New Testament 1 Lecture by Professor Adam Mabry

Course Structure

• New Testament 1: Focus on the histories - Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts
• New Testament 2: Focus on the letters
• New Testament 3: Deep dive into the book of Romans
• Objective: To study New Testament's breadth and depth, enhancing biblical preaching, apostolic leadership, world missionary work, and disciple-making.

What is the New Testament?

• Part of the Bible: 27 books out of 66 in the Bible
• Documents: Written in Koine Greek, derived from manuscripts from antiquity
• Accuracy: Approximately 99.5% consistency across over 5,000 manuscripts
• Language: Koine Greek was the common language during Roman times due to Greek influence under Alexander the Great

Importance of the New Testament

• Covenant: Testament refers to a covenant partnership between God and his people
• New Testament: Continuation of God's covenant through Jesus Christ, called 'Novum Testamentum' in Latin, translating to 'New Covenant'
• Books: Not worshipped themselves, but testify to the covenant

Books of the New Testament

• List to Memorize: Matthew to Revelation
• Divided Into Categories: Histories (Gospels and Acts), Letters, and Revelation
• Timeframe: Written between approx. 50-90 A.D.

Literary Genres

• Gospels: Historical biographical accounts of Jesus
  • Focus: Life, death, resurrection of Jesus
  • One Gospel: Four accounts (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John)
• Epistles: Letters, studied in New Testament 2
• Revelation: Apocalyptic literature

What the New Testament is Not

• Misconceptions: Not manipulative, not esoteric, not merely a spiritual guidebook
• Focus: About Jesus and his early followers

Approach to Studying the New Testament

• History and Theology: Two angles, mutually dependent
• Reading Method: Understand within literary context, history, and theology
• N.T. Wright's Quote: Emphasizes understanding stories in context
• Narrative Historical Approach: Contextual understanding
• Biblical Theological Approach: Relate to the whole Bible
• Redemptive History: Unified biblical story focused on Jesus

Goals

• To prepare students as effective preachers, leaders, missionaries, and disciple-makers
• Emphasis on Context: Both specific (literal) and broad (canonical) understanding of texts