The Bible · Christian Writings

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The Bible

Holy Scripture · Scripture

Composed over many centuries · Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek

The Bible doesn't count toward percent complete. Saved in this browser. to keep it on every device.

What it is

The scriptures of the Christian church: the Old Testament, shared in large part with Judaism, and the New Testament's gospels, letters, and apocalypse about Jesus and the first generation of his followers. Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant Bibles differ in which Old Testament books they include.

Why it matters

Every other work in this canon is, in one way or another, a response to it. It sits at the top of the graph rather than in an era, and it does not count toward percent complete.

Influenced by0

No influences recorded yet.

Works that engage it directly22

Built on it
The Didache · Anonymous · late 1st or early 2nd c.
The Didache gives the Lord's Prayer in the form found in Matthew's Gospel and tells Christians to pray it three times a day.
Didache 8.2–3
Built on it
On Pascha · Melito of Sardis · c. 160–170
Melito's On Pascha is a homily on the Passover of Exodus 12, read as a figure of Christ's death.
On Pascha 1–10
Built on it
Homilies · John Chrysostom · c. 386–407
Most of Chrysostom's homilies preach through a book of the Bible verse by verse.
Homilies on Genesis, Matthew, John, Acts, and the Pauline epistles
Built on it
Life of Moses · Gregory of Nyssa · c. 390
Gregory of Nyssa's Life of Moses retells Moses's life from Exodus and Numbers and reads it as the soul's ascent to God.
Life of Moses, Books I–II
Built on it
On Christian Doctrine · Augustine of Hippo · 397; Book IV added 426
On Christian Doctrine is Augustine's handbook for interpreting and preaching the Bible.
On Christian Doctrine, Prologue
Built on it
Confessions · Augustine of Hippo · c. 397–400
The Confessions is woven from Scripture, especially the Psalms, and its last three books are an extended reading of Genesis 1.
Confessions, Books XI–XIII
Built on it
Explanation of the Gospels · Theophylact of Ohrid · c. 1090s–1100s
Theophylact's Explanation of the Gospels is a verse-by-verse commentary on the four Gospels.
Explanation of the Gospels
Built on it
Sermons on the Song of Songs · Bernard of Clairvaux · 1135–1153
Bernard's Sermons on the Song of Songs read the Song verse by verse as the love between God and the soul.
Sermons on the Song of Songs 1
Built on it
Canticle of the Creatures · Francis of Assisi · 1224–1226
Francis's Canticle of the Creatures echoes the Bible's hymns calling all creation to praise God (Psalm 148 and Daniel 3).
Canticle of the Creatures
Built on it
The Spiritual Espousals · John of Ruusbroec · c. 1335–1340
Ruusbroec's Spiritual Espousals is built around Matthew 25:6: 'See, the bridegroom comes; go out to meet him.'
Spiritual Espousals, Prologue
Built on it
Handbook of the Christian Soldier · Desiderius Erasmus · 1503
Erasmus's Handbook of the Christian Soldier takes its governing image from Paul's armour of God (Ephesians 6), with prayer and Scripture as the Christian's weapons.
Enchiridion, opening chapters; Ephesians 6:13–17
Built on it
The Reformed Pastor · Richard Baxter · 1656
The Reformed Pastor is an extended exposition of Acts 20:28, 'Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock'.
The Reformed Pastor, title text
Built on it
Paradise Lost · John Milton · 1667; revised 1674
Paradise Lost is an epic retelling of the Fall in Genesis 1–3.
Paradise Lost I.1–26
Built on it
Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God · Jonathan Edwards · preached 8 July 1741
Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God is a sermon on Deuteronomy 32:35, 'Their foot shall slide in due time'.
Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, text
Built on it
An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens · William Carey · 1792
Carey's Enquiry argues that Christ's command to 'teach all nations' (Matthew 28:19–20) still binds the church, so it must send missionaries.
An Enquiry, Section I
Built on it
Fear and Trembling · Søren Kierkegaard · 1843
Fear and Trembling is an extended meditation on Genesis 22, Abraham's binding of Isaac.
Fear and Trembling, "Tuning Up" and "Problemata"
Built on it
The Brothers Karamazov · Fyodor Dostoevsky · serialised 1879–1880
The Brothers Karamazov takes as its epigraph John 12:24, the grain of wheat that must die to bear fruit.
Epigraph
Built on it
The Way of a Pilgrim · Anonymous · written c. 1850s–60s; first published 1881 or 1884
The Way of a Pilgrim begins with the pilgrim hearing Paul's command to 'pray without ceasing' (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
The Way of a Pilgrim, first narrative
Built on it
The Epistle to the Romans · Karl Barth · 1919; rewritten 2nd ed. 1922
Barth's Epistle to the Romans is a commentary on Paul's letter to the Romans.
The Epistle to the Romans
Built on it
The Cost of Discipleship · Dietrich Bonhoeffer · 1937
The central part of The Cost of Discipleship is an exposition of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7).
The Cost of Discipleship, part II
Built on it
Theology of the Body · John Paul II · 1979–1984
Theology of the Body starts from Christ's appeal to 'the beginning' (Matthew 19) and Genesis 1–3, and later reads Ephesians 5 and the Song of Songs.
General Audience, 5 September 1979, and the cycle that follows
Built on it
The Divine Conspiracy · Dallas Willard · 1998
The Divine Conspiracy is built around the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7).
The Divine Conspiracy, chs. 4–7

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