New TESTAMENT

FOUNDATIONCLASS NUMBER 2SECTION ONEIntroduction to CriticismUNDERSTANDINGTHE TIME, WORLD AND POWER OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.

New TESTAMENT

FOUNDATIONS THE NEW TESTAMENT IS ABOUT…

• JESUS CHRIST our LORD and Savior.

While the NT is about Him, are there other

writings that show Him?

• If there are, are they significant?

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FOUNDATIONS LETTER FROM ANCIENT KING OF EDESSA.

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FOUNDATIONS LETTER FROM ANCIENT KING OF EDESSA.“Abgarus Uchama the Toparch. To Jesus the good Saviour that (has) appeared in the parts (place) of Jerusalem, greeting.

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FOUNDATIONS LETTER FROM ANCIENT KING OF EDESSA.I have heard concerning (you) and (your) cures, that they are done of (you) without drugs or herbs: for, as the report goes, (you) make blind

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FOUNDATIONS LETTER FROM ANCIENT KING OF EDESSA.men to see again, lame to walk, and clean lepers, and cast out unclean spirits and devils, and those that are afflicted with long sickness

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FOUNDATIONS LETTER FROM ANCIENT KING OF EDESSA.(you) heal, and raise the dead.  And having heard all this of (you), I had determined one of two things, either that (you) are God come down

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FOUNDATIONS LETTER FROM ANCIENT KING OF EDESSA.from heaven, and so do these things or are a Son of God that does these things. Therefore now have I written and entreated (you) to trouble

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FOUNDATIONS LETTER FROM ANCIENT KING OF EDESSA.yourself to come to me and heal the affliction which I have. Or indeed I have heard that the Jews even murmur against (you) and wish to do

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FOUNDATIONS LETTER FROM ANCIENT KING OF EDESSA.(you) hurt. And I have a very little city (and) comely (reverend), which is sufficient for us both.”Eusebius , Ecclesiastical History (i. 13), translated from Syriac (word for word)

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FOUNDATIONS

The New Lion Handbook ofCHRISTIAN HISTORY

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FOUNDATIONS FROM ANCIENT HISTORY MANY OTHERS TOOK ACCOUNT. Jesus Christ is historical.Luke 1 and Acts 1

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FOUNDATIONS THE WORLD INTO WHICH JESUS WAS BORN WAS A LITERATE WORLD WITH MANY RECORDS KEPT.BUT WHAT MAKES A WORD AUTHORITATIVE?

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FOUNDATIONS

•THE SOURCE1- Known sources – public.2- Witness – peer review.3- Reputation – patterns of life.4- Motivations for writing.

AUTHORITATIVE words.

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FOUNDATIONS •New TestamentWas the NT written by people who were known? Was their material public for peer review? Did they have reputations for being with Jesus? Was their motive pure?

AUTHORITATIVE words.

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FOUNDATIONS •NT Technology1-Written on scrolls.2- Written in all-cap letters called UNCIALS.3- Copies were made by hand. 4- Scriptoriums were used when possible.

AUTHORITATIVE words.

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FOUNDATIONS •NT TechnologyTeaching letters were the first sections created for the early Church.Paul’s letters were probably copied by hand. To copy Paul’s letters was considered a high and Holy task.

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FOUNDATIONS •NT Technology1- Scrolls – codex books2- Uncials (caps) changed to cursive writing.3- Translations into other languages became predominant because the church spread so fast and so vast into other cultures.

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FOUNDATIONActs 2:5-11Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men

from every nation under heaven. 6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and

they were bewildered,

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FOUNDATIONActs 2:5-11because each one was hearing

them speak in his own language. 7 And they were amazed and astonished,

saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 

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FOUNDATIONActs 2:5-11 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native

language? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia,

Judea and Cappadocia,

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FOUNDATIONActs 2:5-11Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene,

and visitors from Rome, 11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans

and Arabians

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FOUNDATIONActs 2:5-11we hear them telling in our own

tongues the mighty works of God.”

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FOUNDATIONKEY POINTS:1- There were 17 different worldwide LOCATIONS and CULTURES who were present at the day of Pentecost. God is the One who initiated the translation of the New Testament.

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FOUNDATIONS •NT Technology

MOST NOTABLE translations came in the

form of:-LATIN

-SYRIAC-GREEK

*Many copies were made and sometimes they were

made with mistakes.

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FOUNDATIONS •NT HISTORY

Rome was divided into EAST and

WEST.Rome was the head-

quarters of the WEST. Constantinople was the

headquarters of the EAST.

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FOUNDATIONS •NT HISTORYCHRISTIANITY

DIVIDED ROME!Emperor Constantine declared the EDICT of MILAN in 313 making

Christianity legal. Constantine transferred his eastern capital from

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FOUNDATIONS •NT HISTORYCHRISTIANITY

DIVIDED ROME!…Nicomedia to Byzantium

which he renamed CONSTANTINOPLE in 330.

The “division of civilization” had a dramatic

impact on the western world.

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FOUNDATIONS •NT HISTORYCHRISTIANITY

DIVIDED ROME!The Eastern empire began

to supplant in terms of economy, cultural and

religions power and persuasion.

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FOUNDATIONS •NT HISTORYCHRISTIANITY

DIVIDED ROME!At Constantine’s death he

have the empire to his sons who squandered it.

When the following emperor Valentinian I died

the west fell victim to Rome’s enemies.

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FOUNDATIONS •NT HISTORYRome = WEST = LATINConstantinople = EAST = GREEKThe “VULGATE” translation from Hebrew & Greek to LATIN.

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FOUNDATIONS •NT HISTORYConstantinople fell in 1453 to the Turks which fueled the return of Greek scripts to the WEST.This arrival and revival of ancient Greek scripts brought over…

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FOUNDATIONS •NT HISTORY5000 documents to reconcile with the foundational texts that have been used for the Church. This also had a dramatic impact upon English translations.

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FOUNDATIONS •NT HISTORYWhat we end up with:- 5,000 pieces of script, parchment, papyrus.- 200 Uncials (cap letter)- 3,000 Minuscules (cursive)- 2,000 Lectionaries (Church year calendar with NT readings in them)

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FOUNDATIONS •NT HISTORYWhat we end up with:- thousands of quotations found from early Church fathers; so many we can create 98% of the NT using only their quotes.

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FOUNDATIONS •NT HISTORYWhat we end up with:-NT Scriptures on thousands of Ostraca.

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FOUNDATIONS •NT HISTORYWhat we end up with:-NT Scriptures on hundreds of Amulets.

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FOUNDATIONS •NT COMPARISONRoman historian Tacitus works up the history and times of first century Rome. We have only one document backing his work up. That document is 900 years after the original!

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FOUNDATIONS •NT COMPARISONEuripides – Greek playwright is famous in liberal arts school. But his work is never questioned, even though it is only supported by 54 papyri and 276 parchments.

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FOUNDATIONS •NT COMPARISONThe History of Rome by Velleius Paterculus, came from one complete manuscript dated more than 1700 years after his life but no one dare imagine to question his work.