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The Context: The New TestamentContents of the New Testament
Whereas each Old Testament book can be very lengthy and consist of multiple literary genres all within one book, the New Testament books are much shorter and follow a consistent literary genre. The New Testament contains only three different literary genres 1) Historical Biography; 2) Epistle, and 3) Apocalyptic literature. Historical BiographiesThe first four books are called the gospels, and they tell of the words and deeds of Jesus. The word “gospel” means “good news,” for they proclaim the good news of Christ's life and death and resurrection. The fifth book, Acts, recounts the history of the early church and especially the words and deeds of the apostle Paul as he spreads the gospel throughout his journeys. While often the gospel and Acts are considered separate literary genres, the style of the gospels and Acts is very similar. The Epistles
The epistles are letters written by the early apostles to churches and individuals. Most of the epistles were written by the apostle Paul to churches he founded or was going to soon visit. For these “Pauline Epistles”, the name of the book tells us the recipient of the letter. For the rest of the epistles (known as the “General” epistles) the name of the book tells us the sender of the letter. Most of these letters were written to address specific issues faced by the recipient. As such, the content of the epistles are fairly unique and narrow in focus and are not exhaustive treatises on theological topics. When studying the epistles, determining the occasion for which each letter was written becomes a key to understanding the book. Nonetheless, there are a few themes which are repeated throughout the epistles. Paul is particularly concerned with the unity of the church and potential split between Jewish and Gentile Christians. His letters repeatedly speak to living in harmony and reminding his readers that the Gentile Christians are not required to obey the Old Testament law. The General epistles focus more on the problem of heresy and the need for the church to be on guard against false teaching. The Apocalyptic LiteratureThe New Testament closes with a very unique book. The Revelation of Jesus Christ is an apocalyptic book, describing a vision seen by the apostle John. The vision is highly symbolic and focuses on the victorious return of Jesus Christ at the end of this age. While Revelation is the only apocalyptic book in the New Testament, this was a popular genre in the first century. The Essenes wrote numerous apocalyptic books describing the coming of the Messiah in symbolic terms. Next: Part II - The Background: Judasim & the Roman Empire
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The Old Testament contains 39 books which were written by dozens of authors over the course of over one thousand years. In contrast, the New Testament contains 27 which were written by only 9 different authors over maybe 50-60 years. Three of those authors wrote nearly 75% of the total content of the New Testament. The apostle Paul himself wrote over one-third of the New Testament.