SCRIPTURE READING EXERCISE.

THE CLASSIFICATION OF THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.

SPECIAL TEXT: "Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Savior, which is Christ, the Lord.—THE ANGEL to the Shepherds.

NOTES.

1. The New Testament—Definition: "This is the name given in the Western Church, ever since the days of Tertullian [second century A. D.] to the collection of sacred books that were written by certain disciples of Christ at different periods after the planting of the Christian Church, and that were afterwards accepted by the Church as the inspired record of the new dispensation of the grace of God to the world. The expression New Testament is the Latin translation of the expression New Covenant." (The Comprehensive Teacher's Bible Helps, p. 57.)

2. Origin of the New Testament as Scripture: "The institution of the Christian Church was, of course, prior to any record of it. That institution was founded at first, and for long rested, on the merely oral testimony of those who had witnessed, or were otherwise assured of, the life, death, and rising again of its founder, Jesus the Son of God and Savior of the world (Acts ii: 22 seq.; xiii: 31, 32). Except this oral testimony, as confirmed, moreover, by signs and wonders [and the testimony of the Holy Ghost], the first Christian churches had no other evidences of the character and certainty of the events on which their faith was grounded, unless we add the surprising correspondence between these events and the predictions of prophecy—which, in point of fact, we find to be the chief argument insisted on by the Apostles in persuading their countrymen to accept Jesus of Nazareth as the promised Messiah. It was only when controversies arose affecting the first principles of the faith, and misapprehensions and irregularities began to show themselves in certain sections and quarters of the Church, that it was found necessary to have recourse to a literary vehicle in the statement of the facts and doctrines of the gospel." (Comprehensive Teacher's Bible Helps, p. 57.)

3. The Gospels. The Gospel narratives record in writing what had previously been propagated by oral teaching respecting the sayings and doings of Christ; and this history appears to have continued to be so propagated till the time when the original ear and eye witnesses were beginning to die out, and some uncertainty to attach to the traditional oral accounts. * * * * * From all this we are not to conclude that the early Christian Church had no sacred scripture; for they had and read the Old Testament scripture, the authority, as well as the significance and importance of which was so enhanced to them by the fulfilment it had received [in part] in the facts of Christianity. (Comprehensive Teacher's Bible Helps, p. 57.)

4. Origin of the New Testament: The twenty-seven books collected in the New Testament were written by a number of authors, eight at least (nine, in case the Epistle to the Hebrews was not written by Paul). For each book there was some special occasion, each had its distinct purpose, and between the writing of the earliest and latest parts nearly half a century intervened. The agreement, under these circumstances, is truly wonderful, and the adaptation of a volume, thus penned, for all ages and classes is not less so. Nothing will account for such agreement and adaptation save a supernatural element in the composition; but we are now concerned with the human conditions which called forth these writings. Christ wrote nothing; but is himself the book of life to be read by all. He is written on the world's history and on men's hearts, and furnishes an unending theme of holy thoughts, discourses, and songs of praise. So, too, the Lord chose none of his Apostles, Paul excepted, from among the learned; he did not train them to literary authorship, nor expressly command them to perform such labor. They were to preach the glad tidings of salvation. Personal oral teaching was the means used for first propagating the gospel and founding the Church; as it is today the indispensable instrumentality. No book of the New Testament was written until about twenty years after the resurrection of Christ, and more than half a century had passed before John wrote the fourth Gospel." (International Commentary, Introduction,^[2] p. 8.)

5. The Language in Which the New Testament was Written: The New Testament was written in Hellenistic Greek, i. e., in that idiom of Macedonian Greek spoken by the Jews of the Dispersion (called Hellenists) at the time of Christ. It has a Greek body, a Hebrew soul, and a Christian spirit." (International Commentary, Introduction to Matthew, p. 9.)

6. The Character of the New Testament: The Apostles all drew their doctrine from personal contact with the divine human history of the crucified and risen Savior, and from the inward illumination of the Holy Spirit, revealing the person and work of Christ in them, and opening to them his discourses and acts. This divine enlightenment is inspiration, governing not only the composition of the sacred writings, but also the oral instructions of their authors; not merely an act, but a permanent state. The Apostles lived and moved continually in the element of truth. They spoke, wrote, and acted from the Spirit of truth; and this, not as passive instruments, but as conscious and free agents. For the Holy Spirit does not supercede the gifts and peculiarities of nature, ordained by the Lord; it sanctifies them to the service of the kingdom of God. * * * * * While the New Testament forms one harmonious whole, it was written by different men, inspired indeed, and yet free and conscious agents. The peculiar character, education, and sphere of the several writers, therefore, necessarily show themselves in their writings." (International Commentary and Introduction, p. 9.)

7. The Chronological Order of the Books: This cannot be determined with absolute certainty, as no dates are given in the books themselves. Some of the Epistles of Paul, especially that to the Romans, contain indications and allusions which enable us to assign them to a particular year. The Epistle of James, and the Epistles to the Thessalonians were probably writen first, the writings of John last. The three Synoptic Gospels must have been composed before the destruction of Jerusalem (A. D. 70), which by them is predicted as a future event. The Acts were written after 63, yet before the death of Paul, (which is supposed to have occurred 68 A. D.), as they suddenly close with his imprisonment in Rome." (Ibid, pp. 10, 11.)

8. Unity of the New Testament: The New Testament is a collection of twenty-seven distinct writings, from eight (or nine) different hands. Of these writers, four were Apostles—St. Matthew, St. John, St. Paul, and St. Peter; two were companions of the Apostles—St. Mark and St. Luke; two were our Lord's brothers, probably not Apostles—St. James and St. Jude. The books are usually classed as Historical (five), Didactic (twenty-one), Prophetical (one), though the writings of the first class include much more than one-half of the entire matter. The unity of the whole is remarkable; all the books find their center in Jesus Christ our Lord. The four Gospels narrate his life on earth; the fifth historical book tells how the new life, that came from Him through the Holy Spirit, passed from Jerusalem to Rome. The epistles, written by men of varied personal character and temperament, set forth the significance of the gospel facts, as revealed to them, according to our Lord's promise (John xvi: 12, 13). The single prophetical book, however it is to be interpreted, shows the Lamb as King, to become Victor on earth, where his church is preparing through conflict to share his triumph. (Bible Treasury, p 123.)

9. Order: In our English Bible the order is not chronological. In ancient manuscripts there was much variation in position; the seven General Epistles were usually placed immediately after Acts, the Gospels coming first, though not always in the order now universal. The Pauline Epistles seem to have been arranged according to length, so that the earliest and the latest stand together, viz., I and II Thes. with I and II Timothy, and Titus." (Bible Treasury, p. 123.)

Footnotes

1. "Pertaining to or of the nature of teaching; intended to instruct or edify." (Dictionary.)2. The above and some of the following notes of this lesson are taken from the "International Revision Commentary," on the New Testament. The comments are based upon the revised version of the New Testament of 1881 by English and American scholars. The International Commentaries were considered necessary, owing to the Anglo-American revision of the New Testament. For this revision it is claimed that it is based upon a much older and purer text, and corrects several thousand errors and inaccuracies which mar the excellence of the version of 1611. It also claims to put "the English reader as nearly as possible into the position of the student of the Greek Testament." We shall have occasion now and then to quote this work, and it will always be done under the title, "International Commentary," and must not be confounded with the "Commentary, Critical and Explanatory," by Messrs. Jamieson-Faussett-Brown, already frequently quoted, and still to be quoted in subsequent lessons.