I sometimes find people who have an interest in the Bible and are reading it, but have no idea how the Bible is put together. As a result, they are not making anywhere near as much sense of they Bible as they could.

This study and chart helps Bible readers to quickly work out how the part of the Bible they are reading fits into the Bible as a whole. The writings included in the Bible come from many different situations over several thousand years, and there are many different kinds of writing, including stories, poems, laws, prophecies, proverbs, letters. There are 66 separate writings in the Bible, and even some of these are themselves collected writings —for example the Psalms include five books of collected songs. All this variety of writings can be confusing unless we know how the Bible is put together.

The Theme of the Bible

In the book of Acts, there is a very instructive story. A man is reading his Bible, but finding it difficult to understand. He happened to be reading Isaiah chapter 53. Philip approached him with the question, "Do you understand what you are reading"? He didn't, so Philip started at that scripture and went through the scriptures and from them he preached Jesus. The man believed what Philip told him, and asked to be baptized so as to become a Christian. This shows that the theme of the scriptures is Jesus (Acts 8:26-40).

The Christian scriptures (written 2000 years ago), teach about the Hebrew scriptures (written from about 3,500 years ago up to about 2,500 years ago). You will find the earlier scriptures quoted many times in the Christian scriptures. Note for example the wonderful sermon Peter preached at the beginning of Christianity, and notice how he quotes from parts of the earlier scriptures, and notice how he shows that these sciptures were pointing to Jesus Christ(Acts chapter 2).

The letter to the Hebrews is another example of how the Christian scriptures teach that the Hebrew scriptures point to Jesus Christ (Hebrews chapter 1). He is the key to God's plan for human beings. The Bible from beginning to end reveals how God's plan has unfolded in Jesus Christ his Son.

Since the theme of the Bible is Jesus Christ, the first place to begin reading the Bible is where the life and teachings of Jesus are recorded —starting with Mark or John.

The Parts of the Bible

The Bible writings have been put together in an intelligent order, which places them as much as possible from the earliest to the latest, whilst keeping them in logical categories. Once you learn these groupings, the Bible is much easier to study and understand. Here is a simple chart of the parts of the Bible...

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