![]() ![]() Those books were written by authors who claimed to be the original apostles of Jesus yet who espoused views contrary to those later held in the canon. In part, these disputes arose because other books were available to them-books that did not end up in the New Testament we have today. ![]() It took years of hard debate for Christians to agree which of the books in circulation should form their canon (their list of sacred books considered genuine and inspired). and circulated from place to place independently in the ancient Roman world within the first three centuries of early Christianity. While we might think of the New Testament as a single work, its 27 books were written by different authors between approximately 50 C.E. The collection of 27 books that we know today as the New Testament consists of four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, 13 letters of Paul, a few catholic (meaning “universal”) letters (James, Jude, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John), Hebrews, and the book of Revelation. The New Testament, however, did not begin as a unified collection of books that were divinely inspired, sacred, and authoritative. Here, the word religious means that Christians think the New Testament is divinely inspired, sacred, and authoritative in matters of faith and conduct. Around the world, Christians read and study the New Testament because they regard it as a religious book. ![]()
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