How Did the New Testament Come to Be?

Key takeaways

The New Testament is centered around the life and teachings of Jesus, who viewed himself as the fulfillment of the Hebrew Scriptures.
The early Christian movement was instrumental in forming the New Testament through a collective effort of key figures, not a random assembly of documents.
The Gospels were crafted from shared traditions and were a result of both oral and written teachings from Jesus’ disciples and followers.
Unique scribal practices, such as the use of abbreviations for holy names, indicate the reverence early Christians had for their scriptures.
Understanding the formation of the New Testament can enhance our appreciation for its role in the Christian faith as a unified testament leading to Jesus.

Summary

The Fulfillment of the Hebrew Scriptures

The episode explores how the New Testament came to exist alongside the Hebrew Bible, highlighting its central theme of Jesus as its focal point. Jon and Tim discuss the significance of Jesus fulfilling the narrative of the Hebrew Scriptures, illustrating how he positioned himself within the larger story and how his teachings continue to resonate.

Formation of the New Testament Literature

Tim and Jon elaborate on how the New Testament was compiled from various writings that were influenced by the teachings and events during Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. They emphasize that these texts were not random but arose from the early Jesus movement and were connected through specific key figures who wrote, collected, and distributed them.

The Role of Key Figures

The podcast delves into the individuals who contributed to the formation of the New Testament, particularly focusing on a circle of about fifteen people including apostles, their traveling companions, and early church leaders. This network played an essential role in gathering and shaping the New Testament writings as integral to the early Christian tradition.

The Gospels and Their Sources

Jon and Tim review how the four Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—were crafted and their interconnections. They point out that these texts were based on shared traditions and eyewitness accounts, which were then organized into a cohesive narrative that communicated the essence of Jesus' life and teachings.

Scribal Practices and Abbreviations

They highlight a unique scribal tradition found in early Christian manuscripts, known as 'nomina sacra,' where holy names were abbreviated as a practice to honor their sacredness. This practice not only shows the reverence for these texts but also underscores the unified identity of the early Christian community in conveying their faith.

The Significance of the New Testament

In conclusion, Tim and Jon tie the conversation back to the importance of the New Testament writings as foundational texts for Christian faith and practice. They argue that these texts were essential to the growth of the early church and remain crucial for understanding the Christian narrative today.

Show notes

How the Bible Was Formed E4 — In the last three episodes of this short series, we focused on the formation of the Hebrew Bible, or the Old Testament. We also talked about other works of literature from the Second Temple period, known collectively as the Deuterocanon or Apocrypha. Today, we’ll finally explore yet another collection of Second Temple literature that was formed around the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus—the New Testament. In this episode, Jon and Tim look at the people in the early Jesus movement who wrote, collected, and distributed these biographies about Jesus and letters to churches across the Roman Empire.

CHAPTERS

The Fulfillment of the Hebrew Scriptures (0:00-13:51)
What the Gospels Are and How They Came to Be (13:51-25:42)
The Crew Who Shaped the New Testament (25:42-47:19)
The Letters That Lasted (47:19-52:35)
Sacred Scribal Abbreviations (52:35-1:05:01)
Conclusion to Series (1:05:01-1:08:15)

OFFICIAL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

View this episode’s official transcript.

REFERENCED RESOURCES

The Didache
Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony by Richard Bauckham
The Formation and Significance of the Christian Biblical Canon: A Study in Text, Ritual and Interpretation by Tomas Bokedal
Check out the The Deuterocanon / Apocrypha video series.
You can view annotations for this episode—plus our entire library of videos, podcasts, articles, and classes—in the BibleProject app, available for Android and iOS.
Check out Tim’s extensive collection of recommended books here.

SHOW MUSIC

“at the pictures” by Lofi Sunday, Cassidy Godwin
“little adventures” by Lofi Sunday, Cassidy Godwin
“Church Pew ft. Oly.Lo, WISDM-02” by Lofi Sunday
“Yo-05” by Lofi Sunday, Just Derrick
BibleProject theme song by TENTS

SHOW CREDITS

Production of today’s episode is by Lindsey Ponder, producer, and Cooper Peltz, managing producer. Tyler Bailey is our supervising engineer, who edited today’s episode and provided the sound design and mix. JB Witty does our show notes, and Hannah Woo provides the annotations for our app. Our host and creative director is Jon Collins, and our lead scholar is Tim Mackie.

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