The Books of the New Testament

We learn from the Gospels that St. John was the son of Zebedee, a Galilean fisherman, and was a follower of the Baptist before he joined our Lord. The Synoptists show that he wa...

Like the First Epistle of St. John, the Revelation has particularly strong external evidence in its favour. About A.D. 150 Justin Martyr speaks of it as the work of "John, one o...

The evidence for believing that the third Gospel was written by St. Luke, the friend of St. Paul, is very strong. In the 2nd century both this Gospel and Acts were attributed to...

St. Matthew is one of the least known of the Apostles. He was first called Levi the son of Alphaeus, and was a "publican" or collector of customs at Capernaum. At the call of Je...

John Mark was the son of a Mary who was an influential member of the Church at Jerusalem, as the Church met in her house (Acts xii. 12). He was a cousin of Barnabas (Col. iv. 10...

_between_ two statements of His about Ehas, in Matt. xvii. 12 it is mentioned _after_ both statements. Such inversions would naturally take place in the case of oral transmissio...

The genuineness of this Epistle, like that of Galatians and 1 and 2 Corinthians, is practically undisputed. No one ever seems to have questioned it between the time that Marcion...

In the 4th century this Epistle was reckoned among the authentic documents of the apostolic period. It does not seem to have been universally known in the Church at an earlier p...

Acts xiii. 22. There are two apparent quotations from Acts in the letters of St. Ignatius and one in the letter of St. Polycarp. It is also quoted in the works of Justin Martyr,...

The question of the authorship of this Epistle is one of the most fascinating problems raised by the criticism of the New Testament. It does not in the least involve any charge...

The modern English word "Gospel" is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word _Godspell_, which means "God story," the story about the life of God in human flesh. It does not, therefore...

There is no good reason for doubting that this beautiful Epistle is the work of St. Paul. It is full of Pauline thought, and is well attested by external evidence. It is apparen...

Although the Christian cannot regard the Epistles contained in the New Testament as having quite the same importance as the Gospels which record the life and sayings of his Divi...

1 and 2 Timothy and Titus form the fourth and last group of St. Paul's Epistles, and are known as the Pastoral Epistles,[1] because they deal so largely with the duties and qual...

This Epistle, being one of the four Epistles which are almost universally unquestioned, requires little or no defence. The Pauline authorship "has never been called in question...

_Parthians_." This statement is a riddle which no commentator has been able to answer satisfactorily. As the Eastern Churches had little or no knowledge of this title, we are co...

Among all schools of thought there has been an increasing conviction that this Epistle is genuine. It was included in Marcion's _Apostolicon_, or list of Pauline writings, it is...

After the gift of the Holy Spirit Himself, we may justly reckon the New Testament as the most precious gift which our Lord Jesus Christ has given since His Ascension to those wh...

The difficulties which are connected with the authorship of this Epistle are greater than those connected with the authorship of any other book of the New Testament. A multitude...

The external evidence for its authenticity is strong, and stronger than that for any other Catholic Epistle except 1 John. It seems to be quoted in _Didaché_, i. 4. The letter o...

The genuineness of this Epistle is almost universally admitted, although it is not quoted quite as early as the First Epistle. The two Epistles are interwoven with each other by...

The genuineness of 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, and Romans is admitted by almost every modern critic, Christian or not Christian. It was always acknowledged by F. C. Baur, wh...

The genuineness of this Epistle is now admitted by critics of very different schools of thought, including some extreme rationalists. About A.D. 110 St. Polycarp, in his letter...

6. COMMENTARIES-- _St. Matthew._--Godet (F.), The Collection of the Four Gospels and the Gospel of St. Matthew, 6s. (T. and T. Clark.) Allen (Ven. W. C.), *Commentary, 12s. (T....

the people of God"--the same verse that St. Paul in Rom. ix. 25 applies to the calling of the Gentiles. This verse is thought to furnish a strong argument for those scholars who...

The Pauline authorship of this Epistle is well attested by external evidence. Before 150 we have proof of its wide use among both heretics and Catholics; it is quoted probably b...

"Judas, a servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James." We can be sure that the James here mentioned is the James who acted as the first bishop of the Church at Jerusalem. The...

(Acts xix. 1, 10), and the opposition of the tradesmen to a creed which affected the vested interests of idolatry was the cause of the riot so vigorously described by St. Luke....

The greeting at the beginning of the Epistle and the character of its general contents show that this letter is official as well as private. Possibly the gospel was first brough...

The New Testament contains seven letters known as "Catholic," viz. that of James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1, 2, and 3 John, and that of Jude. These letters were added to the Canon of the...

women to cover the head in church, and then comes a reference to the Holy Eucharist which is of extreme interest and importance. It was the custom for Christians to meet togethe...

The Church at Jerusalem: i.-viii. 1.--Introduction; the commission to the apostles, the Ascension, choice of Matthias in place of Judas (i.). Outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pe...

The authenticity of this Epistle is bound up with the authenticity of St. John's Gospel. Like the Gospel, it does not contain any statement as to the name of the author. Like th...

depart in the same way from both the Hebrew and the Greek version of the Old Testament, for they put "His paths" instead of "the paths of our God." Another interesting instance...

which St. Paul's doctrine of justification by faith was represented as a justification of vile indulgence. Although this part of the Epistle is a paraphrase of Jude, it is not a...

mentioned. All the Synoptic Gospels give slightly different accounts of the inscription on the cross, and the words spoken by the centurion at the death of Jesus vary in Luke fr...

[1] Eusebius, _H. E._ v. 26, says that Irenaeus "mentions the Epistle to the Hebrews and the so-called Wisdom of Solomon, comparing certain expressions from them." Eusebius does...

f. Encouragement as well as warning can be based on the failure of the Israelites. Under Joshua they did not reach their rest. The promise of it remains for us (iv. 1-13).

The Christian Church has never attributed the Book of Acts to any other writer than St. Luke. The external proofs of the primitive date of the book are important, and point to t...