New Testament

Definition and Meaning

The New Testament is the collection of twenty-seven books of the Bible that deal with the period beginning with the birth of Jesus Christ. The name "New Testament" (Korean Sinyak, 新約) means "new covenant." It reflects the understanding that the new covenant prophesied in Jeremiah 31:31 was established through the death of Jesus (Luke 22:20; 2 Corinthians 3:6). The thirty-nine books that precede it are called the Old Testament.

The New Testament consists of the following:

• Four Gospels recording the life of Jesus (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John)
• One book recounting the history of the early church, the Acts of the Apostles
• Twenty-one epistles: the thirteen letters of Paul, Hebrews, James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1, 2, and 3 John, and Jude
• One book of a prophetic character, Revelation

Biblical and Historical Background

The books of the New Testament are generally thought to have been written in the mid-to-late first century in Koine Greek, the common language of the Mediterranean world at the time. In the early church, various writings were read in worship and circulated among congregations. It took several centuries for the church to identify the authoritative books among them and to settle them as the canon (the list of books that serve as the standard of faith). The list of twenty-seven books known today is reported to appear in the Easter letter written in 367 by Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria.

Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox churches all recognize the same list of twenty-seven New Testament books. The canonical differences among the three traditions lie chiefly in the scope of the Old Testament.

Practice in the Korean Church

The translation of the New Testament into Korean began in the earliest days of missionary work. In 1887, the missionary John Ross and his associates in Manchuria published Yesu Seonggyo Jeonseo, a translation of the entire New Testament, and in 1900 a translation committee of missionaries working in Korea is reported to have completed its own translation of the New Testament. Today the Korean Bible Society publishes several Bible translations.

The translation used in worship varies by denomination. Most denominations, including Presbyterian, Methodist, Holiness, Baptist, and Full Gospel churches, use the New Korean Revised Version as their official pulpit Bible, and some churches also read the New Korean Standard Version alongside it to aid understanding. The Anglican Church of Korea is known to have used the Common Translation, produced jointly with the Roman Catholic Church. Churches that read appointed passages according to the liturgical calendar sometimes include a separate Gospel reading in the order of service.

Among church members, small volumes containing only the New Testament and the Psalms are widely used for evangelism and as portable Bibles. People reading the Bible for the first time are often encouraged to begin with the New Testament, and churches sometimes treat the New Testament as a separate unit in programs for reading through the Bible or for transcribing Scripture (copying it by hand).