Biblical Studies (NT)/Introduction to the New Testament

 Introduction to the New Testament 

The New Testament is a rich tapestry of people, culture, history, and theology. In its pages, we meet real people with real joys and sorrows. We meet a Messiah who loved the human race so much that he gave his life for it. We discover and rediscover God, not as a distant, uninterested Spirit, but as one who is intimately involved in the affairs and lives of human beings. And amazingly, the New Testament is just as relevant, exciting, and alive today as it was two thousand years ago when it was written.

It has often been said that in order to accurately interpret a specific verse in the Bible, you have to look at its context. This statement is not as simple as it looks at first glance. The immediate context of a verse is the passage in which the verse is located, which of course will tell you a lot about what the verse is saying. But you also have to consider the overall message of the Biblical book in which the verse is found, which might have some bearing on its meaning. Then you have to consider who wrote the book, and why. You have to know when and where it was written, and the social, cultural, and political factors which may have influenced its contents. Finally, you have to look at it in the context of the entire Bible. Where does it fit in? What part does it play? Do other passages shed light on the one being studied? These lessons are designed to help students achieve these objectives.

It is also important to realize that while the New Testament is made up of twenty-seven separate documents, there is a progression from Matthew to Revelation that leaves one feeling that they really are one book, which of course is how we have come to see them. This idea can be expanded to the Bible as a whole, which begins with the creation of the Earth in Genesis, and ends with the destruction of the Earth in Revelation. The “tree of life” which was lost at the beginning is restored at the end, so that the story comes full circle.

No other literary work has influenced Western history and culture like this one. No other book claims to have such a clear outline of God’s plan for the world. When we add the Hebrew scriptures (Christian Old Testament) to the Greek (Christian New Testament), we see that the Bible, though it has many authors, forms one complete story, and like any other good story, it has an introduction, a development, and a dramatic conclusion.