A New Testament Overview

“Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” John 21:25

After I posted the overview of the Old Testament a couple of people asked if I would do something similar for the New Testament. Giving it some consideration, it seemed like a good thing to do. Here we go with a Random Thoughts overview of the New Testament.

Let’s make note of a few things. Like the Old Testament, the New Testament is made up of a number of ‘books’. Most of these are ‘epistles’ or letters. Like the O.T. books, these letters are not in chronological or serial order. For example, the Gospels, {Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), are actually written some time after the epistles. They capture some of the life of Jesus. Also like the O.T. they are not intended to be historical in the sense we normally think of it. Each Gospel author has particular emphases or points to their story. Finally, it should be noted that when N.T. authors refer to “the Scriptures”, they are referring essentially to the O.T. books. The N.T. was not incorporated into ‘Scriptures’ until much later. Refer to the introduction or preface for each book in the Bible of your choice for details on what each book is about. Off we go…

The Gospels – Matthew, Mark and Luke are referred to as ‘synoptic Gospels’, because while they have different emphases, a large part of the material is common between the books. The Gospels capture many acts and sayings of Jesus. A few of the more well known events in the Gospels are turning water into wine, walking on water, The Beatitudes (“Blessed Be”), feeding the five-thousand with five loaves of bread and two fish, The Lord’s Prayer and The Great Commission. John uses Jesus’ birth, miracles, death and resurrection to convince people that Jesus is God. Some of you may remember the Christmas story as told by Linus in ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’. That comes from Luke 2:8-14.

Acts – Acts is also written by Luke (the author of the Gospel of Luke), and is a continuation of the story which started there. The spread of the Gospel throughout the Mediterranean world is recorded here. It describes the formation and early events of the church. Paul’s travels to minister to the Gentiles makes up much of the latter part of the book. Some of the stories from Acts include the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, Paul’s Damascus road conversion experience, the miraculous transport of Philip and Peter’s vision of the unclean animals. In Acts we have some historical context for the rest of the N.T. books.

The ‘Pauline Epistles’ – Of the twenty-two letters in the N.T., thirteen are generally attributed to the Apostle Paul. Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and 1 & 2 Thessalonians are written to churches. 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus and Philemon are written to individuals. These letters are written primarily to Gentiles, in order to encourage, correct and instruct the various churches and individuals. For example, 1 Corinthians addresses concerns about sexual immorality and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Galatians admonishes the churches not to be caught up in works after accepting Jesus by faith through grace. In the letters to Timothy, Paul encourages Timothy to stand firm in the faith in the face of Paul’s own dire circumstances. He lays out the proper qualifications for church leaders and admonishes Timothy to emphasize proper doctrine.

‘Non-Pauline Epistles’ – There are nine letters included in the N.T. which are associated with authors other than Paul. These are Hebrews, James, 1 & 2 Peter, 1, 2 & 3 John, Jude and Revelation. Hebrews was long thought to be written by the Apostle Paul, but later research suggests that was not the case. We don’t really know who wrote it because the author is not identified in the text. Unlike Paul’s letters, these are written primarily to Hebrew Christians. In general, they are also intended to encourage, correct and instruct believers. There are more references to the O.T. in these letters. The authors knew that the recipients would understand those references best. A sampling of ideas from these books include: Hebrews emphasizes the supreme nature and sufficiency of Christ. James suggests various things that a Christian life will exhibit, and declares the balance between works and faith. John addresses false teachers, and reminds the churches that love characterizes true Christians. Of course there are many more themes.

The Revelation of Jesus Christ – Revelation is still a letter, possibly written by the apostle John in exile on the island of Patmos. It is usually treated separately because of its prophetic nature. John does his best to describe the visions he has of being in the presence of God, and future events as revealed to him. One can imagine that he would struggle to find the right words. Because of the apocryphal nature of the book, it seems to me that it is likely the most misunderstood N.T. writing. There are many interesting speculations about the return of Christ based in the Revelation, but I don’t lean very heavily on them. My thought, as I wrote in The Second Advent is that we should spend less time speculating about the cryptic future, and more time considering our present relationship with Jesus. It’s still a fascinating read if you don’t overthink it.

Since the stories are not sequential, it isn’t too important where you start. If you want to learn about the life of Jesus, start in the Gospels (I prefer Luke). For Christian doctrine, maybe Romans or Hebrews might suit you best. A history buff might prefer Acts. If you’re interested in Christian living, read any of the letters, except Revelation. Perhaps leaving Revelation until you have some time in the other books behind you is best.

Hopefully this has been of some value to you! Let me know what you think in the comments.

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