Chapter 1 An Overview of the New Testament

Key Topics/Themes New Testament: twenty-seven documents Four Gospels A church history Letters An apocalypse Other Christian documents Diversity of early Jesus movement 2 © 2009 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.

What Is the New Testament? The New Testament as “scripture” Appreciating the cultural world of the New Testament  A society far different from ours  The Jewish world of Jesus: Palestine  An agrarian, peasant society  Interaction of Palestinian Jewish and Greco- Roman cultures 3 © 2009 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.

The New Testament and the Hebrew Bible Relationship between the New Testament and the Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible as Scripture for early Christians 4 © 2009 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.

Testament and Covenant The nature of the covenant with Yahweh in the Hebrew Bible The promise of a “new covenant” (Jer. 31:31) Jesus’ declaration of a New Covenant 5 © 2009 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.

The Septuagint Written in Alexandria, Egypt Beginning about 250 BCE Legend in the Letter of Aristeas Abbreviation: LXX Standard biblical text for Jews in New Testament period Version most frequently quoted in New Testament 6 © 2009 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.

Language and Literature of the New Testament Koinē Greek New Testament literary forms  Gospel  Church history  Letters, or epistles  Apocalyptic literature  Subgenres within New Testament books 7 © 2009 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.

Diversity and Unity in the New Testament Documents Early Christians ethnically and theologically diverse Gentile Christians Jewish Christians Community of the Gospel of John Pseudonymous works Diverse views toward Roman authority 8 © 2009 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.

Other Early Christian Literature Struggle for orthodoxy and contents of the New Testament Diverse interpretations of importance of Jesus in God’s plan The Gospel of Thomas 9 © 2009 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.

Scholarly Approaches to the New Testament Scholarly vs. devotional approaches Development of analytical methods for biblical research Biblical criticism Coordinating critical methodologies and spiritual concerns 10 © 2009 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.

The New Testament Read from Different Social Perspectives A reader’s individual experience and viewpoint inform the meaning. Much of our biblical heritage contains disparate elements that are almost inextricably blended. 11 © 2009 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.

Summary New Testament  Greek documents  Written c CE Hebrew Bible (Tanak) Other Christian documents Diversity of early Christianity Importance of scholarly analysis 12 © 2009 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.