SUMMARY OF THE NATURE AND ORIGIN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT(by Raymond E. Brown)

THE NATURE AND ORIGIN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT

The word “Testament” refers to a covenant, an agreement, a pact. In the case of the people of Israel, it refers to  a covenant between God and His people, represented by Noah, Abraham, Moses and David, In Jer. 31;31;33, God promised to make a ‘new’ Covenant (Testament) with His people. This was fulfilled in the death and resurrection pf Jesus Christ. An important aspect of this new covenant is that it incorporates all people of the world (not just the Jews). The term “New Testament’” was first used by Christians to refer to their own writings in the 2^nd century. To enable readers to understand the nature of the composition of the NT, several works came up by scholars that served as prologues and biblical introductions; the most renowned was that by Fr. Richard Simon. Today, there exist various and often conflicting introductions.

HOW THE FIRST CHRISTIAN BOOKS WERE WRITTEN, PRESERVED AND COLLECTED.

The activity of formation and preservation of the Christian books was not an easy task. At the time of Jesus, the only Scripture known was the Old Testament. This was so for a long time. The Christian books took a long time to show up due to various reasons, some of which include: Jesus, unlike Moses, did not write down anything; Christians were expecting the immediate return of Christ, and so found no need to write since no one would be around to read what they would write.

The Letters appeared first because they were to address pressing issues, and to assist Paul to communicate to communities he had founded in the places where he had preached. 1 Thess, Gal, Phil, 1 and 11 Cor and Rom were produced by Paul. Efforts should however be made to understand the circumstances surrounding the letters of Paul as the tone and emphasis tend to differ in all his writings. Following the death of those who knew Jesus personally, production of writings concerning His life and death increased. Some of the letters and epistles attributed to Paul bear the nature of being “deuteroPauline|, that is, not directly written by Paul, but still bears the spirit and authority of Paul, with slight differences in the emphasis placed on the eschatology and the universal church. Some of these “deuteroPauline” letters, which were written between 70-100 AD, include 11 Thess, Col, Eph,1 and 11 Tim and Titus. The epistles bearing the names of Peter, John and James came after 70 AD, containing a dimension of universality.

The Gospel according to Mark was the first Gospel to be written (in the 60’s or the 70’s).The Gospel according to Mark has the quality of being written to Gentile Christians to encourage them to reflect on the suffering and death of Christ as a panacea for their own suffering. The Gospels according to Matthew and Luke were probably written ten to twenty years after Mark. They contain a wide collection of sayings/proverbs by Christ. The Gospel according to John was the last to be written. It came up around 90-100 AD. It has a form different from those of the other Gospels. The singular purpose of all four Gospels was to make present the person of Jesus, first to the 1^st century readers, and then to people of all ages. It should be noted that there exists the possibility that none of the Gospels was actually written by one whose name is affixed to it. However, the authorship of the third Gospel and the Acts is less doubtful.

The Acts of the Apostles is a continuation of the third Gospel written by the same author. It contains the activities of the Twelve and the other disciples, who having received the Holy Spirit, witnessed to the salvific power of Christ. The Acts of the Apostles focused less on the eschatology, and presents the efforts made by the followers of Christ at spreading Christianity beyond Jerusalem, and to the ends of the earth. The Book of Revelation (a post-70 AD book) is apocalyptic in nature, that is, it contains revelations and disclosures from God. It is similar to other apocalyptic literatures like Ezekiel and Zechariah. It was meant to encourage and support Christians in the face of persecution. It reassures Christians that the happenings in this world are under the control of God, and that God will always emerge victorious in His battles against the forces of darkness. It is thus a book of hope and assurance of the victory of the people of God over Satan and all his cohorts. Care should however be made not to interpret the Book of Revelation as a forecast of future events, as God cannot be subjected to human calculations and ordering. 1 Pet has the character of a homily; James has the character of a debate. The letter to the Hebrews has a touch of Alexandrian oratory, and an orientation towards Judaism, as well as a rich reflection on the person of Christ. Books of the New Testament written during Paul’s lifetime can be easily dated; however, those written after his death pose a problem of dates of composition, as there exist diverging views as to the dates of publication.

THE PRESERVATION AND PRESENTATION OF BOOKS WRITTEN BY CHRISTANS

After the composition of the books of the New Testament, efforts were made to preserve and canonically present them as inspired. The books of the NT thus being inspired were regarded as equal to the Jewish Scriptures (OT). But how were the NT books preserved and canonically declared as inspired? Firstly, they had apostolic origin, which was either real or imaginary. All the books of the NT are said to claim apostolic authorship, but this may not completely be true. Some of the writings attributed to John (Rev and the epistles of John) may not have been written by him, but by others who wrote in his name, spirit and authority. Also, it is not clear whether Paul wrote the letter to the Hebrews. Thus, appeal to apostolic origin for the acceptance of a book was not enough, another criterion was needed. The importance of the addressed Christian communities played a major role in the preservation and acceptance of a book. Matthew was addressed to Antioch in Syria. Pauline and Johanine writings were preserved by churches in Asia Minor.  Romans, Hebrew, Marks, Acts-Luke were preserved by the church in Rome. A third criterion for the acceptance of the New Testament books is that they conform to the rule of faith. It is important that the books are in conformity with standard Christian beliefs. Anything that was contrary to what Christians believe about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Crist was rejected.

THE COLLECTING OF EARLY CHRISTIAN WRITINGS

The books of the New Testament have varied histories of collection .Thirteen NT letters bear the name of Paul, both ”protoPaulines” and “deutoroPaulines”. How were the letters collected?  The following possibilities are raised: The authors kept copies of their letters, the recipient communities kept copies and exchanged then among themselves, they were collected systematically by Onesimus, Timothy, or by a Pauline school of writers. The four Gospels were accepted by the church as canonical. Mark was the first to be written declaring itself the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God. Matthew reshaped Mark and had a large collection of sayings/proverbs.. Luke was addressed to Theophilus, that he (Theophilus) might know the truth who is Christ. John stands out among the Gospels, as it makes no reference to any of the synoptic Gospels. There existed some Christian communities who opted for only one Gospel. For example, many Jewish Christians preferred Matthew because it emphasized the complete .observance of the law. The Gnostic communities favoured the Gospel of John because it supported their position that Christ was not man. Today however, it is established that the four Gospels are willed by God. The heresy of Marcion expedited the process of the formation of the NT canon.  Marcion had taught the creator was the god of this world, and thus the OT books as not being from the almighty God. He came up with a canon of Christian writings that suited his position. Thus, the attempt to reject Marcion’s canon was one factor that pushed for the formation of the authentic NT canon. At 200 AD, twenty books of the NT were widely accepted by both the Latin and Greek writers. The twenty-seven books of the NT had a wide acceptance by the 4^th century.