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The Bible:
Bible refers to the collections of canonical religious writings of Judaism and of Christianity. The books that are considered canon in the Bible vary depending upon the historic tradition using or defining it. These variations are a reflection of the range of traditions and councils that have convened on the subject.

The Jewish Version:
The Tanakh, is divided into three parts: the Teaching, the Prophets, and the Writings. The Christian version of the Bible includes books of the Tanakh, but includes additional books and reorganizes them into two parts: the books of the Old Testament primarily sourced from the Tanakh (with some variations), and the 27 books of the New Testament containing books originally written primarily in Greek. Some versions of the Christian Bible have a separate Apocrypha section for the books not considered canonical by the tradition or sometimes the publisher.

The Christain Version:
The Christian Bible consists of the Hebrew scriptures, which are called the Old Testament, and some later writings known as the New Testament. Some groups within Christianity include additional books as part one or both of these sections of their sacred writings – most prominent among which are the biblical apocrypha or deuterocanonical books.

In Judaism, the term Christian Bible is commonly used to identify only those books like the New Testament which have been added by Christians to the Masoretic Text, and excludes any reference to an Old Testament.

As of 2003, the Bible, or some portion of it, has been translated into more than 2,300 languages or dialects.

The Old Testament:
The Old Testament is the collection of books written prior to the life of Jesus but accepted by Christians as scripture. Broadly speaking, it is the same as the Hebrew Bible, however it divides and orders them differently, and varies from Judaism in interpretation and emphasis, see for example Isaiah 7:14. Several Christian denominations also incorporate additional books into their canons of the Old Testament. A few groups consider particular translations to be divinely inspired, notably the Greek Septuagint, the Aramaic Peshitta, and the English King James Version.

The New Testament:
The name given to the final portion of the Christian Bible, written after the Hebrew Bible (also called by Jews Tanakh), known to Christians as the Old Testament. It is sometimes called the Greek Testament or Greek Scriptures, or the New Covenant – which is the literal translation of the original Greek. The original texts were written in Koine Greek by various unknown authors after c. AD 45 and before c. AD 140. Its 27 books were gradually collected into a single volume over a period of several centuries. The New Testament is a central element of Christianity, and has played a major role in shaping modern Western culture. Although certain Christian sects differ as to which works are included in the New Testament, the vast majority of denominations have settled on the same twenty-seven book canon (see also, Biblical canon): it consists of the four narratives of Jesus Christ's ministry, called "Gospels"; a narrative of the Apostles' ministries in the early church, which is also a sequel to the third Gospel; twenty-one early letters, commonly called "epistles" in Biblical context, written by various authors and consisted mostly of Christian counsel and instruction; and an Apocalyptic prophecy, which is technically the twenty-second epistle. Although the traditional timeline of composition may have been taken into account by the shapers of the current New Testament format, it is not nor was it meant to be in strictly chronological order. Though Jesus spoke Aramaic, the New Testament (including the Gospels) was written in Greek because that was the lingua franca of the Roman Empire.

Gospels:
Each of the Gospels narrates the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. The traditional author is listed after each entry. Modern scholarship differs on precisely by whom, when, or in what original form the various gospels were written.

* The Gospel of Matthew, traditionally ascribed to the Apostle Matthew, son of Alphaeus.
* The Gospel of Mark, traditionally ascribed to Mark the Evangelist, who wrote down the recollections of the Apostle Simon Peter.
* The Gospel of Luke, traditionally ascribed to Luke, a physician and companion of Paul of Tarsus.
* The Gospel of John, traditionally ascribed to the Apostle John, son of Zebedee
The first three are commonly classified as the Synoptic Gospels. They contain very similar accounts of events in Jesus' life. The Gospel of John stands apart for its unique records of several miracles and sayings of Jesus, not found elsewhere.

Acts:
The book of Acts, also termed Acts of the Apostles or Acts of the Holy Spirit, is a narrative of the Apostles' ministry after Christ's death, which is also a sequel to the third Gospel. Examining style, phraseology, and other evidence, modern scholarship generally concludes that Acts and Luke share the same author.

Acts, traditionally Luke.

Pauline Epistles:
The Pauline epistles (or Corpus Paulinum) constitute those epistles traditionally attributed to Paul, though his authorship is disputed, and in one case (Hebrews) nearly universally rejected (see section on authorship below). Paul appears to have dictated his epistles to scribes, and some specifically mention his habit of appending a salutation in his own handwriting.

General or Catholic Epistles:
General Epistles (also called Catholic Epistles) are books in the New Testament in the form of letters. They are termed "general" because for the most part their intended audience seems to be Christians in general rather than individual persons or congregations as is the case with the Pauline epistles. However, 2 John and 3 John are included in this group despite their addresses respectively to the "elect lady", speculated by many to be the church itself, and to "Gaius", about whom there has been much speculation but little in the way of conclusive proof as to his identity.

There has been considerable speculation as to the authorship of these works. Some scholars believe 2 Peter to be a pseudepigraphal work.

The epistles of James and Jude are traditionally attributed to Jesus' brothers James and Jude.

Listed in order of their appearance in the New Testament, the General Epistles are:

* Epistle of James
* First Epistle of Peter
* Second Epistle of Peter
* First Epistle of John
* Second Epistle of John
* Third Epistle of John
* Epistle of Jude

Additionally, some scholars include the anonymous Book of Hebrews as falling within this group; its traditional title is not derived from a specific address within the letter, but from its contents. It was traditionally thought that Paul wrote Hebrews, but its style of writing and theological emphases have led most scholars to conclude that it is not Pauline.

The Apocalypse:
The final book of the New Testament has had a profound impact on Christian theology of the whole work.

Revelation. The authorship is attributed either to the Apostle John, son of Zebedee or by John of Patmos. For a discussion of authorship see the authorship article.

It is worth noting Revelation is sometimes called The Apocalypse of John. It is also not read or used during church services by the Orthodox church.

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