back to the bible
You would be amazed at the new things you'd learn if you help your children with their school work and assignments they bring home. Yes they fret about the things that their teachers ask them to look up, read about and write on paper and submit.. a few hours after they told you about it and not a minute later.
But in that funny rhythm I also learned to like it, since for the past month alone I've read and expanded my world to include music beats and time signatures, the works of Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci, the route of the trip Around the World in Eighty Days, basic advertising for tourism spots in the country, types of personalities, types of flames, components of physical fitness, and now, the Bible.
The nuns of my primary and secondary education and the priests of my university education will surely give me a boink on the head if I forget my Bible basics, but it's very interesting to discover other facts about the best-selling book in the world.
I grew up seeing the Bible as a big, long and epic story that stretches from the creation of the world in the first page to the scary last page of the end of the world. But this quick homework research tells me that the Bible is better appreciated when the books are read by themes.
The Old Testament has 17 Historical, 5 Poetical, and 17 Prophetic books in it. The 17 Historical Books are: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther. The 5 Poetical Books are: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon. The 17 Prophetic Books are: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.
The New Testament has 4 Gospels, Acts, 21 Epistles, and Revelation in it. The 4 Gospels are: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The 21 Epistles are: Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, and Jude.
Then there are the Deuterocanonicals, seven books present in Catholic bibles but missing in Protestant bibles.
Furthermore, the Bible was written over a 1500 year span (from 1400 B.C to A.D. 100), through over 40 generations, by over 40 authors from many walks of life (kings, peasants, philosophers, fishermen, poets, statesmen, scholars),in different places (wilderness, dungeon, palaces), at different times (war, peace), in different moods (heights of joy, depths of despair), on three continents (Asia, Africa, and Europe) and in three languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek).
Yes, there will always be lots of background information and quick facts about the first book ever printed. Yet I think everyone will agree that what matters at the end will be the good news we get from inside its pages.
