Слайд 1Introduction to the New Testament
Слайд 2What is it?
27 different documents
Written in Greek
Gathered together and joined to
the Old Testament
This is the Bible as Christians know it
Слайд 3Relationship 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?
Слайд 4Meaning 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
Слайд 5Types 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
Слайд 6A 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
Слайд 7Types 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
Слайд 8Types 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
Слайд 9Types 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
Слайд 10Daily life in the time of Christ
Слайд 15Major Groups
Priests: Acted as mediators between God and humans
Offered sacrifice in
the temple
High priest was very important politically
E.g. Caiaphas
Слайд 16Major Groups
Sadducees: elite upper class
Were very strong politically and were committed
to the Temple
Didn't believe in life after death
Слайд 17Major Groups
Pharisees: sect focusing on the law
The Law governs daily life
Rivals
of Sadducees
Believed life after death is possible
Слайд 18Major Groups
Zealots: revolutionaries wanting to overthrow the Romans
At odds with Jewish
leaders because of their brutal tactics
Generally from poorer classes
Слайд 19Major Groups
Sanhedrin: group of community elders
Priests, Pharisees and Sadducees
Religious, political,
judicial body
Слайд 20Major Groups
Essenes: group that withdrew from society
Believed society was impure
Believed the
messiah would soon arrive
Слайд 21Important places
The Temple
Destroyed when Israelites were exiled
Rebuilt by Herod
Handled sacrifice, prayer,
governance
Слайд 24Important places
Synagogues
Place of daily, local worship
Слайд 25Politics and Culture
Israel had been part of the Greek empire for
years
Heavy Greek influence
Greek was the commercial language
Слайд 26Politics 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
Слайд 27Politics 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
Слайд 29What are they
Four Gospels - who are the authors?
Written at different
times with different objectives
No two gospels are exactly the same
Слайд 30Timeline
Mark: 65-70 AD
Matthew: 80-85 AD
Luke: 85-100 AD
John: 90-110 AD
Слайд 31Mark
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
Слайд 32Matthew
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
Слайд 33Luke
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
Слайд 36John
John: Disciple of Jesus
Written for Jewish-Christians expelled from synagogues
Interested in theology
Message: Jesus is God and reveals his father
Слайд 37Synoptic 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
Слайд 39Synoptic Problem
How did this happen?
Known as Synoptic Problem
Слайд 40Synoptic 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
Слайд 41Q Source
Q source thought to be a collection of sayings by
Jesus
No longer exists