Preview

Introduction Of The New Testament Essay

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2977 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Introduction Of The New Testament Essay
Introduction of the New Testament
Summary of introduction to the new testament
Louis Berkof by systematically addressing the origin of the Gospel and the Epistles of the New Testament, their content, characteristics, authorship, composition, and canonical significance,
Takes on the difficult undertaking of ensuring that the New Testament is accurately understood within what he perceives is the correct historical setting. Berkhof primarily intended this book for his students at Calvin Theological Seminary where he taught for nearly 30 years. Introduction to the New Testament incorporates the research and labors of many past scholars, and church Fathers, and presents it in such a way as to make “Introduction to the New Testament” a diverse and authoritative study.

The Gospel in General
Louis Berkhof takes the position that the early Church consciously perceived the four books of Jesus’s Ministry, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John as a single Gospel. Berkhof cites in his defense Irenaeus writing that states “The Gospel is essentially fourfold” and Augustine who writes of the Gospel that they are “the four Gospels, or rather, the four books of one Gospel”.
This concept of viewing the four treatises writers as a single Gospel binds the four even the more tightly to one another, to wit Berkhof calls them fourfold portraiture of the Saviour, or a fourfold representation of the Apostolic Christ.

The Synoptic Problem
Louis Berkhof does not try to deny the differences in content, wording, and order, of the synoptic Gospel, but rather addresses the four most common theories by scholars that attempt to explain those differences away. Finding holes in all four of the theories himself Berkhof suggests that the possible answer may be a combination of oral tradition, Petrine influence, and many other factors. Then the author infers that the answer is hidden in the first two verses of the Gospel of Luke. “1 Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    artificial harmonizing of pauline material and an insufficiently critical reliance uJKln the speeches of Acts as accurate representations of apostolic preaching. S…

    • 2216 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    When one picks up the Bible and reads the first four books of the Bible they see many similarities, but also great differences. The first three books are referred to as Synoptic Gospels; this is because they contain many of the same stories, often in similar wording and sequence. John however is much different; the details, wording, and events highlighted by John are unique. In the following paper a comparison between Matthew’s Gospel and John’s Gospel will be found.…

    • 1830 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Best Essays

    Peter: Character Study

    • 5297 Words
    • 22 Pages

    [ 9 ]. Gill, John. An Exposition of the Old and New Testaments. Paris, Ark.: Baptist Standard Bearer, 1989.…

    • 5297 Words
    • 22 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Journal Article Critique

    • 1464 Words
    • 6 Pages

    David McLeod has written this journal article in large part in response to a number of writers who have charged that the present work of Christ has largely “been neglected” [1] by systematic theologians of the church today. In McLeod’s estimation such neglect would not be understood by the New Testament authors, as Christ’s present work was one of their most important themes in the New Testament. McLeod states that, “The purpose of this article is to examine the work of one of those authors, the epistle to the Hebrews, and to outline its contribution to the subject.”[2] McLeod gives three reasons for his study. First, no theme that was central to apostolic Christianity can be overlooked, second, added attention…

    • 1464 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    the dozens of Gospels that did not become part of the New Testament, reveal the truth about…

    • 697 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Synoptic Problem

    • 1061 Words
    • 5 Pages

    As per the content, the Synoptic Gospels are the underlying three books of the New Testament, Matthew, Mark and Luke.1 It is trusted that the underlying three records are called Synoptic in light of the way that they have a somewhat ordinary view. The Synoptic Gospels cover a lot of the same outlines in the life and service of Jesus. The content advises us that the Synoptic Problem insinuates at the…

    • 1061 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Gospels Assessment Essay

    • 1302 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The gospel was developed in three stages. The first stage being the life and teachings of Jesus, which are traditions from Jesus’s words and deeds during his life, the second being the oral tradition or the preaching of…

    • 1302 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Roberts Four Gospels

    • 1167 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Roberts as a pastor and author has provided a us with an outline of his journey to understanding the reliability of the four gospels. His main focus in this book was on the “historical dimension” (pg. 13) in discovering if we truly can trust the gospels. Roberts brief overview of many topics on the reliability of the gospels has us, the reader asking ourselves dose the gospels hold up to critical scrutiny, scrutiny of the authorship of the gospels, the trustworthiness of the scholarly methodology, and discovering what the original manuscripts say vs. what the (Bible) gospels says today. Roberts makes a strong case for trusting the gospels while including opposing thoughts which included contradictions, personal agendas in the writing of the…

    • 1167 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Lindisfarne Gospels

    • 1546 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The Lindisfarne Gospels is a beautifully handwritten and illuminated manuscript. It contains the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and narrates the life and lessons of Jesus Christ. Also included in the manuscript are fifteen elaborately decorated pages. Both the text and the decorated pages have remarkable artistic elements. It is also one of the best-documented and most complete manuscripts that have survived from the seventh and eighth centuries.1 Every aspect of the Lindisfarne Gospels, from the society and historical environment that shaped it, to the manufacturing of it, and to the artistry all throughout, contribute to distinguish it from other manuscripts of the time period.…

    • 1546 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    When looking historically and biblically as a scenario to Mark’s writing the Fourfold- Gospel Hypothesis represents Mark’s writing well.…

    • 2486 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Mosaic Dietary Laws

    • 4763 Words
    • 20 Pages

    Metzger, B. (1997). The Canon of the New Testament: Its Origin, Development, and Significance. New York.…

    • 4763 Words
    • 20 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Gospel is only one, but four Gospels from four aspects to inspire the Lord Jesus. The Gospels are not the Biography of Jesus, but the disciples of the Lord's testimony; nor chronicle the deeds of the Lord Jesus all the time, according to a note of in the order completely, but each book's author, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, according to their own style of writing, written for the data group. Each Gospel has its distinct characteristics, notation, and the revelation of the Lord's many aspects, allow many people may recognize Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The main content of the Gospel has: Master of the pioneer work of John the Baptist; work and teachings of Jesus; the cross and resurrection of the Lord. These three called "The Gospel of style." The purpose of writing these letters is to let people know Jesus Christ, fully convinced, and follow Him.…

    • 508 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    We can analyze the similarities and divergences between the Gospel of John and the Synoptic Gospel of Mark with Christology, Anthropology, Soteriolgy, and Eschatology. Even though many of the passages could refer to more than just one theology, it is achievable to separate the different theologies into the four categories. Regardless of how different the Gospel of John is to that of Mark, Matthew, and Luke, it can be concluded that John does have obvious relations to the Gospel of Mark, even though it was written much earlier.…

    • 1971 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Religion

    • 934 Words
    • 4 Pages

    References: Barnes, A. (2011). Barnes’ Notes on the New Testament. Retrieved March 03, 2012, from…

    • 934 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Each of the four gospels contained in the New Testament portrays a different and unique portrait of Jesus. Mark 's gospel represents Jesus as the suffering servant, while Matthew shows Jesus as the new Moses. Luke stresses Jesus ' inclusion of the outcasts and then John 's non-synoptic gospel shows Jesus as God 's presence and as an otherworldly figure.…

    • 769 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays