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