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The New Testament 
After his death, one of Jesus' apostles, Peter, became the leader of the new movement. Another man, originally a persecutor of the early Christians known as Saul, had a dramatic conversion, changed his name to Paul, and became the most influential spokesman for the developing church, insisting that both Jews and Gentiles (non-Jews) could become Christians. Paul wrote many letters, known as epistles (Greek for "letters"), to churches he had founded. These letters, along with those written by other early church leaders, came to be included in the Christian part of the Bible known as the New Testament. Another important part of the Christian Bible are the four gospels (meaning "good news"), which tell the story of the life and teachings of Jesus. It is upon these texts, that much of Christian belief and practice has its foundation. While the books of the New Testament were all written during the first century, it was not until the 4th century that they were canonized as the official texts of the church.
Christianity also uses the older books of the Hebrew Bible, referring to it as the "Old Testament" to distinguish it from the newer writings about Jesus and the church.
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