The Political Background and Books of the New Testament

Part 1: Political background of the New Testament:

The GRECO ROMAN WORLD - The world into which Jesus came is known as the Greco Roman World
because it was greatly influenced by the Greeks and the Romans. The Greeks by its language and the
original New Testament was written. Due to this universal language at that time Gospel was easily
understood by the people. Politically, Palestine was under the reigned of the Ptolomys and the
Seleuceds. The Greek successors after the death of Alexander the Great. At about 30 years before the
birth of Jesus, the Roman Empire rose to power under the leadership of Octavius, known as Augustus
Ceasar. He was still the ruler until the birth of Jesus. (Luke 2: 1-2) The Romans gave good government,
military genius, and political peace or PAX ROMANA which contributed to the spread of the Gospel
favorably.

The Herodians A Political Group. Herod the Great ordered the children to be killed in order to kill the
baby Jesus. Herod Antipas - He and Herodias responsible for the death of John the Baptizer the fore
runner of Jesus.

Religious Background of Jesus:

A. The Covenant Community: The covenant community, started from Abraham when God called
him with a promise. Anybody who had been circumcised was a member of that covenant and
known as chosen people of God. The promised to have a Savior was carried on to Isaac then to
Jacob.
B. Moses and the Covenant Law: The Old Testament formula: Obey the law meditate it day and
night and you will be successful.
C. The Golden of Israel which started from the time of King David followed by his son Solomon.
D. The division and the collapsed of the Kingdom:

Due to sin of Solomon God allowed the kingdom to be divided and was carried away to
foreign land. But later on, after 70 years of exile, the Southern kingdom was restored.

E. The prophets send by God to remind the people about their sins.

F. Exile in Babylon and restoration under the Persian King Cyrus.

Religious Institution:

A. The Temple and Synagogue - These are the two institutions where the religious activities were
observed

B. The Jewish Priesthood:

A. The Levites: The lowest order and were set apart for the service of the

sanctuary.

B. The Priests: (middle order) were selected from among the priestly families, particularly from the
descendants of Aaron and Moses.

C. The High Priest: (highest order) was the titular head of the Jewish people, exercising unusual
authority in the community.

C. The Jewish Feast:

a. The Feast of Passover - To remind of their Exodus in Egypt.

b. Feast of Tabernacle - To commemorate God's care while living in tents in the wilderness
during the 40 years of wandering.

D. The Jewish Sectarian group: The Jewish community was united in its faith in one God, but there
were certain differences in the interpretation of that faith.

a. The Sadducees: Their members came from wealthy, aristocratic and priestly families. They
recognized only the Pentateuch as the scripture. They rejected the belief in resurrection, angels,
judgement, future life and spirits because they were not taught in the Torah.

b. The Pharisees: "The separatists" The term Pharisees was first introduced during the time of
John Hyrcanus when a group of Jews insisted on observing the Torah very strictly, resulting in
the separatist attitude toward all of life.

c. The Essenes: They were the ascetic group, the monks of their day. In 1947, the shepherds
discovered some ancient scrolls hidden in a cave in Khirbet Qumran near the dead sea. The
scroll now known as the Dead Sea Scrolls, reveal to us some of their beliefs and practices.

d. The Zealots: They were similar to the Pharisees, but they formed some what radical left wing
because they were, at one and at the same time, legalist and nationalist.
The Non-Religious Groups in Palestine:

a. The Publicans: A vocational group - They were tax collectors who were under the
employment of the Roman government to gather taxes from the Jewish people.

b. The Scribes: A vocational group. They were the professional the interpreters of the Law.
They were the lawyers or doctors of the Law. Their purpose was to set up moral standards
for the Jews. Along the lines of strict conformity to the to Mosaic Law.

c. The Herodians: An ethnic group: They were pro Hellenist, endorsing the hellenization
program of Herod the Great. They joined with the Pharisees in trying to prove that Jesus was
a great rebel against Caesar. (Mk. 12:13, Mt. 22: 16)

d. The Samaritans: An ethnic group: They were the people of mixed blood, born of the
intermarriage between the Jews of the Northern Kingdom and the Gentiles. They also
recognized the Pentateuch as the Scriptures.

Part Two: The Overview of the Books of the New Testament in the order in which they
are found in the Bible.

A. The Gospels:

1. Matthew: The primary purpose is to convince the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah, whose
coming they were expecting. Matthew often quotes from the Old Testament.

2. Mark: The Gospel according to Mark believe to be the first gospel to be written. This gospel
present that Jesus is the servant of God and man of action.

3. Luke: The Gospel according to Luke is the first volume of a two volume history addressed to a
man named Theophilus, whose identity is unknown. The gospel focuses on Jesus as the perfect
man and the Savior of mankind.

4. John: Was the last of the gospel to be written, and the writer seems to assumes that his
readers are familiar with the events recorded by Matthew, Luke and Mark. The focus is Jesus as
the Son of God.
B. History:

Acts - This is the second volume addressed by Luke to Theophilus. It tells of the birth of
Christian Church among the Jews in Jerusalem, and its spread from there to the Greeks
and the Romans. Acts11:26

C. The Pauline Epistles:

1. Romans - This epistle was addressed to the Christian in Rome, the capital of the empire. He
intended to visit Rome soon. He wrote this letter partly to prepare them to receive his visit. The
book is well-organized statement of Christian doctrine.

2. First Corinthians - Paul wrote this letter to the Christians at the Corinth to deal the specific
problems like: marriage, sacrifices offered to idols, spiritual gifts and other matters. From it we
can get practical advice about Christian conduct.

3. Second Corinthians - He wrote the second letter to the Corinthians. Most of the problems
had been overcome, but there were some people at Corinth who doubted his authority, to
teach them what to do. So Paul in this letter defended his right to be considered as an Apostle.

4. Galatians- The letter to the Galatians was written by Paul to show clearly that the teachings
of the Judaizers are wrong. It is a declaration of Christian Liberty in Christ.

5. Ephesians - The letter to the Ephesians was written near the end of Paul's life, to strengthen
the faith of Christians as at Ephesus. The key theme throughout the book is unity in Christ.

6. Philippians - Paul was imprisoned as a result of his faithfulness in preaching. A theme

throughout the book is joy or rejoicing in the Lord.

7. Colossians- This letter was written at the same time with Ephesians. It answers the questions
raised by the Judaizers and other false teachers about worship of angels, and philosophical
knowledge as a source of salvation. The epistle corrects these false teachings and emphasizes
the Lordship of Jesus Christ in creation, in the church, and in the life of every Christians.

8. First Thessalonians - The first epistle to the Thessalonians was probably the first Paul's letters
to be written. He explains the second coming of Christ and the resurrection of the dead.

9. Second Thessalonians - In this letter, Paul follows up and answers some questions that were
raised because of their misunderstanding of what he said about the second coming of Christ in 1
Thessalonians. Together, these two epistles give the most detailed discussion of our Christian
hope for the future.

10. First Timothy - This epistle discusses the proper functions and duties of a pastor and the
need to teach who continue to proclaim the gospel to the next generation.
11. Second Timothy - The second epistle to Timothy was written when Paul was facing probable
death. It is more personal than 1 Timothy and reflects the fatherly concern and affection of Paul
for his spiritual "son".

12. Titus - The epistle of Titus is addressed to another young missionary whom Paul had put in
charge of the churches in Crete. It includes practical advice on personal ethics of church leaders.
Sound doctrine and godly life are both important. Because I and II Timothy and Titus contain
advice to pastors of local churches, these three books are sometimes called the Pastoral
Epistles.

13. Philemon - The epistle of Philemon is addressed to a Christian friend whose household slave,
Onesimus, met Paul in prison and became a Christian.

14. Hebrews – The epistles of Hebrews was written especially for Christian who came from a
Jewish (Hebrew) background. The author is not named.

D. The General Epistles

1. James - The written James was probably one of the half brothers of Jesus, and a leader of the
church in Jerusalem. He challenges the Christian to exercise their faith in the actions of daily
lives. A true, living faith is one that results in the right actions.

2. First Peter - The first epistle of Peter were written by Simon-Peter, one of the twelve disciples
of Jesus and were addressed to Jewish Christians in Asia Minor.

3. Second Peter - The second epistle of Peter deals with the problem of false teachers, and
exhorts the Christians to be sure that their faith is grounded into the church. Both I and II Peter
are intended to encourage the Christian to be strong in the face of persecutions which was
increases at that time.

4. First John - It gives general advice to Christians scattered through-out the Roman Empire. First
John closely the parallels of the gospel of John.

5. The Second John - It seems to be addressed to a specific church but we do not know which
church it was. This epistle warns against false doctrines and reminds Christians to obey the
commandment to love one another.

6. Third John - The third epistle of John is very short personal letter to Gaius. It contains praise
for his hospitality, and words of advice.

7. Jude - It was written by the brother of James and it addressed to all Christians. These gnostic
teachers said that all materials body can have are evil while only spiritual things are good. They
said that sensual indulgence is not harmful because it concerns only the material body and can
have no relationship to spiritual life.
E. Prophecy

Revelation - This book, also called Apocalypse, is a prophetic vision of the future as seen by John
while he was an exile because of his faith. It is made up of series of symbolic features of God's
judgement against evil on earth and the glorious victory of heaven.