NewTestament
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John 21:1 Jesus Appears to His Disciples--Alessandro Mantovani: the
Vatican, Rome.
See New Covenant (theology) for the concept
translated as "New Testament" in the KJV.
The New
Testament (Καινή
Διαθήκη), sometimes called the Greek
Testament or Greek Scriptures, and sometimes also New Covenant
which is the more accurate translation of the Greek,
is the name given to the final portion of the Bible, the holy
book of the Christians. It was written by various authors after c.
45 AD and before c. 140 AD. Its books were gradually collected into a single
volume over a period of several centuries. The New Testament is more or less
the root of the Christian religion, which has played a major role in shaping
modern Western morality and culture.
[edit]
Books of the New Testament
|
New Testament |
The
New Testament (see also, Biblical canon) are twenty-seven separate works:
they consist of the four narratives of Jesus Christ's ministry,
called "Gospels";
a narrative of the Apostles' ministries, which is also a sequel to the
third Gospel; twenty-one early letters, commonly called "epistles" in
Biblical context, which were written by various authors and consisted mostly of
Christian counsel and instruction; and an Apocalyptic prophecy, which is also
technically the twenty-second epistle.
[edit]
The Gospels
Each
of the Gospels narrates the ministry of Jesus Christ. The traditional author is
listed after each entry. Modern scholarship differs on precisely by whom, when,
or in what original form the various gospels were written.
- The Gospel of Matthew, traditionally the Apostle
Matthew, son of Alphaeus.
- The Gospel
of Mark, traditionally Mark, who wrote down the narrative given
by the Apostle Simon, called Peter.
- The Gospel
of Luke, traditionally Luke, who wrote down the narrative given
by the Apostle Paul, who was formerly called Saul.
- The Gospel
of John, traditionally the Apostle John, son of Zebedee.
See
also: synoptic problem
[edit]
Acts
The
book of Acts, also
occasionally termed Acts of the Apostles or Acts of the Holy Spirit, is a
narrative of the Apostles' ministry after Christ's death, which is also a
sequel to the third Gospel. Examining style, phraseology, and other evidence,
modern scholarship generally concludes that Acts and Luke have the same author.
- Acts, traditionally Luke, who wrote down the narrative given
by the Apostle Paul.
[edit]
Pauline Epistles
The Pauline
Epistles (or Corpus Paulinum) constitute those epistles
traditionally attributed to Paul, though his authorship of some is disputed,
and in one case (Hebrews) nearly universally rejected (see section on
authorship below). They consist mostly of moral counsel and behavioral
instruction, though they do include other elements as well. Paul appears to
have dictated his epistles to scribes, and some specifically mention his habit
of appending a salutation in his own handwriting. These are marked with an *
below.
- Epistle to the Romans*
- First Epistle to the Corinthians*
- Second Epistle to the
Corinthians
- Epistle to the Galatians
- Epistle to the Ephesians
- Epistle to the Philippians
- Epistle to the Colossians*
- First Epistle to the
Thessalonians
- Second Epistle to the
Thessalonians*
- First Epistle to Timothy
- Second Epistle to Timothy
- Epistle to Titus
- Epistle to Philemon*
- Epistle to the Hebrews
[edit]
General Epistles
See main article: General
Epistles
The
General or Catholic Epistles are those written to the church at large (Catholic
in this sense simply means universal).
- Epistle of James, traditionally by James,
brother of Jesus and Jude Thomas.
- First Epistle of Peter, traditionally
by the Apostle Simon, called Peter.
- Second Epistle of Peter, ,
traditionally by the Apostle Simon,
called Peter.
- First Epistle of John, traditionally by
the Apostle John, son of Zebedee.
- Second Epistle of John, traditionally
by the Apostle John, son of Zebedee.
- Third Epistle of John, traditionally by
the Apostle John, son of Zebedee.
- Epistle
of Jude, traditionally by Jude Thomas, brother of Jesus and James.
[edit]
Prophecy
The
final book of the New Testament has had one of the most profound impacts on
Christian theology of the whole work.
- Revelation, traditionally by the Apostle John, son of Zebedee.
Revelation
is sometimes called The Apocalypse of John
See
also: Bible prophecy
[edit]
New
Testament Apocrypha
In
ancient times there were dozens—perhaps hundreds—of Christian writings claiming
Apostolic authorship, or for some other reason considered authoritative by
ancient churches, but which were not ultimately included in the 27-book New
Testament canon. These works are considered "apocryphal", and are
therefore referred to in singular as the New Testament Apocrypha. It
includes not only writing favourable to the position of the orthodoxy, but also
a large amount of gnostic
writing, and spurious prophecy and general fantasy. These apocryphal works are
nevertheless important insofar as they provide an ancient context and setting
for the composition of the canonical books. Below are some examples of early
apocryphal works (please note this short list is by no means exhaustive):
- Didache,
anonymous instructional text; written c. AD 50–120. This was considered
canonical by early churches within mainstream Christianity for hundreds of
years, but was ultimately rejected from the biblical canon, with the
exception of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and
instead added to the Apostolic Fathers collection.
- Gospel of Thomas - anonymous collection of
sayings attributed to Jesus Christ; written c. AD 130–170. This was
accepted by Gnostics, and never considered authoritative by mainstream
Christianity. Arguments have been made that GThomas is the earliest extant
Gospel, but mainstream scholarship is generally in disagreement with that
hypothesis.
- Gospel
of Peter, mostly lost anonymous Synoptic narrative; written c. AD
70–160. It is unclear to this author whether it was ever widely accepted.
- Epistle of Barnabas - anonymous letter of
counsel to an unknown audience; written c. AD 80–120. This was considered
canonical by early churches within mainstream Christianity for hundreds of
years, but was ultimately rejected.
- Greek Gospel of the Egyptians,
mostly lost anonymous Gospel narrative; written c. AD 80–150. This author
recalls it to have been accepted in early eastern churches, but it was
ultimately rejected by mainstream Christianity.
- Gospel of the Hebrews, mostly lost
anonymous Gospel narrative; written c. AD 80–150. This author recalls it
to have been accepted in early eastern churches, but it was ultimately
rejected by mainstream Christianity.
- 1 Clement, letter of counsel probably
composed by Clement, Bishop of Rome, and addressed to the
church in Corinth; written c. AD 95–96. This was considered canonical by
early churches within mainstream Christianity for hundreds of years, but
was ultimately rejected. It is also one of extremely few Apocryphal works
accepted by modern scholarship to have been written by the traditional
author.
- Apocalypse of Peter, mostly lost anonymous
prophecy concerning the end times; written c. AD 100–150. This was
considered canonical by early churches within mainstream Christianity for
hundreds of years, but was ultimately rejected.
- The Shepherd of Hermas, anonymous
Christian text with a broad range of content, including prophecy, direct
instruction and parables; written c. AD 100–160. This was considered
canonical by early churches within mainstream Christianity for hundreds of
years, but was ultimately rejected.
- Gospel
of Judas, anonymous gospel narrative attributed to Judas Iscariot;
written c. AD 130–170. This was a Gnostic work, never considered
authoritative by mainstream Christianity.
- Third Epistle to the Corinthians,
a pseudographical work once (but no longer) considered canonical by the
Syriac and Armenian churches (it was part of the Oskan Armenian Bible
of 1666); the epistle is actually an extraction of the Acts
of Paul, whose author is unknown.
- Epistle to the Laodiceans, a
pseudographical collection of sayings borrowed from accepted Pauline epistles,
it was never considered authoritative by mainstream Christianity; it
survives in some Vulgate manuscripts (such as Codex
Fuldensis).
[edit]
Language
The
common language spoken in the time of Jesus was Aramaic.
However, the original text of the New Testament was most likely written in Koine Greek,
the vernacular dialect in 1st-century Roman
provinces of the Eastern Mediterranean, and has since been widely translated
into other languages, most notably, Latin, Syriac, and Coptic.
However, some of the church fathers seem to imply that Matthew was originally
written in Hebrew or more likely Aramaic, and there is
another contention that the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews wrote in Hebrew,
which was translated into Greek by Luke. Neither view holds much support among
contemporary scholars, who argue that the literary facets of Matthew and
Hebrews suggest that they were composed directly in Greek, rather than being
translated.
A very
small minority of scholars consider the Aramaic version of the New Testament to
be the original and believe the Greek is a translation (see Aramaic
primacy).
[edit]
The history of translation and usage of
the term New Testament
Some
believe the English term New Testament ultimately comes from the Hebrew
language. New Testament is taken from the Latin Novum Testamentum
first coined by Tertullian. Some believe this in turn is a translation of
the earlier Koine Greek Καινή
Διαθήκη (pronounced in postclassic Greek
as Keni Dhiathiki). This Greek term is found in the original Greek
language of the New Testament, though commonly translated as new covenant, and found even earlier in the
Greek translation of the Old Testament that is called the Septuagint.
At Jeremiah
31:31, the Septuagint translated this term into Greek from the original Hebrew ברית
חדשה (brit chadashah). The Hebrew term is usually
also translated into English as new covenant.
As a
result, some claim the term was first used by Early
Christians to refer to the new covenant that was the basis for their
relationship with God.
About two centuries later at the time of Tertullian
and Lactantius,
the phrase was being used to designate a particular collection of books that
some believed embodied this new covenant.
Tertullian,
in the 2nd century, was the first to use the terms novum testamentum/new
testament and vetus testamentum/old testament. For example, in Against
Marcion
book 3 [1],
chapter 14, he wrote:
This
may be understood to be the Divine Word, who is doubly edged with the two
testaments of the law and the gospel
And in
book 4 [2],
chapter 6, he wrote:
For it
is certain that the whole aim at which he has strenuously laboured even in the
drawing up of his Antitheses, centres in this, that he may establish a
diversity between the Old and the New Testaments, so that his own Christ may be
separate from the Creator, as belonging to this rival god, and as alien
from the law and the prophets.
Lactantius,
also in Latin, in the 3rd century, in his Divine Institutes, book 4,
chapter 20 [3],
wrote:
But
all Scripture is divided into two Testaments. That which preceded the advent
and passion of Christ—that is, the law and
the prophets—is
called the Old; but those things which were written after His resurrection are
named the New Testament. The Jews make use of the Old, we of the New: but yet
they are not discordant, for the New is the fulfilling of the Old, and in both
there is the same testator, even Christ, who, having suffered death for us,
made us heirs of His everlasting kingdom, the people of the Jews being deprived
and disinherited. As the prophet Jeremiah testifies when he speaks such things:
[Jer 31:31–32] "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a
new testament to the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not according to
the testament which I made to their fathers, in the day that I took them by the
hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; for they continued not in my
testament, and I disregarded them, saith the Lord." ... For that which He
said above, that He would make a new testament to the house of Judah, shows
that the old testament which was given by Moses was not perfect; but that that
which was to be given by Christ would be complete.
The Vulgate
translation, in the 5th century, used testamentum in 2nd Corinthians 3 [4]:
(6)
Who also hath made us fit ministers of the new testament, not in the letter but
in the spirit. For the letter killeth: but the spirit quickeneth. (Douay-Rheims)
(14) But their senses were made dull. For, until this present day, the selfsame
veil, in the reading of the old testament, remaineth not taken away (because in
Christ it is made void). (Douay-Rheims)
However,
the more modern NRSV
translates these verses from the Koine Greek
as such:
(6)
Who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but
of spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
(14) But their minds were hardened. Indeed, to this very day, when they hear
the reading of the old covenant, that same veil is still there, since only in
Christ is it set aside.
Thus,
it is common to translate using either of two English terms, testament
and covenant,
even though they are not synonymous.
[edit]
Gospel
relationships
Main article: Synoptic
Problem
The
relationships between the Gospels are a matter of some debate, though nearly
all scholars and theologians see John as being the last and Luke as having
based his account on other sources (since Luke admits to doing so). Matthew,
Mark and Luke all share a remarkable degree of interdependency, which has
consequently spurned a great deal of debate. Some of the Church Fathers argued
the Gospel of Matthew was the first written, and this view held sway for many
centuries. Most modern scholars now accept Markan
priority and the two-source hypothesis, which proposes that
the authors of Matthew and Luke used the Gospel
of Mark and a hypothesized collection of the sayings of Jesus, called the Q document,
as source material for their own works.
[edit]
Authorship
Main articles: Authorship of the Pauline epistles
and Authorship of the Johannine works
The New Testament is a collection of works, and as such was written by multiple authors. The traditional view is that all the books were written by Apostles or disciples working under their direction (e.g. Mark and Luke). For example, Papius wrote about AD 140, "This also the presbyter said: Mark, having become the interpreter of Peter, wrote down accurately, though not in order, whatsoever he remembered of the things said or done by Christ. For he neither heard the Lord nor followed him, but afterward, as I said, he followed Peter, who adapted his teaching to the needs of his hearers, but with no intention of giving a connected account of the Lord's discourses, so that Mark committed no error while he thus wrote some things as he remembered them. For he was careful of one thing, not to omit any of the thing which he had heard, and not to state any of them falsely" (cited by Eusebius, Hist. eccl., 3.39.21ff.). Irenaeus wrote about AD 180, "Luke, the attendant of Paul, recorded in a book the Gospel which Paul had declared. Afterwards John, the disciple of the Lord, who also reclined on his bosom, published his Gos