How did we get the New Testament?

Since Jesus and the Early Church already had the Old Testament Scriptures, how did the Bible grow to have the New Testament? If you recall, Jesus had twelve Apostles that He taught very deliberately and intensively; they were given the charge in Matthew 28:19-20 to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Because they were to teach everything Jesus had commanded them, any writings by the apostles were saved as important since they were entrusted with passing on the Word of God. This is why the church is pictured as a building, “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone” in Ephesians 2:20.

So just as the Old Testament was the inspired Word of God through the prophets, so the New Testament was the inspired Word of God through the apostles. Yet not all of the writers were actual apostles of Jesus, so Norman Geisler shares that “apostolic authority, or apostolic approval, was the primary test for canonicity, and not merely apostolic authorship.” Professor N. B. Stonehouse adds that this is due to that fact that “in the Epistles there is consistent recognition that in the church there is only one absolute authority, the authority of the Lord himself. Whenever the apostles speak with authority, they do so as exercising the Lord’s authority.”

Did you enjoy this post?

If so, would you please consider sharing it with the world

Comments are closed.

Search Site
Recent Posts