Appendix A

A More Sure word

Bible Outline

In the event the reader is a new believer, a discussion of the Bible's organization and chronology is merited. The Bible is loosely organized by subject matter, without a straightforward chronology. There is some sequential structure to the Book, but has many parallel passages and groupings that make chronology confusing The subject matter is organized in the Protestant Bible by dividing the Old Testament (which comprises three quarters of the tome), from the New Testament. The Old Testament breaks up into four main subdivisions:

1) Law, 2) History, 3) Writings, and 4) Prophets, which subdivides between the major and the minor prophets [12].

The New Testament is subdivided into four subdivisions:

1) History, 2) Pauline Epistles; which are arranged according to the preeminence of the cities, and include the pastoral epistles[13], 3) the General Epistles, and 4) Revelation. By subdivisions, the books are as follows:

Old Testament

1. The Law

  • Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

2. The History

  • Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther.

3. The Writings

  • Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon.

4. The Prophets

  • MAJOR:
    • From the Southern Kingdom of Judea
      • Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Lamentations.
    • During the Foreign Captivity
      • Ezekiel and Daniel
  • MINOR:
    • From the Northern Kingdom of Israel
      • Hosea and Amos.
    • From the Southern Kingdom of Judea
      • Joel, Micah, Zephaniah, and Habakkuk.
    • During the Foreign Captivity
      • Obadiah, Jonah, and Nahum.
    • Returned from Captivity
      • Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.

The New Testament

1)The History

  • SYNOPTIC GOSPELS:
    • Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
  • John and Acts.

2)The Pauline Epistles

  • To the Churches and People
    • Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, and Philemon.
  • The Pastoral Epistles
    • 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus.
  • Hebrews

3) The General Epistles

  • James, 1 & 2 Peter, 1 - 3 John, and Jude.

4) Revelation

The Bible follows a general chronology of order, but varies in many places. Job occurs in the middle of Genesis. Ruth occurs in the middle of Judges. Furthermore, there are several parallel passages and overlapping books that make chronological reading difficult. The United Kingdom has parallel tellings in Samuels, Kings, & Chronicles. The writings of David's (Psalms) and Solomon's (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon) occur during this era. The most difficult passages of the Old Testament are the histories of the Divided Kingdom (Kings and Chronicles) that overlap with the books of the Prophets. The narration of the Divided Kingdom is a complex tapestry interwoven with the Prophets (and further confused with similar and same names of different kings and prophets). Specific details will be dealt with in later volumes in the series. The captivities and return are the main punctuation points of Kings and Chronicles. The chronological reading schedule provided will enable the reader to compare dates to tell which prophets were contemporaries with one another.

The chronology of the New Testament predominately indicates the dates of writing, as opposed to occurrence of events. The gospels and Acts are listed by occurrence, although the time of writing is repeated in light print on the schedule. For a simplified reading of just the history of the Bible story one can read just these books in this order:

Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Joshua, Judges, 1st Samuel, 2nd Samuel, 1st Kings, 2nd Kings, Ezra, and Nehemiah.

The Gospels, and the Acts.

The Bible is a never ending source of discovery in the truth of life. I pray that if you are a new believer that you will make it a daily habit to read and study the sacred writ to know the truth and the author of Truth. I also pray that this volume on the antediluvian world (which only covers the first nine chapters of Genesis) will help you in understanding the great truths that shape our biblical world view.

12. This refers to quantity and not to quality; the major prophets are longer than the minor prophets. Return to 12
13. Hebrews is considered Pauline by some and is disputed by others. Return to 13

Return to Contents Page AA2: The Canon AA4: Chronological Reading

"That Which Was Lost" by Alexander Douglas © 2008

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