Biblical Studies (NT)
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This is a page to help learn about the Bible's New Testament. It will be a companion resource for Biblical Studies (OT). Matthew to Revelation makes up The New Testament. Biblical Studies can be either subjective or objective. These resources should probably become study guides with limited NPOV descriptive commentary only. If you wish to offer other commentary, please read Disclosures and create subpages to The New Testament main article.
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[edit] The Gospels
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are the first four books of the new testament. Written by four of Jesus's disiples, The Gospels discuss the life and teachings of Jesus.
[edit] Matthew
The Gospel of Matthew narrates an account of the life and ministry of Jesus, first describing his genealogy From Adam through Noah, Abraham, Issac, Jacob (Israel) and King David. He next covers Jesus's miraculous birth and childhood, his baptism and temptation, his ministry of healing and preaching, and finally his crucifixion and resurrection. Matthew was a tax collector who quit his job to follow Jesus.
[edit] Mark
The Gospel of Mark ...edit me...
[edit] Luke
The Gospel of Luke ...edit me...
[edit] John
The Gospel of John ...edit me...
[edit] The Book of Acts
The Book of Acts, also known as The Acts of the Apostles was written as part two of a book by Luke. One popular theory is that Luke's Gospel and the Book of Acts comprised a handy bound book that was distributed around the First Century Churches. The theory surmises that the reason John's Gospel is found between Luke and Acts in the Canon is that people would stuff John's independent text in between the two sections of Luke's book. Both Luke's Gospel and Acts are addressed to "most excellent Theophilus" ("θεόφιλος") generally believed to mean literally, "God-lover" or one with a deep affection for the things of God.
Acts talks about the acts of the disciples after Jesus's resurrection. As the book begins, the disciples witness Jesus's miraculous ascension into the sky proceeding toward the Day of Pentecost ten days later and subsequent events in and around Jerusalem. After the Pentacost, the desciples were graduated by the power of The Holy Ghost, becoming Apostles.
The book then takes a turn toward the Apostle, Paul. Since Luke subsequently followed Paul in his journeys, the book's focus remains upon Paul's missions, trials and jounreys, beginning with the stoning of Stephen to his settling in Rome.
[edit] The Epistles of Paul
Romans, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, are all general epistles (open letters) to whole Churches established by Paul at various cities. 1st and 2nd Timothy, Titus, and Philemon are letters address to a few of Paul's closer students. The Epistle to the Hebrews is unique in that it is addressed expressly to Jewish Christians wherby the general epistles are for mixed Jewish and Gentile bodies. It is possible that Hebrews was written collectively by Paul and a few others.
[edit] The General Epistle of James
James's letter is a stand-alone text written by Jesus' younger half-brother, James (son of Joseph and Mary). James became a prominant Elder in the main Church at Jerusalem and was instrumental in solving conflicts and aiding in organizational matters, many of which are covered in detail in this epistle.
[edit] Peter's Epistles
First and Second Peter are general epistles that present the Doctrine of Christ from Peter's unique perspective as Jesus's appointed leader of the flock of God. Jesus's charge to Simon Peter to "Feed my lambs" is answered here in the form of doctrine, exhortation and deep encouragement.
[edit] John's General Epistles
John, in these three letters abridges his Gospel with exhortation, encouragement and some warnings about the Antichrist.
[edit] The General Epistle of Jude
A unique text you should read for yourself. It's short.
[edit] The Revelation of Jesus Christ
Under Construction
The book of Revelation (singular, not "revelations") is an unveiling of who Jesus Christ is as King of kings. The word "revelation" is a translation of a Greek word meaning "an unveiling" or "a disclosure." It refers removing that which obscures. Throughout this book, many mysteries are made clear, and most importantly, it unveils who Jesus is. The purpose of this book is not to satisfy one's curiosity about the future as much as it is to help people to know Jesus Christ better.
The book of Revelation reveals that when Christ comes again, He will no longer function in the role of the meek and mild and gentle friend of sinners. Instead, He will be coming as Sovereign King and Judge, the enemy of those who have continued to be sinners despite His offer of mercy and grace. Revelation goes out of its way to reveal an absolutely dramatic contrast between the two comings of Christ: At His first coming, Christ is clothed in humiliation and His glory is veiled; at His second coming, He is clothed in exultation and His glory is fully revealed. At His first coming, He comes as a peacemaker, as a Lamb, to die as our suffering servant and Savior; at His second coming, He comes as a conqueror, as a Lion, to rule as Judge and King. At His first coming, He is meek and lowly, riding a donkey; at His second coming, He is mighty and powerful, riding a white horse to wage war. At His first coming, He is despised and rejected, wearing a crown of thorns without authority; at His second coming, He is worshipped and obeyed as King of kings, wearing many crowns that show His absolute authority over the entire universe.
In Revelation 1:19, Jesus instructs the apostle John to "Write what he has seen, what is now and what will take place later." This gives us an outline of the book. From John’s perspective, the past of what he has seen is in chapter 1, what was happening at that present time is described in chapters 2-5, and then chapters 6-22 (according to premillenialists) reveal what will take place later in the future.
Pre-tribulationists, those premillenialists who believe that the "rapture" of all true believers takes place prior to the final seven years of tribulation on earth, point out that in Revelation 6-18, the church is never mentioned by name when the Tribulation is being described; this implies that the rapture of the Church into heaven occurs before the final Great Tribulation on earth begins.
One scenario: The first half of the Tribulation is relatively peaceful and prosperous; a revived Roman Empire comes to power and forges a powerful alliance between world government and world religion; the antichrist makes a seven-year peace treaty with Israel, and 144,000 Jewish believers preach the gospel throughout the earth. Then, in the middle of the seven year Tribulation, things drastically change; the antichrist demands that the entire world worship him, and to make sure it happens, he universally imposes the economic mark of the beast, (implanting a computer chip in everyone’s hand?), and linking all scanned monetary transactions to the number 666 (bar coding). In response to this, God unleashes His holy wrath through three waves of judgment, the seals, the trumpets, and the bowls, while two witnesses preach in Jerusalem under God's protection. At the same time, the enraged antichrist, in Hitler fashion, persecuted Christ-followers and exterminates two-thirds of all Jews in these final 3 1/2 years. At the end of the Tribulation, as the nations of the world gather for World War III at Armageddon in Israel, Christ slowly descends from heaven to earth with His saints (which may last over a period of 30 days.) The world responds to this crisis by launching a full military attack against Christ, who then demolishes all opposition, resurrects all the Old Testament saints, and establishes His millennial utopian kingdom on earth. In chapter 19, Christ returns to earth, in chapter 20, He rules for 1000 years, and in chapters 21-22, John describes the new heavens and new earth, which is heaven, the eternal home for all people who are born again by faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. 75.82.180.67 16:02, 12 December 2007 (UTC)Dale Johnsen
