who really wrote the new testament

8:15-16). He usually dictated his Epistles to a scribe. By the time the Enlightenment began in the 17th century, most religious scholars were more seriously questioning the idea of Moses’ authorship, as well as the idea that the Bible could possibly have been the work of any single author. Three of the writers: Matthew, Peter, and John were among the 12 disciples who walked with Christ during his earthly ministry. As John was concluding his Gospel, he specifically stated that through belief in Christ and His words one could have eternal life: “But these [miracles] have been written, so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing, you may have life through His name” (John 20:31). ... Luke is credited with writing not only his gospel but the New Testament Book of Acts as well. As the capstone of the biblical revelation, the Apocalypse is rightly to be understood only in the light of that prior revelation” (Hiebert, An Introduction to the New Testament, vol. Finally, he encourages the brethren not to give up hope because “the day of the Lord” and Christ’s second coming did not appear to be imminent. This is especially evident when we closely examine the Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew 5-7. Every author of the New Testament was Jewish except for Luke. Isaiah concludes his prophecy by showing that Jesus and His disciples would form the New Testament Church: “Behold, I [Jesus Christ] and the children [the disciples and apostles] whom the LORD has given Me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, Who dwells in Mount Zion” (Isa. Beginning in 44 AD, Mark worked with Paul and Barnabas before returning to Jerusalem. New York: Oxford. Some traditions make the claim that Peter was the first pope, and that he ministered in Rome for twenty-five years and was martyred there. Add to all of this the fact that the apostles had to deal with corruption and apostasy within the ranks of the Church itself. This meant to put the teachings of Christ in a book, just like the Old Testament was given to the early Jews” (Ibid., pp. The Old Testament, or Hebrew Bible, narrates the history of the people of Israel over about a millennium, beginning with God’s creation of the world and humankind, and contains the stories, laws and moral lessons that form the basis of religious life for both Jews and Christians. More than half of its contents are also contained in 1 John. “For we did not follow cleverly concocted myths as our authority, when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His magnificent glory [in the transfiguration]…” (II Pet. Paul’s Ministry and Apostleship: Luke adds more details about Paul’s visit to Jerusalem after he returned from Arabia in 36 AD: “And when Saul came to Jerusalem, he attempted to join himself to the disciples; but all were afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple. Now, we feel that it is time to put this information out on the Net. When we examine the writings of the apostle John, it is evident that he was moved to write more about the love of God than were any of the other apostles. One of the most interesting features in all of John’s writings is his use of contrasting opposites that show the difference between the way of God and the way of Satan and the world—the light of God vs. the darkness of the devil. Most people would probably say that Paul wrote it. 42:21). There are fourteen letters (Epistles) attributed to Paul. Growing up in Tarsus, he must have been educated in the Roman schools and by the local rabbis as well. The evidence for the epistle is early and clear, and it is as strong as for any other book in the New Testament. The letters to Timothy and Titus differ from the writing style … Based on these passages, we can thus identify most of the 120 eyewitnesses described as early disciples of Jesus. He is portrayed as a physician, a friend of Paul’s and even a painter, and is described as a gentile writing for a gentile audience. Jesus told the apostles that they would be His witnesses after the Comforter came to reside within them: “But when the Comforter has come, which I will send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of the truth … that one shall bear witness of Me. Undoubtedly among the 120 were the 70 disciples that Jesus sent to preach the Gospel in various villages and cities to prepare His way (Luke 10:1-20). Jesus Christ gave this same stamp of approval to Peter, James and John—the only eyewitnesses to Jesus’ transfiguration. 17:6-7 and 19:15 for the principle). Popular “scholarly” theories hold that the accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were written by third- or fourth-generation storytellers and are pure folklore and myth. from The True Authorship of the New Testament "How well we know what a profitable superstition Undoubtedly, she contributed to the accounts of Herod’s attempt to kill Jesus and of the escape of Joseph, Mary and Jesus by night to Egypt, as well as their return to Nazareth (Matt. But some argue that he really only wrote seven books, a.k.a. Here, Luke specifies that Mary, the mother of Jesus, and His four brothers (Mark 6:3) were included in that number. Seeing Jesus in His glorified form was an awesome spiritual experience for John, the disciple whom Jesus especially loved. The writer calls himself Simon Peter (1:1) and identifies himself as a witness of the transfiguration (1:16-18). 1:11-19). Those first five books were filled with contradictory, repetitive material, and often seemed to tell different versions of the Israelites’ story even within a single section of text. But scholars everywhere -- except for our friends among the fundamentalists -- will tell you that there is no way on God's green earth that Peter wrote the book. Since the name of the author cannot with unquestioned certainty be deduced from the contents of his work, the uniform traditional ascription of it to Luke must represent information known from the first century” (Hiebert, An Introduction to the New Testament, vol. It is fitting that what Genesis began, Revelation finishes. Rather, it is apparent that—in order to ensure the veracity of the Gospels—Jesus chose 40 x 3, or about 120 witnesses. St. Irenaeus and Origin (d. 253) again support this authorship. We find that Silvanus and Mark were with Peter in Babylon (I Pet. Hiebert writes: “Certain features are consistent with [the Gospel’s] traditional association with Peter…. 192-193). The whole purpose of Christ’s life and ministry was to testify of the truth of God the Father and bring the way of salvation to mankind. Of these, seven are gen… In giving themselves to the ministry of the Word, the apostles were writing their narratives. In the third chapter of Acts, Peter referred to Jesus as “the Author of life Whom God has raised from the dead, whereof we are witnesses” (Acts 3:15). A well-written account of the beginnings of the New Testament, the historical events that influenced its writing, and the evolution of the New Testament as Christianity took hold and spread. As the sacred text for two of the world’s leading religions, Judaism and Christianity, as well as other faiths, the Bible has also had an unmatched influence on literature—particularly in the Western world. 3, p. 105). But God raised Him up on the third day, and showed Him openly, not to all the people, but to witnesses who had been chosen before by God to those of us who did eat and drink with Him after He had risen from the dead” (Acts 10:39-41). The stories using the name Elohim are classified as “E,” while the others are called “J” (for Jawhe, the German translation of Yahweh). The next answers to the question of who wrote the Bible come from the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings, generally believed to have been written during the Babylonian captivity in the middle of the sixth century B.C. But as a scholar of the New Testament, what I argue is that the Gospels offer an important insight into … Both John Calvin and Martin Luther shared this judgment as far as the sixteenth century. A Google search for "who wrote the New Testament" will result in a Wiki article that addresses the authorship question. Daniel tells half of the story and Revelation tells the rest. Luke’s account in the first chapter of Acts provides clues: “And after entering Jerusalem, they [the apostles and other disciples] went up into the upper chamber, where both Peter and James were staying; and John and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Apparently the apostasy sweeping the churches of God was so vicious and insidious that Peter condemned such false teachings in the strongest language possible. Opposition ranged from the direct—imprisonment or martyrdom—to challenges from false teachers such as Simon Magus. Who Really Wrote Luke? There is no question that Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and Salome were also included in the 120 (Mark 15:40-41). Indeed, the apostles and disciples of Christ—who were eyewitnesses of His life and ministry—were the ones who wrote the New Testament. “But these titles are later additions to the Gospels, provided by editors and scribes to inform readers who the editors thought were the authorities behind the different versions.”. Every author of the New Testament was Jewish except for Luke. The wise are those who love God, fear Him and keep His commandments—and because they do, they will understand (Psa. 1, pp. Only Mary was an eyewitness to all of these events, having “stored up all these sayings” in her heart (Luke 2:19). “You read along and you say, I don’t know how many animals Noah took on the ark with him,” he says. Again, Peter emphasizes that he and the other apostles were witnesses, chosen by God. Edmond Hiebert, Th.D., writes: “In A.D. 324 or 325, Eusebius in his noted Ecclesiastical History recorded the results of his investigations concerning the four [G]ospels. When the apostle James wrote his Epistle to the twelve tribes of Israel, he knew exactly where they were located: “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes, which are in the dispersion: Greetings!” (James 1:1.) Revelation was written to reveal to the people of God what the world will be like in the end times. After being baptized by Ananias, Saul remained in Damascus for a short time, testifying that Jesus was the Christ (Acts 9:19-22). No doubt Jude witnessed these events firsthand. There is no record, from history or Scripture, as to when Jude became a prominent leader in the Church. “And in His name, repentance and remission of sins should be preached to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 5:13). With the inauguration of the age of grace, the apostles wrote letters to the brethren in a spirit of loving intimacy…” (Hiebert, An Introduction to the New Testament, vol. On the night of His last Passover, Jesus told His apostles: “Truly, truly I say to you, the one who believes in Me shall also do the works that I do; and greater works than these shall he do because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12). Because human testimony is sometimes fallible, God commanded that disputes and critical issues be settled on the word of two or three witnesses (see Deut. 8:16). Rather, Luke used the accounts of numerous eyewitnesses to compile his Gospel. 10:5-7). The book of Hebrews can be categorized as a general Epistle because it was written to the Greek-speaking Church at large, rather than to a specific congregation or individual. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. To this day, the ten tribes of the house of Israel are not a part of the Jewish nation located in Palestine, called Israel. The New Testament, as usually received in the Christian Churches, is made up of twenty-seven different books attributed to eight different authors, six of whom are numbered among the Apostles (Matthew, John, Paul, James, Peter, Jude) and two among their immediate disciples (Mark, Luke). What Other Proof Exists? FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. Apparently, the writer was so well known and had such an intimate relationship with the intended recipients of his Epistle that he had no need to identify himself. Undoubtedly, this is why the style and language of Peter’s Second Epistle is so different from that of his First Epistle. Other eyewitnesses probably assisted the apostles in verifying and compiling their writings, which later became the Gospels as we know them. ISBN 978-1-4051-0825-6. Later, in a similar situation, Peter concluded his response by saying, “And we are His witnesses of these things… (Acts 5:32). Furthermore, John had a special vantage point in that he—with his brother James and the apostle Peter—witnessed the transfiguration of Jesus. Then he spoke and disputed with the [Greek-speaking Jews], but they attempted to kill him. These three were the initial leaders of the twelve apostles, although the book of Acts makes it clear that Peter and John fulfilled the primary leadership roles (Acts 2:5). Their credibility was questioned from the very beginning, and their authority rested with a man named Jesus, Who was condemned as a common criminal. It’s sort of like an author today who uses a “ghost writer” to tell his story. 298-299). The vision of the transfiguration affected the apostle Peter and his ministry for the rest of his life. During this first tour, Saul was renamed Paul (verse 9). The Greek word for a witness is marturos, which “signifies one that gives testimony to the truth at the expense of his life” (Cruden’s Complete Concordance, 1986, p. 754). Three of the writers: Matthew, Peter, and John were among the 12 disciples who walked with Christ during his earthly ministry. The process of writing the Gospels was much different from the writing of the Epistles of the apostles James, Peter, John, Jude and Paul. 1:5)—commanded His disciples to preach the Gospel to all nations as His witnesses. Of the three major blocks of source material that scholars agree comprise the Bible’s first five books, the first was believed to have been written by a group of priests, or priestly authors, whose work scholars designate as “P.” A second block of source material is known as “D”—for Deuteronomist, meaning the author(s) of the vast majority of the book of Deuteronomy. Three were eyewitnesses of Jesus’ life, His transfiguration and ministry—the apostles Peter, James and John. After His resurrection, Jesus appeared personally to James (I Cor. The flock of God the Father and Jesus Christ ( Gal name to lend authenticity to the Galatians Gal! 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