The Doctrine Of The New Testament

One fact that must remain in consideration by any student of textual criticism is that there were many other religious and philosophical writings produced simultaneously with the Scriptures of the New Testament era. Robert J. Sargent states, “As the Bible was being written down, numerous other religious

The Old Testament is the largest part of the bible nestled behind the leather binding in the front of the book. Unlike most books, told from one-person or even two this is comprised of multiple, some stories even having two different versions in another point of view; over time it has become a large collection of ancient texts written and re-written by different authors and editors over the many years. The stories show the ancient Israelites, they show the laws, and rituals, which make up their religion and the small embers, which will one day, turn to a flame that is Christianity. The Jewish people view these stories as collected in what they call the Torah, is the collection for what makes up their history and the promise that God gave to them, as well as their laws and what they worship today. For the Christians the Old Testament is still seen as sacred, but most place a stronger importance to the New Testament.

Michale J. Kruger is professor of New Testament and academic dean at Reformed Theological Seminary, is the author of the Gospels of the Savior, and the coauthor of Gospel Fragments and the Hersey of Orthodoxy. His research on the Christian origins has made him a trusted authority on the development of the New Testament canon. In Canon Revisited, Kruger looks deeper than the traditional surveys of councils and creeds, mining the biblical text itself for direction in understanding what the original authors and audiences believed the canon to be. While there are many interests, critiques, and approaches to understanding the biblical canon regarding authenticity, authority, and historicity in this text Michale Kruger takes on the problem of canon

Questions about the authenticity of the Holy Bible have been interrogated since the first circulation of the Word. Nonbelievers dispute the entirety of the actuality of the Holy Bible. While skeptical believers along with some nonbelievers question the accuracy of recorded events within the Holy Bible, specifically the Gospels. Individuals debate the issue if the Gospels are historically reliable, claiming there is no tangible evidence and the books contradict themselves. Mark D. Roberts, in his book, Can we Trust the Gospels? was able to provide reliable evidence and reasons on why people can trust the Gospels. His book gives an overview on the subject of the gospel reliability and trustworthiness.

The final eight epistles of the New Testament canon exert an influence out of proportion to their length. They complement the thirteen Pauline Epistles by offering varying perspectives on the richness of Christian truth. Each of the five authors – James, Peter, John, Jude, and the author of Hebrews – made a distinctive contribution from his own point of view. Like the four harmonizing approaches to the life of Christ portrayed in the Gospels, these writers provide a sweeping portrait of the Christian life as a whole and how it should be lived out. Although Paul’s epistles are excellent, the New Testament revelation after Acts would be severely limited by one apostle’s perspective had the writing of these five men been neglected. The

In Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why, Bart D. Ehrman, a well-known New Testament scholar and critic, seeks to show that the New Testament is a corrupt document that has been changed through the evolutionary process of scribal alteration, Early Christian theological apologetics and poor scholarship’s. Ehrman begins by speaking of his personal experience with the study of the Bible and textual Criticism. He concludes that various early scribes altered the New Testament in which we have no idea of knowing if what we’re reading is even the word of God or just what the scribes wanted to write.

Objection 1: The Synoptic Gospels were written approximately thirty years after the death of Jesus, suggesting that there were still people alive who may have witnessed the events written about. The witnesses, if need be, would be able to denounce those who wrote falsely about the events. In addition to denouncing, they could correct the person’s information leading their cumulative story to be the most correct version of the story and event possible.

Theism is the belief of God that we learn from the Old and New Testament writings. It has three beliefs. First, is that God is beyond anything we could possibly envision, and that He resides in the world with us. He is transcendent and immanent at the same time. Second, is that God created the world from ex nihilo. God alone without any help created the universe from nothing. Third, is the belief that God is a supernatural, miracle producing God (Case, 2000, p. 10-12).

At the beginning of this class I did not know much about the New Testament in general. Using the information provided and completing the assignments has given me a wider understanding of how to interpret the Bible. Redaction criticism was a term that I knew little about at the start of the course. Redaction criticism focuses on adaptations to literary content from the past (Van Seters, 2003, pg. 487). In the future when I read passages I will be careful to realize that the content may have been altered to fit the people of that time in an effort to help them gain a greater understanding. In other instances omission or inclusion may have occurred at the hands of a third party. Paul had a dictated many of his writings to a secretary (Harris, 2014, pg. 388). The role that women played in the growth early Christianity was surprising. When considering the time in which those events took place it common to think of Jesus, the twelve disciples, and men in general as playing intricate roles. However

The New Testament is characterized by the existence of imperative Biblical figures, with the likes of Jesus Christ, the Apostles, among many others. Peter was among Jesus’ first disciples. From his turning point, as manifested in the book of John 21, to his progress as a dedicated leader as manifested in Acts, to his final emergence as a co-elder as manifested in the Epistles of 1st and 2nd Peter, Peter exhibited traits of a transformational and charismatic biblical figure (Neil & William 409).

In order to defend the 27 books of the New Testament (henceforth “NT”), one first needs to form a basis upon which one can recognize which books belong in the canon and which do not. For instance, does the church’s reception determine which books belong in the canon? Or perhaps the Canon is solely made up of apostolic/prophetic books? It is perhaps outside of the scope of this essay to argue for a particular canonical model. That being said, a model needs to be adopted nonetheless, and this paper will borrow from Michael Kruger’s helpful paradigm and use the following attributes of canonicity: (1) harmony with other Scripture , (2) corporate reception , and (3) apostolic origin (Kruger 2012, Kindle 2557).

This form of criticism, however, works under the assumption that the biblical texts were created, transmitted, reworked and preserved in communities where they are authoritative. Another assumption is that this criticism includes study of how the texts functioned in believing communities. Therefore, Canonical Criticism focuses on the communities that found these texts authoritative and how they functioned and shaped the traditions of that time. This criticism has shaped my perception of biblical interpretation by demonstrating that not only are the writings important in gaining insight into text, but also is examining why faith communities found the text authoritative. Along with considering their cultures, Canonical Criticism helps explain why the scriptures are canon and gives insight into the communities, how they interpreted the text, and the text’s function in society. Pertaining to biblical interpretation, Canonical Criticism offers insight into the text that looks beyond the text into its function in believing communities during its creation and by examining that relationship, one is able to gain a better understanding of why texts are considered inspired and others are

The traditional interpretation of the development and authority of the New Testament canon is often a topic of debate and scrutiny; however, Dr. Michael J. Kruger provided an excellent, well-written justification of how the New Testament canon came to be the 27 books known today. Kruger is President and the Samuel C. Patterson Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, NC. Other publications include The Gospel of the Savior, The Question of Canon, The Heresy of Orthodoxy, Gospel Fragments, and A Biblical-Theological Introduction to the New Testament. His written work has led him to be known as a scholar in the origins of the New Testament Canon, in particular writings related to the New Testament Canon.

A matter that is discussed time and again in synoptic studies is the question of whether or not the gospels form a unique literary genre. Although in the past this was rather strongly suggested,

Not long after the Day of Pentecost believers had to defend their faith from false teachers seeking to dilute, or subdue the power in the Gospel of Jesus. To combat heresy, orthodoxy had to be defined both by creed, and by the approval of writings recognized as God’s inspired Word. The Canon we study today remains the same powerful Scripture that has been transforming lives for thousands of years.