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Categories |The New Testament is the section of the Bible written after the time of Jesus, the Christ. It documents the life and death and resurrection of Jesus and the formation of early church following his ascension. It tells us that God's love for mankind is so great that he sent his only Son to die for us so that we might be forgiven of our sins and live eternally.
The New Testament is composed of 29 books. These books are grouped into sections, including:
Gospels
The Gospels are the stories that recount the life and death and resurrection of Jesus. There are 4 separate accounts about Jesus life - the Gospel of Matthew, the Gospel of Mark, the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of John. The word "gospel" means "good news".
The Book of Acts, written by the apostle Luke, is the account of early followers of Christ who, obedient to the Great Commission, began to spread the good news of a risen Jesus throughout the known world. Each section of the book (1-7; 8-12; 13-28) focuses on a particular audience, a key personality, and a significant phase in the expansion of the gospel message. While the apostles are mentioned collectively at several points, this book really records the acts of Peter (1-12) and of Paul (13-28). Some have called the book the "Acts of the Holy Spirit".
An epistle is a writing or letter directed or sent to a person or group of persons. The vast majority of the New Testament is comprised of epistles. Some of these letters were sent to individuals (Philemon, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, 3 John), some to churches (Romans - 2 Thessalonians) or other groups (Hebrews - Jude). The Book of Revelation was not sent to a single church, but rather to a group of churches, as was 1 Peter and possibly 2 Peter.
The majority of the New Testament letters were written by the apostle Paul - these are known as the Pauline Epistles. The rest are known as General Epistles.
Revelation
The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament in the Bible. It is composed of apocalyptic literature.
One of the major themes of Revelation is the "End Times", with mention of the "Millenium" in a number of places. There are a wide variety of views including but a key theme is that God will overcome evil and bring about a new universe free from suffering.
The history of the Old Testament finishes around 400 BC. The history of the New Testament begins with Jesus' birth, sometime between 6 BC and 4 BC. This gap of approximately 400 years is known as the Inter-Testamental Period. During this time the Hebrew world had seen a number of major changes. The Old Testament leaves us with a picture of Jews who had returned from the Exile and rebuilt the Temple and Jerusalem, under the eyes of the Persian Empire. Around 333 BC, the armies of Alexander the Great conquered lands throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia, bringing Greek culture and the Greek language with them. Greek soon became the lingua franca of the region.
By the time of Jesus' birth, the Roman Empire had grown in power and Roman armies occupied the land of the Jews - Judea and Galilee. Jesus began his ministry, probably in 27 AD, and he was crucified probably in 30 AD.
After the resurrection of Jesus the early church initially grew with only Jewish converts in Jerusalem, but soon, with persecution from Jewish leaders, and through the leading of God, the gospel spread to Gentiles (non-Jews). Jews of the time divided the world up into Jews and Gentiles. Jews were further divided into Palestinian Jews (those who were born in Palestine) and Diaspora Jews (those who were born outside Palestine). Jews were also divided into Hebraists and Hellenists (those who had embranced the Greek culture and language). Gentiles were divided into Proselytes (those who had converted to Judaism and been baptized), God-fearers (those who respected the Hebrew God Yahweh but had not been circumcised) and pagans (those who followed other gods).
Category: Bible | Category: New Testament