Do you desire to understand the Bible on a deeper level in 2017?

Former business executive and Bible study leader Eric Larson knows getting into scripture can be daunting. He expands on the compilation of the New Testament writings.

“The New Testament is a group of 27 sacred writings. They are both books and letters written by eight different authors. Come to find out that the church fathers, when they were putting these together in collections, did it in a very logical fashion. They actually grouped the 27 writings into six logical groups.”

He describes the six groups in chronological order,

1. Biographies

“The first group is the first four books of the New Testament; Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, which are biographies of Christ.”

2. History

“Then you have Acts, which is a group in and of itself. It’s a history book; a history of the church after Christ descended for the 30 years or so.”

3. Paul’s letters to churches

“They are nine letters written by the Apostle Paul to churches. The church in those days was defined as Christians meeting in a specific city. So if it was Rome, then he was writing to the church in Rome, Corinth, Ephesus, or any of those cities.”

4. Paul’s letters to people

“The fourth group is four letters, written again by Paul, but these are not written to churches, they’re written to individuals; two to Timothy, one to Titus, and one to someone called Philemon.”

5. General letters

“There are eight letters, starting with Hebrews and ending with Jude. They were called general letters because they’re for general audiences and anybody could read them. They circulated around and they became a logical group in and of themselves.”

6. Prophecy

“Finally, you have one book at the end of the New Testament called Revelation, which is a different kind of book, it’s prophecy.”

By understanding the context of the New Testament, we will have a better idea of how the Bible was compiled together, and will have a deeper understanding of God’s Word.


Eric Larson is an author, teacher, and speaker who for the past 35 years has helped people in many places become better Bible readers. In 2010, after wrapping up a successful business career, he founded Frameworks Resources, a Bay Area publishing company, to create innovative Bible study resources.

Studying the New Testament