Introduction to New Testament: Letters and Epistles by Paul, Book of Revelation, and Themes of Freedom, Responsibility, and Self-Giving

This article provides an introduction to the New Testament, focusing on letters and epistles written by Paul, as well as the book of Revelation. The article discusses the authorship and purpose of these texts, as well as their relevance to the early Christian community. The article also explores the themes of freedom, responsibility, and self-giving in the context of Christianity, and how they can be applied to the present-day community in South Africa. Additionally, the article examines the letters of Hebrews and James, their authorship, and their messages regarding salvation and social justice. Overall, the article provides a comprehensive overview of the New Testament and its significance to the Christian faith.

Running head: INTRODUCTION TO NEW TESTAMENT
INTRODUCTION TO NEW TESTAMENT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note:

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1.1 Letter
1.2 Letter of Paul to the Romans
1.3 (i) The author of the letter was the same person who actually wrote the letter with their
own hand (ii) The author dictated the letter and someone else (often a secretary)
transcribed the words onto papers (iii) The author gave basic guidelines and instructions
to a secretary or trusted companion on desired content and then left the secretary to
actually write the letter.
1.4 The main reason Paul chose to establish a Christian community in Corinth because it was
a port city which would potentially enable the Christian message to spread to all other
parts of the Empire (Roetzel 2015 pp.163-178). It was found in Corinth in 50 A.D and
most of the people came from a very poor background.
1.5 The reason that Paul chose to write a letter to Galatia was because he had to respond to
the Christians who had begun to influence the Churches of Galatia into believing that they
needed to begin observing the full Jewish Law. The law was circumcision as a symbol of
taking oath. Paul after coming across this declared his view that it was not necessary for
the gentiles to adopt the Jewish law to become Christians (Freed 2014 pp. 140-149).
1.6 There are distinctive difference between letters and epistles. Epistles were mainly a form
of literary art. These were expected to have an enduring value laying down principles that
could benefit a large number of people. They were like the present day academic articles
published in journals. On the other hand the letters of the New Testament were mostly
written to large communities so they had the characteristics of epistle however their
motive was to establish communication, these have the combination of the features of
both letters and epistles.

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1.7 The main purpose of the book of revelation is to encourage the readers to remain steadfast
in the time of persecution. It is suggested by most scholars that the persecution took place
under the Roam Emperor Domition in 95 or 96 AD.
Task 2
2.1 First Thessalonians, Galatians, First Corinthians, Philippians are the four epistles that are
generally considered by scholars as written by Paul. The reasons for the belief is the linguistic
pattern and the method of communication in these letters. Most of the scholars have found
evidence of the fact that these texts were authentically written by Paul by examining them
closely and the purpose with which they were composed (Longenecker 2017 pp. 350-365).
There are actually 13 Epistles which are designated to Paul. These are also known as the
Letters of Paul. “Although the Epistle to the Romans was not the first written by Paul, it is
well that it is placed first, and next after Acts; for its chief subjects is a discussion of the
grounds on which a sinner is justified before God, and it is well for the sinner, as soon as
possible after he has turned to the Lord, to be made acquainted with this subject. Passing out
of Acts into Romans is the forward step which he next needs to take. This epistle should be
read in connection with the twentieth and twenty-first chapters of Acts, from which the reader
can see that it was written in Corinth just before Paul's last journey to Jerusalem was begun.
Being written to a church containing in its membership a large number of well-matured
members with rich and varied experiences, its discussions of important themes are more
profound than those in any other epistle.”
2.2 (a) There is a dispute about the authorship of the letter to the Ephesians. The letter states
that it is written by Paul but there is debate among scholars about whether some disciple of
Paul wrote it in order to spread his message. There are various reasons which can be used to
explain why the dispute can be stated as authentic. The first reason is the vastly different style

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of writing that has been followed in this particular author. In this particular book Paul has
used long sentences and loose phrases that are uncharacteristic of him also the vocabularies
are not of his kind (Senior, Collins and Getty 2016 pp. 450-480).
In the case of Colossians as well many author contests the fact that the letter was
written by Paul. There is similarity of language but many of the Central words that are
usually used by Paul is missing in this case. Many vocabularies, words and doctrines that are
not used generally Paul has been used.
The argument that is put forward to state that it was Paul himself who wrote the letters
but used a different tone of language is “Asiatic Rhetoric”. The argument is that Paul was
addressing the Asiatic audience in both these cases therefore he uses the particular rhetoric
which is different from the other two versions (Stanley 2012 pp. 246-255).
(b) If these books are written by Paul it is obvious that the books have more authority than his
disciples. Paul who carried the message of Jesus directly is a more authentic and valuable
source of presenting the message of Christianity. When the message goes through various
sources it gets diluted in the process. Also the various disciples may interpret the message
according to their perception. However Paul stating the message directly would be more
authentic and true meaning of Christianity.
2.3 It is for Freedom that Christ has set us Free. However we must not tale this freedom for
granted and should work to connect to Christ even more using this freedom. The freedom that
is given to us is to walk back to Christ and surrender, it is not for misusing and going away
from Him. So today let us draw into the power of Holy Spirit and truth of the word and let us
walk out of slavery which restrains us from going to Christ. May we be let loose of the
bondages and follow the path of Righteousness. Bondage is a habit that compels us to sin and
remain aloof from the supreme.

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In Galatians 5 one of the key themes has been dealing with the “filled life or walking
by means of the Holy Spirit who indwells every believer.” It is very important to understand
Paul’s message which talks about the freedom of the believer. The message of the Christian
theology is Love for Christ and love for God. It is about the pursuit to promotion to the realm
of the Supreme. “It is important to understand that Paul’s argument centres around the
believer’s freedom. They had been prisoners of sin, in bondage to its control and death (3:22),
and the Law had not been able to liberate them. The Law had been merely a temporary
custodian to care for Israel until Christ when man could be freed from sin and justified by
faith (3:24). But with the coming of Jesus Christ, they were set free, made adopted sons with
the Holy Spirit’s indwelling which was also a proof of sonship (4:4-7).”
In the context of South Africa and this community it can be stated that the three
aspects of Freedom, Responsibility and Self Giving can be utilised to make this region a
much be better and fulfilling place. Freedom is one of the most important in this region to
establish equality. Responsibility must be taken to improve the quality of the life of the
individuals by bringing them nearer to Christ. Self-Giving is one of the most important
aspects of a world which is happy and prosperous.
Task 3
3.1 Hebrew has also been attributed as one of the letters of Paul. However there is doubt
about the fact whether it is Paul who actually wrote the Hebrew Bible (Wright 2013 pp. 192-
215). There are beliefs that the letter was written in Hebrew by Paula and then it was
translated into Greek by Luke therefore there was a difference of the language that is used in
this particular letter. Hebrew has emphasized on the priesthood of Christ rather than he being
the source of the Christianity. “Faith in Hebrews is to do with the unseen world and things to
come”. However there is a difference among the people about the proper date on which this

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particular letter was written. However it can be asserted that the book was quoted in the 1
Clement which was composed during AD 96. Therefore it can be stated that the book was
known by then. Some scholars has set the date of the book on 70 AD when there was a fall of
the temple. This was because in the literature nothing has been stated about the fall of the
temple. Therefore it must have taken place before that incident. There are mentions of
sufferings in the text which makes people think that exactly what suffering the author has
referred to. Which incident of suffering has been referred to here has been a thought of
speculation for most of the authors. Often the suffering is alluded to the persecution of the
Christians during the reign of the Domitian. Therefore the context has been believed to be of
the second generation Christians who lived during the 80 to 90 A.D
3.2 The recipients of the letter of Hebrews were all likely to be the Jews people. This can be
stated by the fact that the letter has in-depth and technical terms and mention of the Jewish
Scripture in the letter (Lane, 2017 pp. 320-340). This can be also aimed at the Jews who were
aiming to return to Judaism leaving Christianity. The author has attempted to show in every
way that Christ is greater than the various characters and themes of the Old Testament.
The similarity of the present community in South Africa with the entities of the Jews
community can be understood by the fact that many of the people are wither becoming
atheists or agnostics. Therefore it is highly advisable that the people must adopt Christianity
more seriously which will only happen when there is a greater amount of quality preaching.
“The purpose of the writing seems to have been primarily to offer encouragement to a
community that was in time of difficulty both from within and without”. This is also the case
of the present community where they face various problems from various sections. These can
only be solved when there is a higher connection with Christ and the people lead a spiritual
and pure life in pursuit of spiritual realisation. The addressed community had people who
were growing lazy and were in danger of losing their faith (Aichele 2012 pp. 182-198). That

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is exactly the situation in the present times in this community. Therefore these are the
similarities between the lives of the Hebrews and the lives of the people in this community.
3.3 The letter of James has been under a lot of debates regarding its origin and the person
who actually authored the letter. There are several James in the New Testament therefore
there is a doubt about which James actually wrote this letter, it is perceived that James of
Jerusalem was the one who wrote this. The letter can be regarded as the correction against
those who abused Paul’s theology of “justification by grace through faith”. It is emphasized
that though Paul has given importance to Salvation by Faith and not by deeds this would not
necessarily mean that the deeds of a person are unimportant and has no results. James in his
letter has been mainly concerned about that section of the population which has been
claiming to be saved by faith but does not give much importance to good works in achieving
salvation. It was an issue with which Paul had struggled and was a concern for James as well.
Paul himself had to regularly deal with people who used the excuse of “God’s grace” and
they continued sinning. This is evident from his own writings as well. Authors believe that
though similar words are used by Paul and James their purpose of using such words are
different, and the meaning which is implied is also different in both the cases.
3.5 In what is perhaps the most socially aware good creation of the New Testament, the
creator of James reports that certainty without works is dead, that social value is to be the
signpost of our Christianity (Allison 2013 pp. 85-105). Like the Old Testament book of
Amos, James is most stressed over issues of dejection, and inside this particular
circumstance, the writer of James embraces a shockingly open technique, unequivocally
watching out for his message of social value to both the serious rich and the defenceless poor.
Today, the book of James addresses an enthusiasm to both the corporate leaders of Wall
Street and those individuals who make their homes in the city. The letter of James is
acclaimed for its mixing moral clarity. This is especially substantial for its exercises on

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wealth and poverty, which constitute one of the fundamental stresses of James' letter. The
five rule passages on wealth and dejection in James (1:9-11; 1:27; 2:1-7; 2:14-17; 5:1-6)
reflect a firm program for how to approach these issues. Scholars have accumulated James'
exercises inside three between related groupings, associated by his theocentric perspective:
the eschatological reversal of status; prophetic revilements of the (degenerate) well off; and
urgings towards suitable treatment of the frantic. These characterizations address different
highlights of the greater issue of wealth and dejection in James' epistle, showing a spirit of
social and money related libertarianism. Also, in light of the fact that these strings are woven
into James' controlling record, I may get them at the article's end. James' exercises on wealth
and destitution frequently revolve around the eschatological reversal of the fortunes of rich
and poor.
Task 4
A back ground to the issues the author was dealing within his community
The main objective of the letter were the gentiles and the Christians who were turning
against the religion. Therefore the letter aimed at bringing back the people who were getting
alienated from the religious fold of Christianity. The urge and objective was to convince them
to come back to the religious folds of Christianity rejecting the pagan religions and religious
practices. The terms and words like exiles and aliens are used to denote the people who were
ranked below the status of full citizens but who were above foreigners and slaves. “1 Peter
4:14-16 suggests that the recipients of the letter were being treated badly for bearing the
name of Christ. The kind of suffering the recipients were experiencing was therefore rejection
from their neighbours rather than persecution from political authorities.” The recipients are
also those who has never seen Jesus but still loves him unconditionally. The recipients of the
letter are directed to live a holy life as a nation. The few aspects which are given importance

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are self-control and disciplined life style (Lockett 2015). The idea is to also get rid of all
kinds of malice and qualities like insincerity, envy and slander.
The historical context in which 1 peter was written
There are doubts about whether the 1 Peter was written by Peter the direct disciple of
Jesus himself. If that is the case then it is predicated to be written sometime around the early
60s in Rome (Bauckham 2017 pp. 220-240). By looking at the language in which the letter
was written many of the scholars predict that it was not Peter himself but two other theories
are suggested. One is that the letter was written by Silvanus who has been described as the
co-author of the letter, however it is suggested that it was he who actually put the ideas of
Peter into pen and paper (Clowney 2014 pp. 122-128). Second is that the letter was written by
some elder in Rome after 70 A.D describing what would Peter say in similar situation. As
already stated that the letter was aimed at the gentiles and the exiles. The historical context in
which the letter was composed was when there was a problem in the regions of gentiles
where the faithful people were dejected or humiliated by the unbelievers. They were
experiencing persecution and suffering. The persecution has not been coming from the
official state and the political authorities. The word for suffering which is used “pascho” and
not “diako” or “diogmos” which are the terms used for political persecution (Williams 2012
pp. 162-182).
Key Themes or verses that might be relevant for the youth
One of the key themes of the book is living as holy people. So this theme is very
relevant for today’s youth. The young generation are going towards a situation where most of
the activities which are harmful are justified. Therefore the theme of living as holy people are
very important for the young people in todays times to improve the quality of the life of the
youth. The next theme is the holiness and the work of Christ. This theme mainly talks about

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the holiness as a result of God’s work in Christ. One person by his own sole endeavour
cannot attain ultimate holiness. What is required is God’s blessings in the process. So that the
striving of a person to achieve holiness becomes successful.
The third theme in this regard is suffering. “Living according to different standards
often brings about abuse and persecution. The recipients of this letter were also suffering
similarly. Therefore it is a teaching for the youth how to endure suffering and overcome fear
to lead a successful life. They were experiencing persecution and suffering. The persecution
has not been coming from the official state and the political authorities. The suffering was
from the fellow citizens. Therefore today’s youth may face similar situation, but they have to
endure by the grace of God.
Task 5
5.1 The authorship of the letter of Jude is ascribed to “a servant of Christ and a brother of
James”, this James is probably the brother of Jesus. However the proper idea about who is the
author is not stated emphatically in the letter. Most scholars suggest that Jude is a pseudonym
and the author was a Jew understood by the style of writing.
5.2 The three themes found in the book are “God Father, Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit”,
“Judgement”, and “faith”. In the first theme the author has affirmed that there is only one
God, and three aspects of holiness are God Father, Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit. The next
theme is the ideal Judgement of God. God is the ultimate Judge. Faith is the important aspect
of Christians which keeps them connected with God.
5.3 (a) The book of revelation is usually ascribed to Apostle John. He is held as the author of
this book. There is a debate about whether this John is same as the Apostle John, because
there is another John in the New Testament (Brown 2016 pp. 150-180).
(b) The date is taken to be 95 or 96 AD.

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(c) The idea of the letter was to help and encourage the readers in the face of persecution. The
following quotation can explain the situation better. “Here then is the background of the
Reveleation. All over the Empire men and women were forced to call the Roman Emperor
“God”… …what were the Christians to do? What hope did they have? …it was to encourage
Christians in times like these that the Book of Revelation was written.”
(d) The revelation of John or the Book of revelation or the book of Apocalypse is a different
kind of book in the New Testament and it needs very special care to be understood properly.
When there was severe Roman persecution the objective of the revelation was to encourage
the persecuted to remain steadfast and strong in the face of the torment. There are many
visions in the book which are difficult to comprehend therefore there are various
interpretations.
(e) The book of revelation was actually meant to be a book of hope. The book is a reminder
that oppression and unjust would not lust. “No unjust regime will lust”. In today’s time it is
highly relevant to state that the regimes which are unjust and unlawful will meet the same
fate and would not last long and one day the supreme Lord will decide the end of fate of these
regimes.

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Reference:
Aichele, G., 2012. The Letters of Jude and Second Peter: Paranoia and the Slaves of Christ.
Sheffield Phoenix Press (pp. 182-198).
Allison, D.C., 2013. James (ICC): A Critical and Exegetical Commentary. Bloomsbury
Publishing (pp. 85-105).
Bauckham, R., 2017. Jude-2 Peter (Vol. 50). Zondervan (pp. 220-240).
Brown, R.E., 2016. An introduction to the New Testament. Yale University Press (pp. 150-
180).
Clowney, E., 2014. The message of 1 Peter. SPCK (pp. 122-128).
Freed, E.D., 2014. The apostle Paul and his letters. Routledge (pp. 140-149).
Lane, W.L., 2017. Hebrews 1-8, Volume 47A. Zondervan (pp. 320-340).
Lockett, D., 2015. Objects of Mercy in Jude: The Prophetic Background of Jude 22-
23. Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 77(2).
Longenecker, R.N., 2017. Galatians (Vol. 41). Zondervan (pp. 350-365)
Roetzel, C.J., 2015. The letters of Paul: Conversations in context. Presbyterian Publishing
Corp (pp.163-178).
Senior, D., Collins, J. and Getty, M.A. eds., 2016. The Catholic Study Bible. Oxford
University Press (pp. 450-480).
Stanley, C.D., 2012. Paul and scripture: extending the conversation (Vol. 9). Society of
Biblical Lit (pp. 246-255)
Williams, T.B., 2012. Persecution in 1 Peter: Differentiating and contextualizing early
Christian suffering (Vol. 145). Brill. (pp. 162-182).

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Wright, N.T., 2013. Paul and the Faithfulness of God. Fortress Press. (pp. 192-215).