New Testament Survey
1. InterTestmental Literature
The Apocrypha is the title given to 14 books included in the Roman Catholic cannon of Scripture between the O.T. and the N.T.. Apocrypha means "Hidden things" and originally implied that these writings were only for the "inner circle - kept for the wise among the people." Later it came to identify the obscurity of origin and authorship of these books.
They were never accepted as Scripture by the Jews and were never quoted by Jesus, or the Apostles. The early Church did not accept them as Scripture. Four views concerning them:
1) The Roman Catholic view, solidified at the Council of Trent (1546) and by the Vatican Council of 1870, is that these books are equal with the rest of Scripture and pronounce a curse upon anyone who does not accept this view. These are called "Duetero-canonical" by the Roman Catholics who use the term Apocrypha to designate what Protestants call the "Pseudipigrapha" or "False Signature" books.
2) Early Protestant view- that while the Apocrypha was not to be considered on a par with the rest of Scripture they were useful and good for devotional reading. On special holy days parts of the Apocrypha are still read in the Episcopal Church.
3) Later Protestant view is to reject totally the Apocrypha and in fact the term Apocryphal has taken on a pejorative connotation (negative).
4) Another view, while rejecting the authority of the Apocrypha as Scripture, does see value in the historical content for gaining an understanding of the times in which they were written.
The Apocryphal books are: I & II Esdras, Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, The Letter of Jeremiah, The Prayer of Azariah, Susanna, Bel and the Dragon, The Prayer of Manasseh, and I & II Maccabees.
The Pseudipigrapha are intertestamental literature not accepted into the Christian or Jewish canon of Scripture and often attributed to an ancient hero of faith. Pseudipigrapha means, "writings falsely attributed." Ongoing discovery and research provide differing lists of contents. a recent publication listed 52 writings. Some of the writings are anonymous; Thus some scholars prefer the name "outside books" for all of these writings, emphasizing that they did not become part of the canon. Some ancient Christians and the Rome church have used the term "Apocrypha," since for them what Protestants call Apocrypha is part of their canon.
Twelve of the Pseudipigraphical books are: First Enoch, Second Enoch, Second Baruch, the Sibylline Oracles, the Testament of Moses, the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, the Book of Jubilees, the Psalms of Solomon, Third Maccabees, Fourth Maccabees, the Life of Adam and Eve, and the Letter of Aristeas.
2. Divisions of the New Testament
The New Testament is written in Koine Greek with a few Aramaic phrases. The word canon comes from a Sumerian term meaning "reed," and it came to designate the list of books which were already acknowledged by the Church as Scripture. In the Muratorian Canon of 170 A.D. one finds the New Testament essentially as we know it today.
A. Gospels
Matthew
Mark
Luke
John
B. Historical
Acts
C. Epistles - (letters)
1)Church Epistles
Romans
I & II Corinthians
Galatians
Ephesians
Philippians
Colossians
I & II Thessalonians
2) Pastoral Epistles
I & II Timothy
Titus
Philemon
3) General Epistles
Hebrews
James
I & II Peter
I, II & III John
Jude
D. Prophecy
Revelation
HOMEWORK!
Now that you've finished (ha-ha!) the Old testament survey its time to....(you guessed it!) start on the New testament. Same format, read each book and write a short paragraph on the main theme.
