The New Testament: Acts of the Apostles and the Book of Revelation
The New Testament is the second part of the Bible and is more concise than the first. It is made up of the Gospels, The Acts of the Apostles, epistles, and the Book of Revelation. The center or core of the New Testament are the Gospels because they are the most important source to understanding the life and teachings of the savior, Jesus Christ. There are four Gospels named for Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Being similar in in teachings and writing, the Gospels according to Mark, Matthew, and Luke are called the Synoptic Gospels; synoptic meaning similar. The Gospels tell us the stories about the Good News, God's love and mercy, and the stages of his life (life, teachings, death, and resurrection). The majority of the New Testament contains letters written to the people at that time period. St. Paul wrote thirteen of these letters, known as the epistles. There are twenty one letters in total and they are the oldest pieces of writing in the New Testament. We still don't know with certainty who wrote the other letters but we know the author's inspiration, God. The Acts of the Apostles and the Book of Revelation are the last two books in the New Testament. The Acts of the Apostles revolve around the journey of St. Paul and the events taking place in the early days of the church. The Acts of the Apostles was addressed to the people of God or a man named Theophilus. The Book of Revelation is an apocalyptic story of imagined events that will happen at the end of the world. These stories use symbolic imagery to give us a vivid image about the judgement day, often about good wining against evil. The New Testament is about how Jesus is the word made flesh and how he revealed God to the people of the early church. Sacred Scripture can be in many different forms like poetry and narratives but it all contains God's teachings, his truths. He is revealed to us in these writings because we know that all of the authors in the bible were inspired and guided by God.