Introduction to the New Testament презентация

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Daily life in the time of Christ

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Important places
Synagogues
Place of daily, local worship

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

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

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

The Gospels

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Synoptic Problem
How did this happen?
Known as Synoptic Problem

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