Bible Outlines
Introductions and content summaries for books of the Bible.
Introduction to John's Gospel
Author, date and place of writing
The Gospel of John was written by “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 21:20, 24). This person is not identified by name in the Gospel, but we know that the three closest disciples to Jesus were Peter, James and John (Matthew 17:1, 26:37, Mark 5:37). Peter is often described as being with the beloved disciple (John 13:23-24, 20:2, 21:20-21), and James was killed by Herod Agrippa no later than AD44 (Acts 12:2), so John is accepted as being the author.
Introduction to Ephesians
General background to the letter
The letter to the Ephesians was written by the Apostle Paul (Eph. 1:1) while he was under house arrest in Rome in AD61-62 (Eph. 3:1, 4:1, 6:20). Paul was surrounded by his friends like Luke, Timothy, Aristarchus, Epaphrus, Onesimus and Tychicus (who delivered this letter to Ephesus – Eph. 6:21). It seems likely that Paul also wrote the letters of Colossians and Philemon during this imprisonment.
Introduction to Titus
General background to the letter
This letter was written by the Apostle Paul to Titus, who had been an associate of Paul’s for over 15 years. Titus had a convincing conversion and was used as an example of an uncircumcised Gentile believer when Paul spoke to the apostles in Jerusalem (Galatians 2:1-3). Paul considered Titus to be, in a spiritual sense, his “true son in our common faith” (Titus 1:4).
Introduction to Philippians
General background to the letter
This letter was written by the Apostle Paul to the church in Philippi (Phil 1:1), a leading city in ancient Macedonia in the northern part of Greece. Although Greece had fallen under the rule of the Roman Empire, it remained a centre of culture and learning and most educated people of this time spoke Greek.