find another theory that can be as close to the truth of that Israelite conquest of Canaan during the thirteenth centuries before Christ (or before the Common Era - BCE).

Related resources:

• "Understanding the Old Testament", by Bernhard W. Anderson
• The Promised Land: Introductory Article

Visionaries, Stigmatists and Incorruptibles (Part Three)

Introduction

Two popular devotions to Christ are the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and the devotion to the Divine Mercy. The former was made known through the visionary St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, her confessor Bl. Claude La Colombiere, and co-initiator, St. John Eudes, in the late 1600s A.D. (The three are called the "saints of the Sacred Heart"). As for the devotion to the Divine Mercy, this was made known by St. Faustina Kowalska of the Sisters of Mercy in Poland in the 1930s A.D.

Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus made prominent the truth of God's love for humanity, while devotion to the Divine Mercy emphasizes God's mercy and forgiveness upon the whole world.

Private revelations

The apparitions to both St. Margaret Mary and St. Faustina were private revelations - known only to the visionaries. This is different from known public apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Fatima, where about 70,000 people in Portugal witnessed the miracle of the sun on October 13, 1917 A.D. In the private revelations of Margaret and Faustina, only the visionaries learn of the messages from Christ Himself. They then tell their confessor about these messages and their confessors support them in the desire of God to make the messages known. In the case of St. Margaret Mary, it was her confessor Bl. Claude La Colombiere, SJ, who learned of the revelations and declared that the visions of Margaret Mary were genuine.

St. Margaret Mary

St. Margaret was a nun of the Visitation convent at Paray-le-Monial, France. Christ, as the Sacred Heart, began to reveal Himself to her on December 27, 1673 A.D. The religious superior of her community, her own companion nuns, and a group of theologians, were initially unconvinced of the validity of the apparitions. It was her confessor, Bl. Claude, who continually supported her. Opposition to St. Margaret ended in 1683 A.D. when another superior of the community was elected, and named St. Margaret as assistant. After the devotion was then established in her convent, it soon spread to other Visitandine convents. Official recognition of the devotion was recognized and approved by Pope Clement XIII in 1765 A.D. - 75 years after the death of St. Margaret Mary.

St. Faustina Kowalska

On February 22, 1931 A.D., Jesus as King of Mercy appeared to Faustina dressed in a white garment. From under his garment came two rays of light - one red, the other pale. The Lord spoke to the nun and told her:

"Paint a picture according to the vision you see and with the inscription, 'Jesus, I Trust in Thee.'"

And so, with the help of her confessor and her companions, someone was found to paint the picture of the Divine Mercy (as St. Faustina could not draw). It is this painting that was reproduced into the Divine Mercy picture all see in some parishes and in many Catholic stores and bookstores.

Called for a special purpose

If one were to examine the historical contexts in which these devotions were born, one can see the hand of God stemming the tide of a movement or trend in the world that is undermining and weakening the Christian faith. In the time of Margaret Mary, there was a widespread secularist movement in France, and the growing influence of Jansenism. As regards the time of Faustina, there was a strong totaliarianist movement getting stronger in the world. And only after the death of St. Faustina in 5 October 1938 A.D., did all know that Europe and the rest of the world would become embroiled in the most destructive world war in human civilization (World War II).

Summary

What can one learn from these messages of God to five popular saints and visionaries? The messages that can be learned from them: God's love for the sick (Our Lady of Lourdes); God's love for the poor and unborn (Our Lady of Guadalupe); God's desire to have the Blessed Virgin Mary honored (Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal); God's love for all humanity (Sacred Heart of Jesus); and God's mercy on all sinners and the whole world (Jesus, King of Mercy). In the history of the Church, God chooses a select few of his humble servants to convey a message of love, mercy, forgiveness, and hope. He does this through visionaries, who, because of their attentiveness and spiritual sensitivity to His voice, are called to make His message known to all.

To be continued

Next in this Series is the study on the lives of two well-known stigmatists: St. Francis of Assisi and St. Pio of Pietrelcina. Both holy men bore the wounds of the Crucified Jesus in their physical bodies. This phenomenon is something of God as no medical practitioner or scientist could find a scientific or logical explanation to these "stigmata".