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The Biblical World

John Barton

The New Testament

Publication details https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9780203309490.ch3 Christopher Tuckett Published online on: 18 Apr 2002

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The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The publisher shall not be liable for an loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material. the mostthe part agreat series ofvisions of Testament,New the of Revelation,book hasthe form ofan‘apocalypse’ comprising for letter form seemsthe James). more (e.g. be where to last peripheral treatises The general aremore others like letters),whereas own Paul’s allof (virtually situations specific in letterswritten to specific communities some that aregenuine in variation is considerable anonymouslygroup ofletterswithinthe and Hebrews); (e.g. in the NewTestament there well asotherswrittenunderthename ofothe years. Therearethenso anumber ofletters, many purporting to beby the apostle Paul, as (somewhathistorytheselective!) of theof earlyaccount Christian churchin its first 30or lifethe andministryof parts of accounts ofJesus; there is onebook(Acts) that presents a length, their scope,their aims, andtheir genre. Testamenttodaycomprises 27 different texts that vary considerably in terms oftheir collectioncallThe ‘thewe NewTestament’ is something ofamixed bag.TheNew Nevertheless (likealmost every assertionin about thestartofChristianmoveme writings wepossess,andthey provide ourprime sources for seeking to gain information the Christian movement. Indeedthey do(by writingsin commonhave is that they all stem from avery early period in the history of second. However, italsois clearHowever, thatsecond. they donot date from the CE, withonlythe occasional exception such the first to century dated confidently be Almost NewTestament can allthe documents how broadis the period? from ‘earlyperiod’ And which they earlyisthe come? How someneed qualification. Downloaded name his alater writerand in by written wereprobably Paul by written purportedly letters some years’standing. Thessalonians). ThusPaul’s letters let usseesomething ofhimself only asa Christian of By:timethe before so or oftheyears earliest 15 letter wehavefrom him (probably 1 earliest time asaChristian: Paul hadbeen‘converted’ to the Christian movement some 10.3.98.104letter isofcoursedebated.Butclearly each of dating precise The mid-50s. the until from 0.48/49 a period during written probably earlyChristianity. of history At: 08:56 29 Sep 2021; For: 9780203309490, chapter3, 10.4324/9780203309490.ch3 The dates of the other letters in the NewTestament the lettersin aremuch other the less of certain. dates A The number of earliest NewTestamentThe writingsarepr THE NEWTESTAMENT CHAPTER THREE Christopher Tuckett DATES the heavenlyrealm. Th nt andits‘founder’,JesusofNazareth. , thelettersofPauldonotcome from his biblical studies toda It contains four‘gospels’, giving narrative and large) representtheearliestChristian and as2Peter,whichmay come from the r leadingfigures(e.g.Peter, James) or obably the letters ofPaul. Thesewere

very y!) suchaclaim may e one thing all these allthese thing e one earliest period in the the in earliestperiod than the secondhalf ofthe first century. allcome they from letters,and Paul’s a time earlierthan any dated earlier no be are to decisionstheirauthorship.about It is though very unlikely that any ofthese other letters notoriously difficult to date. Inpart, too, a letters (e.g.James, Hebrews),si stemhence fromlaterafter a period Paul’s death (seebelow). Some ofthe more general Downloadedthe other gospels andseems to shownoknowledge of key events in Jesus’life.) companion ofJesuswrotethewhole ofthef any case,most scholars today would regard By:in Johnremainsdisciple’ atantalizinglyuncl see John21.24.But this doesnot help very much since, notoriously, the ‘beloved 10.3.98.104 gospel: the of author wasthe disciple’ ‘beloved so-called the that itissaid gospel, the of John’s gospel, where,in anote clearly addedby someone other than the writer of the bulk may be exception sole (The identity. their reveal writersnever gospel Christian the world, they areanonymous. Unlikealarge number texts.theseFor example,wrote who know astriking feature of all fourgospels is that thatsayin alarge and further numberprobably shouldgo ofinstances wesimply donot At:mixed bag,sotoo their authors comprise asomewhat miscellaneous group. Indeed, we Just asthe documents wrote these books? Who themselves represent something of a 08:56 29 Sephistorical sourcesforth as value their assessment of our attimes colour willinevitably this later. And generations, 2021;coming from the very earliest period itself. They are from a generation, or two available. But wemust not lose sight ofthe mentioned earlier, areprobably the earliest sourcesforthe history concerned that we have For:Somewriting. may bewritten60–70yearsafter someor moreyears 40 in the past from the point ofview oftheir authors at the time of 9780203309490,‘sequel’ to his gospel, andhenceprobably also stems from the 80sat the earliest. did nottakeplaceuntilthemid-80s (orperhaps community andthe Jewish synagogues (cf.John9.22; 16.2),which, asfarwe can tell, to presupposesomeappears kindofformal, the last the of first wellinto quarter since century, it gospel the date would today scholars almost every level from the other three (so-called ‘synoptic’) gospels. Again, most at different itisso factthat isthe which of least not interpretation, of difficulties peculiar chapter3,written afterMark,probablyinthe80s(or of Matthewgospelsthe writers theof andLuke: hencethese two gospels must havebeen of Jerusalem in70CE.)Further,Mark’s gos CE. (Thereisdisputeaboutwh earliestgospel is almost certainly the gospel ofMark, probably to bedated to around70 10.4324/9780203309490.ch3 community. earliestChristian The the lifeof the in or Jesus of life the in events historical New Testament, that is, the gospels andActs, which purport to give accounts of earlier The sameThe probablyappliesthe caseofthe inmore overtly ‘historical’ booksofthe Thus all the ‘historical’ books of the NewTestament‘historical’allof the Thus books aredescribing events that lie e eventstheydescribe. ether Mark waswrittenbeforeorafterthefallofcity ether The biblicalworld30 mply by virtue ofthe fact th AUTHORSHIP ssigning adate to them is dependent onother pel was probablypel oneofthe sourcesusedby fact thattheyare themselves not documents ear figurewhoisneverexplicitly named. In perhaps 90s). John’sgospelpresentsmanyperhaps institutionalized splitbe ourth gospel,ifonlyb of similar writingsintheGraeco-Roman with some with scepticis even later).ActswaswrittenbyLuke as a the eventsconcerned.Thesetexts,as at theyaresogeneral, ecause itissounlike m theclaim that a tween theChristian name, butwhetheritisaccurateornot unc the brother ofJesus: the author probably intended that to be understood in using the may stem from thesame ‘circle’. (1–3 John)arestylistically andthematically very close to the fourth gospel, and hence are not by the same author, asis fairly clear on grounds of style.) The Johannine letters The letters ascribed to Peter may also be pseudonymous. (Inany case,1 Peter and 2 Peter [Heb 13.23], andTimothy wasevidently awell-known member of the Pauline circle.) the of text, end impossible.‘Timothy’ (Atthe circleisnot is aPauline with mentioned different from Paul’s, andhencethe author is almost certainly not Paul, though some link distinctive presentation ofthe personofJesus in the category ofahigh priest, are very Hebrews (traditionally ascribed to Paul) is anonymous. Its ideas, especially its highly Corinthians, 2Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1Thessalonians andPhilemon). unquestionably genuine Pauline corpus thus Pauline letters; many would also include Colossians and2 Thessalonians. The ‘pseudonymous’.)Most would include Ephesians in this category ofpseudonymous lettersis such for word technical (The someone else,isdisputed. by written fact in extentexact ofthe corpusofsuchletters in the NewTestament, purportedly by Paul but himself. byPaul written not but The questioned), wasbeing time authority Paul’s when Paul at rehabilitate a to writing even (perhaps name, Paul’s in claiming authority Paul’s and at times theology from Paul’s own.They arethus the workof a later writer, writing a groupofthreeletters,verysimilar toeachothe epistle ‘Pastoral so-called extremely The likely. himself. Significant differences ofstyle, language and at times important ideas make this are Paul to by Paul lettersattributed itseems allthe not However, Paul. clearthat apostle after the events, afact that must affect one’sassessment ofthe booksconcerned. eyewitness accountsoftheeventsdescribed. missing from John. Acts; he closest companions. Theauthor ofLuke’sgospe informationunlikelyisthus and to havebeenthe Matthew whowasoneofJesus’own author ofMatthew’sThe theynot).factcould in gospel seems to haveto rely onMark for itseemsbe assumedwhere to that Jewish women could divorce their husbands,whereas be nearthe SeaofGalilee, whereasit is in fact some 30miles away; or Mark 10.11–12, Palestinian geography andcustoms (seeMark 5. in thetradition)ifonlybecau have beenthe JohnMark ofActs (asis probably implied by the naming ofhim as‘Mark’ Mark of is to unlikely gospel the of them seems of author implausible.The identification the However, traditional gospels. these referto to alwaysused names aretoday Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 08:56 29 Sep 2021; For: 9780203309490,disciple ofJesus,if only b have noted already,we as unlikelyis,gospel John’s toof havebeenanimmediateauthor chapter3,of Paul that emerges from Acts andthe picture ofPaul weget from his own letters. The the portrait between differences great the to due aview such with difficulties formidable 10.4324/9780203309490.ch3 We callthegospelwritersMatthew,Mark,LukeandJohnby tradition, We and these The authorship of other letters in the New Testament is also disputed. The letter to letterto the The NewTestament disputed. the is also lettersin other of authorship The namethe the of in arewritten Several disputed. also is letters the of authorship The allthe historicalthatlikelihood therefore isThe booksofthe NewTestament arenot may havebeenacompanion ofPaul (asthe tradition claims), though there are ecause somuch ofthematerial se he seemsat timeshe se blissfullyunawareofdetails The newtestament31 The so-called ‘letter of James’ ‘letterof so-called The Theyareallwrittenbypeoplesome time comprises only sevenletters (Romans, 1 lear. (Thereis,for s’ (1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus) form Titus) Timothy2 Timothy, and (1 s’ 1, where Gerasa seemswhere 1, tobeassumed to r butinturnvery diffe l is almost certainly also the author of of author the also almostcertainly is l inthesynopticgospelsis may example, virtually no come from James James from come rent instyle,tone even to Paul: Paul was‘converted’ after the death ofJesus.)Rather, many New connected with Jesusorthe very earliest period ofthe Christian church.(This could apply is not clear from the book. (Rev 1.4),but‘John’ further identification ofwhois meant by this (very common!) name allat in the letterJesus to reference ofJames.) ThebookofRevelation claims to beby a Downloadedto show that Paul really was‘safe’and‘sound’. Thepicture weget from the New letters were Pastoral the written in that Paul’s name, asituation seeking such in been have By:laterperiod, Paul wasregardedby some Christians with intense suspicion, andit may influencemaywhose figure have beensomewhat peripheral. Certainly weknowthat, at a 10.3.98.104suggests that within early Christianity Paul may havebeensomething of an isolated controversial inthefirstcentury, and not likelihood is that hedid not always win sucharguments. Paul’s own theology was clearly thatPaul was frequently engagedin fierce clearlyfrom seevery can letters(much his We less all-powerful. easily so from Acts!) lose sightofthefactthatPaul At:important figure within the newChristian movement. On the other hand, we should not 08:56focuses almost exclusively onPaul’s exploits in telling his story. dominatedfor the secondhalf (andmore) ofits compass by the figure ofPaul asLuke there areseveralletterswritteninhisname; 29there aresevenundisputedgenuineletters of SepTestament is dominated, directly orindirectly, by the figure of Paul. As we have seen, comprehensive picture ofthe earliest days ofthe Christian movement. The New 2021;It ishoweveralsoclearthattheNew Te For: 9780203309490, wehave. texts earliestChristian the constitute Testament textsuchas2 Peter. Neverthe Corinth, is to bedated at the endofthe first century. Both texts probably pre-date a New Clement, a very early,as todayregard would first-century document. Sotoo the letter knownas the full text ofwhich was only discovered in the nineteenth century and which many TestamentNew writings. Thereis asmall manual ofchurchorderknown asthe are not nowpart ofthe NewTestament but areprobably earlier in date than the latest chapter3,as wehaveseen.Moreover,thereareone early, earliestChristian writingshave, at least we forthe most part. They arenot uniformly Christians by written namethe ofsuchfigures.Butthefact remain 10.4324/9780203309490.ch3 writein they that in figures asearlierauthoritative seen be to like clearly would authors after the foundational events ofthe Christian church and reflecting onthem. Some ofthe Testament booksstem from second-orthir Despite allthesecaveats,itremains thecas directly people by NewTestament written the arenot of parts large all, in All All this may have its own ‘justification’ at one level in that Paul was clearly an wasclearlyan Paul that in level atone ‘justification’ may itsown All this have a document writtenbythebishopofRome after the initial period. period. initial the GAPS IN OUR KNOWLEDGE GAPS INOURKNOWLEDGE ’s realinfluenceinthefirst The biblicalworld32 stament texts donot give usanything like a accepted byallChristians.Alotofevidence less, the New Testament texts by and large NewTestament large less, the byand texts d-generation Christians, writingalittletimed-generation s thatlargepartsoftheNewTestament were arguments with other Christians, andthe PaulintheNewTestament; inaddition, further, the story in thebook ofActsis story the further, or two writings from early Christians that from that writings earlyChristians two or e thattheNewTestament textsarethe in the90stoChristianchurchat century may not havebeenquite Didache, 1

evidentlymade almost impactno onother authors in the Hellenistic orJewish Jesus by contemporary non-Christian writers. Sotoo the earliest history of the church dark. the Yet onthequestionshoworwhentheseco know ofthe existence ofother texts nowlost. It seems that Paul wrote aletter to the the New in Testament. arenot that from afewtexts But first century we well be the also the writingscomprehensiveof coverage ofearly Christians. Asalready noted, there may earliest Christianity. Testament texts alone may thus give usapotentially slightly misleading picture of Downloadedthey arewrittenbyChristians. Sadlyperhap By:period.historythe All the of the accounts ofJesus’life in the gospels are‘biased’ in that implications,further example,wishesfor toone usethese textsif to discover aspects of 10.3.98.104Christian movement. Inone way this is of who were bypeople areallwritten of the adherents They texts. new are allChristian elementOne howeverthatbindsalltheNewTest At: at timesincomplete. tantalizingly 08:56information about the early days ofthe newChristian movement; but as sources they are centuryChristian texts.us withprovideThey (mostly) ouronly sourcesfordiscovering 29 Sep Rome the letterto Paul’s for of evidence the 2021;Apollos suddenly appearsin the story as a Christian from Alexandria; for Rome, one has Christianity reached Eg that NewTestament indicate The documents us. to remain obscure totally Christianity, For: Roman or Christianity, Egyptian of Testament. origins New The the by filled, not but 9780203309490, Christians. that havesurvivedrepresentonlyapart manuscriptthem,textsno thoughthe even of survives today. It is then clear that the texts exampleof the‘Gospel Hebrews’, fromthe the fact that various churchfathers quote itof hassurvived. Inaddition, weknowofthe existence ofanumber ofother texts, for source isusuallyknownas‘Q’,but if (as s suggested thatbothMatthewandLukehadacce a numberbeen ofsuchtexts in circulation at the time. So,too, many scholars have chapter3,presumably the ‘many’ cannot havebeenjust Mark! It would seem that there may have one hehimself wasstarting in beginning hi gospel that heknewof‘many’ who hadalready undertaken an enterprise similar to the letters Paulwrote(and none he Corinthianshimthatthe to1 Corwrote 7.1).Clearly (see then wedonot haveall the 10.4324/9780203309490.ch3from the oneswehavein the NewTestament (see1Cor 5.9; 2 Cor 2.3); it is clear too lettersto them, other must written he that have apart from Corinthians the lettersto Paul’s Laodiceans (seeCol4.16):ifthisletterreally The New TestamentThe writingsthengiveus We should also noteWe that the NewTestament doesnot give usanything like a Further, we know of great gapsinknow ourknowledgewe ofearlyFurther, Christianity that are shown, THE NEW TESTAMENT ASACHRISTIANCOLLECTION THE NEW ypt, andRome, veryearly.(For received). Similarly, Lukementions intheprefacetohis The newtestament33 eems likely)itexistedinwrittenform, nocopy coursetrite andobvious. But it does have mmunities werefounded,weareentirelyin of the literatureprodu of existence ofachurch s, wehavevirtually s account ofJesus’lifes (Luke1.1); and a somewhat haphazardcollection offirst- did exist, it has not survived. We didexist,ithasnotsurvived.We know ss to another source apartfromto ss Mark:this ament texts together is the fact that they they factthat isthe ament together texts Egypt, seeActs18.24ff.where nothingwrittenabout there in the mid-50s.) mid-50s.) the in there ced bytheearliest for the fire at Rome during the reign ofNeroin the mid-60s.) mentionChristiannew themovement prior to the referencesto Christians being blamed and in abrief note about the execution ofJames. Hellenistic authors ofthe period do not about Jesus,thoughparagraph the authenticityone inexcept ofthis is heavily disputed, environment. (TheJewish historian Josephus Downloaded was much!)certainly Antiquity important too reallyworried for some:one the New written claimed been by yet have apostles, to werenever no Luke and Mark of gospels by an‘apostle’ wassignificant, though this is by nomeans certain. (Forexample, the By:Testamentand othersdid notisuncl canon any self-conscious evaluation at all. in the endsome Why books‘made it’ into the New 10.3.98.104simply havebeenlostinthecourseoftime. New Testament itself,may have beenmo likely thattheprocesswas not always very Christiansby for Christians. Thedetails ofthat processareoften not very clear. It seems these booksandforming them into a‘NewTestament’ was one undertaken in the church Christian texts; it is also acollection made by Christians. The process of separating off At: purportedly describing,08:56 namely the life andministry ofJesusprior to the resurrection. more, about their authors andtheir situations as they do about the events they are means that, assourcebooksforthe past, the Christian gospels may tell usasmuch, if not 29Matthew andLukerewrite Mark’s account, at times with considerable freedom. All this on alessradical,butnoreal,scalecanalso Sepwriter to refashion andre-present the gospel story in aradically different way. Rewriting at enabled least Christian his one to church, wasstillspeaking Jesus that belief basic the 2021;one way in which the fundamental conviction ofthe aliveness ofJesusafter Easter, and levelof the pre-Easterthereconciled Jesus.Nevertheless,at the picture in Johnreflects picture in the synoptic gospels, somuch so For: commitment. and from faith different the of isquite Allthis object direct the himselfas of afuture ‘Kingdom ofGod’,but rather of ‘eternal life’ available in the present, and of 9780203309490,talks inlongdiscourses,ratherthan in short setting, withthelanguageandcategorieschange acompletely new into transformed and transposed been has tradition Jesus original little disconcerting. theabout aliveness ofJesuswith afreedom that many people find onfirst encounter a beliefs reflecttheir to traditions their change feltfreeto evidently evangelists the result, As followers. his a to stillspeaking and alive wasnow who death his to prior Palestine chapter3,rather unreal.Fortheevangelists, appeared mightJesus whatbetween havesaid in the past distinctionanytherefore, some might make ashistorians between past andpresent, writers, gospel the For present. the in followers his to stillspeaking and was alive he Romancrucifieda been on crosshadbeen‘raised’ to anewkind of life by God.Assuch, 10.4324/9780203309490.ch3Christians believedthattheJesu Jesus. of claim wasthe to madethe ‘resurrection’ earlyChristians them by by relation allin shown the nature ofthese texts. Theonecommon el In the caseofthe gospels, in particular, this doeshavea potentially enormous effect on The other thing to bearin mind is that the New Testament is not only a collection of Perhaps this is clearest in the caseofthe gospel ofJohn, where it seems that the The biblicalworld34 s whohadlivedandpreachedinPalestine ear. Perhapswhetherornota bookwaswritten re thanalittlehaphazard.Some books may Others weresimply accepted, almost without parables oraphorisms; andheceasestotalk self-conscious. Often the process,like the it wasthesame Jesuswhohadworkedin nevermentions the Christian movement, andwhat could besaid today, would have ementin the(attimes verygreat)variety that thetwopicturescanscarcelybe be seenin the other gospels; for example, d toreflectthatsetting.Thus Jesus now according toastoryinEusebius’s period ofChristian history. Nevertheless, at least one book, the it is notoriously difficult to define what is meant by orthodoxy, especially in the earliest ‘reliability’ ratherdifferently!).Sotooth their historicalreliabilitywasimportant Testament bookswerevaluedbecause they we document wasusedeverywhere anduniversally in the church. not reallyhad died onthe cross.)Aboveall though what seemed to count waswhether a second centurybecauseitwasfelttobedoctrin history ofthe church),barredfrom usein public worship by abishop Serapion in the continued onforavery long time. Thebook of Revelation, for example, remained a time). Discussions about the precise limits ofthe canon,at the ‘edges’soto speak, it is clear that there wereanumber ofother texts claiming to be‘gospels’ current at the by the endofthe secondcentury and no one a remarkable lackofcontroversy. For ex what was‘out ofbounds’,howonecould determine what wasright andwhat waswrong. what wasnormative fortheirbeliefsandwh from the start struggling to determine were inevitably earlyChristians meant the that ideas. Thevery nature ofthe Christian movement as something new within Judaism The NewTestament texts showat times abewildering diversity in their ‘theologies’ and elsewhere about Jewish scripture (cf.Deut 4–2). a claim written, from,been similar has what anything to subtracting others made Revelation: seeRevelation 22.18–19andthe warning about adding anything to, or claimingof awareness some of ‘scriptural’kind authority foritself is the bookof precisely the opposite. Perhapsthe only New Testament book that shows any self- at least did not regardMark asany very s Matthew andLukeuseMarkasa source in wr Jewishexpanding scriptures with his letters. Sotoo the freedom with which, say, to betaken, very seriously. Yet hedoesnot meant primarily the Jewish scriptures. Paul nodoubt intended his letters to be read, and sacred scriptureforthewhole Christian chur conscious ofthefactthattheywe scarcely TestamentNew textsthemselves.the The Testament intoasingle‘canonical’collection ever since. Testament canonwasagreedby the middle ofthe fourth century andhas remained fixed Nevertheless, the main centuries. several matter for of the dispute outline New of Downloadedin toto without any questioning at all. Christians adopted the Jewish ideas of God (i.e. for ideasandnorms inthisrespect.Indeed, By: 10.3.98.104 At: 08:56 29 Sep 2021; For: 9780203309490, chapter3, 10.4324/9780203309490.ch3 The main bulkoftheNewTestament canon wa That said, it should not be forgottenthatbe itnotshould said, the That processofforming the booksofthe New Christianity grewout ofJudaism, andso IDEAS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT IDEAS INTHENEW The newtestament35 Church History eir theological ‘orthodoxy ample, thefourfoldgospelcanonwasaccepted (eventhoughtodayone acred text.Thefreedom Christians could—and did—draw onJudaism many ofthosenorms andideaswereaccepted thereafter appears to question it (even though appear to think that heis supplementing and re writing texts that would become part of at wasdebatable,what acceptable and ch. Forfirst-century Christians,‘scripture’ New Testament writersthemselves were iting their gospels shows clearly that they they clearlythat shows gospels their iting only starts somestarts timeonly afterthewriting of ally suspect. (Itimplieally re theoldestdocuments available.Also s implicitly agreedveryearlyandwith (afourth-century account of the Gospel ofPeter, ’ wasrelevant,though they exerciseimplies might assessthat s theideathatJesus was, writing tonon-Jews.Sotoomuch ofJe assumed this asself-evidently true andneve relation to aJewish eschatological framework ofthought: Christians such as Paul simply monotheism (GodasCreator) weresimply assumed asaxiomatic. Thesame is the case in ‘theo-logy’ strictly speaking) without everquestioning it in any way: ideas such as Downloadedof God(1Cor people 11.24);the itexistence intopeopleas Jewish was als oa‘price sacrifice,inauguratinga newcovenant relationship, similar to that which brought the it was 5.7); also Cor Israelitesfroma (1 the new similar Egypt of covenant rescue the to By:cult(Rom 3.25), orasaPassoversacrifice implying anewact ofliberation by God Thus Jesus’deathisreferred toasasacrifi 10.3.98.104single writer like Paul usedariot of different cross hadachieved it, wasnot soclear. Different writers use different images. Even a humanButpreciselyand beings. what hadbeenachieved, andhowJesus’death onthe itself,effecting areal changein the human situation andin the relationship between God in significance positive as man.itcame seen Rather, somehow having be to innocent an seen notjustajudicialexecution,noreven At:Christiansthatin convinced some were way orother, Jesus’death onthe crosswasto be that areatbesttentativeandcertainlytim 08:56 church. Christian the in obligatory 29 as regarded be arestillto practices Jewish farsomethe of how of question the often very as key issuesChristiansregarded other ofthe day, are what notabout the least ofwhich is Sepalreadywe seePaulnoted, himself in his letters frequently having heated debates with isquiteexplicit (andJames is probably in pa 2021;words ‘faith’/‘works’. Nevertheless, there is an element of tension here, which in James same the by same the mean necessarily thing precisely not do Paul Jamesand artificial: without worksis dead(James 2.20).Thedisagreement is in oneway rather formal and For:letter ofJames onthe other handclaims that ‘works’areall important andthat faith ‘works’, or‘worksofthe law’, asthe basis forsalvation (seeRom 4).Theauthor of the 9780203309490,Paul arguespassionately forthe priority ofwhat he calls ‘faith’ over what he terms Testament. Attimes thereis letters. Pauline the NewTestament, in the especially in seesreflected one that situation could/should argue,andsoon.Andit is this state ofwhat is at times quite a turbulent one how werenot, what arguments werejustified, what jettisoned, what maintained, different parts oftheir traditions, Jewish chapter3,longer. visiblelevel(e.g. in public baths), not all Christian men looked like Jewish men any inevitably ledto an awareness this But ultimately answer wasno. The movement? Christian the join to wished involved thequestionof circum 10.4324/9780203309490.ch3 Thisof becamecourse had Christians? very leading tothequestionbeingraised:shoul This wastheinfluxofnon-Jews(i.e roots. As ChristiansAs struggled to resolve suchissues, they wereinevitably forced to reassess Yet soonamajor issue forcedChristians to askawkwardquestions about their Jewish We also see Christians in the New Testament coming out with ‘answers’ to ‘questions’ NewTestament the coming in out with ‘answers’ to ‘questions’ seeChristians also We to find a lack leastsurprising of uniformity the in not in the New It isperhaps even whatseems like outright of some difference between Chri The biblicalworld36 cision: shouldGentileshavetobecircumcised ifthey wish ethicalteachingwasassumed. and non-Jewish, toand seewhat could/should be as onlyamiscarriage of justice perpetrated on es tangentialtoeachother. For example, early ce, similar to the sin offerings of the of Jewish offerings ce, similar sin the to r stopped to discuss ordefend it, even when d Gentilesbecome Jewsbefore/whenthey practical consequencesformales becauseit images and‘language ga . Gentiles)intotheChristianmovement, rt responding to Pauline Christianity). As contradiction. Forexample, stians andJews.At avery mes’ to describe it. ‘son ofGod’is thoroughly at home in Judaism, referring variously to a royal figure (see 2 divinityof overtonesclear attachedsuch no to the phrase.Talk about individuals asa Father, alsowiththebeing occursin thein NewTestament divine,one but arguably with laterused God, by Christiansof Son as to expresstheir conviction that Jesuswasfully rather different from their usagein the NewTestament. Forexample, language ofJesus writers. At the very least, key wordsandphras thought worldandwithpresuppos always beawareofthedangersanachronis mayand have taken onsome significantly new overtones of meaning. But weshould 2–5).NodoubtWisd the(see same language when applied to Jesuswasin astate offlux, Sam7.14) orperhapsarighteous personw synthesize all these ideas. And it was the task of later Christians in the early church to try earlychurch the in laterChristians of task itwasthe And ideas. allthese synthesize attempt the islittleifany New in There Testament death. itself lifeand Jesus’ to life new Chris the of aspects express tryto to new master, Christ (1Cor 6.20; 7.23). All thes who then,likeslavesboughtinthemarket pl it(thispaid’ neversaid to whom!), leading to the transfer ofownership ofChristians Downloadedused withsome care). us with ourprimary historical sources(evenif, asIhavetried to indicate, they must be By:impetus inaugurating thenewChristianmove the initial that provided Jesus, of resurrection and life,death supremelythe events, 10.3.98.104 historical the in religion, Christian the of roots historical the in interested those all for Christian religion,these the ‘scriptural’ statusaccordedth the we possess; that Christianity of earliestdocuments are the They religion. Christian o NewTestament the inevitably of documents topast establish elements ofcontinuity, to define itself andto regulate developments. The At: its to relatesback constantly itshistory in tradition religious Any church. Christian the of holyscriptureas meantbooks that they profoundly affected the whole subsequent history 08:56claim totheJewishscripturesasanintegral to stresstheirdifferencesfromwished Juda the displacement ofJewishsc 29Testament’ (though it should benoted that the existence ofaNew Testament never led to Sepcame to form a‘NewTestament’ alongside what came then to be called the ‘Old status ofholyscripturealongsid 2021;In thecourseoftime, theNewTestament For: 9780203309490,Testament itself. the into earlier documents the of laterChristianity New in came have phrases to chapter3, 10.4324/9780203309490.ch3process ofsynthesizingand to bring some kind ofsynthesis in the later creedsanddoctrinal statements ofthe church. Further, we shouldFurther, remember in reading the NewTestament that, whenthe later IMPORTANCE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT IMPORTANCE OFTHENEW texts willthereforebeoff em reinforcestheirsignificance. ripture fromripture theChristianBible: howevermuch Christians systematizing tookplace,it e, andinadditionto,the books The newtestament37 itions verydifferentfrom t books were gradually accordedthepositionand were books ho remains obedient to Godthrough suffering part oftheir ownBibles). Thestatus ofthese tians believed they experienced asaresult of ment, theNewTestament textswillprovide ism, Christians havenevergiven uptheir tically readingbackth e usedimages andideascurrentatthetime ace foraprice,arenowthepropertyof a es wereusedinways, and with meanings, ccupy akeyroleintheserespectsthe oundational significance.Further, was oftenundertaken in a hose oftheNewTestament Forallthoseinterestedin of Jewishscripture.They e meanings thatkey Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 08:56 29 Sep 2021; For: 9780203309490, chapter3,afresh in every generation. the newChristian movement, that the NewTestament texts needto be read and studied 10.4324/9780203309490.ch3of this constant searchfortruth, aswell as ideas andbeliefs areperhapsnot as securely f may forexample find that some ofthe more dogmatic claims alleged to bebasedontheir developments in Christian history. Aswelook at the earliest Christians once again, we structures hadto bedeveloped, andin anot new and were called question into thembeing authorities atatime facing old issues when see howthe earliestto way tradition, one in Christians struggled with the problems and or dogmatic claims, it canbejust asimportant to return to the roots of the Christian But equally, in an age that has become suspicious and critical of some old authorities authorities some old criticalof and become suspicious has that age an in equally, But The biblicalworld38 the perennial fascination ofthe earliest days of her way to be able to view criticallylater view to able be to way her ounded asothers haveclaimed. It is aspart Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 08:56 29 Sep 2021; For: 9780203309490, chapter3, 10.4324/9780203309490.ch3