who thought Christianity was only for Jews (and Gentiles who became
Jews) and those like Paul who thought it was equally for Gentiles.
Paul's views prevailed. During the century after the death of Jesus,
the success of Christian preaching among Gentiles, together with the
disasters that befell the Jewish people as a result of their
unsuccessful revolt against Rome, led to a clear separation between
Christianity and Judaism. At the same time, Paul and other
Christians writing in Greek, produced a number of texts expressing
their answers to questions about who Jesus was and how Christians
were related to him. Those texts Christians came to see as
particularly valuable--the ones they thought written under the
guidance of the Spirit--were later gathered to form the New
Testament.
NEW TESTAMENT: DEVELOPMENT OF THE CANON
Several kinds of books make up the New Testament. The following
brief outline will help you find your way:
I. The Gospels. Gospel means good news. The Gospels are accounts of
the life, teaching, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
A. Synoptic Gospels: Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Synoptic means taking
a common view; these three Gospels have much material in common and
are organized similarly. (See the following table.)
B. John. This Gospel is organized differently than the Synoptics and
contains material not found in them.
II. Acts of the Apostles. This book is an account of the early
Christian church.
III. The Epistles. These are letters of early Christians.
A. Pauline Epistles (attributed to Paul). Romans, 1 and 2
Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2
Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, and Hebrews.
(Authorship of Hebrews, Ephesians, and some of the other Epistles is
uncertain.)
B. Catholic Epistles (Catholic means universal; these letters are
traditionally considered to be addressed to Christians in general.)
James; 1 and 2 Peter; 1, 2, and 3 John; and Jude.
IV. Revelation. This apocalypse, or book of visions, presents in
symbolic form the future of Christianity and the world.
These 27 books weren't written in the order in which they now appear
in the New Testament. One of the goals of New Testament scholars has
