Difference between revisions of "New Testament"
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− | + | Christians argued for a couple centuries over which writings should be considered their biblical canon. Each major branch of Christianity has independently decided upon a canon, and, while the majority of them eventually agreed upon the same list, there is still disagreement among the less-popular denominations to this day. | |
===Authorship=== | ===Authorship=== |
Revision as of 14:54, 22 May 2018
The New Testament is a collection of ancient writings put together by Christians and believed by them to describe the foundations of their religion. Which specifics writings should be viewed as "canon," or official, was a matter of great debate in the past, but now, most branches of Christianity agree on a single set of 27 writings. However, as most New Testament scholars now point out, a large portion of these writings are thought to have been modified from their original form, or, in several cases, completely fraudulent.
Contents
Standard List of Writings
The following writings are are the standard canon of the New Testament. There are some disagreements among the less-popular denominations, and a disagreement to the order in which they should be presented, but most embrace this list:
- Gospel of Matthew
- Gospel of Mark
- Gospel of Luke
- Gospel of John
- Acts of the Apostles
- Epistle to the Romans
- First Epistles to the Corinthians
- Second Epistles to the Corinthians
- Epistle to the Galatians
- Epistle to the Ephesians
- Epistle to the Philippians
- Epistle to the Colossians
- First Epistle to the Thessalonians
- Second Epistle to the Thessalonians
- First Epistle to Timothy
- Second Epistle to Timothy
- Epistle to Titus
- Epistle to Philemon
- Epistle to the Hebrews
- Epistle of James
- First Epistle of Peter
- Second Epistle of Peter
- First Epistle of John
- Second Epistle of John
- Third Epistle of John
- Epistle of Jude
- Book of Revelation
Additional Writings
The following writings have been considered for inclusion into the canon, but have been disregarded by popular Christian denominations. Though, some denominations still consider them canon.
- Acts of Paul and Thecla
- Epistle of the Corinthians to Paul
- Third Epistle to the Corinthians
- Epistle to the Laodiceans
- First Epistle of Clement
- Second Epistle of Clement
- The Shepherd of Hermas
- Epistle of Barnabas
- Didache
- Seyon
- Te'ezaz
- Gessew
- Abtelis
- First Book of the Covenant
- Second Book of the Covenant
- Qälëmentos
- Didesqelya
Criticisms
Canon
Christians argued for a couple centuries over which writings should be considered their biblical canon. Each major branch of Christianity has independently decided upon a canon, and, while the majority of them eventually agreed upon the same list, there is still disagreement among the less-popular denominations to this day.
Authorship
There is much conjecture and debate about the authors of the books in the New Testament canon. Excluding letters attributed to Paul, most of the authors don't identify themselves, but church tradition has assigned authors to each work regardless. Among the 27 books, there are only four distinct authors who explicitly identify themselves, however Christian tradition generally accepts nine, but there is disagreement among the various denominations. Historians, however, have a very different approach to the New Testament, and believe that the majority of the books are not written by either the church-assigned authors or the the authors named in the books, and suggest around 15-20 different authors. The table below lists each book, if the author identifies himself and how they do, the traditionally attributed author, what historians generally say, and, assuming the historians are accurate, what it means for the authorship.
Book | Author From Book | Traditional Author | Historian's Opinion | Verdict |
---|---|---|---|---|
Gospel of Matthew | None | Matthew the Apostle | Unknown, unlikely Matthew | Tradition is probably wrong. |
Gospel of Mark | None | Mark the Evangelist, Saint Peter | Unknown, unlikely Mark | Tradition is probably wrong. |
Gospel of Luke | None | Luke the Evangelist | Unknown, unlikely Luke, probably same author as Acts | Tradition is probably wrong. |
Gospel of John | None | John the Evangelist | Unknown, unlikely John | Tradition is probably wrong. |
Acts of the Apostles | None | Luke the Evangelist | Unknown, unlikely Luke, probably same author as Luke | Tradition is probably wrong. |
Epistle to the Romans | Paul | Paul the Apostle | Paul the Apostle | Probably accurate. |
First Epistle to the Corinthians | Paul | Paul the Apostle | Paul the Apostle | Probably accurate. |
Second Epistle to the Corinthians | Paul | Paul the Apostle | Paul the Apostle | Probably accurate. |
Epistle to the Galatians | Paul | Paul the Apostle | Paul the Apostle | Probably accurate. |
Epistle to the Ephesians | Paul | Paul the Apostle | Maybe Paul | Maybe a fraud. |
Epistle to the Philippians | Paul | Paul the Apostle | Paul the Apostle | Probably accurate. |
Epistle to the Colossians | Paul | Paul the Apostle | Maybe Paul | Maybe a fraud. |
First Epistle to the Thessalonians | Paul | Paul the Apostle | Paul the Apostle | Probably accurate. |
Second Epistle to the Thessalonians | Paul | Paul the Apostle | Maybe Paul | Maybe a fraud. |
First Epistle to Timothy | Paul | Paul the Apostle | Unknown, unlikely Paul | Probably a fraud. |
Second Epistle to Timothy | Paul | Paul the Apostle | Unknown, unlikely Paul | Probably a fraud. |
Epistle to Titus | Paul | Paul the Apostle | Unknown, unlikely Paul | Probably a fraud. |
Epistle to Philemon | Paul | Paul the Apostle | Paul the Apostle | Probably accurate. |
Epistle to the Hebrews | None | Paul the Apostle | Unknown, unlikely Paul | Tradition is probably wrong. |
Epistle of James | James | James the Just | Several people named James, maybe one. | Maybe accurate. |
First Epistle of Peter | Peter | Saint Peter | Unknown, unlikely Peter or author of II Peter | Probably a fraud. |
Second Epistle of Peter | Simon Peter | Saint Peter | Unknown, unlikely Peter or author of I Peter | Probably a fraud. |
First Epistle of John | None | John the Evangelist | Unknown, unlikely John | Tradition is probably wrong. |
Second Epistle of John | None | John the Evangelist | Unknown, unlikely John | Tradition is probably wrong. |
Third Epistle of John | None | John the Evangelist | Unknown, unlikely John | Tradition is probably wrong. |
Epistle of Jude | Jude | James the Apostle | Maybe Jude | Maybe accurate. |
Book of Revelation | Unclear | John the Evangelist | Unknown, unlikely John | Tradition is probably wrong. |
Links
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Testament - Wikipedia.