Learning the Books of the Bible

This page has developed over the years and involves mnemonics taught to me and developed by me.

So how do novices (and sometimes seasoned readers of the Bible) find the books quickly when the preacher says, “Now turn to….”?  Here is a trick for learning the order of the 27 books of the New Testament:-learn the following six phrases in order:

“Mary and Martha love Jesus.”  “Always remember, claim Christ.”  “General Electric Power Company”

(The stuttering Indian)  “Hurry, Jesus’ people, pray!”  (The stuttering Dallas Fan)

The gospels:

M-M-L-J  “Mary & Martha love Jesus”

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John

Acts and three Pauline letters to churches:

A-R-C-C  “Always remember, claim Christ”

Acts, Romans, 1^st Corinthians and 2^nd Corinthians

Four Pauline letters to churches:

G-E-P-C  “General Electric Power Company”

Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians

Two  final Pauline letters to churches and four Pauline letters to people:

T-T-T-T-T-P  (The stuttering Indian)

1^st Thessalonians, 2^nd Thessalonians, 1^st Timothy, 2^nd Timothy, Titus, and Philemon

One possibly Pauline letter to people and three letters by people other than Paul:

H-J-P-P  “Hurry, Jesus’ people, pray!”

Hebrews, James, 1^st Peter and 2^nd Peter

Four final letters by people other than Paul and Revelation:

J-J-J-J-R (The stuttering Dallas Fan)  (In case you don’t know, Dallas was a somewhat steamy and thus, popular evening TV soap opera series in the late 70’s to early 90’s.  J.R. was the main male character.)

1^st John, 2^nd John, 3^rd John, Jude, and Revelation

Now, to work on the 39 books of the Old Testament....

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