The New Testament

The Bible is composed of the Old and New Testaments. The New Testament is the second part of the Bible, containing the books written after the birth of Jesus. In AD 397, the Third Council of Carthage established the content and order of the New Testament, which includes 27 books. The content is divided into three sections: narrative writings, doctrinal writings, and an apocalyptic book. Although the form of these sections differs, they share a common theme: emphasizing the identity, life, and status of Jesus.

After Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension, Christians began proclaiming His words and deeds in various places. The book of Acts records their missionary experiences. Within a few years, Christian churches were established all along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Prominent Christians such as the apostles Paul, Peter, and John wrote letters to these churches to greet and instruct them, and these letters form the core of the New Testament.

The events of Jesus’ life were not originally recorded in writing. It was about sixty years later that people began to write them down. These written accounts of Jesus’ words and life are what we call the Gospels. These Gospels were originally scattered among different churches and were not a single unified book.

The first person to compile a version of the “New Testament” was Marcion in the 2nd century AD. His version is considered the earliest prototype of the New Testament. The orthodox church did not agree with Marcion’s teachings and considered them heretical, but they were spurred by his work to begin compiling their own canon of Scripture. Through the efforts of many people, the New Testament gradually took its final form.

The Bible records:

[Jeremiah 31:31-33] “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”