The
New Testament (
Greek ?a??? ??a????,
Kaine Diatheke) is the name given to the second major division of the
Christian Bible, the first such division being the much longer
Old Testament. The New Testament is sometimes called the
Greek New Testament or
Greek Scriptures, or the
New Covenant – which is the literal
translation of the original
Greek. The original texts were written in
Koine Greek by various authors after c. AD 45. Its 27 books were gradually collected into a single volume over a period of several centuries. Although certain Christian sects differ as to which works are included in the New Testament, the vast majority of denominations have settled on the same twenty-seven book
canon it consists of the four narratives of
Jesus Christ's ministry, called "
Gospels"; a narrative of the
Apostles' ministries in the
early church, which is also a sequel to the third Gospel; twenty-one early letters, commonly called "
epistles" in Biblical context, written by various authors and consisting mostly of Christian counsel and instruction; and an
Apocalyptic prophecy, which is technically the twenty-second epistle. Although the traditional timeline of composition may have been taken into account by the shapers of the current New Testament format, it is not, nor was it meant to be, in strictly chronological order. Though Jesus speaks
Aramaic in it, the New Testament (including the Gospels) was written in Greek because that was the
lingua franca of the Roman Empire.
Each of the Gospels narrates the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. The traditional author is listed after each entry. Modern scholarship differs on precisely by whom, when, or in what original form the various gospels were written.
The first three are commonly classified as the Synoptic Gospels. They contain very similar accounts of events in Jesus' life. The Gospel of John stands apart for its unique records of several miracles and sayings of Jesus, not found elsewhere.
The book of Acts, also termed Acts of the Apostles or Acts of the Holy Spirit, is a narrative of the Apostles' ministry after Christ's death and subsequent resurrection, which is also a sequel to the third Gospel. Examining style, phraseology, and other evidence, modern scholarship generally concludes that Acts and Luke share the same author.
