The term 'Bible,' as used in the Declaration of Faith, refers to the ____ books of the Old Testament and the ____ books of the New Testament.

• A. thirty-seven; twenty-nine
• B. thirty-nine; twenty-seven
• C. forty; twenty-eight
• D. thirty-eight; twenty-six

Answer: (D)

In this Declaration of Faith, the Bible is defined by a specific canon—the official list of books recognized by that faith tradition. The question tests recognition of that particular canon, not a universal or other tradition’s count.

According to this doctrine’s usage, the Old Testament contains thirty-eight books and the New Testament contains twenty-six books. This is the fixed set they identify as the Bible, so those numbers fill the blanks.

Understanding this helps explain why other numbers appear in different traditions: Protestants typically count thirty-nine Old Testament books and twenty-seven New Testament books, Catholics have a larger Old Testament (plus twenty-seven in the New Testament), and other groups may have their own variations. The key point is that the Declaration of Faith specifies its own canon, which is why the pair with thirty-eight and twenty-six is the match for this item.