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The New Testament

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When is a News ,a GOODNEWS?

When is something or

Someone,of great importance?

When will someone orsomething, makes sense?

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Studying a work makes sense only when itis related to the person it came from.

Ceremony makes sense only when thereis friendship with the person at the center

of it. Story has meaning only when it talks

about a person we are related with.

Truths/beliefs make sense only because itgives information about a person youdearly know.

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The Gospel and the Gospels

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The spirit ofthe Lord is on

me, for he hasanointed meto bring theGood news tothe poor.

(Lk 4:18-19)

pneu/makuri,ou evpV

evme. ou-ei[nekene;crise,n meeuvaggeli,sasqai ptwcoi/j(

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The New Testament is a Good News It talks about a proclamation

(euaggelion)

it tells the good news of the life andteaching of Jesus.

it tells of the Good news of salvationproclaimed by Jesus.

it tells about the person of Jesus, theChrist (he is the Gospel)

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Seeing, Hearing, Experiencing the Person

Stage 1 (Jesus' life in Palestine)

Christ our Lord joined to himself chosen disciples,who followed him from the begining, saw his deeds,heard his words... (Instruction, VII).

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Stage 2 Oral Preaching

before the evangelists wrote, theapostles and the first Christianpreachers had already beenspreading by word of mouth thegood news about Jesus' words anddeeds

early Christianity (a term coveringseveral Christian communities)spread out from Jerusalem northto Asia Minor, south to the Nile

Delta, and west across theMediterranean to Rome; whichenvironments were alreadypermeated by Jewish, Greek, andRoman religions and philosophies

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Stage 3: Writing of the Gospels

The evangelists wrote what theyand their sources believed werethe most important meanings ofwhat Jesus thought, taught, and

wrought. Reasons for writing:

death of the apostles and otherwitnesses of Jesus

need to organized instruction tomany converts

norm of Jesus' life and ministryas measure for authentic

preaching.

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The Gospels

Mark

Matthew

Luke

John

65-70A.D

GentileChristians SufferingServant

Discipleship

80 A.D JewishChristians Messiah commu

nity

80 85A.D.

GentileChristians

Savoir Compassion

90-98A.D

JewishChristiansof thediaspora

God'sword

Sonship

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Palestine during the 1st century C.E

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Luke 3:10-14

When all the people asked him,'What must we do, then?' heanswered, 'Anyone who has twotunics must share with the one whohas none, and anyone withsomething to eat must do the same.'There were tax collectors, too, whocame for baptism, and these said tohim, 'Master, what must we do?' Hesaid to them, 'Exact no more than theappointed rate.'Some soldiers askedhim in their turn, 'What about us?What must we do?' He said to them,'No intimidation! No extortion! Becontent with your pay!'

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Situation

occupation byforeign troopsheavy taxation Class conflictsand protestmovements

disunity anddivision amongthe people

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Occupation by foreign troops(Political-economic)

presence of foreign troops caused havoc women and children were captured

destruction of forest

loss of other materials

Jewish persons and animals were pressed into the serviceof the Roman soldiers.

Heavy taxation

villages which were not able to pay their taxes weredevastated by the Roman army.

Confiscation of land by the Romans and the Herodiansfor unpaid taxes.

increased in unemployment because of loss of smallholdings.

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Class conflicts and protest movements(social)

great rift between the rich and the poor.

there were a lot of poor people (poor of theland)

social banditry (Zealots) disunity and division among the people.

bitter hostility between the Jews and the

Samaritans. clash in religious views between two ruling

parties.

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Religious

Religious institutions Temple and the Synagogue

Temple was the center of worship

a symbol of bond and unityseat of Sanhedrine (the religious,political, and judicial body of the Jews)

Synagogue (little temple)

was the place of prayer and learning inthe Jewish community

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Jewish worship

Sabbath begins on Friday evening beforesunset

Sabbath worship (synagogue) -recitation of the Shema (profession of faithin the One true God)

Sabbath worship (temple)

-the heart of the worship was the sacrificialofferings required by the Torah.

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Religious

Religious institutions

Jewish Festivals

Passover (Pesha)

a feast celebrating /commemoratingtheir liberation from Egypt

the feast starts with the Paschalmeal (seder) on the first evening.

Rosh ha-shanah (Jewish New Year)

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Yom Kippur

a day of atonement

a day of prayer and discernment

is a series of five services where the wholecommunity confesses its sins before God.

Sukkot (feast of the Tabernacles)

a harvest feast

it commemorates the tents of the children ofIsrael during their desert wandering in the Sinairegion

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Groups in the Jewish Society

Sadducees PhariseesScribes Zealots

Sanhedrine Essenes

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Sadducees

Saduq meaning Righteous ones they were priests In terms of religious matters:

they were conservatives

they believed only in the religious authority ofthe Torah.

In terms of Roman crisis: they opted to collaborate with the invaders to

preserve their identity. they may have been willing to sacrifice strict

Jewish ideals to maintain their power andwealth.

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Pharisees the separated ones

In terms of religious matters

they helped developed an elaborate system of orallaws to apply the written law of Moses to Jewish life.

they sought to invigorate Jewish life by emphasizingfidelity to Jewish law.

many of them were learned lay scribes (men whocopied and studied the Torah)

In terms of dealing with the Romans:

they have an ambiguous attitude.

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Zealots

were members of a Jewish sect that at first justrefused to pay tribute to the pagan Romans

who then occupied the land of Israel , declaringthat God was their only King. The overwhelming power of the Roman military

caused their rebellion to fail, after which they

became scattered rebels who were also knownas Sicarii ("dagger men"), from their deadly useof the sica, a Roman dagger.

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Essenes

The Essenes were a Jewish religious sect in Israel. they lived a communal lifestyle based on manual labor,

with strict rules of behavior required by all members.

the were generally unmarried and celibate; their members

came from those who joined them.

they were strict observers of The Ten Commandments andthe "Law of Moses," however they apparently did not

participate in worship at the Temple in Jerusalem. they did not swear oaths, except for an oath of loyalty,

obedience and secrecy that new members took after a 3

year probation period. they remained separate from the society at large around

them, generally avoiding involvement in public life.

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Summary

Apocalyptic expectation / messianism

The different groups (religio-politicalmovements) shared a common apocalyptic

expectation and looked forward to a new andrestored Israel in which their dreams would findfulfillment.

Yet , the different groups gave their ownparticular twist to this expectation

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Summary

The need for nationalistic revolt

Messianic movement, Zealots

The legitimation of withdrawal

Essenes The demand to rethink the divine promises

Some prophetic movements

The concern to defend Jewish society with its

laws and customs against intruding Graeco-Roman culture

Pharisees

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What Would Jesus Do?

He had to give his ownanswer to the realproblems of human life

within a theocratic societywith its different socio-political movements, allinfluenced to a certain

degree by the apocalypticcurrent of that time.