犹太教和基督教的圣书，包括“托拉”（即“律法书”）、“先知书”和“圣录”三部分，共同组成基督教所称的《旧约》。“律法书”和约书亚是叙述有关以色列如何形成民族而占有“上帝应许之地”。“先知书”描述王国的建立和发展，并传达众先知向百姓发出的讯息。“圣录”中有诗，是关于善与恶以及历史的思索。天主教和东正教的《圣经》则包括称为外典的犹太人著作。《新约》包含了早期基督教文学。“福音书”记叙耶稣生平、为人和学说。“使徒行传”叙述基督教最早的历史。“使徒书（书信）”是早期基督教会一些首脑（主要是圣保罗）的书信，说明早期集会的需要。早期基督教曾出现许多启示著作，“启示录”是这类作品唯一的正典代表。

Sacred scriptures¹ of Judaism and Christianity. the Jewish scriptures consist of the Torah （or Pentateuch）， the Neviim （“Prophets”）， and the Ketuvim （“Writings”）， which together constitute what Christians³ call the Old Testament⁴. The Pentateuch and Joshua relate how Israel became a nation and came to possess the Promised Land. The Prophets describe the establishment and development of the monarchy⁵ and relate the prophets' messages. The Writings include poetry， speculation⁶ on good and evil， and history. The Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Bible includes additional Jewish writings called the Apocrypha⁷. The New Testament consists of early Christian² literature. The Gospels tell of the life， person， and teachings of Jesus. The Acts of the Apostles relates the earliest history of Christianity. The Epistles （Letters） are correspondence of early church leaders （chiefly St. Paul） and address the needs of early conGREgations. Revelation is the only canonical⁸ representative of a large genre⁹ of early Christian apocalyptic¹⁰ literature.