Letter of Paul to the Corinthians, 1

Book Written:  54 A.D.

Time Period/Setting:  Written by Paul from Ephesus to the Gentile Christian community  in Corinth, a bustling city with a diverse population, in Achaia, a Roman province

Title:  self-explanatory

This letter of Paul, called first, is actually Paul's second letter to the Corinthian community per HC.  Paul had founded this Christian community and he's writing to them concerning problems that have arisen:  leaders proclaiming themselves to have special knowledge, adultery, fornication, prostitution, the persistent problem of clean and unclean food along with the matter of circumcision and resurrection to name a few.  Really, Paul covers the spectrum from head coverings to law suits.  He was a tireless crusader for the faith certainly and a relentless apologist for it as well, always stressing Christ and his message as the extension of God's covenant with Abraham and the Law.

There are many passages in First Corinthians that read a bit more poetically than those where Paul hammers away at the disobedient Corinthians.  Chapter 12 tells of the Church as being many members but one body, and Chapter 13 is the entirely beautiful passage about love (the Greek word used for love here was agape).    He writes of the resurrection of body in Chapter 15 as the "perishable body" putting on "imperishability." 

Paul does dip in to some dangerous territory by modern-day standards in Chapter 14 much more so than his comments on marriage in Chapter 7.  Women, he says, should not speak in church! Oh well, perhaps it would be easier all around if we did keep quiet, along with everyone else who may really have nothing whatsoever to say. 

Letter of Paul to the Romans

Book Written:  58 A.D.  Paul is thought to have dictated the letter to Tertius and to have asked Phoebe to take it with her to Rome. 

Time Period/Setting:  Written by Paul from Corinth to both Jews and returned Jewish Christians in Rome.  (In 49 A.D. Claudius expelled Jews and probably Jewish Christians from Rome due to religious unrest most likely the result of Christian influence.) Christian teaching had reached Rome by  this time, but apparently not through Paul's efforts.

Title:  self-explanatory

Paul's letter to the Romans was among the last of his letters to be written but is first in order of appearance in the Bible.  The first shall be last and the last first I suppose; chronological order was apparently not important in compiling the books of the Bible. (I will come to see that the Pauline Letters are arranged in descending order according to the length of each.)  The Book of Acts ends with Paul voyaging to Rome, but the Letter to the Romans, the following chapter, was written by Paul without ever having been to Rome. 

Baker describes Romans as a "doctrinal treatise" with the theme of justification by faith.  HC points out that at the time  Paul wrote this letter, he would have had "over two decades" of teaching under his belt.  That is evident.  To me, the letter is a well-thought-out philosophical piece of writing where Paul uses a sophisticated lawyer-like style of argumentation.  He's on fire with the faith. In order to "defend the . . .validity of Israel" to the Roman Christians Paul uses plenty of OT quotations and references to Jewish law. HC says that Paul uses the "diatribe style" to present his position.  That is, he writes "as if confronting an individual with a truth that demands a response." 

The Acts of the Apostles

Book Written:  Around 65 A.D. though HC puts the date closer to 90 A.D. figuring it must have been written after the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D.  The author is Luke who wrote the third gospel though see below. 

Time Period/Setting:  The early years of the Christian Church after the resurrection of Christ

Title: Of the title, HC says it "indicates the shift in content from Luke's Gospel, which is about Jesus, to Acts, which concerns the life and work of the church."  HC casts some doubt on Luke, companion of St. Paul, author of third gospel and physician, as the author.  HC also points out that this book actually contains little concerning the activities of the apostles, but rather is mostly about Paul who was not an apostle.

Acts reads like an historical adventure book and so is engaging and easy to follow.  Nonetheless, HC cautions against viewing this book as just history and reminds that it is "theological narrative." 

Baker gives six theological points to keep in mind:  1)  The Church developed through the power of the Holy Spirit (Pentecost);  2)  Peter is the protagonist in the first half of the book. He selects Matthias to replace Judas and he gives the nod to the Gentiles in the person of Cornelius.  Paul is the protagonist of the second half of the book;  3)  Jesus, no other,  is the savior of mankind;  4)  There are eighteen speeches in the book.  All tell the story of Jesus's ministry, his death and resurrection and that he is the savior of the world;  5)  The Church is an organized community with a hierarchy.  There are deacons, presbyters and bishops;  6)  At the Council of Jerusalem, the way to salvation is established as faith in Jesus Christ.

Some figures in the book to think about are Barnabas who sold his field and gave the proceeds to the nascent Christian church while Ananias and Sapphira  did similarly but held back some of their profits, Stephen and his martyrdom including the eloquent speech he makes before the Council, Simon the magician who wanted to pay Philip for the powers that Philip had, the Ethiopian Eunuch who resembles a fairy tale character, Tabitha (Dorcas) whom Peter raises from the dead, Cornelius the centurion, the magician Bar-Jesus or Elymas to whom Paul says, "You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy. .. .: (Ch. 13, 9), Lydia the trader of purple cloth, Apollos who is re-educated by Priscilla and Aquila (Ch. 18), the Roman officials Felix, Festus, King Agrippa and Bernice.  Paul is at the center of the action as Acts comes to a close with his hairy sea voyage to Rome as prisoner on a ship.

John

Book Written:  Somewhere between 70 A.D. and 90 A.D.

Time Period/Setting:  Written in either Ephesus or Antioch about and/or for a Christian group separating from the larger Jewish community to which it had previously belonged. HC says that this gospel deals with the tension between these two groups, particularly over the Christian claim that Jesus is the Son of God. 

Title: Refers to John the Apostle, brother of James.  John is the author of the book.

The gospel of John is of course the different gospel, the one set apart from the synoptic gospels.  It's also the gospel of 'onlys'--the only mention of the miracle at Cana, the only mention of Nicodemus, the only mention of the Samaritan woman at the well, the only mention of  Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, the only mention of Jesus washing the disciples' feet, the only mention of the "new" commandment to love one another as Jesus has loved them (Ch. 13,34-35), the only mention of the piercing of Jesus' side, the only mention of Roman soldiers at Jesus' arrest, the only mention of Jesus appearing to Thomas. 

Luke

Book Written:  Around 64 A.D.

Time Period/Setting:  Luke writes for a Gentile, Christian audience

Title:  Luke is thought to be a physician, a Christian Gentile,  a companion to St. Paul and the author of the gospel named after him.

Both Baker and HC point out the importance of Jerusalem in this gospel which recounts Jesus travelling to this important city and returning to the same.

Mark

Book Written:   60 A.D.  

Time Period/Setting:  Written for Gentile Christians, perhaps after the persecution of Christians by Nero (64 A.D.) or the Jewish revolt against Rome. 

Title:  Mark was not an apostle. Both Baker and HC say there was a John Mark who was an interpreter or companion of St. Peter while he was in Rome.

The gospel of Mark is the shortest of the four gospels, the earliest of the four (except for Baker's confusing comment that evidence exists for Matthew being the earliest) and it is considered to have served as the basis for the other gospels.  I think of Mark as the 'bare bones' account of Jesus and his ministry, having learned somewhere along the way that Mark's account is rudimentary, giving just the essentials with few details.  HC more or less confirms this describing Mark as "cruder and wordier" than Matthew or Luke.(Not sure what he might mean by wordier.) 

The gospel of Mark begins with the baptism of Jesus.  There are two endings (a feature I'll have to explore later).  Baker comments that a theme of this gospel is the coming Kingdom of  God as well as the notion that Jesus is the suffering Messiah who seeks to hide his identity.  HC concurs on the last point. 

Baker notes that each evangelist portrays Jesus differently (e.g. he says that Mark stresses Jesus' human side more than the others), but the differences are not really apparent to me upon a first reading of the gospels.

Matthew

Book Written:  Generally considered to be written late in the first century so 80 A.D.-90 A.D., but Baker suggests that there's evidence for an earlier date of composition, 40s A.D., and so the first gospel.  The author is usually considered to be the apostle, Matthew or Levi, a tax collector, but HC offers that this gospel was most likely written in Antioch, Syria by a "an unknown Greek-speaking Jewish Christian"  and simply named after one of the apostles to give the work greater credence.   There also seems to be a discrepancy about the original language of the gospel.  Baker says that the gospel first existed in Aramaic and was translated into "Koine Greek" whereas HC asserts that the gospel was originally written in Greek.

Time Period/Setting:   Post 70s A.D., after the fall of the temple in Jerusalem.  The author is writing for a Jewish audience

Title:  Named after the apostle Matthew.  See above.

There are five discourses in the book of Matthew along with 41 Old Testament quotations.  The five discourses can be found in Ch. 5 (the Beatitudes), Ch. 10 (Missionary Discourse), Ch. 13(parables), Ch. 18 (community, Church)  and Ch. 24 (the Second Coming).  Matthew's account of Jesus presumes a knowledge of the OT, hence the quotations.  He presents Jesus as a compassionate, dignified teacher, the Messiah, the fulfillment of the Law.  The Gospel of Matthew begins with the genealogy of Jesus.