1.
Epistle to the Romans
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The Epistle to the Romans or Letter to the Romans, often shortened to Romans, is the sixth book in the New Testament. Biblical scholars agree that it was composed by the Apostle Paul to explain that salvation is offered through the gospel of Jesus Christ and it is the longest of the Pauline epistles and is often considered his most important theological legacy and magnum opus. N. T. Wright notes that Romans is. neither a systematic theology nor a summary of Pauls lifework and it dwarfs most of his other writings, an Alpine peak towering over hills and villages. Not all onlookers have viewed it in the light or from the same angle. Not all climbers have taken the route up its sheer sides. What nobody doubts is that we are dealing with a work of massive substance. The scholarly consensus is that Paul authored the Epistle to the Romans, cranfield, in the introduction to his commentary on Romans, says, The denial of Pauls authorship of Romans by such critics. Is now rightly relegated to a place among the curiosities of NT scholarship, today no responsible criticism disputes its Pauline origin. The evidence of its use in the Apostolic Fathers is clear, every extant early list of NT books includes it among his letters. The external evidence of authenticity could indeed hardly be stronger, and it is borne out by the internal evidence, linguistic, stylistic, literary. The letter was most probably written while Paul was in Corinth, probably while he was staying in the house of Gaius, There are a number of reasons why Corinth is considered most plausible. Paul was about to travel to Jerusalem on writing the letter and this probably implies Corinth as it was the location of Paul’s greatest missionary success in Greece. Erastus, mentioned in Romans 16,23, also lived in Corinth, being the commissioner for public works and city treasurer at various times. The majority of writing on Romans propose the letter was written in late 55/early 56 or late 56/early 57. Early 55 and early 58 both have some support, while German New Testament scholar Gerd Lüdemann argues for a date as early as 51/52, following on from Knox, Lüdemann is the only serious challenge to the consensus of mid to late 50s. For ten years writing the letter, Paul had traveled around the territories bordering the Aegean Sea evangelizing. Churches had been planted in the Roman provinces of Galatia, Macedonia, Achaia and Asia, Paul, considering his task complete, wanted to preach the gospel in Spain, where he would not build upon another man’s foundation. This allowed him to visit Rome on the way, an ambition of his
2.
First Epistle to the Corinthians
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The First Epistle to the Corinthians, usually referred to simply as First Corinthians and often written 1 Corinthians, is one of the Pauline epistles of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. This epistle contains some well-known phrases, including, all things to all men, through a glass, darkly, there is consensus among historians and Christian theologians that Paul is the author of the First Epistle to the Corinthians. The letter is quoted or mentioned by the earliest of sources, the personal and even embarrassing texts about immorality in the church increase consensus. However, two passages may have been inserted at a later stage, the first passage is 1 Corinthians 11, 2–16, dealing with praying and prophesying with head covering. The second passage is 1 Corinthians 14, 34–35, whose authenticity has been hotly debated, part of the reason for doubt is that in some manuscripts, the verses come at the end of the chapter instead of at its present location. Furthermore, Paul is here appealing to the law which is uncharacteristic of him, lastly, the verses come into conflict with 11,5 where women are described as praying and prophesying. The epistle was written from Ephesus, a city on the west coast of todays Turkey, according to Acts of the Apostles, Paul founded the church in Corinth, then spent approximately three years in Ephesus. The letter was written during time in Ephesus, which is usually dated as being in the range of AD 53–57. In 16,8 Paul declares his intention of staying in Ephesus until Pentecost and this statement, in turn, is clearly reminiscent of Pauls Second Missionary Journey, when Paul traveled from Corinth to Ephesus, before going to Jerusalem for Pentecost. Thus, it is possible that I Corinthians was written during Pauls first stay in Ephesus, at the end of his Second Journey, however, it is more likely that it was written during his extended stay in Ephesus, where he refers to sending Timothy to them. Also, his references to Apollos show that Apollos was known to Paul and the church at the time of writing, the salutation reinforces the legitimacy of Pauls apostolic claim. Thanksgiving The thanksgiving part of the letter is typical of Hellenistic letter writing, in a thanksgiving recitation the writer thanks God for health, a safe journey, deliverance from danger, or good fortune. In this letter, the thanksgiving introduces charismata and gnosis, topics to which Paul will return, greet one another with a holy kiss. I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand, if any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you and my love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Some time before 2 Corinthians was written, Paul paid them a visit to check some rising disorder. They had also visited by Apollos, perhaps by Peter. Paul wrote this letter to correct what he saw as erroneous views in the Corinthian church, Paul then wrote this letter to the Corinthians, urging uniformity of belief and expounding Christian doctrine
3.
Paul the Apostle
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Paul the Apostle, commonly known as Saint Paul, and also known by his native name Saul of Tarsus was an apostle who taught the gospel of the Christ to the first century world. He is generally considered one of the most important figures of the Apostolic Age, in the mid-30s to the mid-50s AD, he founded several churches in Asia Minor and Europe. Paul took advantage of his status as both a Jew and a Roman citizen to minister to both Jewish and Roman audiences, according to writings in the New Testament, Paul was dedicated to the persecution of the early disciples of Jesus in the area of Jerusalem. He was struck blind but, after three days, his sight was restored by Ananias of Damascus, and Paul began to preach that Jesus of Nazareth is the Jewish Messiah, approximately half of the book of Acts deals with Pauls life and works. Fourteen of the books in the New Testament have traditionally been attributed to Paul. Seven of the epistles are undisputed by scholars as being authentic, Pauline authorship of the Epistle to the Hebrews is not asserted in the Epistle itself and was already doubted in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. It was almost unquestioningly accepted from the 5th to the 16th centuries that Paul was the author of Hebrews, but that view is now almost universally rejected by scholars. The other six are believed by scholars to have come from followers writing in his name. Other scholars argue that the idea of an author for the disputed epistles raises many problems. Today, Pauls epistles continue to be roots of the theology, worship, and pastoral life in the Catholic and Protestant traditions of the West. Augustine of Hippo developed Pauls idea that salvation is based on faith, martin Luthers interpretation of Pauls writings influenced Luthers doctrine of sola fide. The main source for information about Pauls life is the material found in his epistles, however, the epistles contain little information about Pauls past. The book of Acts recounts more information but leaves several parts of Pauls life out of its narrative, such as his probable, some scholars believe Acts also contradicts Pauls epistles on multiple accounts, in particular concerning the frequency of Pauls visits to the church in Jerusalem. It has been assumed that Sauls name was changed when he converted from Judaism to Christianity. His Jewish name was Saul, perhaps after the biblical King Saul, a fellow Benjamite, according to the Book of Acts, he inherited Roman citizenship from his father. As a Roman citizen, he bore the Latin name of Paul—in biblical Greek, Παῦλος. It was quite usual for the Jews of that time to have two names, one Hebrew, the other Latin or Greek. Jesus called him Saul, Saul in the Hebrew tongue in the book of Acts, later, in a vision to Ananias of Damascus, the Lord referred to him as Saul, of Tarsus
4.
Apostles
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In Christian theology and ecclesiology, the apostles, particularly the Twelve Apostles, were the primary historical disciples of Jesus, the central figure in Christianity. During the life and ministry of Jesus in the 1st century AD, the word disciple is sometimes used interchangeably with apostle, for instance, the Gospel of John makes no distinction between the two terms. In modern usage, prominent missionaries are often called apostles, a practice which stems from the Latin equivalent of apostle, i. e. missio, for example, Saint Patrick was the Apostle of Ireland, and Saint Boniface was the Apostle to the Germans. The commissioning of the Twelve Apostles during the ministry of Jesus is recorded in the Synoptic Gospels, after his resurrection, Jesus sent 11 of them by the Great Commission to spread his teachings to all nations. This event is called the Dispersion of the Apostles. There is also an Eastern Christian tradition derived from the Gospel of Luke of there having been as many as 70 apostles during the time of Jesus ministry. Prominent figures in early Christianity, notably Paul, were called apostles. The period of early Christianity during the lifetimes of the apostles is called the Apostolic Age, during the 1st century AD, the apostles established churches throughout the territories of the Roman Empire and, according to tradition, through the Middle East, Africa, and India. In his writings, the epistles to Christian churches throughout the Levant, Paul did not restrict the term apostle to the Twelve, the restricted usage appears in the Revelation to John. By the 2nd century AD, association with the apostles was esteemed as an evidence of authority, Churches which are believed to have been founded by one of the apostles are known as apostolic sees. Pauls epistles were accepted as scripture, and two of the four gospels were associated with apostles, as were other New Testament works. Various Christian texts, such as the Didache and the Apostolic Constitutions, were attributed to the apostles, bishops traced their lines of succession back to individual apostles, who were said to have dispersed from Jerusalem and established churches across great territories. Christian bishops have traditionally claimed authority deriving, by apostolic succession, early Church Fathers who came to be associated with apostles, such as Pope Clement I with St. Peter, are referred to as the Apostolic Fathers. The Apostles Creed, popular in the West, was said to have composed by the apostles themselves. The word apostle comes from the Greek word ἀπόστολος, formed from the prefix ἀπό- and root στέλλω and originally meaning messenger and it has, however, a stronger sense than the word messenger, and is closer to a delegate. The Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament argues that its Christian use translated a Jewish position known in Hebrew as the sheliach and this ecclesiastical meaning of the word was later translated into Latin as missio, the source of the English missionary. In the New Testament, the names of the majority of the apostles are Hebrew names, Mark 6, 7-13 states that Jesus initially sent out these twelve in pairs to towns in Galilee. The text states that their initial instructions were to heal the sick and their carrying of just a staff is sometimes given as the reason for the use by Christian bishops of a staff of office in those denominations that believe they maintain an apostolic succession
5.
Gospel of Mark
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The Gospel According to Mark, the second book of the New Testament, is one of the four canonical gospels and the three synoptic gospels. It portrays Jesus as a man of action, an exorcist, a healer. Jesus is also the Son of God, but he keeps his identity secret, all this is in keeping with prophecy, which foretold the fate of the messiah as Suffering Servant. The gospel ends, in its version, with the discovery of the empty tomb, a promise to meet again in Galilee. Traditionally thought to be an epitome of Matthew, which accounts for its place as the gospel in the Bible. The Gospel of Mark is anonymous, early Christian tradition ascribes it to John Mark, a companion and interpreter of the apostle Peter. Hence its author is often called Mark, even though most modern scholars are doubtful of the Markan tradition and instead regard the author as unknown. It was probably written c. AD 66–70, during Neros persecution of the Christians in Rome or the Jewish revolt, as suggested by references to war in Judea. The author used a variety of pre-existing sources, such as stories, apocalyptic discourse. Mark was written in Greek, for an audience of Greek-speaking Christians, Rome, Galilee, Antioch. The gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke bear a resemblance to each other. Their close relationship is termed the problem, and has led to a number of hypotheses explaining their interdependence. The most widely accepted hypothesis is that Mark was the first gospel and was used as a source by both Matthew and Luke, together with additional material. The strongest argument for this is the fact that Matthew and Luke agree with other in their sequence of stories. The 19th century recognition of Mark as the earliest gospel led to the belief that it must therefore be the most reliable, the modern consensus is that Marks purpose was to present a theological message rather than to write history. Marks gospel is nevertheless seen as the most reliable of the four in terms of its overall description of Jesuss life. This recognition allows scholars to chart the evolution of Jesus in the scriptures, Marks Christ, for example, dies with the cry, My God, my God, historical reconstruction suggests that the original despairing death of Jesus has become more and more victorious over time. From the outset, Christians depended heavily on Jewish literature, supporting their convictions through the Jewish scriptures and those convictions involved a nucleus of key concepts, the messiah, the son of God and the son of man, the Day of the Lord, the kingdom of God
6.
Gospel of Luke
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The Gospel According to Luke, also called the Gospel of Luke, or simply Luke, is the third of the four canonical Gospels. It tells of the origins, birth, ministry, death, resurrection, Luke is the second-longest of the four gospels, and together with Acts of the Apostles, the pair make up a two-volume work from the same pen, called Luke–Acts. The cornerstone of Luke-Acts theology is salvation history, the understanding that Gods purpose is seen in the way he has acted. The gospels sources are the Gospel of Mark, the collection called the Q source, and a collection of material called the L source. Luke-Acts does not name its author, the most probable date for its composition is around 80–100 AD, and there is evidence that it was still being revised well into the 2nd century. Autographs of Luke and the other Gospels have not been preserved, as is typical for ancient documents, the gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles make up a two-volume work which scholars call Luke–Acts. The author is not named in either volume and he admired Paul, but his theology was significantly different from Pauls on key points and he does not represent Pauls views accurately. The eclipse of the attribution to Luke the companion of Paul has meant that an early date for the gospel is now rarely put forward. Luke-Acts is a history of the Founder of the church and his successors. All three authors anchor the histories of their respective peoples by dating the births of the founders and narrate the stories of the founders births from God, each founder taught authoritatively, appeared to witnesses after death, and ascended to heaven. Crucial aspects of the teaching of all three concerned the relationship between rich and poor and the question of whether foreigners were to be received into the people. The author used as his sources the gospel of Mark, the collection called the Q source. Mark, written around 70 AD, provided the narrative outline, for these Luke turned to Q, which consisted mostly, although not exclusively, of sayings. Mark and Q account for about 64% of Luke, the remaining material, known as the L source, is of unknown origin and date. Most Q and L-source material is grouped in two clusters, Luke 6, 17-8,3 and 9, 51-18,14, Luke was written to be read aloud to a group of Jesus-followers gathered in a house to share the Lords supper. The author assumes an educated Greek-speaking audience, but directs his attention to specifically Christian concerns rather than to the Greco-Roman world at large. He begins his gospel with a preface addressed to Theophilus, the name means Lover of God, here he informs Theophilus of his intention, which is to lead his reader to certainty through an orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled among us. He did not, however, intend to provide Theophilus with a justification of the Christian faith – did it happen
7.
Acts of the Apostles
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The Acts of the Apostles, often referred to simply as Acts, is the fifth book of the New Testament, it tells of the founding of the Christian church and the spread of its message to the Roman Empire. Acts and the Gospel of Luke make up a work, Luke–Acts, by the same anonymous author. The first part, the Gospel of Luke, tells how God fulfilled his plan for the salvation through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. Acts continues the story of Christianity in the 1st century, beginning with Jesuss Ascension to Heaven, the early chapters, set in Jerusalem, describe the Day of Pentecost and the growth of the church in Jerusalem. Initially the Jews are receptive to the Christian message, but soon turn against the followers of Jesus. Rejected by the Jews, under the guidance of the Apostle Peter the message is taken to the Gentiles. The later chapters tell of Pauls conversion, his mission in Asia Minor and the Aegean, and finally his imprisonment in Rome, the title Acts of the Apostles was first used by Irenaeus in the late 2nd century. It is not known whether this was a title or one invented by Irenaeus, it does seem clear, however. The Gospel of Luke and Acts make up a work which scholars call Luke–Acts. The author is not named in either volume. )He admired Paul, the earliest possible date for the composition of Acts is set by the events with which it ends, Pauls imprisonment in Rome c.63 AD, but an early date is now rarely put forward. In either case there is evidence that it was still being revised well into the 2nd century. Luke aligned his work, Luke–Acts, to the narratives which many others had written, Acts, the second part, is widely thought of as a history, but it lacks exact analogies in Hellenistic or Jewish literature. The title Acts of the Apostles would seem to identify it with the telling of the deeds and achievements of great men. By and large the sources for Acts can only be guessed at, but Luke would have had access to the Septuagint, the gospel of Mark and the collection of sayings of Jesus called the Q source. )There are also points of contacts with 1 Peter, the Letter to the Hebrews, and 1 Clement. Other sources can only be inferred from internal evidence—the traditional explanation of the three we passages, for example, is that they represent eye-witness accounts, the search for such inferred sources was popular in the 19th century, but by the mid-20th it had largely been abandoned. Acts was read as a history of the early church well into the post-Reformation era. The mid-19th century scholar Ferdinand Baur suggested that Luke had re-written history to present a united Peter and Paul, Baur continues to have enormous influence, but today there is less interest in determining Lukes historical accuracy than in understanding his theological program. Luke was written to be read aloud to a group of Jesus-followers gathered in a house to share the Lords supper, the author assumes an educated Greek-speaking audience, but directs his attention to specifically Christian concerns rather than to the Greco-Roman world at large
8.
Apocalypse
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‹See Tfd› An apocalypse is a disclosure of knowledge or revelation. In religious contexts it is usually a disclosure of something hidden, today, the term is commonly used in reference to any prophetic revelation or so-called end time scenario, or to the end of the world in general. The revelation may be made through a dream, as in the Book of Daniel, or through a vision, in biblical accounts of revelations the manner of the revelation and its reception is generally described. According to the Book of Daniel, after a period of fasting, Daniel is standing by a river when a heavenly being appears to him. Symbolism is a frequent characteristic of apocalyptic writing, one instance of this occurs where gematria is employed, either for obscuring the writers meaning or enhancing it, as a number of ancient cultures used letters also as numbers. Thus the symbolic name Taxo, Assumptio Mosis, ix,1, the Number of the Beast, in the Book of Revelation 13,18, the number 666, Sibyllines, i. 326–30. Similar is the frequent prophecy of the length of time through which the events predicted must be fulfilled, judgments, Revelation 16, the dragon, Revelation 12, 3–17, Revelation 20, 1–3, the eagle, Assumptio Mosis, x.8, and so on. In the Hebrew Old Testament some pictures of the end of the age were images of the judgment of the wicked, in the Book of Job and in some Psalms the dead are described as being in Sheol, awaiting the final judgment. The wicked will then be consigned to eternal suffering in the fires of Gehinnom, the Apocalypse on In Our Time at the BBC. Its the End of the World,8 Potential Armageddons, Fox, from the Rare Book and Special Collections Division at the Library of Congress
9.
Book of Revelation
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Its title is derived from the first word of the text, written in Koine Greek, apokalypsis, meaning unveiling or revelation. The Book of Revelation is the apocalyptic document in the New Testament canon. The author names himself in the text as John, but his identity remains a point of academic debate. Modern scholarship generally takes a different view, and many consider that nothing can be known about the author except that he was a Christian prophet, Some modern scholars characterise Revelations author as a putative figure whom they call John of Patmos. The bulk of traditional sources date the book to the reign of the emperor Domitian, the book spans three literary genres, the epistolary, the apocalyptic, and the prophetic. It begins with John, on the island of Patmos in the Aegean and he then describes a series of prophetic visions, including figures such as the Whore of Babylon and the Beast, culminating in the Second Coming of Jesus. The title is taken from the first word of the book in Koine Greek, ἀποκάλυψις apokalypsis, the author names himself as John, but it is currently considered unlikely that the author of Revelation was also the author of the Gospel of John. All that is known is that this John was a Jewish Christian prophet, probably belonging to a group of such prophets and his precise identity remains unknown, and modern scholarship commonly refers to him as John of Patmos. 70 AD is the date of writing according to Martha Himmelfarb in the recently published Blackwell series. Revelation is an apocalyptic prophecy with an epistolary introduction addressed to seven churches in the Roman province of Asia, Apocalypse means the revealing of divine mysteries, John is to write down what is revealed and send it to the seven churches. The entire book constitutes the letter—the letters to the seven churches are introductions to the rest of the book. While the dominant genre is apocalyptic, the author himself as a Christian prophet, Revelation uses the word in various forms twenty-one times. The predominant view is that Revelation alludes to the Old Testament although it is difficult among scholars to agree on the number of allusions or the allusions themselves. Revelation rarely quotes directly from the Old Testament, almost every verse alludes to or echoes older scriptures. Over half of the stem from Daniel, Ezekiel, Psalms. He very frequently combines multiple references, and again the style makes it impossible to be certain to what extent he did so consciously. Revelation was the last book accepted into the Christian biblical canon and it was considered tainted because the heretical sect of the Montanists relied on it and doubts were raised over its Jewishness and authorship. Dionysius, bishop of Alexandria, disciple of Origen wrote that the Book of Revelation could have been written by Cerinthus although he himself did not adopt the view that Cerinthus was the writer and he regarded the Apocalypse as the work of an inspired man but not of an Apostle
10.
Biblical manuscript
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A biblical manuscript is any handwritten copy of a portion of the text of the Bible. The word Bible comes from the Greek biblia, manuscript comes from Latin manu, the original manuscript is called the autographa. The study of manuscripts is important because handwritten copies of books can contain errors. The science of textual criticism attempts to reconstruct the text of books. The Aleppo Codex and Leningrad Codex were the oldest Hebrew language manuscripts of the Tanakh, in 1947 the finding of the Dead Sea scrolls at Qumran pushed the manuscript history of the Tanakh back a millennium from the two earliest complete codices. Before this discovery, the earliest extant manuscripts of the Old Testament were in Greek in manuscripts such as Codex Vaticanus, out of the roughly 800 manuscripts found at Qumran,220 are from the Tanakh. Every book of the Tanakh is represented except for the Book of Esther, however, notably, there are two scrolls of the Book of Isaiah, one complete, and one around 75% complete. These manuscripts generally date between 150 BCE to 70 CE and these variations are not seen to affect the meaning or interpretation of NT scriptures and are usually given reference to as in-page footnotes in most of todays bibles. The difficulty is in where the manuscripts are coming from, the first was to simply wash the manuscript and reuse it. This was very common in the ancient world and even up into the Middle Ages, the most famous palimpsest is probably the Archimedes Palimpsest. If this was not done within a period of time after the papyri was made, then washing it was less likely since the papyri might deteriorate. The third option was simply to leave them in what has become known as a manuscript gravesite, in addition, texts thought to be complete and correct but which had deteriorated due to heavy usage or had missing folios would also be placed in these caches. Once in a cache, insects and humidity would often contribute to the deterioration of the documents. Complete and correctly copied texts would usually be placed in use and thus usually would wear out fairly quickly. Would be determined by the one commissioning the work and this is part of the reason why scholars are more likely to find incomplete, and at times conflicting, segments of manuscripts than complete and largely consistent works. Distribution of Greek manuscripts by century The task of copying manuscripts was generally done by scribes who were trained professionals in the arts of writing and bookmaking, some manuscripts were also proofread, and scholars closely examining a text can sometimes find the original and corrections found in certain manuscripts. In the 6th century, a room devoted to the practice of manuscript writing and illumination called the scriptorium came into use. Sometimes a group of scribes would make copies at the time as one individual read from the text
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"Corinthians, Epistles to the". Encyclopædia Britannica. 7 (11th ed.). 1911. pp. 150–154.
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2 Corinthians public domain audiobook at LibriVox Various versions
