Matthew
Matthew's book tells us of the birth, life and death of Jesus. Matthew had been a Jewish tax collector who became one of Jesus’ disciples.
He refers to Jesus as the Messiah who had been prophesised in the Old Testament.

Mark
Mark also wrote about the birth, life and death of Jesus. Mark was not one of the disciples, but was probably the first person to write about Jesus. It is thought that the other gospel writers copied a lot of Mark's book.

Luke
Again this book was written about the birth, life and death of Jesus. It is generally agreed that Luke wrote the most thorough of the books on Jesus, but was definitely not the first to write about him.

John
John also wrote about the birth, life and death of Jesus. He wrote his book probably 20 to 30 years after the others. He also include in it 6 more miracles than were previously recorded in the other gospels.

Acts
This book was written by Luke and connects the life of Jesus to that of the church. He writes about the preachings and ministries of both Peter and Paul. This is probably a sequel to Luke’s gospel, and it is thought that he planned to write a third book too although this never happened.

Romans
Paul wrote this book to the Christians in Rome. He had decided to visit Rome on his way to Spain. It is understood that the Roman church was mainly Jewish but had quite a few Gentiles also at this time.

Corinthians I
This is another book written by Paul especially for the church in Corinth, which was a big bustling city and port. The church goers were squabbling and arguing over many small issues, which Paul pointed out to them and helped them sort out.

Corinthians II
In this book, once again Paul is writing to the church in Corinth. He realises that although a lot of their previous problems have been resolved, there is still some trouble with a few of the churchgoers. He tries to sort this out.

Galatians
This is a letter from Paul to the church in Galatia. This one he had founded himself on a previous missionary journey. There were lots of problems for Christians living at this time as they continually had problems with Jewish laws. Paul tries to sort these problems out.

Ephesians
This is a letter written by Paul to the people of the church in Ephesus. He had spent three years there and had got to know the people very well before he continued with his missionary work. The letter was to encourage them in their beliefs.

Philippians
This letter was written by Paul to the Christians in Philippi. Philippi had the first church in Europe (Greece) and had sent Paul a gift. The letter was to thank them for the gift, although at the time of writing, Paul was in a Roman prison.

Colossians
Epaphras, a convert from one of Paul’s missionary travels, had founded the church at Colosse, but members of the church had tried to include a few pagan items into it. Paul writes this letter to tell the Christians there that they must stop this and worship only Christ.

Thessalonians I
Paul wrote this letter to the Christians in Thessalonica, to encourage them as many believers were being persecuted, and to explain to them about Christ’s second coming. They had believed that he would return almost immediately.

Thessalonians II
Paul had to write another letter to the Christians at Thessalonica as they had misinterpreted his first. They were still sure that Christ would return immediately to save them from their persecutions. However, on being told that he would not be returning in the near future, many lost interest in the religion.

Timothy I
Timothy was one of Paul’s closest friends and had been the person that Paul had sent to the church at Ephesus to help the Christians there. Timothy was going to stay on there for a while as leader of the church, and this letter was written by Paul to give him some advice about the job.

Timothy II
This was written by Paul to Timothy again, asking him to carry on with Paul’s missionary work. Paul was once more in a Roman prison at this time and realised that he would soon be executed. He wanted Timothy to carry on with his work.

Titus
Paul wrote this letter to Titus about the same time as he wrote the first letter to Timothy. In it, he gives Titus advice on how to become the church leader on the Island of Crete.

Philemon
Philemon was a wealthy member of the Colossian church and had many slaves. One of them had run away which would mean severe punishment when he was recaptured. This letter was written by Paul to Philemon, suggesting that he forgive his slave and treat him like a brother in the Christian faith.

Hebrews
It is not known who wrote this book but whoever it was speaks of Timothy as ‘a brother’ and so could have been Paul or Luke. It is written generally to all Christian Hebrews to reassure them that Christianity was the true religion. There was a lot of persecution going on at this time.

James
This book was written by James, Jesus’ brother for Christian communities living outside Palestine. He talks about his concern for persecuted Christians, and tries to inspire them in their faith.

Peter I
Peter, one of the disciples, wrote this book to offer encouragement to suffering Christians who had been driven out of Jerusalem. In it he describes several stories that had been told to him by Jesus, as a way of support.

Peter II
Peter wrote this book to Christians everywhere when he knew he was dying. He tried to remind them how to follow their faith and warn them against false teachers and images.

John I
This was written by John the apostle, who had written the last gospel. It is more of a general letter sent to all Christian congregations. At the time it was written, he was one of the few people left who had actually seen Jesus preach. He wrote this letter to give new believers assurance and confidence in God.

Jude
This book was written by Jude. He was also a brother of Jesus, and wrote this letter to Christians everywhere warning them to be on their guard against ‘false teaching’ and to win back others who had already been deceived.

Revelation
This was also written by John the Apostle when he was in exile on the island of Patmos. He tries to offer hope and encouragement to Christians and tells them to constantly fight against the temptation to become unloved, immoral, lenient, compromising or casual about their faith.
It assures them that good will triumph over evil.

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