Didactic
Books in the New Testament
1.
Didactic Books: the epistles generating the
second part of New Testament are called Didactic Books. The first nine epistles
of Paul are called Pauline Epistles[1],
the others are called Pastoral Epistles[2]
and the ones written by Peter, John, Jacob and Jude are called Catholic
Epistles[3].
The basic beliefs of Christianity can be found in the epistles part.
2. Paul: The real name of Paul is Saul; he lived between 5/10 – 62/67 A.D.; he was born in Cydnus and he is
believed to be the true builder of Christianity. He was a Roman-Jewish who
earned his life by selling tents. When he was one of the major enemies of Jesus
and his community, all of a sudden he tried to give a direction to Christianity
claiming that “Jesus appeared to him”. Despite not being an apostle and being
criticized by them, he announced himself as “neo being in
the least inferior to these super-apostles”[4], “servants of Christ”
and “stewards of God’s mysteries”.[5]
In his epistles there are
some expressions which are contrary to Jesus’ personality and disciplines and
to the rules of Old Testament which are statutory for Christians. He arranged propaganda trips
to East Anatolia, Macedonia and Greece. “An uncompromising monotheist”,
“Hellenist”, “sufi”, “hysteric”, “an epileptic
whose visions change constantly”, “a lover who wasn’t loved back and who wants
to revenge on Jews” etc. are some of the expressions that were used for him.[6]
He was arrested and attacked as he changed the basics of Jesus and was killed
during the time of Nero in Rome. For Christians Paul is more important than the
apostles as they think most of the apostles are simple fishermen while Paul is
a scholar who closely examined the writings and traditions of Jews. They
believe that God bestowed “simple and strong belief” to the apostles but
“education desire and skill of producing theological ideas” to Paul.[7]
In his epistle
to Romans: It emphasizes the facts that the ties with Old Testament should
be broken[8],
one can be absolved only if he believes and obeys Jesus, and “sin cannot
capture human beings”. He advises to be considerate to the authorities.[9]
In his epistles to Corinthians: They try to
avoid the division in the congregation.[10]
He wants everybody to be subjected to him. He underlines the fact that
everything can be overcome, and he advises marriage and donation to the
churches.
In his epistle
to Galatians: It wants to people to quit the tradition of being circumcised
[11]
and reprehends Peter as he was estranged from people who were uncircumcised[12].
He warns the people not to rely on anyone apart from himself (even if it is an
angel).[13]
In his epistle
to Ephesians: It claims that he was given one of the mysteries of God which
was hidden for ages.[14]
There are some advices about the love of Jesus[15],
humane behaviours[16]
and the relationship between a husband and a wife[17].
In his epistle
to Philippians: It talks about the fact that
Jesus should be modelled[18]
and anything other than belief in Jesus is harmful and rubbish[19],
he also indicates his gratitude for the donations. It is thought that he wrote
this letter when he was under arrest in Rome in 61 A .D.[20]
In his epistle to Colossians:
It mentions that Jesus is “the image of the
invisible God” and “for in him all things in heaven and on earth
were created.”[21]
He claims that with Jesus all the trespasses would be forgiven[22] and human
commands like “Do not handle”, “Do not taste”, or
“Do not touch” are useless.[23]
In his epistles to Thessalonians:
The first epistle is considered both as the first epistle of Paul and as the
oldest text of New Testament. It was written in 51 A .D. It gives clues about
how to please God[24]
and emphasizes the fact that “Jesus will rose again”.[25]
It recommends everyone to earn his own life.[26]
In his letters to Timothy: It gives details
about the qualifications of the leaders and personnel of the churches.[27]
In his letter
to Titus: It is about the fundamentals
of a leadership ceremony of a community, presumably, in Crete.[28]
In his letter to Philemon: It tells about the
request about a fugitive slave whom he met while he was under arrest from the
leaders of the Colossians who were the owners of that slave.
3.
Peter: Peter who is the first
apostle in the list of the apostles and who is known as “prince” became the
leader of the community. He is considered as the leader and founder of the
Roman Church (Catholics) as he lived in Rome for a long time. He was executed in
Rome in 64 or 67 A .D.[29].
The epistles of Peter were included in New Testament corpus as of 3 A .D. It talks about accepting
the authority of every human institution[30],
the relationship between a husband and a wife[31]
and spread of false beliefs within the community[32]
4.
James: He is one of the apostles.
He is said to be the step brother of Jesus. It is known that after Jesus he
directed Ebionites, a Jewish-Christian sect, in Palestine
and he struggled with the ideas of Paul. The epistle of James is the oldest one
among the epistles in New Testament. It includes almost 40 recommendations like
to be careful about what one says, not to be discriminate, the fact that action
is as important as belief etc. Martin Luther King, the founder of
Protestantism, called the epistle of James “an epistle of straw”.[33]
5.
Hebrews: Although the author of this
epistle is unknown, it is thought to be written between 80 and 90 A .D. and was included in
New Testament corpus as of 360
A .D. In the book thesis like “this world was created by
means of Jesus Christ, Jesus was superior to Moses and the promise about a new
period and a new order was accrued” take place. Although this book was claimed
to be written by Paul in Hippo and Kartaca Councils in 393 A .D., in later periods it
was announced that the author of this work was unknown.
Yusuf Ulucan
Translation
: H. Neslihan Demiriz
[1] The epistles written to the communities in West Anatolia and
Macedonia.
[2] The epistles written to religious leaders
[3] The epistles written to all Christians including all districts and
communities.
[4] 2 Corinthians: 11/5-6
[5] 1 Corinthians: 4/1
[6] For more information look: Şinasi Gündüz, Paul: the architect of
Christianity
[7] Thomas Michel, Introduction to Christian Theology,
[8] Look: Romans: 7th chapter
[9] Romans: 13/1 – 7
[10] 1 Corinthian: 1/10 – 14
[11] Galatians: 5/2
[12] Galatians: 2/14
[13] Galatians: 1/8
[15] Ephesians: 3/16 – 19
[16] Ephesians: 5/ 22, 6/4
[17] Ephesians: 3/8 – 9
[18] Philippians: 2/1 – 11
[19] Philippians: 3/8 – 9
[20] The Bible, Turkish New Translation
Introduction Part.
[22] Colossians: 2/13
[23] Colossians: 2/20-21
[26] 2 Thessalonians: 3/6-13
[27] 1 Timothy: 4/6-22
[28] Titus: 2/1 – 3/11
[29] Die Bibel – Einheitübersetzung, Anhang X – The appendix of the German
Catholic Translation
[30] 1 Peter: 2/13 – 17
[31] 1 Peter: 3/1-7
[32] 1 Peter: 2nd chapter
[33] Translation of Izhar-ul-Haqq (Truth Revealed)
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