Where did we get our New Testament? Who decided which books were holy and deserved to be part of the Bible? The Catholic Church claims that early church councils put the New Testament together, but is that really the way it happened?
Many of the commentators argue and dispute about who actually wrote the various books of the New Testament. Is there a way of really knowing? The standard argument of the so-called higher critics is that the early Apostles were poor, uneducated peasants and were probably not even literate. He contends that men such as Peter, John and James could certainly not have written the books that bear their names. They argue that the written gospels were compiled from oral tradition many decades after the events and therefore cannot be considered very reliable.
One other matter: from time to time we hear of “lost books of the Bible” There are ancient books that claim to be the “lost gospels” of men such as Peter or Thomas. Is there a way to be sure that we have ALL the books that are legitimate scripture in our current copies of the New Testament?
What about it? Does the record of the Bible together with secular history provide significant evidence about the origin of the New Testament? How did it come to be written – and can we prove that what we have in our possession is truly authoritative?
The Men Who Wrote the New Testament
What about the men who are purported to be the authors of the New Testament? Who were they? What were their credentials? What evidence is there that they were the genuine authors? First, let’s look at the author of more New Testament books than any other. With fourteen books ascribed to him, the Apostle Paul is certainly credited with a major role in producing our New Testament. In what way was this man uniquely qualified to write such a large portion of the New Testament? After all, it is the books attributed to Paul that provide the most detailed explanation of the process of salvation. They expound subjects such as justification, sanctification, law and grace, and the old and new covenants.
What do we know of the background and training of Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles? According to Acts 22:3 he had been a student of Rabbi Gamaliel, the foremost Jewish teacher of his day. In addition, we are told that Paul grew up in Tarsus, a major city on a Roman trade route. His father was a well-to-do purveyor of tents to the merchant caravans that traversed that well-traveled route.
We know that Paul’s father was well off financially for two reasons. Firstly, he had Roman citizenship and that was a rare commodity in his day and came at a high price. Secondly, he was able to send his young son to Jerusalem to study with the foremost Jewish scholar of the day. Again, that was something that would have been out of the reach of most.
Young Saul, whose Roman name was Paul, would have grown up not only learning his father’s trade of tent making, but would have developed fluency in Greek because this was the major language of commerce in his area. Paul’s address on Mars Hill in Athens shows that he was conversant with the Greek poets and could quote them at will. Paul was well educated from both a Greek and a Jewish perspective. He was clearly capable of writing any book that has been ascribed to him. Because of his scholarly background, there was no one who was more qualified to explain the intricacies of the Old Testament, such as we find in Hebrews, or the theological principles of salvation found in Romans and Galatians.
What of other purported New Testament writers? While Paul came from a privileged and scholarly background, what of men such as Peter, John, and James the brother of Jesus? Surely, many modern critics reason, they would have lacked the education to have written the books attributed to them.
Simon Peter and his brother Andrew, along with James and John the sons of Zebedee, were professional fishermen. What is it possible to know about them simply from their occupation? For one thing, we learn that they owned their own boats and that they had employees (Mark 1:20). As we shall see, they were successful businessmen at the time that they forsook all to follow Jesus of Nazareth.
An article in the June 1999 issue of Bible Review magazine raises an important question. The idea that the Apostles were rude, uneducated men “…is a linchpin of the skepticism of those who attack the general reliability of the gospel traditions. Such ignorant, laboring men, the argument goes, could not be expected to remember or report accurately…so little or no confidence can be placed in what they relate about Jesus’ words and deeds” (pp. 23–24).
What kind of men were these fishermen that Jesus called to become fishers of men? To begin with, let’s understand a little about the status of fishermen in the ancient world. Fish was one of the most important staple foods of the Mediterranean world. In fact, the availability of fresh fish wasn’t enough to meet demand in the Roman Empire, pushing up the price considerably. The salting, drying, and pickling of fish to ship inland was a major industry. In short, the marketing of fish was a lucrative business and provided a very good income to those so engaged.
Peter and Andrew came from the city of Bethsaida (John 1:44) which was in the territory of Herod Philip, who had inherited the territory northeast of the Sea of Galilee from his father, Herod the Great. Bethsaida was one of thirteen harbors located on the Sea of Galilee. However, the place where most of the catch from the Sea of Galilee was processed for shipment was the town of Taricheae, known as Magdala in Aramaic. This created a problem for residents of Bethsaida since Taricheae was in the territory of Philip’s half-brother, Herod Antipas. The first village across the Jordan River on Antipas’ side of the border, Capernaum, had a toll collector and a small garrison. Antipas collected a hefty tax on the fish and other products brought in from his brother’s realm.
This explains why Peter moved across the Sea of Galilee and obtained a home in Capernaum. In this way he wasn’t subject to the tax that Antipas imposed on non-resident fish-sellers. Archaeologists believe that they have excavated the home of Peter in Capernaum and describe it as larger than average and the home of a prosperous family (see “Has the House Where Jesus Stayed in Capernaum Been Found?” Biblical Archaeology Review, Nov/Dec 1982). Successful businessmen in this area had to be fluent in Greek as well as Aramaic. In fact, the names Andrew and Philip (the close friend introduced to Jesus by Peter and his brother) are of Greek origin. This attests to their families’ comfort and familiarity with the surrounding Greek world.
Peter and John would have grown up speaking Greek as well as Aramaic. They came from prosperous, middle class Jewish backgrounds. They were astute enough businessmen to move their home for tax benefits. With ships and employees they clearly knew how to plan and organize. Though despised by the religious professionals in Jerusalem because of their Galilean accented speech and their lack of formal training in the recognized rabbinical schools of the day, they were anything but ignorant and uneducated men. Christ clearly picked men who had the kind of background and training that prepared them for the important responsibilities that He had in mind for them.
What about James and Jude, the brothers of Jesus? Each is credited with the authorship of one of the books of the New Testament. James served as the Apostle who presided over the headquarters church at Jerusalem for decades. Did these men have the kind of background that would have enabled them to write the books attributed to them?
James and Jude grew up in the household of Joseph and Mary in Nazareth. Their father was a carpenter and they would no doubt have been brought up with training and experience in that profession. What was entailed in being a carpenter in Nazareth?
Though Nazareth was a small village of about 400 people, it was located only three miles from Sepphoris, the Roman capital of Galilee. Sepphoris was destroyed in 4BC, following riots that ensued after the death of Herod the Great. The following year Herod Antipas began the rebuilding of the city. This proved to be a vast project that lasted throughout the lifetime of Jesus. A theater, a royal palace, and numerous public buildings were constructed. A beautiful, sophisticated city of 30,000, second only to Jerusalem, developed. It was home to Jews, Greeks, Arabs, and Romans.
The more that scholars have learned about Sepphoris in recent years, the more that it has changed their view of the environment in which Jesus and his brothers grew up. “In short, Jesus lived in a Galilean culture much more urban and sophisticated than previously believed…The construction of an influential Roman capital city so near Jesus’ home in Nazareth redefines the carpenter’s occupation in central Galilee” (BAR, May/June 1992, p. 55). Jesus, along with His younger brothers, James and Jude, grew up in a culture where Greek was commonly spoken along with Aramaic. They were in the building trade at a time and place when new construction was booming and skilled craftsmen were prospering. Clearly, James and Jude weren’t illiterate peasants. They were very capable of writing the books attributed to them.
Other New Testament writers, such as Matthew and Luke, were obviously educated men. Matthew was a Roman civil servant, a tax collector, which indicates that he was educated in Greek as well as Aramaic. Luke was a physician by training and experience, which again pre-supposes a good education. The other New Testament author, John Mark, was a travelling companion first of Paul and Barnabas and later of Peter. We know that his uncle, Barnabas, was a wealthy Levite from Cyprus (Acts 4:36–37). In addition, Mark’s mother, Mary, owned a large home in Jerusalem that was big enough to accommodate meetings of a large number of the disciples (Acts 12:12). This again points to the fact of Mark having had access to a good education.
Clearly, every one of the men named as authors of the New Testament books had a background of exposure to the Greek world and the Greek language. They had the educational and social background to write the material that has been attributed to them.
Putting the New Testament Together
The Jews of Jesus’ day venerated their sacred writings, which we know as the Old Testament, and studied them from childhood. Josephus, a first-century priest and historian who was contemporary with the writers of the New Testament, records the Jewish perspective on the scriptures: “For we have not an innumerable multitude of books among us, disagreeing from and contradicting one another [as the Greeks have,] but only twenty-two books…which are justly believed to be divine…” (Against Apion, I, 8). Josephus stated that the Jewish scriptures hadbeen compiled in their final form in the days of King Artaxerxes, who reigned in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah.
The fact that there were twenty-two books of Hebrew scriptures was given great significance by the Jews. This is because this corresponded to the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. An illustration is found in Psalm 119. In the King James translation, as well as many others, each section of eight verses in this Psalm is preceded with a character of the Hebrew alphabet. In Hebrew the first eight verses all begin with the letter “a” (aleph), the next eight verses all begin with the letter “b” (beth), and so on. The idea was that when all of the letters had been used up, the subject was thoroughly covered and nothing more remained to be said. This was the concept with the Hebrew scriptures. God’s rev-elation in the Hebrew language was deemed complete. After all, the entire alphabet was “used up.”
The twenty-two books as counted by the Jews correspond to the books of our Old Testament, normally counted as thirty-nine books in modern translations. The number differs because of the different way the books were counted. The twelve Minor Prophets, for instance, were kept on one scroll in Hebrew and were counted as simply one book, not twelve separate ones. There are several other combinations as well.
But while the Hebrew scriptures were complete, God’s revelation to mankind wasn’t finished! In the aftermath of Jesus’ resurrection, accounts of His life and ministry were written. Letters to fledgling congregations were written. As the decades passed, those who were first-hand witnesses of what Jesus Christ said and did began to pass from the scene. False teachers arose who were teaching “a different gospel” (2 Corinthians 11:3). They also wrote letters, often signing the name of one of the Apostles. (2 Thessalonians 2:2). In such confusion, how was an accurate account of Christ’s teachings and the teachings of His apostles to be preserved for future generations of disciples?
Peter addresses this issue in the last letter that he wrote: 2 Peter. Written shortly prior to his execution by the Romans, and shortly after Paul’s death, Peter puts things in perspective. Referring to his soon-approaching death in verse 14, Peter states: “Moreover I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease” (2 Peter 1:15). Clearly the onlyway that he could ensure a permanent record of the things that he had taught was to leave behind writings officially designated as holy scripture!
Beginning in verse 16, Peter abruptly switches from using the first person singular to using “we,” the first per-son plural. Who was the “we” that Peter referred to in verses 16 through 19? He defines the “we” in verse 18 when he refers to them having witnessed the transfiguration of Jesus in the Mount. This event is detailed in Matthew 17:1–13 where we learn that only Peter, James, and John accompanied Jesus to the mount and were first-hand witnesses of this event. James the brother of John was the first of the Apostles to be martyred (Acts 12:1–2) and had been dead for decades at the time Peter was writing 2 Peter. Therefore, the “we” being referred to by Peter could only refer to him and John.
He goes on to explain in verse 19 that “we”—he and John—were the only ones who possessed the “sure word of prophecy.” In other words, Peter was pointing out to his readers that he and John were the ones designated by Christ to leave behind an authoritative record that would guide the Christian community in generations to come, long after the deaths of the original disciples.
In 2 Peter 3:15–16 he refers to Paul’s writings in a way that indicates they were complete, mentioning “all” his letters. He also refers to people distorting them as they did “the other scriptures.” Peter defines Paul’s letters as scripture on a par with the Old Testament and intimates that Paul was no longer alive to respond to those who sought to twist his meaning.
There are twenty-seven books in the New Testament, five of which are attributed to the Apostle John and believed to have been written approximately three decades after the death of Peter. This would indicate that Peter, prior to his death, put together a canon of twenty-two books, exactly corresponding in number to the Jewish way of reckoning the books of the Old Testament. When John added his five books—a gospel, three epistles, and Revelation—there were then twenty-seven in all. The twenty-two books of the Hebrew scriptures, added to the twenty-seven books of the Greek scriptures, make forty-nine in all—seven times seven, God’s number of completion and perfection!
Clearly the Bible was complete and stamped as God’s book. If any book is added or removed the entire pattern is disturbed. Christ called and trained capable, qualified men as His Apostles. The early Apostles, who produced the New Testament, along with the prophets who produced the Old Testament, provided a solid foundation for the Church that Jesus built (Ephesians 2:20).
Christ ensured that the Church that He established would not be left to human tradition or vague, unreliable recollection as its source of guidance. He left us with a written record of His message and of the actions and teachings of His Apostles. This message was accurately preserved in the manuscripts copied in the Greek world for centuries. After the fall of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453, Greek scholars fled to Western Europe, particularly Switzerland, bringing a treasure trove of ancient manuscripts. These manuscripts provided the basis of what is called the Textus Receptus, from which both the King James and New King James versions were translated.
The living Christ has guided and orchestrated events to ensure a faithful witness of the Good News that He came proclaiming almost 2,000 years ago. Our New Testament is truly the legacy of the early Church, faithfully preserved for us today!