Handbook:New Testament
From Door43
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| Article Sources: | Easton's Bible Dictionary |
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There was a period of about 400 years that passed between the end of the events in the Old Testament and the birth of Jesus Christ, which is the beginning of the New Testament. Nothing in the Bible covers these years, but there is information about this time in other places.
The New Testament begins by telling about the life of Jesus and continues with a number of letters written by His followers, ending with a prophecy about the end of time. It contains 27 books.
The first five books are historical, in that they tell of the life of Christ and about the beginning of the church. The first four of these are called the Gospels. Each one is the life of Christ as told by a different person. They are: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. These are followed by the book of Acts (or Acts of the Apostles), which tells about the events following Christ's return to heaven, how the church began and how it spread to all the known world of that time.
The next 21 books of the New Testament are letters from various people, most of them written to churches in different places. They teach very much about how a Christian should live. These include:
Romans which was written by Paul to the church in Rome,
1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians which were written by Paul to the church in Corinth,
Galatians which was written by Paul to the church in Galatia,
Ephesians which was written by Paul to the church in Ephesus,
Philippians which was written by Paul to the church in Philippi,
Colossians which was written by Paul and Timothy to the church in Colosse,
1 Thessalonians and 2 Thessalonians, which were written by Paul to the church in Thessalonica,
1 Timothy and 2 Timothy, which were written by Paul to coach the young pastor Timothy,
Titus which was written by Paul to encourage a young Christian leader named Titus,
Philemon which was written by Paul to Philemon encouraging him to accept his runaway slave who had become a believer,
Hebrews written by an unknown author to the scattered Jewish believers,
James which was written by James to the scattered Jewish believers,
1 Peter and 2 Peter which were written by Peter to the scattered believers,
1 John, 2 John and 3 John which were written by John the beloved disciple to different believers.
The last book of the New Testament is unique in that it is a revelation by Jesus Christ to the apostle John about the events of the end of the world. John wrote these down, and the book is called The Revelation of Jesus Christ.
