Introducing the New Testament Books

By Paul D. Weaver

Many introductions to the New Testament are either too simple, not providing all the necessary information, or overly complicated and written at a level out of the reach of an average person with no seminary training. This work is neither. The author is thorough, (providing over 200 footnotes), but at a level that is understandable, and in a concise manner.

In this work Weaver discusses issues of:

authorship
date
location of writing
recipients
purpose
book message

He also addresses more challenging subjects, such as:

the synoptic "problem"
the ending of the Gospel of Mark
the northern and southern Galatia theories
the genre of Hebrews
the slavific status of the readers of Hebrews
justification in the epistle of James
interpretive approaches to the book of 1 John
interpretive approaches to the book of Revelation

Weaver provides important background information concerning the following biblical cities:

Corinth
Ephesus
Philippi
Colossae
Thessalonica

For those who are visual learners, a plethora of charts are provided including:

The Seven Signs in John's Gospel
The Messianic Prophecies of Matthew's Gospel
Paul's Interactions with the Corinthian Church
Paul's Roman Imprisonments Contrasted
"these things" clauses in 1 John
Literature of the New Testament Books
The Writers of the New Testament
and Chronology of the New Testament

Also included is a link to a FREE online course by the author to complement the book (the first half is already available, the remainder to be completed shortly). This course is also entitled, "Introducing the New Testament Books"

In this volume, the author demonstrates that he is passionate about providing high quality resources at an affordable price within the reach of everyone serious about studying God's Word.

Get your copy today!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Paul D. Weaver
• Release date: Apr 4, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310571060

Paul D. Weaver

Paul D. Weaver, originally hailing from Columbus, IN is the Director as well as a Professor of Bible and Theology at the Word of Life Bible Institute in Tóalmás, Hungary. He is a graduate of Appalachian Bible College (B.A., Theology), Dallas Theological Seminary (Th.M., Bible Exposition) and is currently working on his doctorate at Baptist Bible Seminary (Ph.D., Biblical Studies). Prior to becoming the Director, he served 4 years as the Academic Dean. He has taught the New Testament at a college level for 11 years. He has contributed articles to the "Popular Encyclopedia of Church History" as well as "The Journal of Ministry and Theology." He is the author of "Introducing the New Testament Books," and is presently editor for an upcoming book in the same series: "Surveying the New Testament Books," which is to be released in 2015.

Book preview

COPYRIGHT INFORMATION

INTRODUCING THE NEW TESTAMENT BOOKS: A THOROUGH BUT CONCISE INTRODUCTION FOR ACCURATE INTERPRETATION

Copyright © 2015 by Paul D. Weaver.

All rights reserved.  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means – electronic, mechanical, photographic (photocopying), recording, or otherwise – without prior permission in writing from the author.

Introducing the New Testament Books video series, produced by the author to complement this book, is available as a free resource on youtube: Video Series.

The author can be reached at: [e-mail]

For information visit: www.weaverwebpage.org

Cover picture is of the Parthenon in Athens, Greece.

Cover designed by Szalontai Loránd

First Edition: January 2015

Unless otherwise indicated all Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Matthew

Mark

Luke

John

Acts

Romans

1 Corinthians

2 Corinthians

Galatians

Ephesians

Philippians

Colossians

1 Thessalonians

2 Thessalonians

1 Timothy

2 Timothy

Titus

Philemon

Hebrews

James

1 Peter

2 Peter

1 John

2 John

3 John

Jude

Revelation

Charts

Bibliography

Free Bible Study Resources

About WOLH Bible Institute

About the Next Volume

About the Author

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My sincere thanks to Ruby Peterson and Debbie Greer for their laborious efforts proof reading this text with great care and enthusiasm, to Szalontai Loránd for his time invested designing the attractive cover, as well as to Csikós Gábor (WOL Hungary Director), Alex Konya (WOL European Director), and Kris Stout (WOL International Missions Director) for their encouragement and kind backing of this project.

Most importantly, I am thankful for my loving wife, who has been incredibly supportive. She never once complained despite my incessant talk about this task, my exorbitant investment of time in the study, or the significant sacrifice she made, so that I could focus on this book. She is my greatest encourager. I indeed found a great treasure in her that I do not deserve! The man who finds a wife finds a treasure, and he receives favor from the LORD (Prov. 18:22). [1]

INTRODUCTION

Scripture is a divinely inspired revelation of an infinite God to finite sinful man. It is unique in its content, exceptional in its character, and accurate in its claims. It is the conviction of this writer that the Scriptures were written by men of God, who were inspired by the Spirit of God, to record the words of God, in such a way that we can understand it! This conviction embraces the Divine origin of Scripture while following natural principles of communication.

Unfortunately, many modern literary approaches to Biblical interpretation have banished the original author and have usurped his place. [2] The mistake of these modern literary critics, and those that they have influenced, is their failure to differentiate between meaning and significance. Meaning is sourced in what the original writers intended to communicate to their original audiences, while significance is found in how meaning is to be applied. Although each text has one primary meaning, that meaning can be personally applied (significance) to one person in a particular way, far different from its application (significance) to another person. [3]

Before one can apply Scripture to one’s life (significance), one must first come to a proper interpretation of it (meaning). To come to the proper interpretation (meaning) of a passage of Scripture requires studying the historical context in which it was written. Who was the author? Who were the recipients? When was it written? For what purpose was it written? What is the message of the book? This introduction to the New Testament will seek to answer these questions and more.

Introducing the New Testament Books, is successful if, and only if, it assists the reader to better understand what the Divine author intended to communicate through human writers to their original recipients. It is the author’s ultimate goal that this book encourages its readers to be like the noble Bereans who, "received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily" (Acts 17:11). What a great honor and privilege we have to study the inspired and infallible Scriptures to gain a knowledge and understanding of the words and workings of the eternal God!

In 2015, this author intends to edit a second volume in this series: Surveying the New Testament Books. This survey will be built upon the foundation of the book you are presently reading. Prestigious contributors: adjunct and resident faculty of the Word of Life Hungary Bible Institute, have already committed to, and are in the process of, writing each chapter. To learn more about this upcoming project see About the Next Volume and/or visit: www.weaverwebpage.org.

MATTHEW

AUTHOR

The original authorship is anonymous,[4] but conservative scholars agree that Matthew, the disciple of Christ penned it. Matthew was a tax collector (Matt. 9:9; Mark 2:14; Luke 5:27) who was called as a disciple (Matt. 9:9-13).

Several internal details point to Matthew: (1) not all the accounts of the twelve disciples are recorded in this gospel, only those of Peter, James, John, and Matthew,[5] (2) the calling of Matthew is an abrupt parenthesis in the midst of a series of miracles, and is its own independent account, (3) only this gospel refers to Matthew as a tax collector (9:9; 10:3), which was not a positive profession to hold, but rather a profession which would cause Jews to regard him as a traitor and to be hated by His own people, (4) the gospel of Matthew includes nine different words for money, more than any other gospel, and three of these terms are found in no other canonical book, (5) and it is the only gospel which references the temple tax (17:24-27). This internal evidence points to Matthean authorship.

External evidence also supports this position. The church fathers: Justin Martyr, Papias, Irenaeus, Eusebius, and Origen identified Matthew as its author. As a tax collector, Matthew would have been very capable of carefully recording the words and works of Jesus.

RECIPIENTS

The recipients were primarily Jewish as evidenced in the many Old Testament quotations, the genealogy going back to Abraham (the father of the Jewish people), emphasis upon the presentation of the Messiah, teaching on the Kingdom, and many Jewish customs mentioned without explanation. This is also confirmed by church fathers Origen and Irenaeus.

PLACE AND DATE

The place of writing is uncertain and any proposal is simply conjecture. Since the recipients of this book are Jewish, and the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple are not mentioned, a pre AD 70 date is likely. Conservative scholars who believe that Matthew was the first gospel account written, date it around AD 50. Those who regard it as the last gospel written, date it around AD 60. The determination of the date of Matthew’s gospel is complex, and is impacted by the way one answers the synoptic problem.

THE SYNOPTIC PROBLEM

Scholars recognize that the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) have the same basic outline of events and similar content. Many attempt to explain in a naturalistic manner, how it is possible that these authors could have such similar content. Virtually all liberal scholars and some conservative scholars hold to a mutual dependence theory, which contends that the original authors used common sources. Usually they contend Mark was written first, followed by Matthew, and then Luke.

According to this theory, the authors would have been aware of each other’s writings and used them in their own gospel accounts. The material that the author of Matthew and Luke used, different from Mark, is theorized to have come from a common source referred to as Q. This stands for the German word Quelle, which means source.  Material that was unique to Matthew alone was from a source referred to as M, and material unique to Luke alone is referred to as L. It should be clearly stated, no Q, M, or L sources have ever been discovered. Dyer rightly concludes, Any theory that rests on such extensive invisible evidence should immediately be suspect.[6] This theory is highly theoretical, and seeks to explain a supernatural occurrence (inspiration of Scripture) with a naturalistic description (mutual dependence theory).

It is better to recognize: (1) the gospel authors were men of God, inspired by God, to write the words of God, (2) they were eyewitnesses or close associates of eyewitnesses of the life of Christ and recorded actual events that they observed, (3) Matthew and Luke probably did obtain their genealogical records from temple archives, and sought out witnesses of events that they themselves did not observe (sources of information), but they were not merely editors utilizing, combining, and plagiarizing other sources in order to produce their own account, (4) and the places where the greatest amount of similarities can be found, the statements of Jesus, one would expect the disciples to recollect, since Christ himself promised that very thing. He promised that the Holy Spirit would bring to their memories that which He had