Stomper - New Testament

New Testament Wiki

The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events relating to first-century Christianity. The New Testament's background, the first division of the Christian Bible, is called the Old Testament, which is based primarily upon the Hebrew Bible; together they are regarded as Sacred Scripture by Christians. The New Testament is a collection of 27 Christian texts written in Koine Greek by various authors, forming the second major division of the Christian Bible. Widely accepted across Christian traditions since Late Antiquity, it includes four gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, epistles attributed to Paul and other authors, and the Book of Revelation. The canon was formally recognized by the 4th century AD through ecclesiastical councils, solidifying its role in Christian theology and practice. Literary analysis suggests many of its texts were written in the mid-to-late first century. There is no scholarly consensus on the date of composition of the latest New Testament text. The earliest New Testament manuscripts date from the late second to early third centuries AD, with the possible exception of Papyrus 52. The New Testament was transmitted through thousands of manuscripts in various languages and church quotations and contains variants. Textual criticism uses surviving manuscripts to reconstruct the oldest version feasible and to chart the history of the written tradition. It has varied reception among Christians today. It is viewed as a holy scripture alongside Sacred Tradition among Catholics and Orthodox, while Evangelicals and some other Protestants view it as the inspired word of God without tradition.