And when the Southern Baptists issued a statement in 1998 affirming the father's headship of the family as defined
in the New Testament letters of Paul of Tarsus, we heard journalists Cokie Roberts and Steve Roberts warning the nation that this sort of thing could «lead to abuse, both physical and emotional.»
Yet out of this conviction of the «apartness» of the Christian community came a parochialism which
in the New Testament letters and the book of Revelation contrasts sharply with the universalism of the vista of Jesus, and which has pursued the Church to the present day.
I notice the «one another» and «each other» commands
in the New Testament letters written to congregations, and I realize that a person can not obey them without being in a congregation of saints — whatever the form.
Not exact matches
We encounter it
in the Gospels and
in other places
in the
New Testament, especially
in the words of Saint Paul
in the First
Letter to the Corinthians and
in Romans.
The list of 27 books of the
New Testament were not even proposed until 367 AD
in Athanasius's Easter
letter.
Since this is so, how is it that the idea of the church being a Body became so prominent if it is not found throughout the
New Testament, but only rarely
in Paul's
letters?
For example, he still believed
in the Virgin Birth, but when his
New Testament professor pointed out that the genealogies
in both Matthew and Luke seemed to assume that Jesus» descent was through Joseph and that the doctrine of Mary's virginity played no role
in Paul's
letters, he found it harder to suppose that this belief was essential to Christianity.
This is the vision that informs the whole of the
New Testament, most clearly perhaps
in the first chapter of the
letter to the Ephesians.
In comparison to the
New Testament where Paul's
letters were written starting 15 years after Jesus» ascension, the first gospel, Mark written 25 years after (Peter was the source of Mark), Matthew who was an eye witness at 35 years, and Luke 35 years as a careful Roman / Greek trained historian who interviewed living eye witnesses such as Mary, mother of Jesus.
In the words of Henri de Lubac, the distinguished theologian and historian of early Christian exegesis: «The conversion of the Old Testament to the New or of the letter of scripture to its spirit can only be explained and justified, in its radicality, by the all - powerful and unprecedented intervention of Him who is himself at once the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last..
In the words of Henri de Lubac, the distinguished theologian and historian of early Christian exegesis: «The conversion of the Old
Testament to the
New or of the
letter of scripture to its spirit can only be explained and justified,
in its radicality, by the all - powerful and unprecedented intervention of Him who is himself at once the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last..
in its radicality, by the all - powerful and unprecedented intervention of Him who is himself at once the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last....
Lin memorized a few Bible verses, Chen says, including a passage from Paul's
letter to the Romans
in the
New Testament that reads
in part: «We also glory
in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.»
The earliest of the
New Testament writings also refer to it;
in his
letters, Paul wrote with passion and complete confidence about the approaching time when
(13) This is not the only clue and center even
in the
letters of Paul, not to speak of the
New Testament at large, but it is a crucial dimension of it and gives the theologian a marvelous framework for displaying and exhibiting the message of the Bible
in relation to the needs of people today.
On the other hand, all six occurrences of the word «justification»
in the
New Testament are
in letters unanimously ascribed to Paul.
Paulâ $ ™ s most common self - description throughout his
letters is: â $ œI am a slave who is sent by Jesus to non-Jews to communicate the good news that the Kingdom of God has come
in Jesus.â $ English readers of the Bible find it easy to overlook this important aspect of Paulâ $ ™ s self - understanding, since the 190 different Greek terms used for slavery
in the
New Testament are sanitized to â $ œservant.â $ This is not a very appropriate translation, since
in Paulâ $ ™ s day 1 / 3rd of the population of the Roman empire were masters who owned slaves, 1 / 3rd of the people were slaves, and 1 / 3rd were former slaves.
However, against Fung's assertion that no examples of apologetic
letters exist (quoting Meeks and Russel, p. 30), see Klaus Berger, «Hellenistische Gattungen im Neuen
Testament»,
in Aufstieg und Niedergang der rdmischen Welt (Berlin /
New York: de Gruyter, 1984), 2.25, pp. 1272 - 74.
Ronald Y.K. Fung,
in his The Epistle to the Galatians (
New International Commentary on the
New Testament; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1988), pp. 28 - 32, surveys the reviews that are critical of Betz's approach and concludes that «apologia is not the most appropriate category to apply to the
letter as a whole».
In the early days of the church, there were more letters and documents than just the 27 in our New Testamen
In the early days of the church, there were more
letters and documents than just the 27
in our New Testamen
in our
New Testament.
These
letters, like all of the
New Testament, were written
in the Greek vernacular used throughout that part of the world.
Perhaps some notes of Paul's were incorporated, somewhat as the Gospel writers drew on earlier sources, but it is practically certain that these
letters in their finished form stand at or near the end of the
New Testament writings.
And yet... I find his
letters to be some of the most boring
in the
New Testament.
No one
in his right senses denies the authenticity of most of the
letters, or epistles, included
in the
New Testament, and several of these are considerably earlier documents than the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
In the New Testament interpretation of Jesus» suffering, this theme is perhaps most sharply expressed in the letter to the Colossian
In the
New Testament interpretation of Jesus» suffering, this theme is perhaps most sharply expressed
in the letter to the Colossian
in the
letter to the Colossians.
Paul,
in his
letter to the Corinthians
in the Christian
New Testament, says that we now see through a glass darkly.
No one could honestly read the
letters of the
New Testament without becoming aware that not only the writers themselves but scores of other people were looking at life and death
in a way
in which they had never been looked at before, and were experiencing a contact with the living God unprecedented
in human history.
But then you make an extended argument for the opposite position, ending with this clincher: «If you are going to be Red -
Letter Christians, it is important for you to recognize that there is no record
in the
New Testament of Jesus saying anything about homosexuality.»
It is an introduction to some of the contextual issues and interpretive principles that are necessary for reading, understanding, and teaching the
letters of Paul
in the
New Testament.
There is nothing
new about the letter form, and in the days of the New Testament letters were sometimes unsigned or written in another's na
new about the
letter form, and
in the days of the
New Testament letters were sometimes unsigned or written in another's na
New Testament letters were sometimes unsigned or written
in another's name.
The combination of law and fulfillment, as well as the combination of law and love, is mentioned repeatedly
in the
New Testament, particularly
in the
letters to the Romans and the Galatians.
In the New Testament, churches were sending out missionaries, bringing in new speakers, trading letters with each othe
In the
New Testament, churches were sending out missionaries, bringing in new speakers, trading letters with each oth
New Testament, churches were sending out missionaries, bringing
in new speakers, trading letters with each othe
in new speakers, trading letters with each oth
new speakers, trading
letters with each other.
Anyway, despite all the confusion about pre-millenialism, a-millenialism, post-millenialism, the recent invention of the rapture, Paul's confusing statement about «we who remain», the entire book of Revelation not appearing to be written by John because of the Greek used, and the odd way
in which eschatological views seem to change
in the
New Testament Pauline
letters, and the bizarrely easy way people like Thessalonians became convinced Christ had already returned
in their time, and all the other confusing things about
New Testament prophecy — the truth is that it is all trustworthy and you should not question this.
The earliest
New Testament books are the
letters of Paul, and he gives no indication that he had ever met Jesus
in the flesh, and he shows little interest
in the earthly life of Jesus.
Hebrew
lettering is used throughout, both to name Old
Testament books and to reflect the smattering of Aramaic
in the
New Testament.
What was the course of events which gave rise to the Christian faith
in the period of approximately twenty years between the death of Jesus and the writing of the earliest
New Testament documents, the
letters of Paul?
In Paul's
letters and the other
New Testament letters, Jesus Christ (Jesus Messiah) and Christ Jesus (Messiah Jesus) became the ordinary way of speaking, so much so that many modern readers have thought of these expressions as Jesus» common name.
Abbot Chapman was a patristics and
New Testament expert as well as student of mystical theology, and his Spiritual
Letters is a collection of correspondence that Abbot Chapman wrote
in response to inquiries he received from both lay people and religious concerning largely, though not exclusively, difficulties
in prayer (we only get his responses, not the
letters he is responding to).
There is no doubt that Titus has a somewhat different concept of Christianity from that found elsewhere
in the
New Testament, and even from certain of the unquestioned
letters of Paul.
There are few examples of Paul actually praying
in the
New Testament, but there are several places
in Paul's
letters where he writes about his prayer requests and how he prays (See Rom 15:5 - 6, 13; Eph 1:16 - 19; 3:16 - 19; Php 1:9 - 11; Col 1:9 - 12; 2 Thess 1:11 - 12).
Some scholars are convinced that Priscilla wrote the mysterious, anonymous
letter to the Hebrews found
in the
New Testament.
Although we know Paul primarily from his
letters in the
New Testament, he was not called to be a
letter writer but rather a preacher of the Gospel, especially to the Gentiles.
Before the
New Testament was put together, from the oral traditions about Jesus and the
letters and other material known
in the primitive Christian community, appeal was made to the Old
Testament, that is the Jewish Scriptures, for predictions of and a way for interpreting the significance of Jesus.
Some years before Revelation was written, Paul was sending
letters to churches
in Asia Minor and Greece to build up the Christ - rooted societies with an egalitarian credo, recognizing believers whether they were Greek or Jew, male or female, slave or free, These assemblies stood «
in contrast to the hierarchical social relations»
in the empire, Horsley wrote
in Paul and Empire, a book deemed significant by Wright, a
New Testament scholar and the Anglican bishop of Durham.
This view of the
letters of Paul, combined with the use
in Second Peter of other
New Testament books, proves it to be the latest book
in the
New Testament.
Further,
in one of those
New Testament red -
letter passages, referring to «the commandment of God,» Jesus rebukes the Pharisees for failing to apply the death penalty.
Happily, this debate has appreciably subsided, although
in certain quarters there are still those ready to tilt to the death on behalf of what is, alas, an idol — a deified book representing the reduction of Israel's Yahweh (and
in the
New Testament Christ's God and Father) to a particular combination of ink
letters preserved on lifeless sheets of paper bound together between a pair of cardboard or leather covers and known as the Bible.
By the way, the only other book
in the
New Testament that talks about the sealing of the Holy Spirit is Paul's second
letter to the Corinthians.
The major
New Testament references are found
in two Pauline
letters and
in 1 Timothy.
Kasemann pointed out that time and again the Gospels narrate the healing of possessed persons, which then continues
in the Acts of the Apostles; the
New Testament letters, especially the «Revelation of John», celebrate the triumph of the Risen Christ as redemption from captivity to the powers and authorities, meaning by this, all who torment and seduce the world and individual human beings, and alienate them from their humanity, are thrown out of their power.
In the New Testament you can find quite a few warnings against such lack of integrity, so itâ $ ™ s not as if the writers of the letters that ended up in the Bible had no ide
In the
New Testament you can find quite a few warnings against such lack of integrity, so itâ $ ™ s not as if the writers of the
letters that ended up
in the Bible had no ide
in the Bible had no idea.
The Koran, by way of contrast, is the product of one single mind; not so the
New Testament, which has all the variety of the Old, and is a «social» product, a «traditional» book — that is, a book enshrining traditions,
letters, anecdotes, revelations, sayings, stories — and its unity is found only
in its central affirmations, convictions, loyalties, and the general way of life which it reflects.