Christian Bibles are divided into two main parts: The Old Testament
and the New Testament. The New Testament includes 27 books. First are the
four gospels, which narrate Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, which
although most of them occur during the lifetime of Jesus (and thus during
the "dispensation" of the Law of Moses) they are part of the New Testament
as Jesus taught during his life, the things that were to be characteristic
of His people during the time of his "New Covenant". Next is the New Testament's
Historical Narrative: the book of Acts, which recounts the beginning and
growth of the early church. The rest of the New Testament consists of letters
or “epistles” written by early Christian leaders to individuals or Christian
congregations. There are thirteen letters of Paul, which are named for
the cities or individuals to which the letters were sent (Romans—Philemon).
Next come the General Epistles and Revelation, all of which except Hebrews
are letters named after their authors (James—The Revelation of John).
