New Testament — Its Message

Discovering the Unity of the Message in Context The message of the New Testament is valuable for every believer, not only because of the person of Jesus described there, but also because of the people who knew Him. The vast majority are accustomed from an early age to “not waste their time” and seek what is “substantial” or what sounds “interesting.” The truth is, they miss out on much, especially when it comes to real people who lived in that glorious time. The books of the New Testament were written by people we would call Christians, so to understand them, we need to know a few things about what these Christians believed: what they valued, what they feared, and how they lived. All the books of the New Testament were written by Roman Christians. Furthermore, although all these books were written by Christians, not all were written about Christians. Jesus, John the Baptist, the Virgin Mary, and many other notable figures in the New Testament were not Christians but Jews. To be more specific, they were Roman Jews—that is, Jews who lived in the Roman Empire. So, to understand the New Testament, we must be aware of three distinct worlds: the Christian world, the Jewish world, and the Roman world. In all the writings of the New Testament, these three converge. This online program will enrich you by giving solid grounding to your faith.