MODULE 1: BACKGROUND, OVERVIEW, AND CANON OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
A. INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the unit, the students will be able to:
Trace how the New Testament achieved its written form.
Enumerate and classify the books in the New Testament.
Summarize the content of each book or epistle.
B. CLASS ACTIVITY
a. BRIEF ORIENTATION OF THE SUBJECT.
i. RS 102 – New Testament Messages deals mainly with the following:
1. The life, ministry, death, passion, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
2. The proclamation of Jesus Christ, especially the Kingdom of God.
3. The fundamental and significant values and lessons Jesus taught.
ii. Requirements:
1. All students need to have a copy of the New Testament. Bible apps are downloadable
for free. The recommended bible version is the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).
2. Students are expected to comply with the requirements.
b. THE CANON OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
Introduction:
We must bear in mind that Jesus Christ never wrote a book. However, many books were written
to speak about Jesus Christ. There are four accounts referred to as the Gospel that tells of the life,
ministry, passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus. These are the following:
a. Matthew
b. Mark
c. Luke
d. John
The Gospel of Jesus Christ, according to Luke, is continued in the Book of Acts of the Apostles.
The Book of Acts of the Apostles is classified as history since it narrates the early beginnings of the
Christian church and the spread of the Christian faith to various parts of the Roman Empire.
Apostle Paul wrote 9 letters addressed to Christian Churches and 4 letters addressed to
individuals. These 13 letters are classified as Pauline Letters or epistles. These are the following:
a. Pauline letters addressed to churches:
a. Romans
b. 1st Corinthians
c. 2nd Corinthians
d. Galatians
e. Ephesians
f. Philippians
g. Colossian
h. 1st Thessalonians
i. 2nd Thessalonians
b. Pauline Letters addressed to individuals:
a. 1st Timothy
b. 2nd Timothy
c. Titus
d. Philemon
The 13 letters of Paul are followed by the books classified as General or Universal
Epistles/Letters. These letters are not addressed to specific Christian Churches or persons. The letters
are addressed to all Christians who faced various circumstances during the New Testament times. This
classification of books includes the following:
a. Hebrews
b. James
c. 1st Peter
d. 2nd Peter
e. 1st John
f. 2nd John
g. 3rd John
h. Jude
The last book in the New Testament is Revelation. Some scholars classify this book as one of
the epistles as it is addressed to the seven churches in Asia. However, because it uses signs and symbols
to convey the message many scholars classify Revelation as apocalyptic.
With this, we could say that the first four books classified as Gospel set forth the life of Christ.
The remaining 23 books which are composed of the book of Acts, the 13 letters of Paul, the 8 General or
Universal Epistles, and Revelation set forth the doctrinal interpretations of Jesus’ life, practical
implications for daily living and service, and eternal hope which Christ offers.
Assignment/Class Work: Give a minimum of 3 descriptions for each book
Gospel:
1. Matthew
2. Mark
3. Luke
4. John
History:
1. Acts of the Apostles
Pauline Letters/Epistles
1. Romans
2. 1st Corinthians
3. 2nd Corinthians
4. Galatians
5. Ephesians
6. Philippians
7. Colossians
8. 1st Thessalonians
9. 2nd Thessalonians
10. 1st Timothy
11. 2nd Timothy
12. Titus
13. Philemon
General Epistles
1. Hebrews
2. James
3. 1st Peter
4. 2nd Peter
5. 1st John
6. 2nd John
7. 3rd John
8. Jude
Apocalyptic
1. Revelation
ORIGIN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
The Oral Period:
The New Testament was only written around 60 to 100 years after the death of Jesus.
The written scripture the Apostles used in their proclamation was the TANAK. TANAK is
an acronym that stands for Torah, Naviim (Prophets) and Ketovim (writings). The TANAK
is what Christians refer to as the Old Testament. The basis for proclaiming the teachings
of Jesus on the other hand is the Apostles’ personal experiences of Jesus. In short, the
two sources used to convince the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah are the following:
1. The witness of their personal experiences, including what they had seen
Jesus do.
2. The Old Testament Scriptures/TANAK. Isaiah 40 predicted the suffering
and death of Jesus Christ.
The early Christians did not feel the need to put Jesus’ teachings into writing because of
the following:
1. They expected an early return of Christ; therefore, they spent their time
proclaiming the Gospel rather than sitting down to write.
2. They prefer to speak personally rather than write.
3. The disciples of Jesus were chosen from the non-literary segment of society.
4. In the Jewish culture, the teachings of the rabbis were preserved orally.
5. The apostles who were eyewitnesses of Jesus were still available.
The Oral Method of teaching and transmitting the lessons Jesus taught possibly lasted
for about 30 years. It is also important to note that writing materials then were
expensive and possibly difficult to find. Writing and copying everything by hand was also
slow.
THE ORIGIN OF THE WRITINGS
After a long period of using the oral tradition method, the early Christians felt
the need to put the teachings of Jesus into writing. The two events that emphasized the
need for written accounts are the following:
1. The death of the Apostles. Their deaths threatened to destroy the source of
authentic preaching.
2. The spreading of the Gospel to the Gentiles (those who are not Jews). The
gentiles do not have an Old Testament or TANAK.
OTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE NEW TESTAMENT
Unlike the Old Testament which was written in Hebrew, the New Testament was
originally written in Greek, specifically “Koine Greek." The word “koine” means
common. This is the Greek of ordinary people who were just forced to speak Greek
because of colonization. This shows that the New Testament was put into writing by
ordinary people. The language used in the New Testament is one of the influences of
Alexander the Great who dreamed of a world that is united under one culture,
specifically Greek Culture. Thus he started the process of Hellenization (from the word
“Hellene” which is the old name of Greece) or the process of spreading the Greek
culture to all nations he conquered.
The writing and compilation of the New Testament Books lasted for almost a
hundred years. At present, there are 27 canonical books included in the New Testament.
This does not mean that there were only 27 books written at that time. There were
more than 27 but only those that were compiled passed the Canon. The word canon
means a “standard, rule, or criteria.” The criteria for choosing the new Testament Books
include the following:
1. Acceptance and usage by the orthodox congregations or by the early
Christian Church. This means that the book or books were widely used in
the early date in various parts of the Roman Empire.
2. Doctrinal consistency – the writing must be consistent with the teachings of
the early church. Any content in the writing that runs counter to what the
church is already teaching is deemed heretical.
3. Apostolic Origin – the writing must be associated with any of the Apostles
of Jesus who were eyewitnesses to the actual event. An example of this is
Mark. Mark is believed to be the writer of the Gospel according to Mark. He
is not an eyewitness to the thing Jesus did. However, he is a close associate
of Peter who is one of the Apostles.
4. Inspiration – This is the ultimate test for the canonization process. The book
or writing should give evidence that it is divinely inspired and authoritative.
HOME STUDY EXERCISE/QUIZ 1:
1. New Testament Books classified as Gospel:
__________________________________________ ___________________________________________
__________________________________________ ___________________________________________
2. New Testament Books classified as Pauline Epistles that are addressed to Churches:
____________________________ ________________________ __________________________
____________________________ ________________________ __________________________
____________________________ ________________________ __________________________
3. A word that means criteria or standard. _________________________________
4. Book in the New Testament classified as Apocalyptic. __________________________
5. The oral period of transmission of the New Testament messages lasted for about _______________ years.
6. The language in which the New Testament was originally written. _________________________
7. The main character in the New Testament. ____________________________
8. The two events that pushed the early Christians to put the teachings of Jesus into writing.
a. ___________________________________________________________
b. ___________________________________________________________
