Where did the new covenant come from? Bible
part of the Bible that contains a description of the life of Jesus Christ and his preaching. Consists of 27 books: the four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the 21 Epistles of the Apostles, the Revelation of John the Theologian (Apocalypse).
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NEW TESTAMENT
is the most outstanding monument of early Christian literature, forming the second part of the Bible. An association holy books under the title Old Testament and New Testament is attributed to the Apostle Paul (1st century AD), the founder of the Christian community in the city of Corinth, a zealous preacher of the new faith in Greece, Macedonia, Cyprus, Asia Minor, who suffered martyrdom for it (according to According to legend, he was beheaded). The New Testament formulates the basic principles of Christianity, which were developed during the 1st – 4th centuries. and were finally approved at the Council of Laodicea in 364. The complete canon of the Old and New Testaments, numbering 66 books (39 books of the Old Testament and 27 books of the New Testament), was established by the church leader and theologian Athanasius of Alexandria. Big influence The New Testament writings were influenced not only by the ideas of the Old Testament, but also by the religious and mystical teachings of Philo of Alexandria, who considered logos as an analogue of being and a mediator between God and man, as well as the philosophy of Stoicism (the initial provisions about providence - the highest divine power, manager of destinies people and the world) and Neoplatonism (ideas about the identity of thinking and being as an emanation of the “one”, about the immortality of the soul, about beauty and harmony as evidence of the divine origin of the world). The New Testament canon includes the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), the “Acts of the Holy Apostles” (Greek apostolos - “ambassador, messenger”; the books of Paul, Peter, Andrew, John and Pseudo-Clement, telling about miracles , created by the apostles after the Descent of the Holy Spirit), seven conciliar epistles of the apostles: James (one), Peter (two), John (three), Jude (one) and fourteen epistles of the Apostle Paul. The New Testament ends with the “Revelation” (“Apocalypse” from the Greek “revelation, manifestation”) of John the Theologian (68 AD), the main themes of which are the second coming of Jesus Christ, his victory over Satan and the Last Judgment. Gospel (Greek “joyful, good news") from Matthew (Levi), according to ancient church tradition, was written by a disciple of Christ, a tax collector (publican) in Capernaum, probably in 60 - 00. This is the most extensive of the canonical gospels, telling about the genealogy of Jesus Christ (Christ is the Greek translation of the Aramaic "anointed one", which corresponds to the Hebrew "messiah"), a descendant of King David, the flight of Mary into Egypt, the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, his baptism and temptation in the desert, about the first disciples (Simon Peter and his brother Andrew), the sermons and miraculous acts of Jesus, about his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the Easter dinner (Last Supper) with his 12 disciples (apostles), communion with bread and wine. Then follows the betrayal of Judas, the arrest of Jesus “by the chief priests with the elders and scribes and the entire Sanhedrin,” who took him to the Roman procurator Pontius Pilate, who released Barrabas, and “beat Jesus and handed him over to be crucified.” The story ends with the crucifixion and death of Jesus, his burial and resurrection. The main idea of the Gospel is that in Jesus the messianic aspirations of the Old Testament for the Savior were embodied. The Gospel of Mark, one of the companions of the Apostle Paul, and then the translator and scribe of the Apostle Peter, was probably written c. 60 – 06 in Rome. It begins with the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist in the Jordan, his temptation in the desert by Satan, his calling of the first four apostles (Simon Peter, Andrew, James, John), the miracles that he performs as a servant of God carrying out God's will (the expulsion of a legion of demons, the resurrection the daughter of Jairus, the healing of a woman who had suffered from an illness for 12 years, a blind man in Bethsaida, feeding 5,000 with “five loaves and two fish,” walking on water, etc.). The Gospel contains Christ's predictions about the destruction of Jerusalem and his death, a description of the "Lord's Supper", the betrayal of Judas, crucifixion, burial, resurrection and the meeting of the disciples with the resurrected Jesus. Distinctive feature The Gospel of Luke (c. 60 - 00), addressed to the educated Greek Theophilus, is the desire of the author, a companion of the Apostle Paul on missionary trips, to connect the events of sacred history with world history and to present Jesus as the perfect God-man. It opens with predictions “in the days of Herod king of Judea” about the birth of John the Baptist and Jesus, who came into the world to lead the outcasts to God. Compared to other authors, Luke pays more attention to the story of Mary, the birth of Jesus, the appearance of an angel to the shepherds, events in Galilee (in the synagogue in Nazareth, from where Jesus was expelled, and in Capernaum, where he cast out demons and healed the sick), a description of the visit to Jerusalem, vocation Jesus gave the twelve disciples (Simon Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James "Alpheus", Simon the Zealot, "Judas Jacob and Judas Iscariot"), whom he "called apostles", gave them "power and authority cast out demons and heal diseases.” In the Gospel of John (c. 85 - 50), Jesus is glorified as the eternal Logos (“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God... The Word became Man and lived among us”), as light, truth, love , “good shepherd”, “bread that came from heaven.” The symbolism is intended to reveal and emphasize the fullness of the mission of Jesus Christ, which became clear to his disciples only after the descent of St. Spirit. My main goal The evangelist saw the need for people to “believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and, believing, have life in His name.” The central image of the New Testament is the image of a preacher from Galilee, the founder of one of the three world religions named after him - Jesus Christ (epithets: “Son of God”, “Savior”, “Redeemer”, “Pantocrator”, “Great Bishop”, “ King of Kings”, etc.). Archangel Gabriel predicted to the Virgin Mary, betrothed to the carpenter Joseph, the birth of a baby, immaculately conceived through the action of St. Spirit. During the census, Joseph and Mary went to the Palestinian city of Bethlehem to register at the place of residence of their clan. According to the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus was born during the reign of Herod I the Great (37 or 40 - 4 BC) in Bethlehem. Eight days later, the baby was circumcised and, according to God's instructions, named Jesus; on the fortieth day he was brought to the Jerusalem temple to be dedicated to God. During the massacre of the infants, ordered by King Herod, Joseph and Mary flee with Jesus to Egypt. At the age of thirty, Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist, then withdrew into the desert, where he fasted for forty days, tempted by the devil. After his return, he called the first disciples and began to preach the revealed teaching from above in Cana, the site of the first miracle performed by Jesus, Capernaum and other cities on the shores of Lake Gennesaret. Violating the prohibitions of Judaism, Jesus healed on the Sabbath, communicated with the outcasts, forgave their sins, raised them from the dead, and taught people “as one who has authority, and not as the scribes and Pharisees,” which caused the indignation of the Jewish rabbis. In the days before the Passover, Jesus triumphantly entered Jerusalem, where the crowd greeted him with ritual shouts. The Sanhedrin held a trial against Jesus as a dangerous candidate for the role of king for the authorities. One of his students, Judas Iscariot, betrayed his teacher. Jesus was arrested and brought to the Roman governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate (26 - 66) to confirm the verdict of the Sanhedrin - scourging and crucifixion. On the third day after death, Jesus Christ rose from the dead, and on the fortieth day he ascended from the Mount of Olives into heaven in the presence of eleven disciples. Over the centuries, the image of Jesus Christ, “the greatest religious genius in the entire history of mankind” (E. Renan), and the New Testament stories, legends and motifs associated with him have been widely used in art and literature.
The word "bible" is of ancient Greek origin. In the language of the ancient Greeks, “byblos” meant “books”. In our time, we use this word to call one specific book, consisting of several dozen separate religious works. The Bible consists of two parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament (Gospel).
The Bible is divided into two parts of sacred texts - the Holy Scripture of the Old Testament (50 books) and the Holy Scripture of the New Testament (27 books). The Bible has a clear division: before and after the birth of Jesus Christ. Before birth it is the Old Testament, after birth it is the New Testament.
The Bible is a book containing the sacred writings of the Jewish and Christian religions. Christians believe that Jesus Christ announced a new Covenant, which is the fulfillment of the Covenant given in Revelation to Moses, but at the same time replaces it. Therefore, the books that tell about the activities of Jesus and his disciples are called the New Testament.
Gospel (Greek - “good news”) - a biography of Jesus Christ; books revered as sacred in Christianity that tell of the divine nature of Jesus Christ, his birth, life, miracles, death, resurrection and ascension. The Gospels are part of the books of the New Testament.
Prayer before reading the Holy Gospel.
(prayer after the 11th kathisma)
Shine in our hearts, O Master of Mankind, the imperishable light of Your God-understanding, and open our mental eyes, in Your Gospel sermons, understanding, put in us the fear of Your blessed commandments, so that carnal lusts, all straightened, we will go through spiritual life, all of which is for Your good pleasure. both wise and active. For You are the enlightenment of our souls and bodies, O Christ God, and we send up glory to You, with Your Originless Father, and Your Most Holy and Good, and Your Life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages, Amen.
“There are three ways to read a book,” writes one wise man, “you can read it in order to subject it to critical evaluation; you can read it, looking for pleasure in it for your feelings and imagination, and, finally, you can read it with your conscience. The first read to judge, the second to have fun, the third to improve. The Gospel, which has no equal among books, must first be read only with a simple mind and conscience. Read this way, it will make your conscience tremble on every page before goodness, before high, beautiful morality.”
When reading the Gospel, the bishop inspires. Ignatius (Brianchaninov), - do not seek pleasure, do not seek delight, do not seek brilliant thoughts: seek to see the infallibly holy Truth. Do not be content with one fruitless reading of the Gospel; try to fulfill his commandments, read his deeds. This is the book of life, and you must read it with your life.
Rule regarding reading the Word of God.
The reader of the book must do the following:
1) You should not read many sheets and pages, because someone who has read a lot cannot understand everything and keep it in memory.
2) It is not enough to read and think a lot about what is read, for this way what is read is better understood and deepened in memory, and our mind is enlightened.
3) See what is clear or unclear from what you read in the book. When you understand what you're reading, it's good; and when you don’t understand, leave it and continue reading. What is unclear will either be clarified by the next reading, or by repeating another reading, with God’s help, it will become clearer.
4) What the book teaches you to avoid, what it teaches you to seek and do, try to do it in action. Avoid evil and do good.
5) When you only sharpen your mind from a book, but do not correct your will, then from reading the book you will become worse than you were; learned and intelligent fools are more evil than simple ignoramuses.
6) Remember that it is better to love in a Christian way than to have a high understanding; It’s better to live beautifully than to say loudly: “reason boasts, but love creates.”
7) Whatever you yourself learn with God’s help, lovingly teach it to others on occasion, so that the seed sown grows and produces fruit.”
Bible: New Testament, Gospel.
The New Testament makes up the second part of the Christian Bible and is called the Gospel. New Testament, a collection of 27 Christian books (including 4 Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, 21 Epistles of the Apostles and the book of Revelation of John the Theologian (Apocalypse)), written in the 1st century. n. e. and which have come down to us in ancient Greek. The New Testament, giving information about the life and teachings of Christ in all His truth. God, through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, granted salvation to people - this is the main teaching of Christianity. Although only the first four books of the New Testament deal directly with the life of Jesus, each of the 27 books in its own way seeks to interpret the meaning of Jesus or show how his teachings apply to the lives of believers. The New Testament consists of books belonging to eight inspired writers: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter, Paul, James and Jude.
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The source from which Christians receive spiritual information about God, the earthly life of Jesus Christ, his disciples and the foundations of Christian teaching is the Bible (literally, from the Greek book). The Bible includes many books of the Old Testament (before the coming of Jesus Christ) and the New Testament (the life and teaching of Christ and his disciples-apostles). The Bible is a strictly canonical (canon with gr. norm, rule) book. Christians call it Holy Scripture because they believe that, although it was written by specific authors, it was inspired by God himself (through divine revelation). Texts similar in content that are not included in the Bible are considered apocryphal (from the gr. secret, forged).
The Old Testament is considered sacred by both Christianity and Judaism. For Christians, it contains 50 books written in the original Hebrew. Later they were translated to Greek language, then from Greek to Latin, Old Slavic and modern national languages. Christians include in the Old Testament and consider sacred much more books than the Jews (for example, some books of the prophets). There are also differences between Catholics, Orthodox Christians and Protestants regarding the Old Testament. The Bibles published by each of these Christian movements differ somewhat in composition and text. The Bible of Catholics and Orthodox Christians includes 11 non-canonical ones, and according to catholic church- canonical “second order” Old Testament books (Tobit, Judith, Maccabees, etc.). Protestants classify them as apocryphal. The fact is that the Hebrew original of these books has not survived.
New Testament- These are primarily the four Gospels written by the disciples of Jesus Christ. The first three - from Matthew, Mark and Luke - are very similar in content, the fourth - from John - differs both in plotline and style: obviously, it was written later (from memories, and not from direct impressions, as researchers believe) . There are many known non-canonical (apocryphal) Gospels that are not included in the Bible. During excavations and searches by scientists in Egypt and on the shores Dead Sea Whole libraries of such apocrypha have been found. Some of them do not contradict canonical texts and are not prohibited Christian churches. In addition to the four Gospels, the New Testament contains 23 more books. These are descriptions of the acts of the apostles and their doctrinal messages, as well as the most mysterious and scary book- “Revelation of John the Theologian” or “Apocalypse”.
Composition of the New Testament. The New Testament, as we already know, is the actual Christian part of the Bible. The New Testament includes 27 works, which, according to church tradition, were written by the apostles - disciples of Jesus. All these books can be divided into four parts I. The four Gospels, called by the names of the authors - the Gospel of Matthew, the Gospel of Mark, the Gospel of Luke, the Gospel of John. II. The book of the Acts of the Apostles, created, as is traditionally believed, by the Apostle Luke, who penned the third Gospel III. Twenty-one epistles of the apostles. Including fourteen epistles of the Apostle Paul, three of John, two of Peter, and one each written by the apostles James and Jude. IV. Apocalypse, or Revelation of John the Theologian.
Canon and Apocrypha. The works included in the New Testament are only part of the vast early Christian literature. Christian writers of the 2nd -3rd centuries. Along with the New Testament books, many other works of similar genres are mentioned and quoted. At that time, there were other Gospels (most of them were also called by the names of the apostles to whom they were attributed - “from Andrew”, “from Peter”, “from Thomas”, etc.) and other Acts (Acts of the Apostle Peter, The Acts of the Apostle Paul), and other epistles (for example, Paul's epistle to the Laodiceans), and other apocalypses (the apocalypses of Peter and Paul), as well as works written in other genres not found in the New Testament. Some of these works have reached us in their entirety, others only in fragments and quotations, and about others we only know that they existed.
Later, some of this literature was included in the New Testament, and some was rejected. Now it is no longer possible to establish exactly who, when, under what circumstances and according to what criteria made this section. Apparently, the New Testament canon was formed gradually over a long period of time. In the selection of works for him, the tradition of venerating individual books probably played a large role - some of them were revered by only a few communities, while others, on the contrary, were widespread. Even more important, apparently, was their content, since it often contradicted the emerging church dogma But rejecting certain works for such reasons, Christian theologians had to simultaneously declare them fraudulent - after all, the authorship of most of them was attributed to the disciples of Jesus Christ, and at that time it was no longer possible to openly oppose the apostolic words.
At the end of the 2nd - 3rd centuries. in different areas Roman Empire lists of works recognized by local Christian communities appeared, in which most of the New Testament is mentioned, as well as a number of works that were subsequently not included in it. The adoption of a single canon occurred soon after the recognition of Christianity as the state religion - the emperors needed a single church, and the existence of several significantly different lists of holy books - posed the threat of schism. According to the decision of the Council of Laodicea in 363, 26 books were included in the New Testament, to which the Apocalypse of John was added somewhat later. This composition was finally approved at the Council of Carthage in 419. However, disputes continued for a very long time regarding the Apocalypse, the authenticity of which even the Ecumenical Council in Constantinople in 680 was forced to confirm.
The works included in the New Testament were recognized by the church as canonical and inspired, and those rejected were called apocryphal (from the Greek “forged”). The Church treated the apocrypha differently, dividing them into “rejected” (i.e. prohibited) and permitted for reading (but not for worship). The first group included works containing points that differ significantly from the canonical books. They were considered heretical and subject to destruction. The second consisted of books that had no dogmatic differences with church teaching, but due to their late origin could not be recognized as canonical.
They, as a rule, complement the gospel tradition, telling, in particular, about the life of the mother of Jesus.
The Gospels are the most revered part of the New Testament by Christians. The word itself "Gospel" translated from Greek means "good news" The Gospels are, so to speak, earthly biographies of Jesus Christ and their content has already been briefly recounted at the beginning of the previous paragraph, since everything that is known about the earthly life of the founder of Christianity is known precisely from the Gospels. Other books of the New Testament, naturally, speak more than once about Jesus Christ and his teaching, but they do not provide any information about his stay on earth. The four canonical Gospels, unlike a number of other books of the Old Testament, are not continuations of each other. Each of them is an independent work, which fully describes the earthly life of Jesus Christ from His birth to His Ascension to Heaven. Therefore, their content is generally the same. In the different Gospels there are many individual phrases and even small passages that are repeated almost literally.
However, the contradictions between them
The weather forecasters and John. The first three Gospels are quite similar to each other and therefore received the name synoptic in literature (from the Greek “foreseeable”). The Fourth Gospel differs sharply from them: both in the description of the earthly life of Jesus Christ, and in the presentation of His religious ideas that He preached, and in the interpretation of his image. Thus, if in the first three books the action takes place mainly in Galilee and only at the very end is transferred to Jerusalem, then in John the main place of Jesus’ preaching activity turns out to be Judea and Jerusalem, and only relatively few of its episodes are connected with Galilee. The timing of this activity also varies. According to weather forecasters, all events associated with it take place throughout the year - they have Jesus coming to Jerusalem for Easter only once, they do not mention others. From what John reports, we can conclude that Jesus served for two or even three years, for at least three Passovers (and possibly four) are mentioned in the fourth Gospel. There are many episodes described by the weather forecasters that are missing from the fourth Gospel and vice versa. For example, John talks about eight miracles performed by Christ, two of which - walking on water and feeding five thousand people with several loaves - are known to weather forecasters, and the remaining six are John's personal contribution. Researchers have estimated that the original material makes up nine-tenths of the entire text of the fourth Gospel. But the point is not even the uniqueness of the information reported by John. He builds completely differently than the weather forecasters storyline. Therefore, even general episodes occupy a completely different place in John’s narrative than in the first three Gospels. For example, the episode in which Jesus expels the money changers and merchants from the temple is located closer to the final part of the narrative in all weather forecasters, but in John it is placed at the very beginning of the Gospel.
But the most significant difference between the Synoptic Gospels and the Gospel of John lies in the interpretation of the image of Jesus Christ. All four evangelists portray Jesus Christ as the God-man (as a man and the Son of God at the same time). But Matthew, Mark and Luke, to a greater extent than John, give him human features, while John, on the contrary, emphasizes His divine nature. He gives neither the genealogy of Jesus nor the story of His birth, probably in order not to draw attention to his human nature. John, as already noted, says nothing about the baptism of Jesus. He doesn’t even have a scene of temptation. Jesus in the desert described by all three weather forecasters. We must assume that, according to John, Jesus Christ, as a being of divine origin, did not need baptism, and being not subject to the Fall, deprived human passions and weaknesses - could not be subjected to the temptations of Satan.
John also discards the mention of Jesus' mental turmoil in the Garden of Gethsemane on the eve of his trial and execution. In the Synoptic Gospels, Jesus behaves at this moment exactly like a man, he “began to be horrified and sad,” and prayed to God to spare him. John has no such details. In him, Jesus behaves completely calmly. There are also many other differences between the three Synoptic Gospels and the Gospel of John.
The problem of dating and sources of the Gospels. According to church tradition, the Gospels are written chronologically in the order in which they appear in the New Testament. However, in the middle of the 19th century. a number of German liberal theologians, representatives of the so-called Tübingen school, proved that the first of the Synoptic Gospels was the Gospel of Mark. They noticed that this Gospel, the shortest of all, does not contain a number of stories and texts known from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. At the same time, all the stories of Mark are found in the other two Synoptic Gospels, or at least in one of them. This fact can only be explained by the fact that Matthew and Luke, when creating their works, used the Text of the Gospel of Mark or some original version of it that has not reached us, conventionally called the First Mark. It is believed that the authors of the first and third Gospels had at their disposal another source unknown to us, indicated in scientific literature letter O.
So, the earliest, according to the point of view now generally accepted in religious studies, is the Gospel of Mark. Of the other two synoptic Gospels, the Gospel of Matthew probably appeared somewhat earlier. It is more difficult to answer the question about the time of their creation. The most common opinion is that the Gospel of Mark was written in the 70s, and the Gospels of Matthew and Luke in the 80s and 90s, respectively. As for the fourth Gospel, most researchers consider it the latest composition of the entire New Testament and date it back to 100-120 AD. However, some, on the contrary, view the Gospel of John as the earliest of all the canonical Gospels. So the question of the time of creation and the relative chronology of the Gospels remains largely open.
Book of Acts of the Apostles. Yavlya is a continuation of the Gospels. It tells how after the Ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven, the apostles independently preached his teachings.
The first few chapters of Acts are devoted to describing a series of events in the life of the apostle-led Christian community in Jerusalem. Then appears in the book new character- a certain Saul, a Roman citizen and a devout Jew at the same time, he fanatically persecutes Christians, considering them a harmful sect. But one day, on the way to Damascus, Saul heard from heaven the voice of Jesus Christ himself, “saying to him: Saul, Saul! Why are you persecuting Me? (9:4), after which Saul from a zealous persecutor of Christianity turned into an even more zealous adherent. Under the name of Paul, he became the most active of all the apostles in preaching Christianity, and the rest of the story consists of a description of his numerous missionary travels to the cities of Asia Minor and Greece.
In some cases, his preaching was greeted with enthusiasm, in others - with skepticism, and sometimes even with hostility. Twice Paul was imprisoned. Moreover, for the second time, as a Roman citizen, he demanded a “Caesarean court,” that is, a trial at the court of the emperor. Paul was sent under guard to Rome, where he lived for two years awaiting trial, “preaching the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ... without restraint” (28:31). With these words, the book ends unexpectedly and the reader can only guess what happened next. From the apocryphal book of the Acts of the Apostle Paul it is known that he was subsequently executed, but nothing is said about this in the New Testament.
It is interesting that in the Acts of the Apostles Christianity is depicted as a religion that has not yet completely separated from Judaism. Thus, the Apostle Paul here gives an explanation to the Sanhedrin (the highest judicial-religious body that met in Jerusalem under the chairmanship of the high priest) regarding the teaching that he preached. Having preached primarily among the Jews in the beginning, Paul faces growing hostility in this environment and turns increasingly to the Gentiles. And at the end of the book, his words addressed to the Jews: “So let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles: they will hear” (28.28) - sounds like a declaration of the completeness of the break between Christianity and Judaism. When representatives of the Tübingen school established that two tendencies fought in early Christianity - one was aimed at maintaining a close connection with Judaism, and the other at turning Christianity into an independent religion - they associated them with the names of the apostles Peter and Paul. The first of them was called petrinism or Judeo-Christianity; second – Paulinism, or linguistic Christianity. As we have seen, the text of the book of the Acts of the Apostles undoubtedly provides grounds for connecting the latter tendency with the name of the Apostle Paul. So is the content of many of Paul's letters.
Epistles of the Apostles constitute the most large group books that rank second after the Gospels in terms of presentation Christian doctrine, morals and rituals. Epistles are a unique type of literature. They are essentially small religious and edifying works, which set out the views of their authors regarding certain aspects of Christian life. They appeared at a time when Christian dogma and rituals were just taking shape and on many issues there were the most different points points of view, whose representatives sought to prove they were right as much as possible more fellow believers. Therefore, the most active preachers not only delivered oral sermons (they were the main form of their missionary activity), but also wrote messages to those cities where they themselves could not go. These messages were then read at meetings of believers. Most of the New Testament epistles are similar “open letters.” Church tradition divides all messages into two parts: 1. Paul's letters, each addressed to Christians in specific cities (Romans, Thessalonians, Corinthians, Ephesians, Galatians, etc.), or to individuals (Timothy, Philemon, Titus). 2. Epistles that do not have addressees (the epistles of the apostles Peter, John, James and Jude), which are called conciliar, that is, addressed to the entire Christian world. But this is a rather arbitrary division, since some of the conciliar messages are of a purely private nature, and critical issues Dogmatics, ethics, and cult are considered precisely in the epistles of Paul, which had such a significant influence on the formation of Christian teaching that its author is sometimes called the second founder of Christianity. Among doctrinal issues, Paul, in particular, touches on the problem of the second coming of Jesus Christ. The first Christians were so captivated by the expectation of the appearance of a savior in the very near future that they sometimes left all earthly places. This state of affairs, naturally, could not last long, and the Apostle Paul in his Second Epistle to the Thessalonians explains that he is delaying the second coming and “transfers” it to an uncertain future. In the First Epistle to the Corinthians, Paul also addresses the issue of the coming resurrection of the dead, around which there was long controversy in early Christianity. As can be seen from the message itself, there were doubters in the Corinthian community. Paul ardently convinces them of the possibility of the resurrection from the dead and, as an argument, gives the example of a grain that, when germinating, seems to acquire a new body. In the same way, at the resurrection a person can receive a new body from God (15: 35-38).
The original texts of the New Testament, which appeared at different times, starting from the middle of the 1st century AD. e. at the end of the 1st century AD, were written on Greek Koine, which was considered the common language of the eastern Mediterranean in the first centuries AD. Gradually formed during the first centuries of Christianity, the canon of the New Testament now consists of 27 books - four Gospels describing the life and preaching of Jesus Christ, the book of the Acts of the Apostles, which is a continuation of the Gospel of Luke, twenty-one letters of the apostles, as well as the book of Revelation of John the Theologian (Apocalypse)
Original Christianity spoke the language of the society from which it emerged. At the time of Jesus Christ, the most common languages in the Holy Land were Greek (Koine), Aramaic, and to a limited extent Hebrew, which was used primarily as a language of worship. Most researchers believe that the original texts of the New Testament were written in the Koine Greek dialect, which was widespread in the provinces of the Roman Empire in the Eastern Mediterranean in the 1st century AD. Later the texts were probably translated from Greek into other languages (Latin, Syriac, Coptic). It has been suggested, including by some of the Church Fathers of the 2nd and 3rd centuries, that the Gospel of Matthew was originally created in Hebrew or Aramaic, and the Epistle to the Hebrews was originally written in Hebrew and then translated into Greek by Evangelist Lukoin. However, such assumptions have not found serious support among modern experts, who, based on the literary aspects of the texts of Matthew and the Epistle to the Hebrews, come to the conclusion that these works were also directly created in Koine.
The traditional attribution of the Gospel texts to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John was carried out in the 2nd century, and in the 18th century the reliability of information about authorship was questioned. At the Second Vatican Council, when discussing the “Constitution on Revelation” (Dei Verbum), the clause “God’s church has always maintained and maintains that the authors of the Gospels are those whose names are named in the canon of sacred books, namely: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John” was rejected. . Instead of listing these names, they decided to write in “holy authors”
Gospels Some argue that all the Gospels (and Acts) are anonymous texts and the authors of these texts are unknown, although it is generally accepted that they were written by specific people. Indeed, the books themselves do not indicate authorship anywhere, except Gospel of John, where the anonymous author calls himself "Jesus' beloved disciple" and claims to have been a member of Jesus' inner circle. There is general agreement among scholars that the three authors who wrote the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) relied on common sources. This is because the Gospel of Mark was written first and that the anonymous authors of Matthew and Luke relied on Mark and the hypothetical Source Q. Scholars agree that the Gospel of John was written last, using various traditions and paraphrases. Additionally, most scholars agree that the author Luke also wrote the Acts of the Apostles.
Matthew According to some researchers, the Gospel of Matthew was written by eyewitnesses. The author was probably a Jewish Christian and was writing for other Jewish Christians. Biblical scholars generally believe that the Gospel of Matthew was composed between 70 and 100 AD. And, although manuscripts of that time most likely have not reached us, an idea of its content is given by parallels, allusions and verbatim quotes in the epistles of Ignatius the God-Bearer of Smyrna to Polycarp, in the epistle of the Apostle Barnabas, Didache, "Shepherd" Hermas
John According to most scholars, the Apostle John was not the author of the Gospel of John. Most researchers believe that the Gospel of John was written in 80-95 AD. These texts have not reached us. The manuscripts that have reached us from that time contain only a few words per line.
Luke Some scholars believe that Luke was not a companion of Paul and refer to the facts that the Acts and letters of Paul in a number of places do not agree well with each other, and also to the fact that in the Epistle to the Galatians Paul mentions that of the apostles he saw only Peter and James, the brother of the Lord ( Gal. 1:18-19), thus denying Luke and other possible companions as apostles. But some scholars believe that the Evangelist Luke was an associate of the Apostle Paul. Formation
The earliest of the texts of the New Testament are considered to be the epistles of the Apostle Paul, and the latest are the works of John the Theologian. Irenaeus of Lyons believed that the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Mark were written at the time when the apostles Peter and Paul preached in Rome (60s AD), and the Gospel of Luke a little later. In addition, according to Jerome: “Matthew... was the first in Judea to compose the Gospel of Christ in Hebrew letters and words for those who believed from circumcision; who then translated it into Greek is not well known.”
The first three Gospels in modern scientific literature date back to 70 - 90 years. AD, Gospel of John - beginning of the 2nd century. AD The creation of other New Testament works, despite the complexity of dating, should be attributed to the 1st century. AD In addition to the four Gospels, the early Christians also had other Gospels in circulation, which later became known as “apocryphal” (Greek: “secret”). The final list of books was approved at the Carthage Church Council in 419.
Forecasters
The Synoptic Gospels (ancient Greek συνοπτικός, lit. “co-observer” from σύν, “together” and ὄψις, “vision, visual perception”) are the first three books of the New Testament (the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke). In their content, the Synoptic Gospels largely overlap and repeat each other. The fourth Gospel of John differs in style and content from the synoptic ones. The three evangelists Mark, Matthew and Luke are called weather forecasters.
The title has been in use since the 18th century, when Johann Jacob Griesbach published the three Gospels in 1776 as Synopsis, parallel columns.
There are several theories about the connection between the synoptic gospels, in particular the theory of Source Q.
Main contentNew Testament.
God gave people the promised Savior, His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, Who gave the New Testament ( new agreement, union) people.
The books of the New Testament are divided into:
The books are legal. These are 4 Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. The Gospels tell about the Nativity of Jesus Christ, His earthly life, death on the cross, resurrection from the dead and ascension into Heaven, and sets out His divine teaching and miracles.
History books. There is only one book here called “The Acts of the Holy Apostles.” Acts was written by the apostle and evangelist Luke. The book reports on the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles and the spread of the Christian Church.
Teaching books. These are the seven epistles of the apostles (letters to all Christians) and the 14 epistles of the Apostle Paul.
Prophetic books. Apocalypse or Revelation of John the Theologian. The book contains a mysterious image of life and future destiny Church of Christ and the whole world.
The books of the New Testament were written by the apostles, disciples of Christ. Once in Galilee, the evangelists report, Christ chose twelve of his disciples and called them apostles, that is, messengers, since He sent them to preach His teachings.
The names of the twelve apostles are as follows:
Nathanael, son of Tholomew and therefore called Bartholomew.
Thomas, also called Didymus, which means twin.
Matthew, otherwise Levi, a former publican.
Jacob, son of Alpheus, called the lesser, in contrast to Jacob of Zebedee.
Simon, nicknamed Zealot, otherwise Zealot, which means zealot.
Judah Jacob, he also bore the names of Leveus and Thaddeus.
Judas Iscariot (from the city of Kariota), who later betrayed Jesus Christ.
Simon, whom Christ called Peter.
Andrew, brother of Simon Peter, called the First Called.
Jacob Zebedee.
John Zebedee, brother of James, called the Theologian. These two brothers, James and John, for their fiery loyalty, the Savior called Boanerges, which means sons of thunder.
The Lord gave the apostles the power to heal the sick, cast out demons and raise the dead.
In addition to these 12 main apostles, Jesus Christ later chose seventy more apostles, Mark, Luke, Cleopas and others. He also sent them to preach.
The New Testament consists of 27 works, of which 21 are letters. The original is only in Greek, i.e. these are copies of copies. Manuscripts (Latin for “handwritten”) were written by scribes who copied the manuscripts. They could distort, add, throw out part of the text, etc.
The letters included in the New Testament were written by scribes under the dictation of Paul, the former ardent Jew Saul. The originals have not survived, only copies, separated by 150 years from the original. There was friction between Paul and James because... Paul abolished circumcision for non-Jews. The abolition of circumcision contributed to the rapid spread of Paulinianism (or, as we are told, Christianity). Paul began in Antioch. New adherents appeared slowly and the communities were very small. Then Paul carried Paulenism to Galatia (a region in the territory of modern Turkey) to Athens and Corinth. In Corinth they began to listen to him better, because... this port city, famous for its harlots, i.e. the spiritless city and those who had no faith became the first listeners.
James, the brother of Jesus, 30 years after the death of Jesus, led a new community of followers (Nazarenes) of Jesus of Nazarene, but continued to pray in the temple, i.e. was a devout Jew, which did not contradict the cult of the temple, because Jesus was a new manifestation of the old faith and was a respected man among the Pharisees and Jews. But later he was condemned by the priests of the temple, expelled from Jerusalem and stoned, and the Nazarenes became persecuted and disappeared over time and the teachings of Jesus were replaced by Paulineism (Christianity). With the advent of papyrus, Christianity gained momentum.
Gospel
All the Gospels are anonymous, and contemporaries have already attributed authorship to them!
Gospel of Mark
Mark is not an apostle, as can be seen from his confusion about the geography of the area (says Professor Jeremy Ofiokonar). For example, if you walk along the coast from Tire to Sedona, then go to the lake, you cannot pass through the territory of the Decapolis, because he was on the other side of the lake, etc. Many early copies of Mark end with 16:8, there are copies where the text is until 16:20. And in the most ancient gospel of Mark, “the women ran from the tomb and said nothing to anyone” and that’s all! Nothing is said about the resurrection of Jesus! (says Professor Bart Ehrman, University of North Carolina) That is. Someone wrote the end and now it’s in the modern Bible. Even in the oldest Bible of Sinai.
Gospel of Luke
Luke is not an apostle, but he wrote the Gospel, although did not witness the events which is what he admits: “As many have already begun to compose narratives about events that are completely known among us” (Luke 1:1). Luke gives his interpretation. He devotes time in scripture to non-Jews, which is what the church needed, because... everything before that was written by Jews and for Jews. Luke also wrote Acts of the Apostles.
Gospel of Matthew
Well, Matthew, unlike Mark and Luke, is an apostle, but scientists, having analyzed the text, prove that Matthew, like Luke, borrows part of the text from Mark, although Luke also borrows from an unknown source. Why would Apostle Matthew borrow from a non-apostle? Most likely it was not written by the Apostle Matthew, because... “Jesus saw a man named Matthew sitting at the toll booth, and said to him, “Follow Me.” And he stood up and followed Him.” (Matthew 9:9). Those. Jesus called Matthew in chapter 9, and before that Matthew did not know about the events, who wrote chapters 1 to 8?
Gospel of John
John - an illiterate fisherman(Acts of the Apostles, chapter 4) spoke in Aramaic, but managed to write in Greek an impeccably structured poetic work in which it is clear that the scribe thought a lot about Jesus and his theological significance. For a simple fisherman this is very illogical. And John himself is never mentioned in the Gospel. The last verse of the Gospel of John has been completed What scientists discovered by photographing the Sinai Bible in ultraviolet rays.
Letter of Jacob
Jacob's letter is addressed to the tribes of Israel in Rasenia.
