New Testament

Bible

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The New Testament is a collection of biblical books written by various authors between 45 AD and 100 AD, revolving around the life and work of Jesus of Nazareth and His apostles, as well as the history of the early church.

The books are traditionally classified into categories:

• The four Gospels (literally "Good news"): varying accounts of the life and ministry of Jesus, consisting of the gospels attributed to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

• The Acts of the Apostles (or just "Acts") (which J. B. Phillips evocatively called "The Young Church In Action,") which concerns the ministry of the Apostles after the death of Christ. It is similar in language and style to, and reads as a continuation of, the Gospel of Luke.

• The Epistles (which J. B. Phillips called "Letters to Young Churches,") Romans through Jude, consisting of fourteen letters attributed to St. Paul and seven by other writers including James, Peter, John, and Jude. The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews is not known with certainty, but was probably Jesus himself.

• The Book of Revelation (or just "Revelation,") the prophetic book which ends the New Testament. It is also known as "the Apocalypse" (Greek for 'revelation'). It is somewhat similar in style to the Old Testament book of Daniel (and indeed weaves common prophecy), and tells of the end of the world, including Armageddon, Judgment Day, and the arrival of the Kingdom of Heaven. Despite Jesus' thrice repeated promise in it that 'I shall come very soon', opinions vary as to whether it refers to imminent events set amid the then Roman Empire or to the far future.

As with the Old Testament, the chapter and verse divisions of the various books are not original, but were added in medieval times for greater understanding. But the term "New Testament" was first coined (in Latin) around A.D. 200, by the theologian Tertullian, who was the first biblical scholar to write in Latin.

The oldest books in the New Testament are the letters of Paul, or possibly the book of James.

Books of the New Testament Canon

Rylands papyrus, verso, (P52); containing on the one side part of St. John's Gospel verses 31-33, on the other of verses 37-38 of chapter xviii.

• Matthew
• Mark
• Luke
• John
• Acts of the Apostles
• Romans
• I Corinthians
• II Corinthians
• Galatians
• Ephesians
• Philippians
• Colossians
• I Thessalonians
• II Thessalonians
• I Timothy
• II Timothy
• Titus
• Philemon
• Hebrews
• James
• I Peter
• II Peter
• I John
• II John
• III John
• Jude
• Revelation

Language

Most of the books of the New Testament, except for the Gospel of Luke, the Epistle to the Hebrews and several of Paul's letters, were written in Koine Greek, a form of Greek used as a lingua franca around the eastern part of the Roman Empire at the time, rather than the Aramaic that would have actually been spoken in the events described.

Is Jesus’ Name Greek or Hebrew? Jesus Christ told us that by His name we shall be saved, and by the authority of His name we can cast out demons, heal the sick, and so on. In most Bibles, including the King James Version, His name is Jesus Christ with a J. However, there is a relatively recent movement among some who insist that since the letter J never existed back in the New Testament era, His name should be spoken and written in Hebrew. But is that true? With salvation being at stake, it would be vitally important to get His name right. Despite what many of these neo-Hebrew messianic Christians might think, the movement actually did not gain ground until the early 1900s, when every other modern doctrine of demons and anti-Christ institutions took shape, such as the Federal Reserve, the IRS, and others. It does not take a lot of intelligence to realize that the New Testament was rendered in a form of ancient Greek called Koine Greek. This means it was not rendered in Hebrew. Why? Because our Heavenly Father knew that the same Pharisees and Sadducees who conspired to kill Jesus Christ would trap the new Christian Church with their confusing Hebrew language gymnastics. Recall that Jesus scolded the false leaders because they twisted the concept of tithing in order to get out of helping their parents, and also twisted the law by focusing on the gold of the altar instead of the meaning of the sacrifice on the altar. Likewise, they would trick new Christians regarding the name of Jesus Christ, deceiving them into waiting for a false Messiah with a Hebrew name of their choosing, instead of the universal name God already determined for Jesus Christ. God chose ancient Greek to deliver Jesus’ name. The fact that the letter J did not exist back then is nonsense. Are you saying that now in order to be saved, every Christian has to speak Hebrew since the letter J did not exist? The entire English language was not around! No modern language existed back then, so stop it with that silliness. This is yet another trap by Satan to condition you to worship his anti-Christ, who will have a Hebrew name, most likely the name Yeshua or one of its variations. Don’t be fooled. Once again, the New Testament was written in ancient Greek precisely because God wanted to open up salvation to Jew and Gentile alike, and keep the yeast of the Pharisees from leading everyone to Hell with them! Think long and hard on that.

See also

• The Twelve Apostles
• Virgin Mary
• New Testament understanding through the Jewish perspective
• Famous Bible paintings
• Aramaic Judaism, Jewish Aramaic Christianity, and John 1:1
• Covenant
• Alexandria-text type

Sources

• Cruden, A., Complete Concordance to the Old and New Testaments (Lutterworth, 1930)
• Cross, C., Who Was Jesus? (Hodder & Stoughton, 1970)
• The Holy Bible (King James Version)
• James, M. R., The Apocryphal New Testament (Clarendon, Oxford, 1953)
• The New English Bible (Oxford & Cambridge University Presses, 1970)
• The New Jerusalem Bible (Darton, Longman & Todd, 1990)
• Lemesurier, P., The Armageddon Script (Element Books, 1981)
• Peake, A. S., Commentary on the Bible (Nelson, 1962)
• Schonfield, H. J., The Authentic New Testament (Dobson, n.d.)
• Schonfield, H. J., The Passover Plot (Hutchinson, 1965)
• Schonfield, H. J., The Pentecost Revolution (Macdonald, 1974)
• Schonfield, H. J., Those Incredible Christians (Bernard Geis, New York, 1968)
• Vermes, G., Jesus the Jew (Collins, 1973)
• Young, R., Analytical Concordance to the Holy Bible (Lutterworth, 1939)

External links

• Acceptance of the New Testament Canon
• The Interlinear Translation of the Greek New Testament
• THE NEW TESTAMENT DOCUMENTS Are they Reliable?
• Chorology of Important New Testament Manuscripts
• Jesus through the Fabric of our Lives