Day 5

Of The Holy Scriptures

Chapter 1, Paragraph 2

“Under the Name of Holy Scripture or the Word of God written; are now contained all the Books of the Old and New Testament which are these,

Of the Old Testament.

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, The Song of Songs, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.

Of the New Testament.

Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, The Acts of the Apostles, Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Phillippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, to Titus, to Philemon, the Epistle to the Hebrews, the Epistle of James, The first and second Epistles of Peter, The first, second and third Epistles of John, Jude, the Revelation.

All of which are given by the inspiration of God, to be the rule of Faith and Life.”

Scripture Lookup

2 Timothy 3:16. What are the uses for Scripture?

Reflection

Ever hear of “Sword Drills”?

I didn’t grow up in a faith tradition that did this, but from what I understand it was a game in Sunday School classes. Students would hold their Bibles over their heads and wait for the teacher to call out a book, chapter and verse of the Bible. Then the students would race through the pages to be the first to reach that citation and read it out loud.

We’ve learned that Scripture is an awesome gift to the church. It is the word of God written, after all! Shouldn’t we know what comprises it, then? As our Western culture grows less and less Biblically literate, knowing what books are in the Bible becomes more and more important. “Fewer than half of all adults can name the four gospels.“

Memorizing the books of the Bible in order can be a great first step in getting comfortable with the Bible. You’ll know when someone quotes Hezekiah they’re either joking or are truly ignorant. You won’t be dependent upon the search function of your phone when looking up a passage in Nahum. You’ll know Jude is in the New Testament. It will be that much easier to be acquainted with the canon, the rule of faith and life.

Questions to consider:

• Can you name the books of the Bible?
• Can you name them in order?