Evidence of the Validity of the New Testament Part 1
Roman and Jewish Culture
Yes, we can trust the validity of the New Testament. Many people do not know the early history of Christianity. To help you understand the evidence from the New Testament Scriptures we must jump back to the culture of the first century in Judea. Here Judea was under Roman rule. For religion the Romans had the polytheistic pagan religions which included astrology and the worship of such diverse Roman gods as Apollo, Ceres, Jupiter, Mars, Saturn and many more gods. There was a major Jewish population here because the Jewish temple was in Jerusalem. Since Christianity would be born from the Jewish religion, we should learn how the average first century Jew and Roman communicated with one another. Most people at this time we would call uneducated because they could not read or write. For religious instruction many Jews relied on their local Rabbi in the synagogue. Since most people could not read oral tradition was paramount.
In our modern world we can’t imagine how words spoken could be taken with any measure of accuracy because we rely so much on newspapers, magazines, books, video, television, radio, and the internet for information. The communication in first century culture was very oral. Much writing was memorized and shared. Children were taught from a very early age the art of memorization. They would memorize stories, poetry, songs, and nonfiction writing too. Once these people memorized these writings, they would have a permanent memory.1 This oral tradition would extend to the birth of the Christian religion from Judaism.
Origin of Judaism
The Jewish religion all started from a Chaldean man from Ur in the land of Canaan. Today the city of Ur still exists in the country of Iraq. This man was called by God to produce a great nation. God told this man who would later be named Abraham that God would make his descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants could be numbered (Genesis 13:16 NKJV). This was the birth of the Jewish nation. Throughout the Hebrew Bible much prophecy was spoken and written down about a future Messiah that would completely save the Jewish people from the wrath of God due to their sin. This Messiah would not only be for the salvation of His people, the Jews, but the great mystery is that the Messiah would open the promise of salvation for the Gentile. As the Apostle Paul wrote to the Colossian Church, “…the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints” (Colossians 1:26 NKJV). In a religious ceremony Jewish priests would sacrifice animals for the Jewish followers. These sacrifices would have to be done many times by the priests to atone for one’s sins. The Jewish animal sacrifice was only a shadow of the future atoning grace of the prophesied Messiah to come.
The Bible gives its own history lesson. Luke wrote the book of Acts in the New Testament to document the early history of Christianity. In this book you see how Judaism is linked to the Christian religion. Jesus Christ, who was the promised Messiah came for His own people. Many of His own people did not believe that Jesus was the promised Messiah or in Greek the Christ. A major part of the Apostle Paul’s ministry was to share the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. As the Apostle Paul wrote to the Roman church, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek” (Romans 1:16 NKJV). At first the first Christians were Jews, but after the first century more Gentiles were becoming Christians. Today there are more Gentiles that are Christian than Jews. At the very end of history as written in the book of Revelation you will see God opening the eyes of the Jews who rejected Him. Let’s now review through the book of Acts how Christianity was born. This history also helps prove the validity of Scripture. I wrote about major events from the book of Acts in a paraphrased form. I suggest that you read the book of Acts for yourself to fill in the details.
Origin of the Christian Church
In Acts 2 we read about the birth of the Christian Church. It all started about 50 days after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Every year Jews would celebrate the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost which indicated the end of the barley harvest. Jews throughout the entire Roman Empire all gathered at Jerusalem for this important holiday. To show you how big this gathering was, there were Jews from Rome, Crete, Cyrene, Libya, Egypt, Asia Minor, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Pontus, Cappadocia, Parthia, Media, Elam, Mesopotamia, Arabia, and other regions who all met in Jerusalem for the feast.
At this specific time in history the third person of the Trinity which is the Holy Spirit was poured out on the original apostles of Jesus Christ. The apostles began to speak in other languages and all these people groups from various regions of the Roman Empire understood every word spoken as though they heard the words in their own language. This was a supernatural miracle of the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Peter filled with the Holy Spirit spoke his first Christian sermon to this huge gathering about the gospel of Jesus Christ and up to 3,000 Jews were saved, baptized, and became followers of Jesus Christ. Through the miracle of the Holy Spirit the Christian Church was born. These new Jewish converts to Jesus Christ would learn about the Son of God through the written prophecy in the Hebrew Scriptures and through the Hellenistic Septuagint Scriptures for Greek speaking Jews of which there were many. These new Christian Jews saw Jesus as the central subject of the Hebrew Scriptures. They saw all the Messianic prophecy pointing to Jesus. They eventually realized that they were free from the law through Jesus Christ.
There was one book the Holy Hebrew Scriptures for both Hellenistic Orthodox Jews and the new Jewish and Gentile Christians, however, the scriptures did not unify both parties. The Orthodox Jew looked at scripture as a law to follow. Every male was to be circumcised. The seventh day of the week must be observed for rest. Certain animal’s flesh could not be eaten or touched; it was un-clean. The Orthodox Jew favored the traditional scroll for the format of the Septuagint. The Christian Jew and Gentiles favored the Codex or book form. It was much easier to page back and forth to find various scripture passages to compare with others.2 But these stubborn Orthodox Jews missed the greatest promise of God, because they would not heed the prophets of old. In fact, they would murder many of these prophets. It was these types of Jews that would not bow the knee to their Messiah, Jesus Christ. Many prophets from Moses to Malachi prophesied to the Jews of their coming Messiah, but they had their Messiah murdered just as these Jews murdered the prophets.
The New Covenant
Jeremiah wrote about the new covenant which would be in Jesus Christ, but these Orthodox Jews would not pay any attention to Jeremiah. They were all wrapped up in their man-made traditions and other Jewish writings; they would not listen to Jeremiah. This is what Jeremiah told his people. “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God; and they shall be My people” (Jeremiah 31:31-33 NKJV).
The Birth of Gentile Christians
One day in history we read in the book of Acts that the Apostle Peter went into prayer, he became very hungry. Next, he fell into a trance and had a vision. In his vision he saw heaven opening; he saw a great sheet bound at all four corners descending to him which included animals which by Jewish standards were unclean. The voice from heaven said “Rise, Peter, kill and eat.” Peter said, “No, I have never eaten anything unclean.” The voice spoke, “What God has cleansed you must not call common.” This was repeated three times for Peter.
Peter was further encouraged by the Holy Spirit to meet a God-fearing man who was a Gentle. The man’s name was Cornelius. Prior to meeting with Peter, he fasted for four days in prayer. At that time, it was unlawful for a Jew to keep company with a Gentile. Encouraged by the Holy Spirit Peter explained his new attitude toward Cornelius who was a Gentile. Peter explained he was instructed by the Holy Spirit that Christian Jews must stop calling any man common or unclean. At the house of Cornelius many Gentiles were present. Peter preached the gospel and the Holy Spirit fell on these new Gentiles and they were saved. This is the first report of Gentiles being saved in the book of Acts.
The Apostle Paul’s former name was Saul. Saul was born a Jew in the city of Tarsus which at that time was the capital city of the province of Cilicia, now modern-day south-central Turkey. He was very orthodox in his beliefs. He was trained as a Jewish Pharisee by the very famous Rabbi Gamaliel. Saul hated this new religion that was corrupting many Jews, which at that time was called the “Way” and would later be called Christianity. He fought to eliminate this heresy before this following got any larger. Saul visited the high priest asked for letters of permission to invade the synagogues in the city of Damascus where he believed were located many followers of the Way. He would breathe threats and murder against these disciples of the Way. He was ready to bring both men and women bound to Jerusalem as prisoners.
Apostle Paul Converted to Christianity
Along with various men Saul took off to Damascus. While walking on the road suddenly everyone saw this bright light all around them. It was supernatural. Saul fell to the ground. He heard a voice as if from heaven. “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” Saul asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The voice spoke, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” Saul was trembling and shocked. Saul said, “Lord, what do you want me to do?” Jesus said, “Arise and go into the city of Damascus and you will be told what to do next.” The other men with Saul were confused, they heard a voice, but could not see anyone. When Saul was helped off the ground, he had no eyesight. He was led into Damascus by his men. When he came to Damascus Saul was without sight for three days and did not want to eat or drink.
Meanwhile, in Damascus lived a serious follower of Jesus Christ, his name was, Ananias. Ananias suddenly had a vision from God. In the vision the Lord Jesus Christ said, “Arise and go to the street named ‘Straight,’ go to the house of Judas and at that house ask for Saul of Tarsus. By now Saul has been in prayer and has had a vision of you, Ananias, coming in the house of Judas and putting your hand on him that he would receive his sight.” Ananias, being completely confused and in fear answered the Lord, “Lord, I have heard many things about Saul of Tarsus. He has done much harm to many of your believing saints in Jerusalem. Now he has authority from the chief Jewish priests to invade the synagogues in Damascus to bind all believing saints there that worship You.” The Lord told Ananias, “Go to Saul, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine. He will bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel” [Jews]. “I will show Saul how many things he must suffer for My name.”
Ananias was obedient to the Lord and entered the house of Judas to lay his hands on Saul that he would receive his sight. Ananias said to Saul, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road to Damascus has sent me to restore your sight and that you may be filled with the Holy Spirit.” At that time Saul received his sight and was baptized. He was ready to receive food and was strengthened. The new converted Saul spent some time in Damascus with his new fellow Christian saints. Immediately Saul began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. Many saints who heard him at first were skeptical of him. These saints knew that Saul previously murdered many saints in Jerusalem. Saul grew in strength and in the spirit of the Lord. In time Christians were in complete harmony with Saul. However, this really confused the non-Christian Jews. In Part 2, I will deal with how the New Testament was put together to form the completed book that it is today and how you can rely on it as the true evidence of Christ.
Evidence of the Validity of the New Testament Part 1: End Notes
Timothy Paul Jones, Ph.D. How We Got the Bible; Rose Publishing; Peabody, MA 01961; (2015); p70.
F.F. Bruce, The Canon of Scripture; InterVarsity Press; Downers Grove, IL 60515; (1988); p68.