New Testament

The New Testament (<a title="Koine Greek" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koine_Greek">Koine Greek</a>: Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, Hē Kainḕ Diathḗkē) is the second major part of the <a title="Christian biblical canons" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_biblical_canons">Christian biblical canon</a>, the first part being the <a title="Old Testament" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Testament">Old Testament</a>. Although <a title="Christian views on the old covenant" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_views_on_the_old_covenant">Christians hold different views</a> from <a title="Jews" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews">Jews</a> about the Old Testament, Christians regard both the Old and New Testaments together as <a title="Scripture" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scripture">sacred scripture</a>. The contents of the New Testament deal explicitly with <a title="Christianity in the 1st century" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_the_1st_century">first-century Christianity</a>. Therefore, the New Testament (in whole or in part) has frequently accompanied the <a title="Early centers of Christianity" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_centers_of_Christianity">spread of Christianity around the world</a>. It reflects and serves as a source for <a title="Christian theology" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_theology">Christian theology</a>. Both extended readings and phrases directly from the New Testament are also incorporated (along with readings from the Old Testament) into the various <a title="Christian liturgy" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_liturgy">Christian liturgies</a>. The New Testament has influenced not only religious, <a title="Philosophical movement" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophical_movement">philosophical</a>, and <a title="Political movement" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_movement">political</a> <a title="Social movement" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_movement">movements</a> in <a title="Christendom" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christendom">Christendom</a>, but also has left an indelible mark on its <a title="Literature" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literature">literature</a>, <a title="Art" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art">art</a>, and <a title="Music" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music">music</a>.

The New Testament is an <a title="Anthology" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthology">anthology</a>, a collection of Christian works written in the <a title="Common Greek" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Greek">common Greek language</a> of the first century, at different times by various writers, who were early <a title="Jewish Christians" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_Christians">Jewish disciples</a> of <a title="Jesus of Nazareth" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_of_Nazareth">Jesus of Nazareth</a>. In almost all Christian traditions today, the New Testament consists of 27 books. The original texts were written in the first and perhaps the second centuries of the <a title="Christian Era" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Era">Christian Era</a>, generally believed to be <a title="Language of the New Testament" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_of_the_New_Testament">in Koine Greek</a>, which was the <a title="Lingua franca" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lingua_franca">common language</a> of the <a title="Eastern Mediterranean" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Mediterranean">Eastern Mediterranean</a> from the <a title="Conquests of Alexander the Great" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conquests_of_Alexander_the_Great">Conquests of Alexander the Great</a> (335–323 BC) until the evolution of <a title="Byzantine Greek" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_Greek">Byzantine Greek</a> (c. 600). All of the works which would eventually be incorporated into the New Testament would seem to have been written no later than around AD 150.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Testament#cite_note-1">[1]</a>

Collections of related texts such as <a title="Pauline epistles" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pauline_epistles">letters</a> of the <a title="Paul the Apostle" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_the_Apostle">Apostle Paul</a> (a major collection of which must have been made already by the early 2nd century)<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Testament#cite_note-2">[2]</a> and the <a title="Canonical Gospels" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canonical_Gospels">Canonical Gospels</a> of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (asserted by <a title="Irenaeus" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irenaeus">Irenaeus of Lyon</a> in the late-2nd century as the Four Gospels) gradually were joined to other collections and single works in different combinations to <a title="Development of the Christian biblical canon" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Development_of_the_Christian_biblical_canon">form various Christian canons of Scripture</a>. Over time, some <a title="Antilegomena" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antilegomena">disputed books</a>, such as the <a title="Book of Revelation" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Revelation">Book of Revelation</a> and the <a title="General epistles" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_epistles">Minor Catholic (General) Epistles</a> were introduced into <a title="Biblical canon" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_canon">canons</a> in which they were originally absent. Other works earlier held to be Scripture, such as <a title="1 Clement" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1_Clement">1 Clement</a>, the <a title="Shepherd of Hermas" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shepherd_of_Hermas">Shepherd of Hermas</a>, and the <a title="Diatessaron" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatessaron">Diatessaron</a>, were excluded from the New Testament. The Old Testament canon is not completely uniform among all major Christian groups including <a title="Catholic Church" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church">Roman Catholics</a>, <a title="Protestantism" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestantism">Protestants</a>, the <a title="Greek Orthodox Church" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_Orthodox_Church">Greek Orthodox Church</a>, the <a title="Slavic Orthodox" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavic_Orthodox">Slavic Orthodox Churches</a>, and the <a title="Armenian Orthodox Church" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_Orthodox_Church">Armenian Orthodox Church</a>. However, the <a title="Development of the New Testament canon" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Development_of_the_New_Testament_canon">twenty-seven-book canon</a> of the New Testament, at least since <a title="Late Antiquity" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_Antiquity">Late Antiquity</a>, has been almost universally recognized within <a title="Christianity" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity">Christianity</a> (see <a title="Development of the New Testament canon" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Development_of_the_New_Testament_canon">Development of the New Testament canon</a>).

The New Testament consists of

<ul>

<li>four narratives of the life, teaching, death and resurrection of <a title="Jesus" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus">Jesus</a>, called "<a title="Gospel" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel">gospels</a>" (or "good news" accounts);</li>

</ul>

<ul>

<li>a narrative of the <a title="Twelve Apostles" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Apostles">Apostles</a>' ministries in the <a title="Early Christianity" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Christianity">early church</a>, called the "<a title="Acts of the Apostles" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acts_of_the_Apostles">Acts of the Apostles</a>", and probably written by the same writer as the <a title="Gospel of Luke" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_Luke">Gospel of Luke</a>, which it continues;</li>

</ul>

<ul>

<li>twenty-one letters, often called "<a title="Epistles" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistles">epistles</a>" in the biblical context, written by various authors, and consisting of Christian doctrine, counsel, instruction, and conflict resolution; and</li>

</ul>

<ul>

<li>an <a title="Apocalypse" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apocalypse">Apocalypse</a>, the <a title="Book of Revelation" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Revelation">Book of Revelation</a>, which is a <a title="Prophecy" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prophecy">book of prophecy</a>, containing some instructions to <a title="Seven churches of Asia" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_churches_of_Asia">seven local congregations of Asia Minor</a>, but mostly containing prophetical <a title="Symbology" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbology">symbology</a>, about the <a title="End times" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/End_times">end times</a>.</li>

</ul>

New Testament

Attachments