New Testament Notes

1. The Bible has 40 authors & covers about 1500 years.

2. 66 Books:
1) Old Testament 39 books (Genesis to Malachi). Pre-Christ.
a. Pentateuch (Greek: pente (five) & teuchos (book)) = Jewish Torah (“law” or “instruction”)
2) New Testament 27. Birth of Christ and beyond.
a. 15-16 authors
b. 50 CE – 120 CE
c. Matthew through Revelation
d. History, Poetry, Letters, Prophecy, & Testimony (Gospels)
e. 1,189 +/- Chapters
3. Christians beliefs about the Bible:
1) It is the written word of God (God inspired and directed each author to write each book
contained within it).
2) The Bible is the ultimate authority on how Christians should conduct themselves and live their
lives as followers of Christ. Proper conduct and behavior for Christians.
3) The nature and character of God.
4) The history of the faith.
5) Who Jesus is and why he died for humanity’s sins.
6) How they should interact with God and other people.
7) The prophecies are true and will eventually happen.
8) It reveals the Biblical story of the world from its creation, fall, God’s plan for redemption, and
God’s plan for the future.

4. The Bible was originally written in Hebrew/Aramaic (Old Testament) and Greek (New Testament).
1) Since the original Bible was written in several languages, it had to be translated into English. The
English bible versions that we read are all translations from these original texts.
2) The most accurate way is a word-for-word translation (formal equivalence).
The King James Bible (KJV) and the English Standard Version (ESV) are examples of formal
equivalence. While these versions are accurate, they are harder to read and understand.
3) Then you have retelling or paraphrasing the scripture (dynamic equivalence) which attempts to
paraphrase the original text in a way that is easier for modern readers to read and understand.
The New International Readers Version (NIRV) and the Good News Translation (GNT) are
examples of dynamic equivalence.
4) There is a happy medium between the two called (functional equivalence) that balances word
for word and paraphrasing. The New International Version (NIV) and the Christian Standard Bible
(CSB) are translated this way.

5. Parts of the New Testament:

1) The Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke & John)
a. The book of John does a marvelous job of explaining who Jesus is and what his ministry is
about. The other Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) detail Jesus’ ministry, but they focus
more on the things Jesus did.
b. Biographical books
2) Acts of the Apostles
a. The book of Acts was written by Luke, who also wrote the Gospel Luke, and records the
history of the early church. Starting with Jesus’ ascension and commission of the disciples,
 the persecution of the early church, and the spread of the Gospel throughout the known
world.
3) Epistles/letters
a. Letters (or epistles) – written by the apostles and disciples of Christ to provide guidance for
the earliest church communities.
4) Apocalypse

6. Definitions:
1) Apostle: one of an authoritative New Testament group sent out to preach the gospel and made
up especially of Christ's 12 original disciples and Paul
2) Disciple:
a. one who accepts and assists in spreading the doctrines of another, such as
Christianity.
b. one of the twelve in the inner circle of Christ's followers according to the Gospel accounts
c. a convinced adherent of a school or individual
3) Gospel:
a. the teaching or revelation of Christ.
b. the record of Jesus' life and teaching in the first four books of the New Testament.
4) Epistle (letter):
a. a book of the New Testament in the form of a letter from an Apostle.
b. a poem or other literary work in the form of a letter or series of letters.
5) Apocalypse: the complete final destruction of the world, as described in the biblical book of
Revelation.
6) Pharisee: Jewish religion laymen and scribes focused on oral tradition (“the unwritten Torah”)
remains a basic tenet of Jewish theological thought.
a. The Pharisees believed that the Law that God gave to Moses was twofold, consisting of the
Written Law and the Oral Law
b. The Pharisees admitted the principle of evolution in the Law: humans must use their reason
in interpreting the Torah and applying it to contemporary problems.
7) Saducees: Jewish high priesthood that had traditionally provided the sole leadership of the
Jewish people.
a. The Sadducees refused to accept any precept as binding unless it was based directly on the
Torah—i.e., the Written Law.

7. The rebuilding of the second temple of Jerusalem started in c. 521 BCE under Darius I and was
completed in 515 B.C..
1) The 2nd temple was not nearly as large or ornate as Solomon’s temple which was destroyed at
the time of the Babylonian Captivity.

The Most Important Commandment: Matthew 22:34-40 NLT

“But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees with his reply, they met together to
question him again. One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question: “Teacher,
which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord
your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.
A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the
prophets are based on these two commandments.””
Matthew 22:34-40 NLT