The Bible

The Bible is the basic book (or collection of books) underlying both Judaism and Christianity.

Judaism recognises only the books called the Tanach as part of the Bible. Many Christians regard these books (generally arranged in a different order) as the Old Testament. Other Christians include further books in the Old Testament; the Church of England regards many of these as semi-holy and labels them as The Apocrypha.

There are also books that are, or have been, accepted by just a few groups of Jews or Christians as part of the Tanach or Old Testament. They are sometimes called The Pseudepigrapha. There is no definitive list of such books, but the most important are listed below.

All Christians (but not Jews) accept a further group of books as the New Testament, and there is now virtually no controversy about which books are in the New Testament.

Old Testament or Tanach

Five Books of Moses

• Genesis
• Exodus
• Leviticus
• Numbers
• Deuteronomy

Historical books (known as Former prophets)

• Joshua
• Judges
• I Samuel
• II Samuel
• I Kings
• II Kings

Prophetic books (known as Later prophets)

• Isaiah
• Jeremiah
• Ezekiel
• The Twelve Prophets
  • Hosea
  • Joel
  • Amos
  • Obadiah
  • Jonah
  • Micah
  • Nahum
  • Habakkuk
  • Zephaniah
  • Haggai
  • Zechariah
  • Malachi

Apocrypha

• 1 Esdras
• 2 Esdras
• Tobit
• Judith
• The rest of Esther
• The Wisdom of Solomon
• The Bible/Ecclesiasticus
• Baruch
• The Letter of Jeremiah
• Additions to Daniel:
  • The Song of the Three Holy Children
  • The History of Susanna
  • Bel and the Dragon
• The Prayer of Manasseh
• 1 Maccabees
• 2 Maccabees

Pseudepigrapha

• 3 Maccabees
• 4 Maccabees
• Psalm 151
• 1 Enoch (Ethiopic Enoch)
• 2 Enoch (Slavonic Enoch)
• Jubilees
• Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs
  • The Testament of Reuben, about Ideas
  • The Testament of Simeon, about Envy
  • The Testament of Levi, about the Priesthood and Arrogance
  • The Testament of Judah, about Courage, and Love of Money, and Fornication
  • The Testament of Issachar, about Simplicity
  • The Testament of Zebulon, about Compassion and Mercy
  • The Testament of Dan, about Anger and Falsehood
  • The Testament of Naphtali, about Natural Goodness
  • The Testament of Gad, about Hatred
  • The Testament of Asher, about the two Aspects of Vice and Virtue
  • The Testament of Joseph, about Chastity
  • The Testament of Benjamin, about a Pure Mind
• Odes

New Testament

The Gospels and Acts

• Gospel According to Matthew
• Gospel According to Mark
• Gospel According to Luke
• Gospel According to John
• Acts of the Apostles

The Pauline Letters

• Letter to the Romans
• I Corinthians
• II Corinthians
• Galatians
• Ephesians
• Philippians
• Colossians
• I Thessalonians
• II Thessalonians
• I Timothy
• II Timothy
• Titus
• Philemon

The non-Pauline Letters and Revelation

• Letter to the Hebrews
• James
• I Peter
• II Peter
• I John
• II John
• III John
• James
• Revelation or Apocalypse