The New Testament
Essay Preview: The New Testament
Report this essay
The New Testament
The Primary Source of the Knowledge of Jesus
Proclaims the Incarnation — the Word made Flesh — Jesus becomes Man
Fulfillment of the Promise of the Old Testament
Collection of books (proclaiming the fulfillment of Gods promises through His Son, Jesus)
Gospels
Written by the evangelists – Matthew, Mark, Luke, John
CCC 125 = Gospels are the heart of all the Scriptures as they are the primary source of life and teaching of Jesus
Main sources of information about the historical Jesus
Faith testimonials announcing the good news of salvation; evangelists are not primarily interested in the historical details of Jesus life — primary interest in the good deeds he performed, the words of salvation he taught, and the meaning of his passion, death, resurrection and glorification
Not all alike
Mark – suffering servant
Matthew – humanness of Jesus
Luke – Gospel message is for all
John – emphasizes the symbolisms within Jesus life
Synoptic Gospels
how Jesus lived
Matthew, Mark and Luke
Johns Gospel – what Jesus meant
Acts of the Apostles
Written about the time following Pentecost (for abt 30 yrs)
Lukes sequel to his Gospel
Epistles – letters
Pauline (13 books) – dealt with particular problems faced by the early Church and continued proclaiming faith in Jesus to be its central focus
7 of the books directly attributed to Paul; the others were probably written by disciples of his
Epistle to the Hebrews – defines the priesthood of Jesus
Catholic Epistles – encouraged the universal church to keep the true faith and live Christ-filled lives
Revelation (The Apocalypse) – another book full of symbolisms written to aid Christians under persecution to remain loyal to Jesus and His teachings.
How did the writing of the Gospels come to be? – 3-stage process
The life and teaching of Jesus —— period of time from Jesus birth until his death ——- what he did and taught
Oral preaching about Jesus —— from Pentecost until the actual written form of the Gospels
Written Gospels —- written over a 35 yr period —— Mark around 65AD, Matthew and Luke between 75-85AD and John during the last decade of the first century. Each evangelist adapted his materials keeping in mind the circumstances of the particular audience for whom he was writing.each had different audiences.
Most of what we know about Jesus early life comes from Matthew and Luke — birth, Magi, Flight to Egypt, circumcision, Slaughter of the Innocents, boy Jesus in the Temple, Joseph
Catholic Church maintains the dogma of the virgin birth — no brothers or sisters —— the text that refers to Jesus brothers and sisters uses a word that also means cousins
Jesus Public Ministry
Mark and John begin here
Accounts of temptations
Miracles —- mighty work of wonderment revealing the presence of God through Jesus
Accounts of preaching ——- the ministry that ultimately led to his death
This is the center stage in the gospel accounts of Jesus life
Qualities