"We are travellers…not yet in our native land" – St. Augustine
My favourite book of 2015 was New Testament Basics for Catholics by Dr. John Bergsma. So much so, in fact, that several of my friends received copies as Christmas presents!
Here is a short presentation by the book’s author on the material covered in his book:
For a long time I’ve been a big fan of Dr. Bergsma’s work, owning many of his lectures on MP3, as well as leading a study of his book “Bible Basics for Catholics” in which he renders salvation history through a series of adorable stick figures.
A few weeks ago Dr. Bergsma released a new book, “New Testament Basics for Catholics”. Here’s a presentation lecture on the content of the book:
Today in Bible study we’re going to be looking at the Epistle of Jude. Although they’re fairly preliminary, my notes are now available in the Commentary section of this website:
I’m trying to pull together all my various notes about the different books that we’ve studied. I’ll be chipping away at that over the next few months.
Seventh Day Adventists (SDAs) believe that Christians shouldn’t worship on Sundays and that the Saturday Sabbath is still in effect. In recent weeks I’ve been having a discussion in a Seventh Day Adventist in response to my post Why do Christians worship on Sundays? The exchange has been good and I think it’s well worth a read and I’d invite you to check it out.
I haven’t had much interaction with SDAs before and I hope to do some posts looking at their more interesting doctrinal positions, of which there are quite a few. However, in preparation for this, today I would simply like to do a post where I catalogue all the places in the New Testament where Sunday is mentioned:
1. The Resurrection
All the Gospels record the Resurrection taking place on Sunday (Matthew 28:1-7; Mark 16:2, 9; Luke 24:1; John 20:1).
2. Resurrection Appearances
Jesus appears to His disciples on Sundays (John 20:19, John 20:26).
3. Pentecost
The original Pentecost took place on a Sunday (Lev. 23:16) and therefore so did Pentecost in the New Testament (Acts 2:1). On this day the first sermon is preached, three thousand convert and are baptized.
4. Preaching and celebrating the Eucharist
In Paul’s travels, it is recorded that the Christian community came together to hear Paul preach and break bread (Acts 20:7).
5. Gathered collections
Paul instructed the Corinthians to gather their charitable donations on Sunday (1 Corinthians 16:2).
6. Vision of Heavenly Worship
Jesus gave the apostle John the vision of Revelation on the first day of the week (Revelation 1:10).
I just wanted to share in a post a great resource I stumbled across last week. On the Ignatius Press website I found that they have Bible study questions for most of the New Testament books. You can download a zipped collection of them here. This is ideal for people out there leading Bible study.
Continuing the answers to the New Testament Warm-Up questions…
28. What appears after Thessalonians?
The four letters from St. Paul to individuals: Timothy (x2), Titus and Philemon. The first three of these (and sometimes all four) are commonly known as the “Pastoral Epistles”.
29. Who was Timothy?
Timothy was a constant companion of Paul, recruited during Paul’s 2nd missionary journey (Acts 16:1-3). He also traveled with Paul on the subsequent 3rd missionary journey.
30. What background information do you know about Timothy?
He was from Asia Minor with a Christian Jewish mother (“Eunice”) and a Greek (probably Pagan) father (2 Timothy 1:5; 3:15). Timothy was the co-sender of six of Paul’s letters (2nd Corinthians, Philippians, Colossians, 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, as well as this letter). Tradition asserts that Timothy was the first bishop of Ephesus and was martyred there as an old man.
31. Who was Titus?
Titus was a companion of Paul. He was a Gentile Christian who traveled with Paul and Barnabas from Antioch to Jerusalem and with Paul on his 3rd missionary journey.
32. Who was Philemon?
Philemon was man of Paul’s acquaintance. Paul was possibly instrumental in his conversion to the Faith (Philemon 1:19) and Philemon was possibly involved in some ministerial capacity (Philemon 1:2).
33. Where did Philemon most likely live?
The letter doesn’t indicate the exact location of Philemon and his family, but it is assumed that they were residents of Colossae or a neighbouring city in Asia Minor (modern Turkey). This assumption is based upon the common belief that the slave mentioned in this letter, Onesimus, is the same man delivering the Letter to the Colossians (Colossians 4:7-9).
34. What is the context of the letter?
Paul is sending back to Philemon his slave Onesimus. Additionally, Paul thinks that his captivity will soon be at an end, so he tells Philemon to prepare for his arrival (Philemon 1:22).
35. What was the name of Philemon’s slave?
Onesimus
36. What is the meaning of the slave’s name?
His name means “Useful” or “Benefit”. St. Paul makes a couple of puns on his name in the letter.
37. What does Paul ask of Philemon?
Paul requests that Philemon to forgive his runaway slave Onesimus (Philemon 1:9,17)
38. What book appears after Philemon?
The book of Hebrews.
39. Why does Hebrews appear here?
It appears at the end of the collection of Paul’s work (the “Pauline Corpus”) because of the dispute in the Early Church as to whether or not Paul was its author. Additionally, one would not really call it an epistle.
40. What literary genre is Hebrews?
It is a sermon.
41. What is the main theme of the book?
It explains Jesus in terms of the Old Covenant priesthood and sacrificial system.
42. What did St. Thomas Aquinas think about the authorship of this epistle?
“Catholic tradition holds that Luke redacted the final version of the anonymous epistle to the Hebrews on Paul’s behalf, a view endorsed by none other than Saint Thomas Aquinas.” – Source
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All Questions
The article New Testament Warm-Ups: Answers 27-42 first appeared on RestlessPilgrim.net
Earlier today I started posting the answers to the New Testament Warm-Up questions. Here is the next set of answers…
17. What books appear in the Bible after Acts of the Apostles?
The 9 epistles sent by St. Paul to different Christian communities.
18. How are these epistles arranged?
They are arranged roughly in order of length, from the longest to the shortest.
19. What are the names of the cities/communities to which Paul writes?
Romans (City of Rome)
1 & 2 Corinthians (City of Corinth)
Galatians (The region of Galatia)
Ephesians (City of Ephesus)
Philippians (City of Philippi)
Colossians (City of Colossae)
1 & 2 Thessalonians (City of Thessalonica)
20. From where did Paul write the epistle to the Philippians?
He wrote it from prison (or while under house arrest).
21. What city was he in most likely at the time?
Rome.
22. Why did Paul write his letter to the Philippians?
Paul’s primary purpose in writing this letter was to thank the Philippians for the “gift” they sent him (probably money), which they sent to him upon hearing of his incarceration.
23. Who probably delivered this letter for Paul?
A man by the name of “Epaphroditus”. This man was the emissary from the Philippian congregation. He was quite sick and near death during his time with Paul.
24. What are the main themes of the letter to the Philippians?
Joy, regardless of the circumstances, through Jesus Christ.
25. What Christian hymn does Paul quote in the letter in Chapter 2?
He quotes the song known as “The Carmen Christi” (Latin for “hymn of Christ”): “Though he was in the form of God…”
26. What is the main theme behind the letters to the Thessalonians?
Christ’s Second Coming.
27. What claim-to-fame do the Thessalonian letter have?
It was most likely the first piece of the New Testament to ever be written.
I’ll post some more answers tomorrow. Happy Lord’s Day!
1-16 | 17-27 | 27-42 | 43-52 | 53-57 | 58-67 | 68-71 | 72-81
All Questions
The article New Testament Warm-Ups: Answers 17-27 first appeared on RestlessPilgrim.net