What’s the significance of the New Testament?

[dustdev14]

Hello!
I have very recently started reading the Bible for the first time (I was an agnostic until a few months ago) and am really having some trouble understanding the reason the New Testament exists past the Gospels. The gospels seem relativity straight forward, they tell about Jesus’ life, but from that point onward it’s ALL off the rails for me. Jesus isn’t there anymore (as a physical person who is teaching, etc.) so what significance do any of these books have? How can they been seen as the Word of God if it’s mostly just early church leaders who are in no (direct) contact with God. I started reading the Bible to learn about Christ but I just don’t see how the books have any authority on how to be more Christlike past the gospel of John

 

[Roseeurekacross]

The New Testament then speaks of the Acts of the Apostles and building of the Church.

What the Apostles and early Christians did after Jesus had been resurrected. Pentecost, Paul building his churches in the Diaspora, Peter and James building the church in Jerusalem, John and revelation…

 

[vsedriver]

the New Testament, all of it including the Gospels, is the INSPIRED word of God. Not THE word of God.

 

[Cor_ad_Cor]

One crucial action by Jesus was the establishment of his Church, and to that Church, he gave considerable authority to teach and to set the standards where needed, and essentially carry on in his name during his apparent physical absence. (Of course, we don’t really believe he’s absent, but that’s not the point.) Also, the whole of Jesus’s teachings aren’t in the written Gospels. He passed on a majority of them orally to the Apostles in a manner not written down by any of them.

The New Testament letters, then, illustrate and give real examples, as well as sets the tone for how the Church conducts itself after Jesus ascends.

 

[Usagi]

The Acts of the Apostles is a direct follow-up to the Gospel of Luke by the same author.

It and the epistles (some of which were written earlier than the four Gospels) show how the Church grew and dealt with various moral, theological, and political issues in the first few decades of its existence. It’s true that the books aren’t about Jesus’ life, but they are about the mission He gave His followers and how they went about spreading belief in Him beyond those who had known Him in His earthly life. They very much do talk about how to live the Christian life, and also work out what it means that Jesus died and rose again.

Revelation is a difficult work, but in basic terms it was written to confirm the hope of Christians suffering persecution at the time (and, by extension, to later generations of Christians in similar situations) that the end of the story is already written, that our team wins, and that justice will be done in the end to both those who suffered unjustly and those who escaped justice for their evil deeds in life.

 

[Hodos]

Great question. So as you noted, the New Testament is divided into three major sections. The first consists of the gospel accounts (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) and the book of Acts (the narrative of how the early Church formed and accomplished the Great Commission). These sections provide a narrative account of Jesus life and ministry, and the birth of the Church from four different authors. Note that none of these was written by Christ, but by the apostles or followers of the apostles. Additionally, the gospel accounts vary in when they were written. They were not contemporary, meaning written within the lifetime of Christ. Mark’s gospel is thought to have been written in the 50’s to 60’s. Matthew and Luke were thought to have been written in the 60’s-early 70’s. John’s gospel is thought to have been written as late as 95. So when we look at your objection concerning the fact that Jesus isn’t there anymore, it is sort of irrelevant. The gospels represent the narratives of Jesus life as told by his immediate followers, the disciples and their followers.

The second section contains the Pauline corpus of epistles (Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, the pastoral letters, etc.). The significance if these letters are two-fold. First, while the gospel accounts provide the narrative of what Jesus did, the epistles often provide the significance of what that means for us. In fact, our systematic doctrine is probably more dependent upon the meaning of Jesus ministry as told in the epistles (Paul’s in particular) than on the gospel accounts themselves. So for example, Jesus nature, the means by which we are justified, etc., are primarily derived from the epistles. They also serve to tie Jesus ministry to the Old Testament. The other major thing of significance is that many of these letters address issues with doctrine and behavior that still affect us today. They provide the practical meaning of how Jesus ministry impacts how we worship and live in the community of the Church. (To Be Continued…)

 

[Hodos]

The General Epistles (James, Hebrews, the Petrine Letters, the Johannine Letters, and Revelation) likewise teach the significance of Christ’s ministry (although they tend to be less doctrinal explanations with the exception of Hebrews than they are written to address specific concerns within the Church). They are highly practical. 1 Peter for example is primarily written to a Church under persecution, that instructs believers how to live as a Christian and be a witness even in a world that is hostile to Christ, a message that is becoming more and more relevant as our world becomes more and more secular.

The last point I would like to address is your statement that we are not in direct contact with God. This assumes that there is no Holy Spirit working in the Church, bringing us to faith, sanctifying us, instructing us, and providing us grace through word and sacrament. We are in direct contact with God everyday through the faithful proclamation of the God’s Word and through baptism and holy communion.

 

[Brendea]

I find the new testament informative and some of my favourite books are in the new testament ( I especially love 1&2 corinthians). They all tell a story and fit in together and all of the books have something to teach us

 

[Dan_Defender]

Because there is a lot of wisdom in Acts, the letters and in Revelation. They supplement the gospels very well.

 

[otrrl]

Another angle on your question is that the writings of the New Testament explain more fully how Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the Old Testament. After the gospels and Acts, the letters and writings discuss more fully how the New Covenant in Jesus’s blood fulfills and replaces the covenants of the Old Testament. Especially important here is how the fulfillment of the OT requires that Gentiles (non-Jews) are now part of God’s plan for salvation.

There were other documents written after the time of Christ that were NOT faithful to Christ’s teaching in one way or the other and so the selection of the writings that we have today were chosen as appropriate for the New Testament liturgy (worship of God) – these are “books” that could be read and used for teaching whereas the other writings were not. The selection of these writings was based, again, on what was appropriate for the liturgy, for the worship of God.

 

[fhansen]

Except for Acts the rest of the NT are just letters of instruction, clarification, admonition, encouragement, teaching, etc to believers and churches.