Transcript How We Got the Bible - Glenpool Church of Christ

How We Got the Bible
The Writing of the New Testament
General Outline
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Early Gospel Sources
The Writing of the New Testament
The Dissemination of the New Testament
The New Testament Canon
Conclusions from Last Week
• Oral teaching predates the Gospels.
• The Gospels made use of various sources,
including their own memories and the
memories of others.
• The Gospels are reliable, especially if we
know what to expect from them.
• The Gospels probably date to the years
between 45-65 AD, with the possibility of
John’s being later near 90 AD.
Historical Framework
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30 AD – Death of Jesus
46 AD – Paul Begins Missions
54 AD – Nero Becomes Emperor
60 AD – Rome Burns
66 AD – Jewish Revolt Begins
67 AD – Paul Martyred
70 AD – Destruction of Jerusalem
81 AD – Domitian Becomes Emperor
Schools of Thought
Late Dates
• Kummel argues that the New Testament
writings sound like later Christians explaining
their faith rather than eye witnesses
reporting what they saw.
• Paul’s Letters: AD 50-100
• Synoptics: AD 70-100
• John: AD 90-100
Schools of Thought
Early Dates
• William Albright: “We can already say
emphatically that there is no longer any solid
basis for dating any book of the New
Testament after about AD 80, two full
generations before the between 130 and 150
given by more radical New Testament critics
of today.”
Schools of Thought
Really Early Dates (Pre-70 AD)
• Robinson: “There is nothing, I believe, in the
theology of the gospels or Acts or in the
organization of the church there depicted
that requires a longer span, which was
already long enough, if we are right, for the
creation of the whole Pauline corpus,
including the Pastoral Epistles.”
Schools of Thought
Typical Early Date Chart
• Paul’s Letters: AD 50-66
• Synoptics: AD 50-65 or 70-80
• John: AD 80-100
James
James (47-48 AD)
• Of the three or four notable “James” in the
Bible, the brother of Jesus is thought to be
the author of this book.
• James, the brother of Jesus, is put to death
in AD 62.
• The Jewish style of teaching and the topics
suggest that the book is written to a
primarily Hebrew church (see James 1:1).
Hebrews
• Hebrews is not a letter so much as a sermon
prepared for a congregation.
• Suggested authors for the text include: Paul,
Apollos, Barnabas, and almost anyone else.
• A common suggestion is that this is written
to Christians in Italy who had been expelled
from Rome under Claudius (Acts 18:1-3;
compare Hebrews 10:32-34; 13:24).
• This would put the book in AD 49, though
others put it later under Nero.
Pauline Epistles
1 & 2 Thessalonians (50-51 AD)
• 1 Thessalonians deals with concerns over
what happens “next,” issues of death,
resurrection, and the return of Christ.
• 2 Thessalonians shows that those concerns
persisted, as they are discussed again with
added emphasis on how the church should
function until Christ returns.
Pauline Epistles
1 & 2 Corinthians (55-56 AD)
• 1 Corinthians deals with the worldly
influences that thrived in the church at
Corinth.
• 2 Corinthians deals with the ramifications of
the previous epistle and contains instruction
dealing with false apostles.
Pauline Epistles
• Galatians (56 AD) deals with role of the
gospel story in a world that had previously
only known the Hebrew Scriptures.
• Romans (57 AD) is a masterpiece discussing
how the story of the gospel relates to the
now very diverse church that included Jews
and Gentiles.
Prison Epistles
• The “Prison Epistles” were all written during
one of Paul’s various imprisonments. They
include the books of Ephesians, Philippians,
Colossians, and the short epistle of
Philemon.
• The date of the writing of these epistles,
while uncertain, falls within a five year
window when Paul was imprisoned either at
Caesarea (57-59 AD) or Rome (60-62 AD).
Prison Epistles
Ephesians & Colossians
• Both the books of Colossians and Ephesians
were delivered by the same man, Tychicus
(Ephesians 6:21-22; Colossians 4:7-8).
• Ephesians is longer and more general.
Colossians is shorter and more specific.
• Ephesians emphasizes the church of the
Christ. Colossians emphasizes the Christ of
the church.
Prison Epistles
• Philippians uses Paul’s circumstances in a
Roman prison to be a launching point for a
sermon about spiritual maturity. The book
seems to be a very mild rebuke of Euodia
and Syntyche (ch. 4:2).
• Philemon is a personal letter from Paul to
the owner of a run away slave who is now a
Christian.
Pauline Epistles
• 1 Timothy (55 AD) & Titus (57 AD) contain
technical instructions for young preachers
helping to maintain order in a local
congregation.
• 2 Timothy (58 AD) is a more personal and
affectionate discussion of the work of
preaching and “passing of the torch” to the
next generation of evangelists.
Petrine Epistles & Jude
1 & 2 Peter (60-65 AD)
• Both are written by Peter to a church facing
severe persecution.
• Both texts make frequent use of OT Scripture
and are written to a heavily Hebrew church
(see 1 Peter 1:1).
• Jude has heavy parallels in content to 2 Peter
and may have been written near the same
time.
Revelation & John’s Epistles
Revelation
• If reflecting on Roman persecution and God’s
judgment of Rome, then 80-90’s AD.
• If reflecting on Jewish persecution and God’s
judgment of Jerusalem, then late 60’s AD.
• Typically, wherever one dates Revelation,
then John’s Gospel and Epistles are placed in
that same period.
Revelation & John’s Epistles
• Revelation discusses the persecution of the
church and paints prophetic, metaphorical
images of the judgment of God and the
churches victory.
• 1 John is like the doctrinal significance of the
John’s Gospel distilled into a small text.
• 2 & 3 John are personal epistles that were
sent to encourage and exhort the early
church.
Conclusions
• The writing of the New Testament comes
from a variety of authors, contexts, and
episodes that fit within the middle of the
first century.
• The books comprise a snapshot of the early
church wrestling with difficult issues.
• It stands alone as the definitive picture of
the identity and function of the church.