The Categories of the New Testament Books

The New Testament consists of 27 separate books arranged in categories. Just as there are four basic categories of books in the Old Testament– the Torah (Law), the History Books, the Poetical Books (or Writings), and the Prophets-there are also four categories of New Testament books. They are:

The Gospels-The first four books of the New Testament
The History Book-The fifth book of the New Testament
The Epistles (or Letters)-A total of 21 books
The Apocalypse-The final book of the New Testament

[Note: Some people would combine the Gospels and Acts into one category, and call it all history. However, the Gospels are a unit in themselves in their emphasis on the life and ministry of Jesus.]

The Gospels. Matthew through John. My first writing assignment when I was in seminary training to be a minister was to define a Gospel. The obvious answer is that a Gospel is a story of the life of Jesus. As I did research, I discovered that the answer wasn’t that simple. The four Gospels are biographical, but are not very comprehensive. They focus on Jesus’ ministry, in particular the last week of his life. In fact, this last week, called “The Passion of Jesus,” consumes a disproportionately large amount of space in each of the four Gospels. Other than the focus on the ministry, there is not much family or personal detail about Jesus. The best way I can think of to define a Gospel is to call it a theological biography, one that emphasizes the working of God in and through Jesus.

The four Gospels are addressed to different audiences. Matthew wrote to Jews to persuade them to see Jesus as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies. Mark wrote to the Roman world emphasizing the actions of Jesus. Luke wrote primarily to the Gentile (non-Jewish) world, and John addressed his book to the whole world. The different audiences of the four writers shaped their illustrations and inclusion (or exclusion) of material.

The History Book. The Acts of the Apostles. This book chronicles the activities of the Holy Spirit working in and through the apostles of Jesus after he left earth. It is a transitional book between the ministry of Jesus and the worldwide spread of the religious faith that emerged from Jesus’ ministry, death, and resurrection. Acts serves as a helpful introduction to Paul, who, more than any other human, was responsible for the spread of the Christian faith across the known world of his time.

The Epistles (Letters). Romans through Jude. This section of the New Testament consists of letters written by various people-especially Paul-to individuals, congregations, or Christians in general-addressing problems and encouraging the recipients of the letters. The Epistles can be broken down into Pastoral Epistles (those addressed to specific individuals (for example, I and II Timothy) or congregations (for example, I and II Corinthians) and General Epistles, addressed to Christians at large (for example, I and II Peter). The Epistles give modern readers some helpful guidelines for dealing with problems today.

The Apocalypse. Revelation. The proper term for a writing such as Revelation is “apocalypse,” which means “unveiling.” The book of Revelation claims to be exactly that-an unveiling or revealing of the future. It shows the end of human history on earth and a glimpse of heaven insofar as the author, John, is able to put it into words. While there have been endless debates on the symbolism and meaning of Revelation, the basic message was summed up for me years ago by someone in a congregation I served in Iowa: “We [Christians] win!” The essential message of Revelation to the early Christians who were facing deadly persecution was that the Church, through the work of Jesus, would triumph over its enemies. Whatever else Revelation may be, it was intended to be a message of encouragement to believers at the time it was written and, by extension, to believers in every age.