New Testament

The New Testament (NT) is the second part of the Christian biblical canon. It tells about the teachings and life of Jesus, and events from the early days of first-century Christianity. The first part of the Christian Bible is called the Old Testament, which is mostly based on the Hebrew Bible. Together, Christians believe both parts are Sacred Scripture.

The New Testament is a collection of 27 books written in Koine Greek by different authors. It includes four gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, letters known as epistles by Paul and others, and the Book of Revelation. Over time, these books were chosen and recognized as important by early Christians. Today, it is important to Christians, who view it as holy scripture.

Etymology

The word testament

The word testament in "New Testament" means a new agreement. Christians believe this new agreement finishes an older one. This older agreement is written about in the books of the Old Testament.

People started using the phrase "New Testament" a long time ago. By the 4th century, everyone knew the Christian Bible had two parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament.

Books

See also: Christian biblical canons, Development of the New Testament canon, New Testament apocrypha, and

The Gospels

Main article: Canonical gospels

Further information: List of Gospels

The four gospels in the New Testament tell the story of Jesus of Nazareth. The word "gospel" means "good news". These stories share the happy message about Jesus and his important role.

• The Gospel of Matthew talks about the family tree of Jesus and the story of his birth.
• The Gospel of Mark begins with Jesus being baptized.
• The Gospel of Luke was written by someone who traveled with Jesus' follower Paul.
• The Gospel of John starts with a thoughtful introduction and ends with Jesus appearing again after his death.

Acts of the Apostles

Main article: Acts of the Apostles

The Acts of the Apostles tells what happened after Jesus died and came back to life. It continues the story from the Gospel of Luke and describes the work of Jesus' followers.

Epistles

Pauline letters to churches

Main article: Pauline epistles

The Pauline letters are books in the New Testament written by Paul the Apostle to different groups of early Christians. They discuss many important ideas.

• Epistle to the Romans
• First Epistle to the Corinthians
• Second Epistle to the Corinthians
• Epistle to the Galatians
• Epistle to the Ephesians^*
• Epistle to the Philippians
• Epistle to the Colossians^*
• First Epistle to the Thessalonians
• Second Epistle to the Thessalonians^*

Pauline letters to persons

The last four Pauline letters are written to individual people.

• First Epistle to Timothy^*
• Second Epistle to Timothy^*
• Epistle to Titus^*
• Epistle to Philemon

Hebrews

The Epistle to the Hebrews speaks to people who believed in Jesus and explains why he is important.

Catholic epistles

The Catholic epistles are letters written to all Christians.

• Epistle of James
• First Epistle of Peter
• Second Epistle of Peter
• First Epistle of John
• Second Epistle of John
• Third Epistle of John
• Epistle of Jude

Book of Revelation

Further information: Authorship of the Johannine works

The final book of the New Testament is the Book of Revelation. It contains messages for early Christian groups and shares special insights.

New Testament canons

See also: Canon of the New Testament

Table notes

Book order

The order of the books in the New Testament can vary. In early Latin Bibles, the four Gospels were arranged as Matthew, John, Luke, and then Mark. Some traditions put certain letters after the book of Acts.

The letters of Paul were sometimes arranged from longest to shortest. Some books were added in different places. Martin Luther's version from the 1500s placed books like Hebrews and Revelation at the end.

Authors

Main article: Authorship of the Bible § New Testament

The books of the New Testament were written by Jewish followers of Jesus who lived in the Roman Empire. The author of the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts might have been different. Scholars are not sure if he was a Gentile or a Hellenistic Jew. Some scholars also think the authors of the Gospels of Mark and Matthew might not have been Jewish.

The Gospels—stories about Jesus—are anonymous, as was common at the time. The Gospel of John says it is based on someone who saw Jesus, but it does not name that person. The author of Luke and Acts says he was a friend of Paul, and most scholars agree with this. Some scholars think many books in the New Testament were not written by the people whose names are on them. Scholars believe the names were added later.

Most scholars think the Gospel of Mark was written first. They believe the authors of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke used Mark and another source called Q. These three Gospels are called the Synoptic Gospels because they share many stories. The Gospel of John was written later and uses different stories. The same author wrote both Luke and Acts, calling them two parts of one big story.

Dating the New Testament

Main article: Dating the Bible § Table IV: New Testament

People have different ideas about when the books of the New Testament were written. Some think many books were written before the year 70 AD, while others think some were written much later.

The oldest surviving copies of New Testament books come from the late second to early third centuries. By studying the writings, we can guess that many books were written in the middle to later part of the first century. The letters of the Apostle Paul are thought to be the earliest, with the letter of 1 Thessalonians likely written around 52 AD.

Language

Main article: Language of the New Testament

At the time of Jesus, people in the Holy Land spoke Aramaic, Koine Greek, and a type of Mishnaic Hebrew. The historical Jesus probably spoke Aramaic and maybe some Hebrew and Greek. The books of the New Testament were written in Koine Greek.

As Christianity spread, these books were translated into languages like Latin, Syriac, and Coptic. Some early Christian writers thought the book of Matthew might have been written first in Hebrew or Aramaic before being written in Koine Greek. Scholars have different ideas about this.

The New Testament’s writing in Koine Greek is different from other Greek writing from that time. Some experts think this is because the authors were Jewish and used a special Jewish-Greek style. Others believe it reflects everyday spoken Greek, aimed at ordinary people.

Development of the New Testament canon

Main article: Development of the New Testament canon

The New Testament is a collection of books important to Christians. Deciding which books to include took a long time.

In the early years, many books were thought to be important, but there was no single list everyone agreed on. Church leaders chose books they believed were written by the apostles and useful for teaching.

One early Christian named Marcion around 140 AD chose only a few books, but most Christians did not agree with him. Later leaders like Irenaeus said there should be four gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

By 200 AD, many books we now know as the New Testament were used by Christian groups, though some were still debated. Leaders such as Origen helped gather information about which books were accepted.

In 367 AD, a leader named Athanasius listed the 27 books now in the New Testament. This list was accepted by more churches over time. By 397 AD, this list was officially agreed on at church meetings in Carthage.

Early manuscripts

Like other old books, the stories in the New Testament were saved and shared in special handwritten books called manuscripts before printing became common. There are thousands of these manuscripts, and some of the oldest pieces are only small fragments. A few of these fragments might be from as early as the 2nd century, such as Papyrus 90, Papyrus 98, Papyrus 104, and the well-known Rylands Library Papyrus P52.

Textual variation

Main articles: Textual variants in the New Testament and Textual criticism of the New Testament

textual criticism helps us understand the New Testament by looking at old copies. Ancient writers sometimes made small mistakes when they copied the books. Today, we have many old copies in Greek, Latin, and other languages. Even though we may not have the very first copies, we can still learn a lot by comparing them.

Some parts of the New Testament were added later. Modern Bibles sometimes leave these out or mark them differently. Most changes are small and do not change the meaning. Scholars study these changes to learn more about the original books.

Relationship to earlier and contemporaneous literature

The New Testament grew from many different kinds of writings. It connects to Christian works from the same time, and also to stories and ideas from Graeco-Roman and Jewish traditions. Parts of the New Testament, like the Gospels, share styles with old biographies from Greece and Rome.

A big influence is the Jewish Bible, which Christians later called the Old Testament. The New Testament often refers to these older Jewish writings and uses quotes and hints from them in its books, from the Gospels to letters and visions.

Further information: Non-canonical books referenced in the Bible

Early versions

The first translations of the New Testament started in the late 2nd century. These early versions were made into languages like Syriac, Latin, and Coptic.

Syriac

Main article: Syriac versions of the Bible

The Philoxenian version was likely created around 508 for Bishop Philoxenus of Mabbug.

Coptic

Main article: Bible translations into Coptic

The Coptic language has several dialects, including Bohairic, Fayyumic, Sahidic, and Akhmimic. The first translation into Coptic was made by the third century in the Sahidic dialect. A Bohairic translation followed later, existing by the 4th century.

Other ancient translations

Main article: Early translations of the New Testament

As Christianity spread and new churches formed, the Bible was translated into many languages, including Armenian, Georgian, Ethiopic, Persian, Sogdian, Gothic, Old Church Slavonic, Arabic, and Nubian.

Modern translations

Main article: Bible translations

In the 1500s, the New Testament was translated into everyday languages. Important translations were made by Martin Luther in 1522 and William Tyndale in 1526. Later, the famous "King James Version" was finished in 1611.

Since then, scholars have studied ancient Greek texts to make better translations. Some well-known modern versions include the Revised Standard Version from 1946, the New International Version from 1973, and the English Standard Version from 2001. These translations help people read the New Testament clearly today.

Theological interpretation in Christian churches

Christians think the New Testament is very important. It tells about Jesus and what happened in the early days of Christianity. Many believe the message of the Bible stays the same, even though it was written at different times and in different ways.

Different Christian groups have different ideas about the New Testament. Some think both the Bible and old church teachings are important. Others believe only the Bible should guide what they think. Some groups believe every word in the Bible is true, while others think it shares important truths even if small details might not be exact. All agree that the New Testament helps explain what Christians believe.

In the arts

Further information: Nativity of Jesus in art and Passion play

The "Hallelujah" chorus from G. F. Händel's Messiah uses words from the Book of Revelation.

Most of the New Testament’s influence on art and music comes from the Gospels and the Book of Revelation. Stories about the birth of Jesus, found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, have inspired artists for a very long time. Early Christian art often showed scenes like Jesus being baptized.

During the Middle Ages, many poems and plays told the story of Jesus’ life. The story of Jesus’ life and teachings has been popular in music, art, and movies since the beginning of filmmaking.