THE NEW TESTAMENT OF THE BIBLE 1.) What is the New Testament. 2.) - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

THE NEW TESTAMENT

OF THE BIBLE

1.) What is the New Testament. 2.) Revelation in the Catholic Church. 3.) Content of the New Testament. 4.) The New Testament (A Brief . Overview). 5.) The Development of the New . Testament. 6.) The Catholic Church’ Approach to . the Bible.

1.) What is the New Testament.

• The New Testament (Koine Greek: Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, or

Hē Kainḕ Diathḗkē) is the second part Bible.

• The Greek New Testament discusses the teachings and

person of Jesus, as well as the development and events in first-century Christianity (Gospels, Acts & Letters).

• Although Christians hold different views from Jews about

the Hebrew scriptures of the Old Testament, Christians regard both the Old and New Testaments together as sacred scripture – our Holy Bible -.

• The New Testament Canon of the Bible is composed of 27 books.
• Remember that the Biblical Canon, or canon of scripture, is the

list of books considered to be authoritative scripture. The word "canon" comes from the Greek κανών, meaning "rule" or "measuring stick". The Bible Canon was "closed" at the Council of Trent (Bible books cannot be added or removed from the text).

• The books of the New Testament in the Bible were originally written

in koine Greek.

2.) Revelation in the Catholic Church.

For the Roman Catholic Church, there are two modes of Revelation: Scripture and Tradition. Both of them are interpreted by the teachings

• f the Church.

The Roman Catholic view is expressed clearly in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1997): § 82: “As a result the Church, to whom the transmission and interpretation

• f 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 honored with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence”. § 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”. In Catholic terminology the teaching office is called the Magisterium. As the Catechism states in §§ 80 and 81, Revelation has "one common source ... two distinct modes of transmission."

3.) Content of the New Testament.

The Gospels

Each of the four gospels in the New Testament narrates the life, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. The term "Gospel" literally refers to "Good News". The word derives from the Old English gōd-spell (rarely godspel), meaning "good news" or "glad tidings". The gospel was considered the "good news" of the coming Kingdom of Messiah, and the redemption through the life and death of Jesus, the central Christian message. Gospel is a word-for-word translation of the Greek word εὐαγγέλιον, euangelion (eu- "good", -angelion "message"). Since the 2nd century, the four narrative accounts of the life and work of Jesus Christ have been referred to as "The Gospel of ..." or "The Gospel according to ..." followed by the name of the supposed author. Whatever these admittedly early ascriptions may imply about the sources behind or the perception of these gospels, they appear to have been originally anonymous compositions. The Gospel of Matthew, ascribed to the Apostle Matthew. This gospel begins with a genealogy of Jesus and a story of his birth that includes a visit from magi and a flight into Egypt, and it ends with the commissioning of the disciples by the resurrected Jesus. (Written circa 75 AD). The Gospel of Mark, ascribed to Mark the Evangelist. This gospel begins with the preaching of John the Baptist and the baptism of Jesus. Two different secondary endings were affixed to this gospel in the 2nd century. (Written circa 70 AD). The Gospel of Luke, ascribed to Luke the Evangelist, who was not one of the Twelve Apostles, but was mentioned as a companion of the Apostle Paul and as a physician. This gospel begins with parallel stories of the birth and childhood of John the Baptist and Jesus and ends with appearances of the resurrected Jesus and his ascension into heaven. Luke is also attributed the writing of the Acts of the Apostles. (Written circa 80 AD). The Gospel of John, ascribed to John the Apostle. This gospel begins with a philosophical prologue and ends with appearances of the resurrected Jesus, it is about Jesus's miracles. (Written circa 90 AD). The first three Gospels (Mark, Mathew, and Luke) are known as the Synoptic Gospels – there are many similarities between the three. They contain similar accounts of the events in Jesus' life and his teaching, due to their literary interdependence. The Gospel of John is structured differently and includes stories of several miracles of Jesus and sayings not found in the other three.

Acts of the Apostles

The Acts of the Apostles is a narrative of the apostles' ministry and activity after Christ's death and resurrection, from which point it resumes and functions as a sequel to the Gospel of Luke. Examining style, phraseology, and other evidence, modern scholarship generally concludes that Acts and the Gospel of Luke share the same author, referred to as Luke-Acts. This is also suggested by the dedication to "Theophilus" ("Love of God" or "Friend of God") at the beginning of both works. (Luke 1:3 and Acts 1:1).

Epistles

The epistles of the New Testament are considered by Christians to be divinely inspired and holy letters, written by the apostles and disciples of Christ, to either local congregations with specific needs, or to New Covenant Christians in general, scattered about; or "General Epistles." Pauline epistles: The Pauline epistles are the thirteen New Testament books which present Paul the Apostle as their author: Romans, 1st Corinthians, 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1st and 2nd Thessalonians and the Epistle to Philemon. Pastoral epistles written by Paul, are addressed to individuals with pastoral oversight of churches and discuss issues of Christian living, doctrine and

• leadership. They often address different concerns to those of the preceding epistles: First Epistle to Timothy, Second Epistle to Timothy and the Epistle to Titus.

Hebrews

The Letter to the Hebrews addresses a Jewish audience who had come to believe that Jesus was the anointed one (Hebrew: מ ַ חיִׂש ָ— transliterated in English as "Moshiach", or "Messiah"; Greek: Χριστός—transliterated in English as "Christos", for "Christ") who was predicted in the writings of the Hebrew Bible. The author discusses the "better-ness" of the new covenant and the ministry of Jesus, over the Mosaic covenant (Heb. 1:1-10:18) and urges the readers in the practical implications of this conviction through the end of the epistle.(Heb. 10:19-13:25).

General epistles

The General epistles (or "catholic epistles") consist of both letters and treatises in the form of letters written to the church at large. Epistle of James; 1st and 2nd Peter, ascribed to the Apostle Peter; 1st , 2nd, and 3rd Epistles of John, ascribed to John the Apostle. And the Epistle of Jude, written under the name of Jude, the brother of Jesus and James.

Book of Revelation or Apocalypse

The final book of the New Testament is the Book of Revelation, also known as the Apocalypse of John. In the New Testament canon, it is considered prophetical or apocalyptic literature. Its authorship has been attributed either to John the Apostle (in which case it is often thought that John the Apostle is John the Evangelist, i.e. author of the Gospel of John) or to another John designated "John of Patmos" after the island where the text says the revelation was received (1:9). Some ascribe the authorship date as circa 96 AD.

4.) The New Testament (A Brief Overview):

• There are 27 Books that form the New Testament. (The four Gospels, Letters and Epistles, The Acts, and the Book of

Revelation). The collection of writings that constitutes the New Testament begins with four gospels. Next comes the Acts

• f the Apostles, followed by twenty-one letters that are attributed to Paul, James, Peter, John, and Jude. Finally, at the

end of the early church’s scriptures stands the Revelation to John.

• In the New Testament, we come into contact with the person of Christ,

his life and his teaching; In the Gospels and other New Testament writings, we see the development and deepening of the Christian faith and morals, thru the light of the Holy Spirit given to the Church at Pentecost.

• Jesus is the central character in the New Testament. The Old Testament

foretold his coming and prepared the stage for your entry to the world. The New Testament describes his coming and his work to bring salvation and redemption to humanity.

• The New Testament begins with the birth of Jesus Christ in Judea. Jesus

was the promise descendant of Abraham and David, and gave us the Messiah who would fulfill God’s salvific of redemption of the human race.

• Jesus faithfully completed the task of redemption. His death and resurrection where the bases for the New Covenant

with humanity, and the fulfillment of the old. After his resurrection, Jesus sent his disciples to proclaim the Good News throughout the world. They traveled throughout Asia Minor, Greece, and throughout the Roman Empire. The New Testament ends with a prediction of the return of Jesus to judge the world and free creation (Book of the Apocalypse or Revelation).

5.) The Development of the New Testament as a Books in the Bible:

• The Gospels, Acts, and Revelation were written from 70 A.D. to the 90’s A.D. The Letters from the late 40’s-50’s to the

late 90’s. Forty or more years after the events. They were distributed and used throughout the early Christian communities.

• The Early Church primarily used the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament, or LXX) or the Targums among Aramaic

speakers, the apostles did not leave a defined set of new scriptures; instead the canon of the New Testament developed

• ver time.
• Pope Damasus I assembled the first list of books of the Bible at the Roman Council in 382 A.D. He commissioned St.

Jerome to translate the original Greek and Hebrew texts into Latin, which became known as the Latin Vulgate Bible and was declared by the Church to be the only authentic and official version, in 1546. Pope Damasus's commissioning of the Latin Vulgate edition of the Bible, c. 383, was instrumental in the fixation of the canon in the West. Pope Damasus I is

• ften considered to be the father of the modern Bible canon. Pope Damasus I considered the 7 DC books to be inspired by
• God. Later in 1947, after the finding of the dead-sea scrolls, it was discovered that these 7 DC books were used by the

Jews in Alexandria, even in their services. This verifies that Pope Damasus was correct.

• The Douay-Rheims Bible was the first major edition developed from the Vulgate in 1609. It revised and diligently

compared with the Latin Vulgate by Bishop Richard Challoner in 1749-1752 A.D. The notes included in the text (in italics) were written by Dr. Challoner.

• Authorized Bible translations such as the Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible/New American Bible Revised Edition (in

the United States), the Revised Standard Version, the New Revised Standard Version and the New Jerusalem Bible are the most commonly used in English-speaking Catholic churches, the Challoner revision of the Douay–Rheims is still often the Bible of choice of more traditional English-speaking Catholics.

6.) The Catholic Church’ Approach to the New Testament:

There are three important Catholic ecclesiastical documents on interpreting the Bible:

• Pope Pius XII’s Divino Afflante Spiritu ("Inspired by the Holy Spirit ") (1943).
• Vatican Council II’s Dei Verbum (Word of God) (1965).
• The Pontifical Biblical Commission’s “The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church”

. (1993). A.) Pius XII’s Divino Afflante Spiritu:

• Prior to 1943, Catholic biblical scholars were discouraged from using original languages, archaeological discoveries, or

“scientific” methods of textual analysis.

• In 1943, Pope Pius XII issued Divino Afflante Spiritu, an encyclical letter that required the use of original languages.
• It urged interpreters to “go back wholly in spirit to those remote centuries of the East with the aid of history, archaeology,

ethnology, and other sciences, and accurately determine what modes of writing ... the authors of that ancient time would be likely to use, and in fact did use.”

• By promoting the use of analytic or “critical” tools to explore the Scriptures,

this encyclical launched a virtual renaissance in Catholic biblical research. B.) Dei Verbum, Vatican II’s Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation.

• In 1965, the Second Vatican Council issued the Dogmatic Constitution, Dei
• Verbum. It presented what might be called an “Incarnational” understanding
• f the Bible.
• The Bible is both the inspired Word of God ... “Those things revealed by

God that are contained and presented in the text of Sacred Scripture have been written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit”.

• ... and the inspired work of human authors: “Seeing that, in Sacred Scripture, God speaks through human beings in

human fashion, it follows that the interpreters of Sacred Scripture, if they are to ascertain what God has wished to communicate to us, should carefully search out the meaning which the sacred writers really had in mind, that meaning which God had thought well to manifest through the medium of their words.”

• Therefore, the Council taught that biblical researchers: “must look for that meaning which the sacred writers, in given

situations and granted the circumstances of their time and culture, intended to express and did in fact express through the medium of a contemporary literary form”. C.) Pontifical Biblical Commission “Interpretation of the Bible in the Church”:

• In 1993, the Pontifical Biblical Commission (PBC) made the same point in this way:

“Holy Scripture, inasmuch as it is the ‘word of God in human language,’ has been composed by human authors in all its various parts and in all the sources that lie behind them”.

• Therefore, “Catholic scriptural research freely makes use of the scientific methods

and approaches which allow a better grasp of the meaning of texts in their linguistic, literary, socio-cultural, religious and historical contexts, while explaining them as well through studying their sources and attending to the personality of each author.”

• The Catholic approach to scriptural interpretation, then, could be described as a conversation between the faith of the

biblical generations with the faith of Church communities today. The faith experiences of today’s Church are, of course, shaped by the intervening history since biblical times and by the circumstances of the 21st century. As the PBC put it: “Sacred Scripture is in dialogue with communities of believers It has come from their traditions of faith. . . Dialogue with Scripture in its entirety, which means dialogue with the understanding of the faith prevailing in earlier times, must

be matched by a dialogue with the generation of today” (actualization in our times).” In addition, the church document Liturgiam Authenticam is an instruction of the Holy See, dated 28 March 2001, that included the requirement that, in translations of the liturgical texts from the official Latin originals, or Sacred Scripture from the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek "the original text, insofar as possible, must be translated integrally and in the most exact manner, without omissions or additions in terms of their content, and without paraphrases or glosses. Any adaptation to the characteristics or the nature of the various vernacular languages is to be sober and discreet.“