Beginning of the New Testament era

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Which moment is considered the beginning of the New Testament era? Is it the Last Supper (“This is the cup of the New Testament”), the Resurrection or something else? I think John the Baptist still belongs to the Old Testament.
 
I don’t think there is a cut-off for the scriptures- the New is a continuation of the Old-Jesus fullfilled the prophesy in the Old- without the Old there is no New.
 
Tinkinen said:
Which moment is considered the beginning of the New Testament era? Is it the Last Supper (“This is the cup of the New Testament”), the Resurrection or something else? I think John the Baptist still belongs to the Old Testament.
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No, John the Baptist belongs to the New Testament.
 
Probably the birth of John the Baptist, as he was the first personage to belong to the NT.
 
An era does not usually depend upon one individual but a collection of peoples. However, I think that John the Baptist is the best starting off point of the “New Testament Era,” since it was he who announced “make straight the way of the Lord” which heralded the coming of Jesus.
 
Tinkinen said:
Which moment is considered the beginning of the New Testament era? Is it the Last Supper (“This is the cup of the New Testament”), the Resurrection or something else? I think John the Baptist still belongs to the Old Testament.
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This is actually an important question, because some Christian groups would like to maintain that the teachings of Jesus belong in the the Old Testament era and not the New. This way they can adhere to a concept of salvation that does not involve obedience, or following a “law.” In the Gospels it is clear that Jesus wants obedience, and that a vine that does not produce fruit will be cut off and cast into the flames. This is not what many believers in OSAS want to hear.

When these statements of Jesus are pointed out to them, they reply something like, but that’s still part of the old dispensation, not the new dispensation and so doesn’t apply to us.
 
Pentecost is generally considered the birth of the Church.

CCC#1076 The Church was made manifest to the world on the day of Pentecost by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The gift of the Spirit ushers in a **new era **in the “dispensation of the mystery” – the age of the Church, during which Christ manifests, makes present, and communicates his work of salvation through the liturgy of his Church, “until he comes.” …
Jesus prepared the way with His preaching, and above all with His sacrificial death.
Jesus Himself submitted to the laws of the Old Covenant till His death.
 
pablope said:
Hmmm…I think John the Baptist…is considered the last prophet of the OT. Keep in mind, the prophets mainly were to herald the coming of the messiah.
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Yes - that is correct. John the Baptist was the last of the Old Testament prophets.

I believe The New Testament (New Covenant) was established at the Last Supper when Jesus stated:

Luke 22:20 RSVA
And likewise the cup after supper, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
 
CEM5 said:
Yes - that is correct. John the Baptist was the last of the Old Testament prophets.

I believe The New Testament (New Covenant) was established at the Last Supper when Jesus stated:

Luke 22:20 RSVA
And likewise the cup after supper, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
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The poster’s question is about the New Testament “era,” not when the actual covenant was established.
 
Timothysis said:
The poster’s question is about the New Testament “era,” not when the actual covenant was established.
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My best guess would be that all the content in the books of the New Testament would be that time. So it would be whatever event took place first in those books, possibly the narrative of the High Priest in the temple, Zachary. Or possibly when John starts his gospel explaining the Word of God.

Just a guess.
 
Timothysis said:
The poster’s question is about the New Testament “era,” not when the actual covenant was established.
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The word covenant means “testament”. Therefore the new “era” of this covenant/testament, in my understanding, would naturally equate when Jesus established this.

One could also argue that the new testament era began with the birth of Jesus since our present day calendar year of 2012 is based on that. We have “BC” (before Christ) and AD (after Christ). Even so, this date is not acutal since there have been “adjustments”.

Either way, we shouldn’t get to hung up on when this era acutally occured but on how we live our lives as Christians. 🙂
 
Pfaffenhoffen said:
No, John the Baptist belongs to the New Testament.
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I see John as part of both the New and Old Testaments.

John the Baptist is the “Elijah to come.” He is “to come” because he is part of the New Testament and “Elijah” because he is part of the Old Testament.

He must increase; I must decrease. (John 3:30)

John is the last of the great Old Testament prophets. He stands at the exact spot where Israel entered the promised land, at the Jordan River near the city of Jericho and baptizes Jesus. As the last great Old Testament prophet, he completes what Israel started, in the exact same place Israel started. Like the great prophets of the Old Testament, he is brutally murdered.

But John was sanctified by Jesus in the womb when his mother Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting. After Mary, John was the first to be purified by Jesus, sanctified, consecrated to God’s service and sent on a mission. Even before Jesus was born, John is the first to be brought into Jesus’ Kingdom as a servant.

John is a bridge from the Old Testament to the New Testament, from the age of the prophets to the age of the fullness of God’s revelation of himself through the person of Jesus. John knows that the age of the prophets “must decrease” while the age of the fullness of truth “must increase” and John willingly accepts his mission as the final Old Testament prophet and arguably the first New Testament martyr (with all due respect to St. Stephen, of course).

If Mary is the first Christian, then John the Baptist is clearly the second.

And speaking of Mary… :D:D:D

I think the New Testament era starts with the words,

Hail, Full of Grace, the Lord is with you. (Luke 1:28)

The acorn of Christianity has fallen from the tree of Judiasm, and is about to grow.

-Tim-
 
CEM5 said:
The word covenant means “testament”. Therefore the new “era” of this covenant/testament, in my understanding, would naturally equate when Jesus established this.

One could also argue that the new testament era began with the birth of Jesus since our present day calendar year of 2012 is based on that. We have “BC” (before Christ) and AD (after Christ). Even so, this date is not acutal since there have been “adjustments”.

Either way, we shouldn’t get to hung up on when this era acutally occured but on how we live our lives as Christians. 🙂
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cov·e·nant [kuhv-uh-nuhnt]
noun
  1. an agreement, usually formal, between two or more persons to do or not do something specified.
  2. Law . an incidental clause in such an agreement.
  3. Ecclesiastical . a solemn agreement between the members of a church to act together in harmony with the precepts of the gospel.
 
Timothysis said:
cov·e·nant [kuhv-uh-nuhnt]
noun
  1. an agreement, usually formal, between two or more persons to do or not do something specified.
  2. Law . an incidental clause in such an agreement.
  3. Ecclesiastical . a solemn agreement between the members of a church to act together in harmony with the precepts of the gospel.
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You should dig a little deeper in researching words when you are presented the meanings:

For example, it is as I stated. New Testament = New Covenant (dictionary.com)

tes·ta·ment   /ˈtɛstəmənt/ Show Spelled[tes-tuh-muhnt] noun
  1. either of the two major portions of the Bible: the Mosaic or old covenant or dispensation, or the Christian or new covenant or dispensation.
  2. ( initial capital letter ) the new testament, as distinct from the Old Testament.
  3. ( initial capital letter ) a copy of the New Testament.
  4. a covenant, especially between God and humans.
Origin:
1250–1300; Middle English: will, covenant < Latin testāmentum, equivalent to testā ( rī ) to bear witness ( see testate) + -mentum -ment

Blessings,
CEM
 
CEM5 said:
We have “BC” (before Christ) and AD (after Christ). Even so, this date is not acutal since there have been “adjustments”.
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You got part of it right. BC is before Christ.

AD is Anno Domini [in the year of our Lord] or you might say “with Christ”. He is with us today and until the end of the Age.
 
It seems to me the New Testament era began with the Annunciation - at that point Christ took on human flesh in this world. Even though the Baptist was conceived prior to the Annunciation, until Mary gave her “fiat” the New Testament era had not begun - though it was pre-figured. Once Mary gave her “fiat” the Redeemer of mankind took flesh and God entered into this world for the salvation of mankind.
 
My thinking agrees with that of* johnnykins*. With the incarnation, the new covenant was in formation.

I have heard it taught that John was a transitional figure, standing with one foot in the old covenant, and one in the new covenant.
 
In John 1 we see that Jesus, the Word, was from the beginning. So there really aren’t different time periods; Jesus has been here all along. We just didn’t see him walking the earth for a while. But to God time is irrelevant. So we sail through time and discover different angles of the creation our eternal God gave us.

That said, John 1 also seems to indicate that John the Baptist was the “link” between the two, I’d say. 😉

Alan
 
My two cents.

Matthew presents the death of Jesus as an apocalyptic event: the sun darkens, the temple veil tears apart, the earth quakes, and the dead rise, all of which fit in with the OT pattern of cosmic disintegration in the “day of the Lord.” The whole universe - the heavens (symbolized by the sanctuary curtain; cf. Isaiah 40:22), the earth (represented by the rocks), and “under the earth” (the tombs) - all open up in some fashion. Hence, I don’t think it would be too much of a stretch to say that Jesus is the living boundary line between the old and the new.
 
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