New Testament: Encyclopedia II - New Testament - Books of the New Testament

New Testament - Books of the New Testament

The 27 books of the New Testament were written by various authors at various times and places. Unlike the Old Testament, the New Testament was written in a relatively narrow span of time, probably over less than a century, from c. AD 50 to c. AD 125. The following is a list of the New Testament books, followed by the author traditionally associated with that book.

New Testament - The Gospels

The Gospels focus on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus:

• The Gospel of Matthew - Matthew, a tax-collector and apostle.
• The Gospel of Mark - Mark, a follower of Peter and also of Paul.
• The Gospel of Luke - Luke, possibly a follower of Paul.
• The Gospel of John - John, a fisherman and apostle.

According to the Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament, our earliest Greeks manuscripts of the Gospels regularly include the name of the respective author within the title. Such attribution of authorship is evidenced as early as Papyrus 66 (AD 200) and Papyrus 75 (3rd Century), which attribute the Gospel of John to John. All early manuscript titles for each of the Four Gospels agree in ascribing authorship to one person (Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John, respectively). Consequently, the origin of this unanimous tradition for authorship must be even earlier. None of the Gospels identifies its author by name within the body of the narrative. However Luke's Gospel and the Book of Acts are both addressed to Theophilus, and the Book of Acts has sections which indicate the author was a companion of the apostle Paul. Similarly, John's Gospel claims to be based on the testimony of a witness to Jesus' life and death. Traditions about authorship are also based on early Christian writings that identify the authors. The earliest references to the Gospels do not name an author - such as Justin Martyr who refers to "memoirs of the apostles" also "called Gospels", but gives no names; or Aristides who refers to the (singular) "Gospel, as it is called", but also gives no name(s).

New Testament - History

The history of the early Christian church after the death of Christ is related here.

• The Acts of the Apostles - Luke

New Testament - Epistles

The epistles contain various letters written sometimes to individuals but mainly to early Christian congregations. These epistles expound important theological points and give insight into the developing Christian church. The NT epistles are of varying quality and it is not at all certain if they were actually written by the person whose name they bear. Modern scholars argue that many of the epistles are pseudepigraphical.

The Pauline Epistles (or Corpus Paulinum) constitute those epistles traditionally attributed to Paul (for modern views, see below under Authorship). Their names are based on the Christian groups or individuals to whom they are addressed. Some of the Pauline epistles (such as the Pastoral Epistles) are considered by some to not be written by Paul.

• Epistle to the Romans - Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles
• First Epistle to the Corinthians - Paul
• Second Epistle to the Corinthians - Paul
• Epistle to the Galatians - Paul
• Epistle to the Ephesians - Paul
• Epistle to the Philippians - Paul
• Epistle to the Colossians - Paul
• First Epistle to the Thessalonians - Paul
• Second Epistle to the Thessalonians - Paul
• First Epistle to Timothy - Paul (Pastoral Epistles)
• Second Epistle to Timothy - Paul (Pastoral Epistles)
• Epistle to Titus - Paul (Pastoral Epistles)
• Epistle to Philemon - Paul

The General or Catholic Epistles are those written to the church at large. They are named after their traditional author, but many contemporary scholars believe they are all pseudepigraphical. In medieval times, they were often collected not with the Pauline epistles but with Acts to form the Praxapostolos.

• Epistle to the Hebrews - Anonymous. Historically attributed to Paul, though few scholars would identify him as the author today.
• Epistle of James - James, the brother of Jesus
• First Epistle of Peter - Peter the Apostle
• Second Epistle of Peter - Peter the Apostle (normally considered to be written by another author by modern scholars)
• First Epistle of John - John the Apostle (the Johannine letters are usually attributed to members of the community of his disciples, though 1 John closely resembles the Gospel of John in style and vocabulary)
• Second Epistle of John - John the Apostle
• Third Epistle of John - John the Apostle
• Epistle of Jude - Jude, brother of James

New Testament - Prophecy

• Revelation - John "the Divine." Traditionally identified with John the Apostle. There is still some debate as to whether this is John the Apostle or another prophet by the same name.
• Bible prophecy

New Testament - New Testament Apocrypha

For other books not generally considered part of the New Testament, but at times included by some, see New Testament apocrypha.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Books of the New Testament", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki