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The New Testament covers the founding of the Christian Religion over doctrinal issues within the Mosaic religion, and is roughly divided into three parts: the Gospels, the Epistles and the Revelations.


==The Gospels==
The '''New Testament''' (Καινή Διαθήκη), sometimes called the '''Greek Testament''' or '''Greek Scriptures''', and sometimes also '''New Covenant''' which is the more accurate translation of the original ], is the name given to the part of the '''] ]''' that was written by various authors c. AD 48–140 and gradually collected into a single volume over the next few centuries. Some minor groups commonly refer to the New Testament as the ''B'rit Chadashah'', ] for New Covenant, or the Apostolic Writings.

==Books of the New Testament==
{{Books of the New Testament}} {{Books of the New Testament}}
The New Testament is twenty-seven separate works: the four narratives of Jesus Christ's ministry, called "Gospels"; a narrative of the Apostles' ministries, which is also a sequel to the third Gospel; twenty-one early letters, commonly called "epistles" in Biblical context, which were written by various authors and consisted mostly of Christian counsel and instruction; and an Apocalyptic prophecy, which is also technically the twenty-second epistle.


Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are short books about the ministry of Jesus, and Acts outlines the ministry of Paul the evangelist.
===The Gospels===
Each of the Gospels narrates the ministry of Jesus Christ. The traditional author is listed after each entry. Modern scholarship differs on precisely by whom, when, or in what original form the various gospels were written.
*The ], traditionally the Apostle ].
*The ], traditionally ], who wrote down the narrative given by the Apostle ].
*The ], traditionally ], who wrote down the narrative given by the Apostle Paul, who was formerly called Saul.
*The ], traditionally the Apostle ].


==The Epistles==
See also: ]


Writings of early Christian preachers are the second part. Those written by Paul are named for who they were for, and the rest are named for their author.
===Acts===
The book of ], also occasionally termed Acts of the Apostles or Acts of the Holy Spirit, is a narrative of the Apostles' ministry after Christ's death, which is also a sequel to the third Gospel. Examining style, phraseology, and other evidence, modern scholarship generally concludes that Acts and Luke have the same author.
*], traditionally ], who wrote down the narrative given by ].


===Pauline Epistles=== ==The Revelations==


The concluding book is basically St. John's dream-journal about the end of the world. Thus, the Bible begins and ends at the beginning and end of the world.
The ] (or ''Corpus Paulinum'') constitute those epistles traditionally attributed to Paul, though his authorship of some is disputed ''(see section on authorship below)''. They consist mostly of moral counsel and behavioral instruction, though they do include other elements as well. Paul appears to have dictated the epistles to a scribe and some specifically mention his habit of appending a salutation in his own handwriting. These are marked with an * below.
*]* dictated by Paul but written down by Tertius.
*]*
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]*
*]
*]*
*]
*]
*]
*]*
*], traditionally attributed to Paul but does not name its author and there is no consensus amongst scholars. Origen wrote 'only God knows for certain who wrote Hebrews'.
{{Christianity}}


==Plot==
===General Epistles===
:''See main article: ]''
The General or Catholic Epistles are those written to the church at large (''Catholic'' in this sense simply means ''universal'').
*], traditionally by ].
*], traditionally by the Apostle ].
*].
*], traditionally by the Apostle ].
*].
*].
*], traditionally by ].


The events in the New Testament are found in it's books of Luke and Acts, both by Dr. Luke.
===Prophecy===
The final book of the New Testament has had one of the most profound impacts on Christian theology of the whole work.
*], traditionally by the Apostle ].
Revelation is sometimes called The Apocalypse of John


Jesus has a faith healing ministry. He opposes the ritual killings started by Moses and is himself killed. After he is raised from the dead, he raises Paul from the dead who had been struck by lightning on the highway to Damascus. Paul then becomes an evangelist for the religion started by Jesus on behalf of monotheism.
See also: ]


==Basic Doctrine==
===New Testament Apocrypha===
In ancient times there were dozens—perhaps hundreds—of Christian writings claiming Apostolic authorship, or for some other reason considered authoritative by ancient churches, but which were not ultimately included in the 27-book New Testament canon. These works are considered "apocryphal", and are therefore referred to in singular as the New Testament ]. It includes not only writing favourable to the position of the orthodoxy, but also a large amount of ] writing, and spurious prophecy and general fantasy. These apocryphal works are nevertheless important insofar as they provide an ancient context and setting for the composition of the canonical books. Below are some examples of early apocryphal works (please note this short list is by no means exhaustive):
*], anonymous instructional text; written c. AD 50–120.
*] - anonymous collection of sayings attributed to Jesus Christ; written c. AD 50–140.
*], mostly lost anonymous Synoptic narrative; written c. AD 70–160.
*] - anonymous letter of counsel to an unknown audience; written c. AD 80–120.
*], mostly lost anonymous Gospel narrative; written c. AD 80–150.
*], mostly lost anonymous Gospel narrative; written c. AD 80–150.
*], letter of counsel probably composed by ], and addressed to the church in Corinth; written c. AD 95–96.
*], anonymous prophecy concerning the end times; written c. AD 100–150.
*], anonymous Christian text with a broad range of content, including prophecy, direct instruction and parables; written c. AD 100–160.
*], anonymous gospel narrative attributed to Judas Iscariot; written c. AD 130–170. The classification of this "gospel" is known as "]" (false writings).


Jesus' doctrine is summarized in his famous Prayer. Paul's doctrine is found in his opening statement to the Greeks in Athens.
==Language==
The common language spoken in the time of Jesus was ]. However, the original text of the New Testament was most likely written in ], the vernacular dialect in 1st-century Roman provinces, and has since been widely translated into other languages, most notably, ], ], and ]. (However, some of the church fathers seem to imply that Matthew was originally written in ] or more likely Aramaic, and there is another contention that the author of the ] wrote in Hebrew, which was translated into Greek by ]. Neither view holds much support among contemporary scholars, who argue that the literary facets of Matthew and Hebrews suggest that they were composed directly in Greek, rather than being translated.)


==Relevance to Today==
It is notable that many books of the New Testament, especially the gospel of Mark and the book of Revelation, are written in relatively poor Greek. They are far from the refined ] or ] found composed by the higher classes, ruling elites, and trained philosophers of the time. Relative exceptions to this include the gospels of Luke and John and the Acts of the Apostles, the latter probably written or redacted by the same person who wrote or redacted Luke.
{{Christianity}}


The New Testament is often referred to by Christian preachers in their sermons during religious services.
A very small minority of scholars consider the Aramaic version of the New Testament to be the original and believe the Greek is a translation (see ]).


==Manuscripts==
== The History of Translation and Usage of the Phrase ''New Testament'' ==
The English phrase ''New Testament'' ultimately comes from the Hebrew language. ''New Testament'' is taken from the Latin ''Novum Testamentum''. This in turn is a translation of the earlier ] ''Καινή Διαθήκη'' (pronounced in postclassic Greek as ''Keni Dhiathiki''). This Greek phrase is found in the original Greek language of the New Testament, and found even earlier in the Greek translation of the Old Testament that is called the Septuagint. At Jeremiah 31:31, the Septuagint translated this phrase into Greek from the original Hebrew ''ברית חדשה'' (brit chadashah). The Hebrew phrase is usually translated into English as ''new covenant''.


After the New Testament was written by Hebrews, it was translated into handwritten copies in various languages. The oldest manuscripts found are in Greek See ].
As indicated above, the phrase was first used by early Christians to refer to the new covenant that was the basis for their relationship with God. About two centuries later at the time of ] and ], the phrase was being used to designate a particular collection of books that embodied this covenant.
==See also==


], in the 2nd century, was the first to use the terms ''novum testamentum/new testament'' and ''vetus testamentum/old testament''. For example, in ''Against ]'' book 3 , chapter 14, he wrote:
<blockquote>
This may be understood to be the Divine Word, who is doubly edged with the two testaments of the ] and the ]
</blockquote>
And in book 4 , chapter 6, he wrote:
<blockquote>
For it is certain that the whole aim at which he has strenuously laboured even in the drawing up of his ], centres in this, that he may establish a diversity between the Old and the New Testaments, so that his own ] may be separate from the ], as belonging to this rival god, and as alien from the law and the ].
</blockquote>
], in the 3rd century, in his ''Divine Institutes'', book 4, chapter 20 , wrote:
<blockquote>
But all Scripture is divided into two Testaments. That which preceded the advent and passion of Christ—that is, the ] and the ]—is called the Old; but those things which were written after His resurrection are named the New Testament. The Jews make use of the Old, we of the New: but yet they are not discordant, for the New is the fulfilling of the Old, and in both there is the same testator, even Christ, who, having suffered death for us, made us heirs of His everlasting kingdom, the people of the Jews being deprived and disinherited. As the prophet Jeremiah testifies when he speaks such things: "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new testament to the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not according to the testament which I made to their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; for they continued not in my testament, and I disregarded them, saith the Lord." ... For that which He said above, that He would make a new testament to the house of Judah, shows that the old testament which was given by Moses was not perfect; but that that which was to be given by Christ would be complete.
</blockquote>
The ] translation, in the 5th century, used ''testamentum'' in 2nd Corinthians 3 :
<blockquote>
(6) Who also hath made us fit ministers of the new testament, not in the letter but in the spirit. For the letter killeth: but the spirit quickeneth. (])
<br>
(14) But their senses were made dull. For, until this present day, the selfsame veil, in the reading of the old testament, remaineth not taken away (because in Christ it is made void). (])
</blockquote>
However, the more modern ] translates these verses from the ] as such:
<blockquote>
(6) Who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
<br>
(14) But their minds were hardened. Indeed, to this very day, when they hear the reading of the old covenant, that same veil is still there, since only in Christ is it set aside.
</blockquote>
Thus, it is common to translate using either of two English terms, ] and ], even though they are not synonymous.

== Gospel sources ==
{{main|Synoptic Problem}}
The sources of the Gospels, and their relationship, are a matter of some debate, though nearly all scholars and theologians see John as being the last and Luke as having based his account on other sources (since Luke admits to doing so). Some of the Church Fathers said that the Gospel of Matthew was the first written, and this view held sway for many centuries. Modern scholars now believe in ] and the ], that is to say that the ] and the ] are the main primary sources of the Gospels. However, as noted below, Q is currently a hypothetical document, though it may have some resemblance, possibly a strong one, to the concretely existing ].

==Authorship==
{{main articles|] and ]}}
The New Testament was written by many different people. The traditional view is that all the books were written by ]s or their followers (e.g., ] and ]). For example, Papius wrote about AD 140, "This also the presbyter said: Mark, having become the interpreter of Peter, wrote down accurately, though not in order, whatsoever he remembered of the things said or done by Christ. For he neither heard the Lord nor followed him, but afterward, as I said, he followed Peter, who adapted his teaching to the needs of his hearers, but with no intention of giving a connected account of the Lord's discourses, so that Mark committed no error while he thus wrote some things as he remembered them. For he was careful of one thing, not to omit any of the thing which he had heard, and not to state any of them falsely" (cited by ], ''Hist. eccl.'', 3.39.21ff.). Irenaeus wrote about AD 180, "Luke, the attendant of Paul, recorded in a book the Gospel which Paul had declared. Afterwards John, the disciple of the Lord, who also reclined on his bosom, published his Gospel, while staying at Ephesus in Asia" (cited by Eusebius, ''Hist. eccl.'', 5.8.3ff.).

The majority of modern scholars now largely discount this evidence for apostolic authorship, aside from seven of Paul's letters. Except for ''Hebrews'', no serious question about the authorship of any of the books was raised in the church before the ], when critical inquiry into the New Testament began. However, it should be noted that scholars such as ], ], ], ] and others argue for a high degree of historical reliability of the key New Testament events or the New Testament as a whole (see: ] for details). Prominent liberal scholar ] argued for early dates of the entire New Testament and ascribed many of the key New Testament texts to their traditional authors.

Seven of the epistles of Paul are now generally accepted by most modern scholars as authentic—these "undisputed" letters include Romans, First Corinthians, Second Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, First Thessalonians, and Philemon. Scholars are divided over the Pauline authorship of Second Thessalonians, Colossians, and Ephesians (listed in decreasing order of support). It is mainly evangelical scholars who hold Pauline authorship of the Pastorals (1 Tim, 2 Tim, and Titus). Almost no current mainstream scholar, however, holds that Paul wrote Hebrews. In fact, controversy about the authorship of Hebrews, the only anonymous epistle, goes back to the 3rd-century ecclesiastical writer Caius, who attributed only thirteen epistles to Paul (Eusebius, ''Hist. eccl.'', 6.20.3ff.).

The exact authorship of most other books has not been agreed upon. The issue is somewhat different for the gospels, because they are all technically anonymous, if we assume the titles reflect no reliable tradition; so the question is whether the traditional attributions (to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) are correct. The Johannine writings, particularly the Gospel and the first epistle, have been accepted by many as coming from circles around ]; the question there is whether Revelation is ascribed to the circles.

Of key concern is the role of presuppositions in Biblical scholarship, especially gospel and ] studies. It is now widely recognized that every individual comes to historical study with their own experiences, religious beliefs, and philosophical assumptions, and that these factors can play a defining role in the final product that any particular scholar produces. In the case of the gospels, modern research has been approached from a number of perspectives: Jewish, feminist, Protestant, Roman Catholic, agnostic, materialist, ], and social-scientific, to name just a few. A prime example of this diversity of opinion is represented in the numerous and often contradictory "historical Jesus" books published in the past 25 years (compare, for example, the work of the ], B. Mack, ] with that of John P. Meier, ], and ]). This has often had the effect of creating reconstructions of Jesus in the images of the particular authors, as opposed to narrating who Jesus really was, what he did, and what he taught. Nevertheless, most scholars are of the opinion that this process of often heated debate has produced viable results.

The problems with correctly assigning authorship to ancient works like those in the New Testament can be demonstrated by looking at its four gospels.

Because of the many similarities between Matthew, Mark, and Luke, they are often referred to as the ] ("seeing-together"). The Gospel of John, in contrast, contains much unique narrative and dialogue and is considered to be different in its emphasis from the other three gospels. The question of how the similarities between the synoptic gospels arose is known as the ]. How material from each gospel was introduced to other gospels brings up significant problems in assigning authorship. Was each written by one individual, the four simply relaying in their own words the events of Jesus' life they themselves witnessed? Was there a first author and gospel whose work substantially contributed to the later gospels? Was each gospel written over a relatively short or long period of time? Was each gospel written by only one person?

The dominant view among critical scholars, the ], is that both Matthew and Luke drew significantly upon the Gospel of Mark and another common source, known as the ], from ''Quelle'', the German word for "source". The nature and even existence of Q is speculative. Most Q scholars believe that it was a single written document, while a few contest that "Q" was actually a number of documents or oral traditions. No information about its author, if it existed, can be obtained from the resources currently available and, indeed, little or any direct biographical information about their authors is assumed to be traceable.

Modern scholars are also skeptical about authorship claims for noncanonical books, such as the ] discovered in Egypt in ]. This corpus of fifty-two Coptic books, dated to about 350–400, includes gospels in the names of ], ], ], John, and many others. Like almost all ancient works, they represent copies rather than original texts. None of the original texts has been discovered, and scholars argue about the dating of the originals. Suggested dates vary from as early as 50 to as late as the late second century. (See ] and ].)

==Date of composition==
According to tradition, the earliest of the books were the letters of Paul, and the last books to be written are those attributed to John, who is traditionally said to have lived to a very old age, perhaps dying as late as ], although evidence for this tradition is generally not convincing. ], c. ], stated that the Gospels of Matthew and Mark were written while Peter and Paul were preaching in Rome, which would be in the ], and Luke was written some time later. ] and ] scholars continue to support this dating.

Some other modern critical scholars concur with the dating of the majority of the New Testament, except for the epistles and books that they consider to be ] (i.e., those thought not to be written by their traditional authors). Some do not. For the Gospels they tend to date Mark no earlier than ], and Matthew some time between ] and ]. Luke is usually placed in the ] to ] time frame. The earliest of the books of the New Testament was ], an epistle of ], written probably in ], or possibly ] in ] according to one of two theories of its writing. Of the pseudepigraphical epistles, Christian scholars tend to place them somewhere between ] and ], with ] usually being the latest.

However, John A. T. Robinson, ''Redating the New Testament'' (]), proposed that all of the New Testament was completed before ], the year the temple at ] was destroyed. Robinson argued that because the destruction of the temple was prophesied by Jesus in ] 24:15–21 and ] 23:28–31, the authors of these and other New Testament books would not have failed to point out the fulfillment of this prophecy. Robinson's position is popular among some Evangelicals.

In the ] German scholars of the ] school dated the books as late as the third century, but the discovery of some New Testament manuscripts and fragments, not including some of the later writings, dating as far back as ] (notably Papyrus 52) has called such late dating into question. Additionally, a letter to the church at ] in the name of ] in ] quotes from 10 of the 27 books of the New Testament, and a letter to the church at ] in the name of ] in ] quotes from 16 books. Therefore, some of the books of the New Testament were at least in a first-draft stage, though there is negligible evidence in these quotes or among biblical manuscripts for the existence of different early drafts. Other books were probably not completed until later, if we assume they must have been quoted by Clement or Polycarp. There are many minor discrepancies between manuscripts (largely spelling or grammatical differences).

==The canonization of the New Testament==
:''Main article: ]''

The process of canonization was complex and lengthy. It was characterized by a compilation of books that early Christians found inspiring in worship and teaching, relevant to the historical situations in which they lived, and consonant with the Hebrew Testament (] were primarily Jewish). In this way the books considered authoritative revelation of the New Covenant were not hammered out in large, bureaucratic Church council meetings, but in the secret worship sessions of lower-class peasant Christians. While an episcopal hierarchy did develop and finally solidify the canon, this was a relatively late development.

In the first three centuries of the Christian Church, there was no New Testament canon that was universally recognized. Nevertheless, by the 2nd century, there was a common collection of letters and gospels that a majority of church leaders considered authoritative. These contained the four gospels and many of the letters of Paul. ], ], and ] (all 2nd century) held these to be on par with the Hebrew Scriptures as being divinely inspired. Other books were held in high esteem but were gradually relegated to the status of ].

One of the earliest attempts at solidifying a canon was made by ], who rejected the entire Old Testament, all but one gospel (Luke), and three of the Pauline letters. His unorthodox canon was rejected by a majority of Christians, as was he and his theology, ]. ] in ''Origin of the New Testament'' (1914) argued that the orthodox Church at this time was largely an Old Testament Church (one that "follows the Testament of the Creator-God") without a New Testament canon and that it gradually formulated its New Testament canon in response to the challenge posed by Marcion. Around ] the ] was written, listing the accepted works. This list was very similar to the modern canon but also included the ] (now part of the ]) and the ]. The New Testament canon as it is now was first listed by ], in ], in a letter written to his churches in Egypt. That canon gained wider and wider recognition until it was accepted by all at the Third Council of Carthage in ]. Even this council did not settle the matter, however. Certain books continued to be questioned, especially ] and ]. Even as late as the 16th century, theologian and reformer ] questioned (but in the end did not reject) the ], the ], the ] and the ]. Even today, ] Luther Bibles are printed with these four books at the end of the canon, rather than their traditional order for other Christians. Due to the fact that some of the recognized Books of the Holy Scripture were having their canonicity questioned by Protestants in the 16th century, the Council of Trent reaffirmed the traditional canon of the Scripture as a ] of the Catholic Church.

==New Testament Text Types==
There are several distinguishable textual traditions for the New Testament. This is further complicated by the probability that the Gospels, Acts, and the Epistles were often written in separate volumes (several of the surviving manuscripts are of one of these) and have different, but related traditions.

The ] is usually considered the best and most faithful at preserving the original; it is usually brief and austere. The main examples are the ], ] and Bodmer Papyri.

The ] has a fondness for paraphrase and is generally the longest. Most significant is the ], which is 10% longer. The main examples are the ], ], ], Old Latin versions (prior to the ]), and quotes by ], ], ], ] and ].

The ] is a mixture of Western and Alexandrian types and is found in the Chester Beatty Papyrus and is quoted by ], ] and Armenians.

The ] is what is called a ] text, a combination of various traditions. It appears to have been an official text under the Christian Empire, and is the most often attested. It can be found in the ] of ], later ] texts and most ] texts and is the basis of ]'s printed Greek New Testament of 1516, which became the basis of the 1611 ] of the English New Testament.

Most modern English versions of the New Testament are based on critical reconstructions of the Greek text, such as the United Bible Societies' Greek New Testament or Nestle-Alands' ].

==Views on New Testament authority==
All Christian groups respect the New Testament, but they differ in their understanding of the nature, extent, and relevance of its authority. Views of the authoritativeness of the New Testament often depend on the concept of '']'', which relates to the role of God in the formation of the New Testament. Generally, the greater the role of God in one's doctrine of inspiration, the more one accepts the doctrine of ] and/or authoritativeness of the Bible. One possible source of confusion is that these terms are difficult to define, because many people use them interchangeably or with very different meanings. This article will use the terms in the following manner:
*''Infallibility'' relates to the absolute correctness of the Bible in matters of doctrine.
*''Inerrancy'' relates to the absolute correctness of the Bible in factual assertions (including historical and scientific assertions).
*''Authoritativeness'' relates to the correctness of the Bible in questions of practice and morality.

Christian scholars such as Professor ] see the Bible having compelling and detailed fulfilled ] and argue for the Bible's inspiration. This is argued to show that the Bible is authoritative, since it is argued that only God knows the future. A common objection in the West regarding this matter is that the miraculous does not occur and therefore other explanations are warranted. ], ], ], and Christians who engage in ] have argued that miracles are reasonable and plausible. . On the other hand, in the West those who do not believe in miracles often use the arguments of ], ] or argue that ] is valid. .

All of these concepts depend for their meaning on the supposition that the text of Bible has been properly interpreted, with consideration for the intention of the text, whether literal history, allegory or poetry, etc. Especially the doctrine of inerrancy is variously understood according to the weight given by the interpreter to scientific investigations of the world. A brief outline of these views in different Christian denominations follows.

===Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy===
For the ] and ] churches, there are two strands of revelation, the Bible, and the (rest of the) ]. Both of them are interpreted by the teachings of the Church. In Catholic terminology the Teaching Office is called the ]; in Orthodox terminology the authentic interpretation of scripture and tradition is limited, in the final analysis, to the ] of the ]s. Both sources of revelation are considered necessary for proper understanding of the tenets of the faith. The Roman Catholic view is expressed clearly in the ] (1992):
<blockquote>
§ 83: As a result the Church, to whom the transmission and interpretation of Revelation is entrusted, does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from the holy Scriptures alone. Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honoured with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence.
<br>
§ 107: The inspired books teach the truth. Since therefore all that the inspired authors or sacred writers affirm should be regarded as affirmed by the Holy Spirit, we must acknowledge that the books of Scripture firmly, faithfully, and without error teach that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished to see confided to the Sacred Scriptures.
</blockquote>
===Protestantism===
Following the doctrine of ], Protestants believe that their traditions of faith, practice and interpretations carry forward what the scriptures teach, and so tradition is not a source of authority in itself. Their traditions supposedly derive authority from the Bible, and are therefore always open to reevaluation. This openness to doctrinal revision has extended in some Protestant traditions even to the reevaluation of the doctrine of Scripture upon which the Reformation was founded, and members of these traditions may even question whether the Bible is infallible in doctrine, inerrant in historical and other factual statements, and whether it has uniquely divine authority. However, the adjustments made by modern Protestants to their doctrine of Scripture vary widely.

====Evangelical and fundamentalist Protestantism====
Certain conservatives, ] and ] believe that the Scriptures are both human and divine in origin: human in their manner of composition, but divine in that their source is God, the Holy Spirit, who governed the writers of Scripture in such a way that they recorded nothing at all contrary to the truth. Fundamentalists accept the enduring authoritativeness and impugnability of a prescientific interpretation of the Bible, especially on such issues as the ordination of women, ], and ]. However, although they are overwhelmingly opposed to such things, evangelicals are increasingly willing to consider that the views of the Biblical authors may have been intentionally "culturally conditioned", and evangelicals may even argue that there is room for change along with cultural norms and scientific advancements. Fundamentalists may be therefore described as "conservatives", whereas evangelicals might be better characterized as more flexibly "traditional" on these and other issues.

Both fundamentalists and evangelicals profess belief in the inerrancy of the Bible, but the fundamentalists' stronger emphasis on literal interpretation has led to the rejection of many scientific concepts, particularly that of ], which contradicts the doctrine of ]. Evangelicals, on the other hand, tend to avoid interpretations of the Bible that would directly contradict generally accepted scientific assertions of fact. They do not impute error to Biblical authors, but rather entertain various theories of literary intent which might give credibility to human progress in knowledge of the world, while still accepting the divine inspiration of the Scriptures. While separation from the world and its influences may be the primary message of the New Testament for some fundamentalists, evangelicals try to remain part of wider society as a witness to personal salvation through Christ.

The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy (]) is an influential statement, articulating evangelical views on this issue. Paragraph four of its summary states: "Being wholly and verbally God-given, Scripture is without error or fault in all its teaching, no less in what it states about God's acts in creation, about the events of world history, and about its own literary origins under God, than in its witness to God's saving grace in individual lives."

Critics of such a position point out that there are many statements that Jesus makes in the Gospels or that Paul makes in his epistles, even to the point of making them commands, which are not taken as commands by most advocates of Biblical Inerrancy. Examples of this are Jesus' command to the disciples to sell all they have and give the money to the poor so as to gain treasure in the Kingdom of Heaven (Mark 10:21), or Paul's calls to imitate him in ] (1 Cor 7:8). Other sections of the Bible, such as the second half of John chapter six, where Jesus commands that the disciples eat his flesh and drink his blood, are interpreted by most adherents of Biblical Inerrancy as symbolic language rather than literally, as might be expected from the statements of the doctrine. Supporters of Biblical Inerrancy generally argue that these passages are intended to be symbolic, and that their symbolic nature can be seen directly in the text, thus preserving the doctrine.

====Mainline and liberal Protestantism====
Mainline ] denominations, including the ], ], ], and ], do not teach the doctrine of inerrancy as set forth in the Chicago Statement. All of these churches have doctrinal statements asserting the authority of scripture, but officially interpret these statements in such a way as to allow for a very broad range of teaching—from evangelicalism to skepticism. It is not an impediment to ordination in these denominations to teach that the Scriptures contain errors, or that the authors follow a more or less unenlightened ethics that, however appropriate it may have seemed in the authors' time, moderns would be very wrong to follow blindly. For example, ordination of women is universally accepted in the mainline churches, abortion is condemned as a grievous social tragedy but not always a personal sin or a crime against an unborn person, and homosexuality is increasingly regarded as a genetic propensity or morally neutral preference that should be neither encouraged nor condemned. The most contentious of these issues among these churches at the present time is how far the ordination of gay men and lesbians should be accepted.

Officials of the Presbyterian Church USA report: "We acknowledge the role of scriptural authority in the Presbyterian Church, but Presbyterians generally do not believe in biblical inerrancy. Presbyterians do not insist that every detail of chronology or sequence or prescientific description in scripture be true in literal form. Our confessions do teach biblical infallibility. Infallibility affirms the entire truthfulness of scripture without depending on every exact detail."

Those who are more liberal view the Bible as a human witness to the glory of God, the work of fallible humans who wrote from a limited experience unusual only for the insight they have gained through their inspired struggle to know God in the midst of a troubled world. Therefore, they tend not to accept such doctrines as inerrancy. These churches also tend to retain the social activism of their Evangelical forebears of the 19th century, placing particular emphasis on those teachings of Scripture that teach compassion for the poor and concern for justice. The message of personal salvation is, generally speaking, of the good that comes to oneself and the world through following the New Testament's ] and admonition to love others without hypocrisy or prejudice. Toward these ends, the "spirit" of the New Testament, more than the letter, is infallible and authoritative. As such, belief in the errancy of the words of Scripture is in practice as important to Protestant liberalism as inerrancy is to its evangelical and fundamentalist counterparts.

There are some movements that believe the Bible contains the teachings of Jesus but who reject the churches that were formed following its publication. These people believe all individuals can communicate directly with God and therefore do not need guidance or doctrines from a church. These people are known as ].

=== Messianic Judaism ===
] generally holds the same view of New Testament authority as evangelical Protestants.

==New Testament Covenant==
Jesus Christ brought the New Covenant at the Last Supper to the disciples, this is why we have a division between the Old and New Testament. After Jesus died on the cross the apostles carried this New Covenant. The New Covenant is spoken of in Jer. 31. Some people think that Covenant and Testament are the same thing. The converted people in the New Testament to the New Covenant, became known as Christians. A work, by ], has been done on the New Covenant and how to live it, called ].

==See also==
*] *]
*] *]

Revision as of 06:41, 4 June 2006

File:BiblePicture.jpg
John 21:1 Jesus Appears to His Disciples--Alessandro Mantovani: the Vatican, Rome.

The New Testament covers the founding of the Christian Religion over doctrinal issues within the Mosaic religion, and is roughly divided into three parts: the Gospels, the Epistles and the Revelations.

The Gospels

Part of a series on
Books of the
New Testament
Papyrus 46, one of the oldest New Testament papyri, showing 2 Cor 11:33–12:9
Gospels and Acts
Four Evangelists
Lukan Acts
Epistles and Apocalypse
Pauline epistles
Catholic epistles
Apocalypse
Authorship
Related topics

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are short books about the ministry of Jesus, and Acts outlines the ministry of Paul the evangelist.

The Epistles

Writings of early Christian preachers are the second part. Those written by Paul are named for who they were for, and the rest are named for their author.

The Revelations

The concluding book is basically St. John's dream-journal about the end of the world. Thus, the Bible begins and ends at the beginning and end of the world.

Plot

The events in the New Testament are found in it's books of Luke and Acts, both by Dr. Luke.

Jesus has a faith healing ministry. He opposes the ritual killings started by Moses and is himself killed. After he is raised from the dead, he raises Paul from the dead who had been struck by lightning on the highway to Damascus. Paul then becomes an evangelist for the religion started by Jesus on behalf of monotheism.

Basic Doctrine

Jesus' doctrine is summarized in his famous Prayer. Paul's doctrine is found in his opening statement to the Greeks in Athens.

Relevance to Today

Part of a series on
Christianity
Principal symbol of Christianity
Theology
Nicene
Restorationist
Related topics

The New Testament is often referred to by Christian preachers in their sermons during religious services.

Manuscripts

After the New Testament was written by Hebrews, it was translated into handwritten copies in various languages. The oldest manuscripts found are in Greek See New Testament Manuscripts.

See also

External links — Source Text

Greek:

Other Languages:

External links — References

Category: