New Testament

The New Testament (NT) is the second part of the Christian biblical canon. It talks 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, and the list of 27 books was finally set by the late 4th century.

Scholars think many of these books were written between the middle and late years of the first century. The oldest surviving copies of the New Testament date from the late second to early third centuries. The New Testament has been copied many times in different languages, and experts study these copies to understand the oldest possible version. Today, it is important to Christians, who view it as holy scripture in different ways.

Etymology

The word testament

The word testament in "New Testament" refers to a Christian idea of a new agreement. Christians believe this new agreement completes an older one made between God and the people of Israel. This older agreement is described in the books of the Old Testament.

The phrase "New Testament" to describe these Christian writings was first used by early Christian writers. By the 4th century, it was commonly known that there were two parts to the Christian Bible: 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 the life, death, and coming back to life of Jesus of Nazareth. The word "gospel" comes from the old English word meaning "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 and answer questions that these communities had.

• 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 and predictions.

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 depending on the tradition. In early Latin versions of the Bible, the four Gospels were arranged as Matthew, John, Luke, and then Mark. Some other traditions place certain letters right after the book of Acts.

The letters of Paul were sometimes arranged from longest to shortest, with similar letters kept together. Some books were added later in different places. Martin Luther's version from the 1500s placed some books, including Hebrews and Revelation, at the very end.

Authors

Main article: Authorship of the Bible § New Testament

The books of the New Testament were mostly written by Jewish followers of Jesus who lived in the Roman Empire. The author of the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts is often thought to be different, but 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 by the mid-second century AD.

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 believe many books were written before the year 70 AD, while others think some were written much later.

The earliest surviving copies of New Testament books come from the late second to early third centuries. However, by looking closely at the writings themselves, 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, the main languages spoken in the Holy Land were Aramaic, Koine Greek, and a colloquial dialect of Mishnaic Hebrew. It is believed that the historical Jesus mainly spoke Aramaic, perhaps also some Hebrew and Greek. The books that make up the New Testament were written in Koine Greek.

As Christianity spread, these books were translated into other languages such as Latin, Syriac, and Coptic. Some early Christian writers suggest that the book of Matthew might have first been written in Hebrew or Aramaic before being written in Koine Greek. Scholars have different ideas about this, with some thinking Matthew wrote in a Jewish style of Greek influenced by Aramaic and Hebrew.

The way the New Testament is written in Koine Greek is different from other Greek writing from that time. Some experts think this is because the authors, who were Jewish and very familiar with Hebrew writings, used a special Jewish-Greek style. Others believe it reflects everyday spoken Greek, aimed at ordinary people, similar to letters and documents found in Egypt.

Development of the New Testament canon

Main article: Development of the New Testament canon

The process of deciding which books belong in the New Testament was long and complex. In the early years of Christianity, many books were considered important, but there was no single list of books everyone agreed on. Over time, church leaders chose books that were believed to be written by the apostles, useful for teaching, and agreed with the Old Testament.

One early attempt to decide which books to use was made by a Christian named Marcion around 140 AD. He chose only a few books, but most Christians did not agree with him. Later leaders like Irenaeus said there should be exactly four gospels, which are the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

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

In the year 367 AD, a leader named Athanasius listed the 27 books that are now in the New Testament. This list was accepted by more and more churches over time. By the year 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, although some people now debate how old it really is.

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 of its books. Ancient writers sometimes made small mistakes when they copied the texts. Today, we have thousands of these 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 by writers. Modern Bibles sometimes leave these out or mark them differently. Most changes are small and do not change the meaning, like the order of words. Scholars study these changes to learn more about the original books.

Relationship to earlier and contemporaneous literature

The New Testament grew from a rich mix of writings. It connects to other Christian works of its time, as well as to stories and ideas from Graeco-Roman and Jewish traditions. Many parts of the New Testament, such as the Gospels, share styles with biographies from ancient Greece and Rome.

A key influence is the Jewish Bible, which later became known as the Old Testament for Christians. The New Testament often refers to and builds on these older Jewish writings, using direct quotes and hints from them throughout 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 began 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

The 1500s brought many new translations of the New Testament into everyday languages. Important translations include those by Martin Luther in 1522 and William Tyndale in 1526. Later, the famous "King James Version" was completed in 1611.

Since then, scholars have used careful studies of ancient Greek texts to make even 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 today read the New Testament clearly.

Theological interpretation in Christian churches

Christians believe the New Testament is very important. It shares teachings about Jesus and events in early Christianity. Many think the Bible’s message stays the same even though it was written in different times and ways.

Different Christian groups see the New Testament in unique ways. Some believe both the Bible and old church teachings are important. Others think only the Bible should guide beliefs. Some groups believe every word in the Bible is true, while others think it shares important truths even if small details may not be exact. All agree the New Testament helps explain what Christians believe.

In the arts

Further information: Nativity of Jesus in art and Passion play

The famous "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 since the second century and continue to this day. Early Christian art often showed scenes like Jesus being baptized or the story of Lazarus being raised.

During the Middle Ages, many poems and plays told the story of Jesus’ life, including his arrest, trial, and execution. The story of Jesus’ life and teachings has been a popular subject in music, art, and even movies since the very beginning of filmmaking.