The New Testament

The New Testament

I. The Primary Source of the Knowledge of Jesus

a. Proclaims the Incarnation -- the Word made Flesh -- Jesus becomes Man

b. Fulfillment of the Promise of the Old Testament

II. Collection of books (proclaiming the fulfillment of God’s promises through His Son, Jesus)

a. Gospels

i. Written by the evangelists – Matthew, Mark, Luke, John

ii. CCC 125 = Gospels are the heart of all the Scriptures as they are the primary source of life and teaching of Jesus

iii. Main sources of information about the historical Jesus

iv. Faith testimonials announcing the good news of salvation; evangelists are not primarily interested in the historical details of Jesus’ life -- primary interest in the good deeds he performed, the words of salvation he taught, and the meaning of his passion, death, resurrection and glorification

v. Not all alike

1. Mark – suffering servant

2. Matthew – humanness of Jesus

3. Luke – Gospel message is for all

4. John – emphasizes the symbolisms within Jesus’ life

vi. Synoptic Gospels

1. how Jesus lived

2. Matthew, Mark and Luke

vii. John’s Gospel – what Jesus meant

b. Acts of the Apostles

i. Written about the time following Pentecost (for abt 30 yrs)

ii. Luke’s sequel to his Gospel

c. Epistles – letters

i. Pauline (13 books) – dealt with particular problems faced by the early Church and continued proclaiming faith in Jesus to be its central focus

1. 7 of the books directly attributed to Paul; the others were probably written by disciples of his

ii. Epistle to the Hebrews – defines the priesthood of Jesus

iii. Catholic Epistles – encouraged the universal church to keep the true faith and live Christ-filled lives

d. Revelation (The Apocalypse) – another book full of symbolisms written to aid Christians under persecution to remain loyal to Jesus and His teachings.

III. How did the writing of the Gospels come to be? – 3-stage process

a. The life and teaching of Jesus ------ period of time from Jesus’ birth until his death ------- what he did and taught

b. Oral preaching about Jesus ------ from Pentecost until the actual written form of the Gospels

c. Written Gospels ---- written over a 35 yr period ------ Mark around 65AD, Matthew and Luke between 75-85AD and John during the last decade of the first century. Each evangelist adapted his materials keeping in mind the circumstances of the particular audience for whom he was writing….each had different audiences.

i. Most of what we know about Jesus’ early life comes from Matthew and Luke --- birth, Magi, Flight to Egypt, circumcision, Slaughter of the Innocents, boy Jesus in the Temple, Joseph

ii. Catholic Church maintains the dogma of the virgin birth --- no brothers or sisters ------ the text that refers to Jesus’ brothers and sisters uses a word that also means cousins