INTRODUCTION call "New Testament" to the collection of 27 inspired books
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, written after the resurrection of Jesus. Through them we know Jesus and the life of the early Church.
entire New Testament revolves around this "Good News: Jesus of Nazareth, born of Mary by the Holy Spirit, is the Savior, the Messiah, the Son of God and true man, has died and rose again to give men a new life and to teach the way that leads to the truth of our lives and our destiny, which is the glory of the Father, with Christ Jesus.
1.
How did New Testament? Jesus did not write anything or his life or his doctrine. Nor ordered anyone to write your message. He just said, "Go and preach the Good News to all nations, that all nations my disciples." Therefore, the New Testament was, above all, preached, lived and celebrated. Only in a second time, when the first communities lived and celebrated faith in Christ, and the eyewitnesses of Jesus' life and words were disappearing, she felt the need to put in writing that faith and preaching of the apostles and disciples. The New Testament was then
result of faith and preaching of the early Christian communities.
This is very important because our faith can not be based only on the written Bible, as do the Protestants. It is rather the Tradition (with the Magisterium of the Church) that guarantees the truth of the Bible and conveys the entire deposit of faith (cf. 2 Tim 1: 13-14) (94) .
Therefore, the New Testament had two stages: a) A stage preached by word of mouth: the core of this sermon was this: Jesus Christ, Son of God, crucified and risen. In this nucleus is called Kerygma
, a Greek word that means "announcement, proclamation (95)
." This Kerigma followed this pattern: it recalls the event of Jesus interpreted this event with the Scriptures, and calls the commitment of faith. This Kerigma was announced first to the Jews and then by the work of Paul, the pagans. The Holy Spirit was the big star of the stage preached the "Gospel", inspiring, helping, caring the life and words of the first missionaries. b) and a written stage: was a long and complex. In the early years some Christian communities began to summarize the substance of the apostolic preaching in brief formulas easy to detect, being the first attempts of the "Credo
." San Pablo cites a famous formula: "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. He was buried and rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures. He appeared to Peter, then to the Twelve "(1 Cor 15: 3-5). Very quickly, to celebrate the Eucharist, also would be born " cheers and praise formulas
Christ "(cf. Phil 2: 6-11, Col 1, 12-20, 1 Tim 3, 16). This lasted about 30-35 years after the resurrection. And as the apostles were dying, there was the desire to write down everything, not to lose his memory. The first thing you wrote was the story of the Passion. Later, the sayings of Jesus, the parables and miracles. And so was born the four Gospels: Mark first, around 70, then Matthew and Luke, circa 80, and finally, John, back in 90. San Pablo, since 40 had begun his missionary journeys, founding communities throughout Asia Minor, and to maintain contacts with them, write letters, advising, warning, teaching, solving problems. The first one I wrote was the year 51 to the Thessalonians. Later in the year 63, wrote to the Corinthians and Galatians. Therefore, the first New Testament writings were not the Gospels, but the letters of St. Paul. Initially, the various New Testament books circulated separately by the Christian communities. Little by little they were putting together these books, when they were copied by hand, reaching the whole shape of the 27 canonical books. 2. When they began to gather several books to form the "Canon" of the New Testament?
The oldest and largest catalog of the New Testament writings was discovered in the eighteenth century by a scholar named Muratori. The Canon of Muratori dates from the mid-second century. This catalog contains 22 books, including the 13 letters of St. Paul. Is still not the entire New Testament, but the first attempt that we know to start gathering the various books. Then we have the testimony of Justin, who in his first Apology of the year 150 says: "On Sunday, everyone comes together, read the memoirs of the Apostles, which are called Gospels." This ensures that already mid-second century the four Gospels were assembled. The full catalog and the 27 canonical books of the New Testament we find around the year 400.
3. "Originals or copies?
The original New Testament books were lost soon due to the short duration of the material (papyrus and leather) that were written by hand, books and letters. What has come back to us are very old indeed, parchment or other material, abundant in numbers, of several books and collections. About 3,500 manuscripts. Among the oldest collections or codes of the New Testament in Greek can remember:
a) Vatican code (fourth century) which contains almost all the Old Testament and New Testament.
c) The code Sinaiticus (half of the fourth century) which contains the entire New Testament and even the Charter of St. Barnabas and the Shepherd of Hermas, not admitted into the Canon. The Latin version of the Vulgate Bible, completed by St. Jerome in Bethlehem, about the year 400. At that point, the New Testament books were already full and then it was this version of the Vulgate which was adopted as an officer in the Church at the Council of Trent in 1570. Let us begin the New Testament with an open soul and heart with ears tuned. It is God who speaks, and who has written this letter. "We want to see Jesus", like those Greeks who came to the apostle Philip. We see his face and making them shine with the generations of the new millennium, as we said Pope John Paul II in his apostolic letter "Novo Millennio Ineunte" (n. 16).
In this letter the Pope placed a priority in the Third Millennium listening to the Word:
"It was precisely this attention to the Word of God is primarily the task of revitalizing the evangelization and catechesis. We need to consolidate and deepen this guidance, including through the dissemination of the Bible in families. Necessary, in particular, that listening to the Word will become a vital meeting in the ancient and ever valid tradition of lectio divina, which draws from the biblical text the living word which questions, directs and shapes our lives
"(n. 39).
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(93) They are: the four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the thirteen letters of Paul, the Letter to the Hebrews, the Letter of James, the two letters of Peter, the three letters of John, Jude, and finally, Revelation.
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Saint Augustine says: "I do not believe in the Bible, if the Church had not introduced me and explained to me." (95) Tracks preached the kerygma found in some speeches of Peter (cf. Acts 2, 14-41, 3, 12-26, 5, 29-32, 10, 34-43) or Paul (cf. Acts 13, 16-41) or the story of Emmaus (cf. Lk 24, 19-27).
TOPIC OF PARTICIPATION 1. If Jesus did not write any of their doctrine or asked anyone to write it, how did you find us a message? 2. What does the "lectio divina"?
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