The New Testamentu a Student’S Introduction

Eighth Edition L A W S O N , A N G E L A 6 8 5 3 B The New TestamentU A Student’s Introduction Stephen L. Harris har19138_ch01_001-022.indd Page 1 06/01/14 3:37 PM user /204/MH02032/har19138_disk1of1/0078119138/har19138_pagefiles part one An Invitation to the New Testament L A W S O N , A N G E L A 6 8 5 3 B U har19138_ch01_001-022.indd Page 2 11/01/14 7:02 PM user /204/MH02032/har19138_disk1of1/0078119138/har19138_pagefiles chapter 1 An Overview of the New Testament L Here begins the Gospel of JesusA Christ. Mark 1:1* W S O Key Topics/Themes A collection of twenty-seven apocalypse (revelation). The early Christian Greek documents that early Christians appended Ncommunity produced a host of other writings as to a Greek edition of the Hebrew Bible (the Old well, which scholars also study to understand Testament) , the New Testament includes four ,the diverse nature of the Jesus movement as it Gospels, a church history, letters, and an spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. A People read the New Testament for an almost in- Npersonal belief and behavior (see Box 1.1). fi nite variety of reasons. Some read to satisfy their GReaders attempt to discover authoritative coun- curiosity about the origins of one of the great sel on issues that modern science or speculative world religions. They seek to learn more about the E philosophy cannot resolve, such as the nature social and historical roots of Christianity, a faith Lof God, the fate of the soul after death, and the that began in the early days of the Roman Empire ultimate destiny of humankind. and that today commands the allegiance of more A Jesus of Nazareth, the central character of than 2 billion people, approximately a third of the the New Testament, provides many people with global population. Because Christianity bases its the most compelling reason to read the book. As most characteristic beliefs on the New Testament 6presented by the Gospel writers, he is like no writings, it is to this source that the historian and 8other fi gure in history. His teachings and pro- social scientist must turn for information about 5nouncements have an unequaled power and au- the religion’s birth and early development. thority. As an itinerant Jewish prophet, healer, Most people, however, probably read the 3and teacher in early-fi rst-century Palestine, the New Testament for more personal reasons. Bhistorical Jesus—in terms of the larger Greco- Many readers search its pages for answers to Roman world around him—lived a relatively ob- life’s important ethical and religious questions. Uscure life and died a criminal’s death at the hands For hundreds of millions of Christians, the New of Roman executioners. His followers’ conviction Testament sets the only acceptable standards of that he subsequently rose from the grave and ap- peared to them launched a vital new faith that eventually swept the Roman Empire. In little *Unless otherwise noted, all New Testament quotations are from the New English Bible (New York: Oxford University more than three centuries after Jesus’ death, Press, 1976); (see Chapter 2, p. 36). Christianity became Rome’s offi cial state religion. 2 har19138_ch01_001-022.indd Page 3 06/01/14 3:37 PM user /204/MH02032/har19138_disk1of1/0078119138/har19138_pagefiles chapter 1 an overview of the new testament 3 box 1.1 The New Testament: A Relatively Modern Artifact A printed, bound copy of the New Even after Rome made Christianity the state reli- Testament that readers can hold in their hands is a gion and imperial patronage encouraged the pro- relatively modern development. Until the fourth duction of an offi cial Christian Scripture, New century ce, the New Testament did not even exist as Testaments were extremely rare. Not only were a coherent entity—a single volume containing the manuscript copies prohibitively expensive, but the twenty-seven books in its now-familiar table of con- vast majority of people in the Roman Empire could tents. Before then, believers, and even church lead- neither read nor write. It was not until the printing ers, had access to individual Gospels or subcollections, press was invented in the fi fteenth century ce, per- such as compilations of Paul’s letters, but not to a L mitting the eventual mass production of Bibles, that comprehensive edition of the entire text. A the New Testament as we know it came into being. W Clearly, the New Testament authors present S Christian writings are qualitatively different Jesus as much more than an ordinary man. The from ordinary books. Some students express Gospel of John portrays him as the human ex- O surprise that non-Christian religions also have pression of divine Wisdom, the Word of God N scriptures —documents that these groups con- made fl esh. Jesus’ teaching about the eternal , sider sacred and authoritative (having the power world of spirit is thus defi nitive, for he is depicted to command belief and prescribe behavior). In as having descended from heaven to earth to re- fact, many other world religions possess holy veal ultimate truth. About 300 years after Jesus’ A books that their adherents believe to represent crucifi xion, Christian leaders assembled at the a divine revelation to humankind. Hindus town of Nicaea in Asia Minor to decree that Jesus N cherish the Vedas, the Upanishads, and the is not only the Son of God but God himself. G Bhagavadgita ; Buddhists venerate the recorded Given the uniquely high status that orthodox teachings of Buddha, the “enlightened one”; Christianity accords the person of Jesus, the New E and followers of Islam (meaning “submission” Testament accounts of his life have extraordinary L [to the will of Allah]) revere the Quran (Koran) value. Jesus’ words recorded in the Gospels are as transmitting the one true faith. Ideally, we seen not merely as the utterances of a preemi- A approach all sacred writings with a willingness to nently wise teacher but also as the declarations of appreciate the religious insights they offer and the Being who created and sustains the universe. to recognize their connection with the cultural The hope of encountering “God’s thoughts,” of 6 and historical context out of which they grew. discovering otherwise unattainable knowledge of 8 Given the historical fact that the New unseen realities, gives many believers a powerful 5 Testament was written by and for believers in incentive for studying the New Testament. Jesus’ divinity, many readers tend to approach it 3 as they do no other work of ancient literature. B Whether or not they are practicing Christians, What Is the New students commonly bring to the New Testament U Testament? attitudes and assumptions very different from those they employ when reading other works of antiquity. The student usually has little trouble When asked to defi ne the New Testament, many bringing an open or neutral mind to exploring students respond with such traditional phrases stories about the Greek and Roman gods. One as “the Word of God” or “Holy Scripture.” These can read Homer’s Iliad, an epic poem celebrat- responses are really confessions of faith that the ing the Greek heroes of the Trojan War, without har19138_ch01_001-022.indd Page 4 06/01/14 3:37 PM user /204/MH02032/har19138_disk1of1/0078119138/har19138_pagefiles 4 part one an invitation to the new testament any particular emotional involvement with the (see Chapters 5–1 0 for discussions of Gospel ref- Homeric gods. However, this objective attitude erences to Jewish-Roman relations). toward supernatural beings is rare among per- Although many students automatically as- sons studying the New Testament. cribe their own (twenty-fi rst-century North To be fair to the New Testament, we will want American) values and attitudes to Jesus’ world, to study it with the same open-mindedness we it is important to recognize that, even today, grant to the writings of any world religion. This inhabitants of the eastern Mediterranean re- call for objectivity is a challenge to all of us, for we gion do not view life as Americans typically do. live in a culture that defi nes its highest values In the Mediterranean’s agrarian, conservative largely in terms of the Judeo-Christian tradition. peasant society, old ideas, values, and prac- We can most fully appreciate the New Testament tices contrast sharply with those in the West’s if we begin by recognizing that it developed in, Ltechnologically sophisticated democracies. and partly in reaction to, a society profoundly dif- ATwo thousand years ago, the degree of ferent from our own. To a great extent, the New difference—social, religious, and political— Testament is the literary product of a dynamic Wwas even greater, a fact that must be consid- encounter between two strikingly different cul- Sered when studying the Gospel accounts of tures of antiquity—the Jewish and the Greek. A Jesus’ interaction with Palestinian villagers creative synthesis of these two traditions, early Oand Roman offi cials. The more we learn about Christianity originated in a thoroughly Jewish en- Nfi rst-century Palestinian-Jewish and Greco- vironment. But in the decades following Jesus’ ,Roman customs, social institutions, and reli- death, Christianity spread to the larger Greek- gious beliefs, the better we will understand both speaking world, where it eventually assumed the Jesus and the writers who interpreted him to dominant form that has been transmitted to us. AGreek-speaking audiences (see Chapters 3–5). The Jewish world of Jesus and his fi rst disci- ples was centered in Palestine, an area at the east- N ern end of the Mediterranean Sea now partly G The New Testament and occupied by the modern state of Israel (see the Hebrew Bible Figure 1.1).

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