- Matthew – Presents Jesus as the fulfillment of Jewish prophecy and the new Moses.
- Mark – The earliest Gospel, emphasizing Jesus' actions and suffering.
- Luke – A detailed account of Jesus' life, emphasizing mercy and inclusivity.
- John – Focuses on the divine nature of Jesus and his relationship with God the Father.
Other writings in the New Testament include the Acts of the Apostles, which chronicles the spread of Christianity after Jesus' death, and the Epistles, letters written by apostles such as Paul to early Christian communities.
The New Testament completes the Bible’s narrative arc by providing the Christian interpretation of the Old Testament's prophecies, portraying Jesus as the Messiah and the Savior of the world.
The Compilation and Transmission of the Bible
The Bible didn’t come into its present form overnight. The process of compiling the Old and New Testaments involved centuries of theological debates, councils, and religious decisions. For instance, the Jewish scriptures were set in place long before the Christian texts were officially compiled.
In Christianity, the New Testament was solidified as a canon in the 4th century at the Councils of Hippo (393 CE) and Carthage (397 CE). These councils affirmed the list of books that were accepted as divinely inspired. The process was not straightforward, as numerous other writings circulated among early Christian communities, some of which were later rejected.
In the Middle Ages, manuscript copies of the Bible were painstakingly transcribed by monks in monasteries, often by hand. The Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus are two of the oldest surviving complete manuscripts of the Bible.
The invention of the printing press in the 15th century by Johannes Gutenberg revolutionized the Bible’s dissemination, making it more widely accessible and affordable. The Gutenberg Bible was the first major book printed using movable type, and its publication played a key role in the Protestant Reformation. shutdown123