New Testament, episode 1: Introduction

What is the New Testament? It is a deeply Jewish book that serves as a sequel -- of sorts -- to the Old Testament. It is a small library of 27 books. It is a biography (or, rather, 4 biographies) of the greatest Man who ever lived, as well as a sequel (Acts) and 22 books that add to Jesus' legacy. It is a series of documents originally written in Koine Greek, and the beautiful collision of Jewish and Greek (and Roman) culture permeate the New Testament. It is also, at its heart, sacred writing. The Apostle John called it "the Logos" or the Word. With that in mind, this introduction places the New Testament in the broader history of written language going back to the earliest human writing. In the following episodes, we will expand on this by placing the New Testament in it Old Testament context, as well as its Greek and Roman context.