Chapters V: The books of the Bible are distinguished in various ways, § 55.
CHAPTER V: ON THE DIVISIONS OF THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
§ 55. The books of the Bible are distinguished in various ways: (1) Into the books of the Old and New Testaments. (Augustine, Ad Bonifac., bk. 3, c. 4, thinks that it is more correct to call them the “Old and the New Record [Instrumentum].”) The books of the Old Testament are those that were published before Christ was presented physically; the books of the New Testament were published and commended to the Church after Christ was presented physically. Note here that the books of the Old Testament are so called not because they contain nothing about the substance, grace, and joy of the new testament promised for Christ’s sake to those who believe in Him but because they declare what is to come and to be fulfilled in its own time and because they foreshadow that which is declared as fulfilled in the New Testament (Rom. 3:21; 16:26). It was to this that Augustine no doubt looked when he preferred to call them “the books of the Old and New Record,” since the Old and New Testaments are distinguished with respect not only to time but also to substance.
Furthermore, the ancients say that these two Testaments are foreshadowed and denoted by the two cherubim that covered the mercy seat on the ark of the covenant with their wings (Exod. 25:20; see Gregory, homily 6 on Ezekiel); by the two men carrying the grapes from the land of Canaan (Song of Songs 7:4; see Jerome, on Matthew 13); by the old and the new that a scribe who is instructed for the kingdom of heaven brings out of his treasury (Matt. 13:52; see Irenaeus, bk. 4, c. 21, and Chrysostom, homily 48 on Matthew); by the two breasts that are attributed to Mother Church (Song of Songs [7:3]; see Augustine, tr. 3 on 1 John).
§ 56. (2) Into prophetic and apostolic books, which is akin to the prior division, taken from Eph. 2:20: “You are built upon the foundation of the prophets and apostles.” In his commentary on this passage, Ambrose explains this as “placed upon the Old and New Testaments.” You see, what the apostles preached, the prophets foretold would occur. The title “prophetic books” was taken not so much from the material or things contained in them as from the instrumental efficient cause. For by that name, taken generally, all the books of the Old Testament written by the prophets are understood, whether they contain prophecies or histories or proclamations of the Law. In the same way, by the title “apostolic books,” taken generally, all the books written by the apostles and evangelists by means of the Holy Spirit’s inspiration are understood. (Two of the evangelists, Matthew and John, belong to the twelve apostles, but two, Mark and Luke, wrote by order of the apostles and the apostles approved their writing.)
§ 57. (3) Christ subdivides the books of the Old Testament into Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms (Luke 24:44). Moses is the root and stem; the prophets’ books constitute the tree with its fruits; the Psalms are the flowers. We are not convinced of what some people say, that the title “Psalms” is taken generally for the books limited in number, which are Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, and Lamentations. We feel that it more likely means the Book of Psalms specifically. In this way, then, Moses as the source and spring, or root and trunk, and the Psalms as the flowers of Scripture are distinguished from the rest of the prophetic books. In Luke 16:29 and Acts 26:22, Christ and Paul divide the books of the Old Testament into Moses and the Prophets, that is, into Mosaic and prophetic books, because Moses is the originator and leader of the other prophets.
§ 58. (4) The rabbinic scholars divide them into the 
(“the Law”), 
(“the Prophets”), and 
(“holy writings”). The 
contains the Pentateuch, which they call 
[“the five fifths of the Law”] and, by abbreviation, 
(“the Five of the Law”). Some of the 
are 
(“earlier”); others are 
(“later”). There are four “earlier”: the Books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. There are four “later”: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Book 
, or by crasis 
, of the Twelve Prophets, whom they call “the minor prophets.” The 
are all the rest, eleven in number: Psalms, Proverbs, Job (which, because these three are poetic, are called by a special technical name composed of the first letters of their Hebrew names: 
, the five volumes Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther; then Daniel, the Books of Ezra, and Chronicles. (See Elias Levita, praefat. 3. in Masoreth., p. 40.)
Although some of both the older and more recent Christian interpreters approve of this division (as we see from Jerome, preface on Ezra and Nehemiah; Purcheto, Victor. adv. Judaeos, part 1, c. 8; Galatinus, De arcan., [bk.] 1, c. 1; etc.), it still leaves something to be desired. In the first place, it struggles with coherence because all the sacred books are “holy writings.” Second, without any probable reason it separates Daniel from the prophets and the Books of Chronicles from the historical books. But if the Books of Joshua and Judges, which are totally historical, were considered worthy of the name “prophets,” then the Books of Chronicles also could have been put in their number and Psalms, Proverbs, and Job in the section of poetry. Third, the basis of this division is not at all solid. By 
they understood the books “dictated through the Holy Spirit, not through prophecy,” as Rabbi D. Kimchi writes in his preface to Psalms. They call it the “Holy Spirit” when the Spirit comes over a man who is awake and drives him to prophesy. They call it “prophecy” where the Holy Spirit reveals something to a person who is sleeping or who has been caught up outside himself (Fabricius, Partit. Cod. Hebr., c. 12). Some distinguish prophecy from the Holy Spirit in this way: that prophets are understood as presenting divine utterances given in a dream or vision or by hearing a voice speaking to them as they were moved in ecstasy from the normal state and senses of men. The Holy Spirit, however, is taken in a metonymical sense to be stirring a person without any change of his senses to sing a psalm or speak (Helwic., Tract. de Chald. paraphr., c. 2). Some understand 
(“holy writings”) to mean books that are written at the impulse of the Holy Spirit but not proclaimed [praedicatos]. All these, however, lack definite and immovable foundations.
§ 59. (5) Some of the ancient Christian doctors divide the books of the Old Testament into legal, historical, hortatory, and prophetic books. The legal books are the five Books of Moses. The historical books are the books from Joshua to the account of Job inclusively. The hortatory books are those of Solomon. The prophetic books are the books of the major and minor prophets. Concerning the Book of Psalms, they write that it contains something useful from all that the other books contain. (See Basil, Serm. de virtut. et laudib. Psalmorum, vol. 1, p. 214; and Augustine, Propl. Psalm., vol. 8, col. 1.)
§ 60. (6) Related to this division is that of more recent theologians in which they divide the books of the Old Testament into legal, historical, doctrinal, and prophetic books. They put the Pentateuch into the legal class. In the historical books they include the Books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, the Books of Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah. In the doctrinal books they class Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs. In the prophetic books they group the four major and twelve minor prophets.
Those who take pleasure in dichotomies divide the books of the Old Testament into historical and didactic books. They divide the historical books according to the threefold status of the church and commonwealth of Israel, namely, before they possessed the land of Canaan, when they were taking possession of it, and after they had gained possession. The didactic books they divide into poetic and prophetic books. Pflacherus establishes three classes of books of the Old Testament according to Christ’s threefold office as prophet, priest, and king. The Pentateuch teaches Christ as priest; the historical books that follow describe Him as king; and the hagiographic and prophetic books set Him forth as prophet and teacher.
§ 61. (7) With regard to their instrumental cause and the adjunct of time, the prophetic books can be subdivided into the books of those who prophesied before the Babylonian captivity, including Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah; of those who prophesied during the captivity, namely, Ezekiel and Daniel; and, finally, of those who prophesied after the captivity: Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. After Moses and David, the prophets seem to have written in this order: (1) Jonah, (2) Hosea, (3) Amos, (4) Isaiah, (5) Micah, (6) Joel, (7) Nahum, (8) Habakkuk, (9) Jeremiah, (10) Zephaniah, (11) Obadiah (though some claim that Obadiah was a contemporary of Jonah and want him to have prophesied under Ahab and Jeroboam), (12) Daniel, (13) Ezekiel, (14) Haggai, (15) Zechariah, and (16) Malachi.
§ 62. (8) The books of the New Testament are divided into historical, doctrinal, and prophetic books. The historical books give the history of Christ, namely, the four Gospels; or of the apostles, namely, Acts. The doctrinal books are the Epistles of Paul, James, Peter, John, and Jude. There is one prophetic book: Revelation. Some letters of Paul were written before his captivity, and there are seven of these: (1) 1 Thessalonians, (2) 2 Thessalonians, (3) 1 Timothy, (4) 1 Corinthians, (5) Titus, (6) 2 Corinthians, and (7) Romans. Some were written during Paul’s captivity, and to this group belong the remaining six. About these it is still not definitely evident as to the order in which Paul wrote them. Nonetheless some arrange them as follows: (1) Philippians, (2) Colossians, (3) Philemon, (4) Ephesians, (5) Galatians, and (6) 2 Timothy.