Introduction to the New Testament

1. Introduction to the New Testament

2. What is it?

27 different documents
Written in Greek
Gathered together and
joined to the Old
Testament
This is the Bible as
Christians know it

3. Relationship to Old Testament

What is the Old Testament?
Why is it called "Old"
Predates revelation of Christ
Do Jews call it old?
Where is the New Testament in
relationship to the Old?

4. Meaning of testament

Testament is another word for
covenant
Thus this is a book about a new
covenant
E.g.s of Old Covenant?
Jesus is the new covenant God makes
with humanity
Christians believe everything God
promises us in the Old Testament is
fulfilled in Jesus

5. Types of Writing

What type of writing is in the NT?
Gospels (4)
gospel is a Greek word meaning
good news
Gospels are the specific gospels
of the Bible
Matt, Mark, Luke and John

6. A gospel

Not meant to be read as a
literal biography
Try to explain the teachings
of Jesus
Only period thoroughly
investigated is the last week
of Jesus' life

7. Types of writing

Second type of writing in the NT is
HISTORY
Especially history of the early
church
Acts of the Apostles is the only
historical book in the NT
Speaks of the spread of the
Church up to Paul's visit to Rome

8. Types of writing

The third type of writing are
letters aka epistles (21)
Written to various
communities by famous
apostles or their disciples
Paul wrote most of the
epistles

9. Types of writing

Apocalypse (1)
Highly symbolic book
Signifies battle between God and
Satan
Evil is eventually defeated and
God's kingdom becomes reality
Book of Revelation

10. Daily life in the time of Christ

11.

12.

13.

14.

15. Major Groups

Priests: Acted as mediators
between God and humans
Offered sacrifice in the
temple
High priest was very
important politically
E.g. Caiaphas

16. Major Groups

Sadducees: elite upper
class
Were very strong
politically and were
committed to the Temple
Didn't believe in life after
death

17. Major Groups

Pharisees: sect focusing
on the law
The Law governs daily life
Rivals of Sadducees
Believed life after death is
possible

18. Major Groups

Zealots: revolutionaries
wanting to overthrow the
Romans
At odds with Jewish leaders
because of their brutal tactics
Generally from poorer
classes

19. Major Groups

Sanhedrin: group of
community elders
Priests, Pharisees and
Sadducees
Religious, political, judicial
body

20. Major Groups

Essenes: group that
withdrew from society
Believed society was
impure
Believed the messiah
would soon arrive

21. Important places

The Temple
Destroyed when Israelites
were exiled
Rebuilt by Herod
Handled sacrifice, prayer,
governance

22.

23.

24. Important places

Synagogues
Place of daily, local
worship

25. Politics and Culture

Israel had been part of the
Greek empire for years
Heavy Greek influence
Greek was the
commercial language

26. Politics and culture

Jews had a king - e.g. Herod
Also a Roman governor - e.g.
Pilate
Romans asked only for taxes
- didn't force conversions to
their religion

27. Politics and culture

Jews believed a messiah would
deliver them
Messiah: Hebrew for "anointed
one"
From David's line
Would free Jews from foreign
oppression
NOT DIVINE BUT HUMAN - A
human can't be God

28. The Gospels

29. What are they

Four Gospels - who are
the authors?
Written at different times
with different objectives
No two gospels are
exactly the same

30. Timeline

Mark: 65-70 AD
Matthew: 80-85 AD
Luke: 85-100 AD
John: 90-110 AD

31. Mark

Tradition says Mark was a
disciple of St. Peter (I.e. He
never met Jesus)
Written for gentile Christians,
possibly in Rome
Message: be faithful to Jesus the road to heaven goes thru
suffering

32. Matthew

Matthew: Tax collector who
became a disciple of Christ
Matt probably not the author
Written for Jewish converts to
Christianity
Message: Jesus is the fulfillment
of prophecies

33. Luke

Luke: Gentile Christian, doctor, friend
of St. Paul (also didn't know Jesus)
Writer uses brilliant, clear language
Not from Palestine because of
geography errors
Written for non-Jewish Christians
Message: Jesus can save everyone

34.

35.

36. John

John: Disciple of Jesus
Written for Jewish-Christians
expelled from synagogues
Interested in theology
Message: Jesus is God and
reveals his father

37. Synoptic Gospels

Mark, Matthew and Luke are
known as the SYNOPTIC
GOSPELS
Synoptic: Taking a common view
These three gospels are very
similar though not identical
John nothing like the other three

38.

39. Synoptic Problem

How did this happen?
Known as Synoptic
Problem

40. Synoptic Problem

Mark written first
Luke and Matthew both used
Mark and another source - the
Q Source
Q short for "Quelle"
Material from Q is in Matt and
Luke
But not Mark

41. Q Source

Q source thought to be a
collection of sayings by
Jesus
No longer exists