The Books of the Bible reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004
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Books of the Bible

Most major religions have an official or canonical list of books which make up their holy book. In Judaism the list of books of the Bible was settled approximately 2000 years ago. Since then, there has been no debate between the various Jewish groups over the canon of the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible, which has much text in common with the Christian Old Testament). In contrast, the small sect of Samaritans holds only the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) and the Book of Joshua to be sacred.

The various denominations of Christianity are not in complete agreement on the canon of the Christian Bible. While the books of the Old and New Testaments are agreed upon by almost all Christians, there is a set of books that are not universally accepted. In Protestant Christianity, these books are called the Apocrypha, and are rejected as non-canonical. In Roman Catholicism and the Eastern Orthodoxy, the books are known as the deuterocanonical books, and are a part of scripture. Protestant scholars often refer to these books as "Inter-testamental", as they were written after the books of the Old Testament, but before the books of the New Testament. Catholics use the word "Apocrypha" to refer to what Protestants call the Pseudepigrapha.

Eastern Orthodox Christians accept the deuterocanonical books, with the exception of Baruch. The Ethiopian church adds several other books, not accepted by the rest of Christianity, such as the Book of Jubilees and Book of Enoch, to the Old Testament.

Table of contents
1 The Tanakh and the Protestant and Roman Catholic Old Testaments
2 The New Testament of Christians
3 Notes
4 See also

The Tanakh and the Protestant and Roman Catholic Old Testaments

Tanakh
Protestant Old Testament Catholic Old Testament
Pentateuch or Torah
Genesis Genesis Genesis
Exodus Exodus Exodus
Leviticus Leviticus Leviticus
Numbers Numbers Numbers
Deuteronomy Deuteronomy Deuteronomy

Joshua Joshua Joshua
Judges Judges Judges
Ruth Ruth
Samuel 1 Samuel 1 Samuel
2 Samuel 2 Samuel
Kings 1 Kings 1 Kings
2 Kings 2 Kings
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Ezekiel
1 Chronicles 1 Chronicles
2 Chronicles 2 Chronicles
Ezra Ezra
Nehemiah Nehemiah
Tobit1
Judith1
Esther Esther2
1 Maccabees1, 5
2 Maccabees1, 5
The Wisdom Books
Job Job
Psalms Psalms
Proverbs Proverbs
Ecclesiastes Ecclesiastes
Song of Solomon Song of Solomon

Wisdom1
Sirach1
Major Prophets
Isaiah Isaiah
Jeremiah Jeremiah
Lamentations Lamentations
Baruch1,3
Ezekiel Ezekiel
Daniel Daniel4
Minor Prophets
Hosea Hosea Hosea
Joel Joel Joel
Amos Amos Amos
Obadiah Obadiah Obadiah
Jonah Jonah Jonah
Micah Micah Micah
Nahum Nahum Nahum
Habakkuk Habakkuk Habakkuk
Zephaniah Zephaniah Zephaniah
Haggai Haggai Haggai
Zechariah Zechariah Zechariah
Malachi Malachi Malachi
Hagiographa or Writings
Psalms
Job
Proverbs
Song of Songs
Ruth
Lamentations
Ecclesiastes
Esther
Daniel
Ezra
Nehemiah
Chronicles


The New Testament of Christians

Notes

1 This book is not in the Protestant Old Testament.
2 The Catholic Book of Esther includes 103 verses not in the Protestant Book of Esther.
3 In Catholic Bibles, Baruch includes a sixth chapter called the Letter of Jeremiah. Baruch is not in the Protestant Old Testament.
4 In Catholic Bibles, Daniel includes three sections not included in Protestant Bibles. The Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Young Men are included between Daniel 3:23-24. Susanna is included as Daniel 13. Bel and the Dragon is included as Daniel 14. These are not in the Protestant Old Testament.
5 The
Latin Vulgate and the Douay-Rheims place the two Books of Maccabees after Malachi instead of Esther.

See also