The Interpretive JourneyNew Testament

14. Letters15. Gospels 16. Acts 17. Revelation

Unit 4

New Testament Letters

PaulineGeneralRomans Hebrews

1, 2 Corinthians James

Galatians 1, 2 Peter

Ephesians 1, 2, 3 John

Philippians Jude

Colossians

1, 2 Thessalonians

1, 2 Timothy

Titus

Philemon

Name

from

recipients

Name

from

writer

• Characteristics of NT letters – Comparable to other ancient letters

Paul’s letters are quite long by ancient standards, averaging 2,495 words. (R. Richards)

Why did Paul need the extra space?

NT includes more informal, personal letters (like Philemon) as well as more formal letters (like Romans)

– Authoritative substitutes for the author's personal presence• Substitute for personal presence • Authoritative substitute

(Christ’s representatives)

– Situational – written to address specific situations or problems in the churches• To clarify an issue (Thessalonians)• To address a doctrinal problem (Colossians)• To confront the ethical behavior of readers (James)

• Implications of the occasional nature of letters

– Never meant to be read as exhaustive dictionaries of doctrine

– Be careful not to conclude too much from any one letter

Galatians – freedom

1 Corinthians – obedience

Reading a NT letter is a lot like listening to one end of a phone conversation.

– Reconstruction the original situation that called for the letter in the first place

– Intended for the Christian community

• Meant to be read aloud again and again to the church

“Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.” —Revelation 1:3

“After this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea.” —Colossians 4:16

• Meant to be exchanged with other churches

• Form of NT letters

Standard form of a contemporary letter

Date

Name Address

Greeting,

Body of the letter

Closing & signature

Introduction

Writer Recipients Greeting

Body of the letter (largest section focusing on the specific situation)

Conclusion (a variety of elements normally ending in a grace benediction)

Standard form of a NT letter

• How to interpret a NT letter

– Step 1 Grasp the text in their town

• Read the letter from beginning to end, the way letters are meant to be read. This will give you a sense of the big picture.

• Reconstruct the historical-cultural context of the biblical writer and his audience.

• Identify the literary context of your particular passage.• Determine the meaning of the text for the biblical

audience (observe, observe, observe!)

– Step 2 – Measure the width of the river

For NT letters the river is usually not very wide, but there are exceptions.

– Step 3 – Cross the principlizing bridge

• Look for the broader theological message reflected in the text. To find theological principles in letters ask yourself the following questions:

– Does the author state a principle?– Do you see a principle in the surrounding context?– Do you see a reason behind a particular command or

instruction?

• Does your theological principle satisfy the following criteria:

– It should be reflected in the biblical text– It should be timeless and not tied to a specific situation– It should not be culturally bound– It should be consistent with the teaching of the rest of

Scripture– It should be both relevant to both the biblical audience and the

contemporary audience

– Step 4 – Grasp the text in our town

NT – Gospels

• Introduction

– Gospel g “good news”

– Four Gospels g four different versions of the one story of Jesus

Matthew Synoptic Gospels Mark “see together” Luke

John

– Gospels in the NT

Gospels 47% Acts 13%

Paul’s Letters 23%

General Letters 10%

Revelation 7%

– Two main concerns:

1. What are the Gospels? (literary genre)

2. How should we read the Gospels?

• What are the Gospels?

– Stories

– Stories of Jesus drawn from the personal experience of his followers, especially his apostles

– But different from modern biographies• Do not cover the whole life of Jesus• Often arrange events and sayings topically rather than

chronologically• Give a lot of attention to the last week of Jesus’ life• Do not include a detailed psychological analysis of

Jesus

– Gospels are ancient biographies rather than modern biographies• Not obsessed with strict chronological sequencing• Variation in wording• Variation in order of events

– Christ-centered or Christological biography

– Two purposes of the Gospel writers:

1. To tell individual stories of Jesus

2. Through the individual stories of Jesus, to say something important to their readers

• How should we read the Gospels?

– Our method of reading the Gospels must match the means God used to inspire them.

– Here we turn the two purposes of the Gospel writers into two interpretive questions:

1. What is the main message of this particular story?

2. What is the Gospel writer trying to say to his readers by the way he connects the smaller stories?

Episode 1 Episode 2 Episode 3

What is this episode telling us about Jesus?

What is this episode telling us about Jesus?

What is this episode telling us about Jesus?

Episodes 1, 2, and 3

What is the Gospel writer trying to communicate to his readers by the way he connects these stories together?

Luke 10:25-27 Luke 10:38-42 Luke 11:1-13

Love should transcend all human barriers.

Doing good things for God can sometimes cause us to miss God.

Jesus teaches us how to communicate with God through prayer.

Luke 10:25-37; 38-42; 11:1-13

Common theme of relationships. Followers of Jesus need to relate rightly to their neighbors (service), to their Lord (devotion), and to their Father (prayer).

– Question 1 – How do we read individual stories?• Ask the standard story questions:

Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?• Look for interpretive clues from the author himself.• Take note of anything that is repeated in the story.• Pay careful attention to direct discourse.

– Question 2 – How do we read a series of stories?

• Common themes or patterns• Logical connections (e.g., cause and effect)• How stories are joined to together (transitions, conjunctions)• Role of key characters

• Special literary forms in the Gospels?

– implicit or implicit comparison“You are the salt of the earth.” – Matthew 5:13

“You are like whitewashed tombs” – Matthew 23:27

– a truth is overstated for effect “If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out

and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be

thrown into hell.” – Matthew 5:29

– contrast between what is expected and what actually happens

“And I'll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you.’”

– Luke 12:19-20

– questions designed to make a point rather than retrieve an answer

“Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” – Matthew 6:27

– two or more lines of text that are intended to be read together

• Synonymous – lines say basically the same thing• Contrastive – second line contrasts with the first line• Developmental – second line advances thought of first

• What kind of parallelism is the verse below?

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

– Matthew 7:7

– a story with two levels of meaning, where certain details in the story stand for other things

• A story where every detail stands for something else?• A story with only one point?• A story with one main point for each main character

Rebellious son Sinners may confess their sins and turn to God in repentance

Forgiving father God offers forgiveness for undeserving people

Resentful brother Those who claim to be God’s people should not be resentful when God extends his grace to the undeserving.

• Conclusion– Gospels g good news of Jesus Christ

– Four versions of the one story of Jesus

– Christological biography

– Two interpretive questions:• What is the main message of each story?• What is the Gospel writer trying to say to his readers

(and to us) by the way he connects the smaller stories?