WHY A NEW TESTAMENT?

 

Jesus never wrote anything that was included in the New Testament. Furthermore, He said to his disciples that the Holy Spirit “…will remind you of everything I have said to you” (John 14:26). And, following the more than 3,000 conversions on the Day of Pentecost, the new believers “… devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching…”, and that was without the New Testament as we know it today.

The words and message of Jesus were first circulated in oral form. His words were treasured and quoted, taking their place beside the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). The words of Jesus were held as of equal or with superior authority to the Old Testament. Here Paul (1 Timothy 5:18) quotes Jesus and an Old Testament text, and referred to both as Scripture – “For the Scripture says, ‘Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain’ (Deuteronomy 25:4), and, ‘The worker deserves his wages’” (Luke 10:7).

Luke, not a disciple of Jesus, depended heavily on the oral tradition in his writings about Jesus. In acknowledging that others were involved in similar exercises, he wrote, “… many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses…” (Luke 1:1). His eyewitness sources ensured the accuracy of his writings and also the veracity.

However, Luke’s writings were not intended for publication. He wrote to Theophilus, “… so that [he] would know the certainty of the things [he] was taught” (Luke 1:4). As Paul wrote to Christians, he too acknowledged that he benefited from oral sources – “… for what I received I passed on to you as of first importance…” (1Corinthians 15:3). The verbs Paul used were technical terms for receiving and transmitting tradition.

A pattern was emerging. Jesus affirmed the Hebrew Bible. The words of Jesus were as authoritative as the words of the Hebrew Bible. However, Jesus never wrote down his teachings. So his message was communicated orally, first by eyewitnesses. Within the lifetime of these eyewitnesses, the words of Jesus began to be documented. John, one of Jesus’ disciples, contended that not everything was written – “Jesus did many other things as well. If everyone of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written” (John 21:25).

But for who were John and others writing? Each writer had a different purpose and audience in mind. Some writers were not even aware of other writings. As each person wrote, he had more than his immediate audience in mind. Actually, many in his immediate audience were illiterate. The literacy rate, at that time, in that part of the world, was less than 10%

Historians assume that as each Gospel was completed, it was used for public reading, first in the place of its composition, then copied and circulated to other churches. The collection of Paul’s letters must have begun early, even in his own lifetime. Paul himself said to the Colossians: “After this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans, and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea” (Colossians 4:16).

I hasten to add that some of the writers knew what they were writing was divinely inspired. In his letter to the Thessalonians, Paul wrote: “And we also thank God continually because when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God…” (1 Thessalonians 2:13). Peter would concur with Paul. He wrote that “Paul wrote with the wisdom that God gave him… some of his letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures…” (2 Peter 3:15-16).

Before the end of the first century, all the writings of the New Testament were complete. For instance, Clement of Rome wrote to Christians in Corinth (96 AD/CE). In that letter, he quoted from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, and alluded to at least two other letters of Paul. For hundreds of years before the New Testament was recognized (canonized), writers quoted extensively from the writings of the apostles and associates.

However, the need to recognize more authoritative letters had become a growing concern. The emergence of heretical sects like Gnosticism, having their own sacred books, made it imperative for the church to establish boundaries for sacred writings.

In addition, Emperor Diocletian (284-305) wanted to establish Roman virtues in the Empire. He embarked on a program to burn sacred writings. Diocletian demanded that all Christian churches be destroyed and that the sacred scriptures be burned.

Like Diocletian, Emperor Constantine (306-337) sought to unite the Empire. His conversion to Christianity caused him to pursue a path that was totally different from Diocletian. His reign marked a significant transaction for the church. With the Edit of Milan (313), Christian hostility ceased and opportunities for growth was seen. At the Empire’s expense, Constantine ordered the repairs and rebuilding of churches that were damaged by previous Emperors.

Among a number of other favorable reforms, Constantine requested the production of the Christian Scriptures for access in Constantinople, the new Empire capital. That request provided the foundation upon which Church Councils affirmed the twenty-seven books of the New Testament. In my next blog, I will provide the criteria that was used to determine the inclusion of the twenty-seven books in our New Testament.