Getting to Know the
Bible
Lesson
14.5: Survey of The New Testament. General Letters
I. Introduction
A. New Testament Overview:
Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke, John
History- Acts
Paul's Letters – (Romans – Philemon)
Other Letters - Hebrews
James
I and II Peter
I, II, and III John
Jude
Revelation
B. Background – The Roman Empire! The Emperor. Caesar! Gods! (Handout)
1. The World of The New Testament. Early Christianity. Ronald H. Nash. Christianity and The Hellenistic Word pp. 18f (1984).
The word hellenistic was coined early in the nineteenth century as a name for the period of history that began with the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C. and ended with the Roman conquest of the last
Major vestige of Alexander’s empire, the Egypt of Cleopatra, in 30 B.C. Obviously if this were the exclusive use of the term, it would make little sense to talk about "Christianity and the Hellenistic world." But the fact is that the phrase "the Hellenistic world" is used to refer to the whole culture of the Roman Empire. While Rome achieved military and political supremacy throughout the Mediterranean world, it adopted the culture of the Hellenistic world that preceded its rise to power. Thus, while political control of the Mediterranean belonged to Rome, the culture continued to be Hellenistic.
Characteristics of Hellenism…Cosmopolitanism…Individualism... Syncretism… Hellenistic Philosophy. Socrates, Plato, Aristotle....Stoicism…Mystery Religions… Gnosticism.
2. A Complicated World. Merrill C. Tenney. New Testament Times, p. 677 (1965)
THE WORLD OF THE FIRST CENTURY WAS A WELTER OF conflicting cultures. Like the rivers which ran into the Mediterranean Sea from all sides, pouring into it their sediment and feeding its waters, so the many peoples comprised within the constantly expanding domain of Rome brought into it all their cultural Contributions. Africans, Teutons, Greeks, Jews, Parthians, and Phrygians mingled in the provinces and cities and shared their national heritages with the Latin people.
The combination of social and religious forces under one political rule produced a unique setting for the birth of Christianity. Although the gospel is essentially independent of any human origin, the media through which it was expressed and the influences that affected in interpretation can be traced back to the philosophies and theologies of the contemporary period. These in turn were the products of the peoples from whom they sprang and can be understood best in terms of the cumulative historical processes and conflicts that culminated during the first century of the Christian era.
Three great types of culture prevailed in the empire: Judaism, Hellenism, and Roman imperialism. Judaism provided the roots of Christianity; Hellenism, the intellectual soil in which it grew; and Imperialism, the protection that opened the field of its growth. Paradoxically, these three cultures became Christianity's bitterest enemies
II. The General Letters - The Johannine Letters: John the Apostle (John); John The Elder (I, II and III John); John The Seer (Apocalypse, Revelation).
A. I John (90-100 AD).
1. Background- John…
2. Churches in Asia Minor
3. Purpose – Polemic. Didactic. Against false teachers and teaching. Against early heresies. Gnostics, Gnosticism. Jesus! Docetists, Christological. (Handout)
B. II John (90-100AD)
1. Introduction 1-3
2. Truth and Love (3) 4-6
3. Deceivers. Antichrist 7,8…
C. III John (90 – 100 AD)
1. Introduction…to Gaius 1
2. Truth … 2-4…
3 Good and Evil 11…
4. Closing. Personal…13!
III. Revelation
A. Background - The Roman Empire. Babylon. Rome. Roma. Emperor Caesar!
1. Apocalyptic Prophecy... Symbolic. Symbols. Figurative. Not literal.
2. Eschatology chart…Terms…Approaches (Handout)
3. Diagram of The Structure of Revelation (Hand-out)
B. The Book. Letter- The Apocalypse of Jesus Christ
1. Title and Blessing, 1:1-3
2. Introduction 1:4-8
3. Vision of Jesus 1:12-16
4. Letters to Seven Churches (Handout)
5. Visions of Heavenly Temple (4::1 - 5:14). (Handout)
6. THE LAMB 5:5, 9-10, Worship (5: 8-14),
7. The Seven Seals (6:1 -8:1)
8. The Seven Trumpets (8:2-11:19).
9. The Bowls of Wrath (15:1-16:21).
a. Warfare on Earth - Woman, Child, Dragon (12: 1-6),
b. Warfare in Heaven- Dragon Cast to Earth 12:7-12.
e. Warfare Against the Church (12:13-18)
d. Rise of the Beast from to Sea - The Antichrist (13:1-10)
e. Rise of the Beast from the Earth-The False Priest/Religion (18:11-8)
10. Fate and Fall of Babylon (17:1-19:21),
a. The 144,000 14:1-5... The New Jerusalem Saints. Martyrs. Overcomers. Witnesses. Victors...Mark of God. Seal of God!
b. Babylon False Christ. False Religion. Mark of the Beast - 666
c. Fall of Babylon 18:1-3...
d. Christ Comes and Defeats them. 19:11-16…
11. The Millennium (20: 1-14).
12. The New Jerusalem 21:1-4. New Heaven, New Earth. The New NEW! (21:1-27).
13. River of Life and New Eden (22:1-5)
14. Conclusions (22: 6-21).
a. Jesus comes 22:7
c. Jesus Speaks 22:12-16
d. Come! (22:17)
e. Warning! 22: 18, 19
f. Closing! 22: 20.21.