This is the third in a series of five essays titled:

A Historical and Methodical Approach to Finding Faith in Jesus

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The reason a biographer seeks primary sources on the biographical subject is that secondary sources can only provide second-hand information – since they themselves are dependent on the primary sources. The 27 writings collected into what is called the New Testament represent the primary – that is, the earliest and most trustworthy – sources available on what Jesus of Nazareth said and did during his public ministry.

The Federalist Papers​ are political literature but they are also rightly included with the primary historical evidence of the early life and times of the American Republic. Similarly, the New Testament texts can be called religious literature but that doesn’t change the fact that they are also primary evidence of the life and times of Jesus. In this chapter, it is in this historical sense – not their theological sense – that we want to understand the ​nature​ of the historical writings we collectively call the New Testament.

What kind of writings are these? Who wrote them? What are their distinguishing characteristics? We need to open up the file folder, so to speak, called “New Testament” and examine the contents we find there – not as religious dogma but simply as historical texts.

The Writings

The 27 texts are usually ordered in the following way, which indicates the three major categories of writing into which these texts fall:

• Gospels (4) – These are “mini-biographies” of Jesus. They primarily cover his 2-3 years of public ministry.
• Acts of the Apostles (1) – This is a short history, mainly of key events in the ministries of apostles Peter and Paul.
• Letters (22) – Also called epistles, these vary greatly in length, style, and focus. What they have in common is that they were mainly written to congregations and all written to believers. This category includes the book of Revelation.

The Writers

The authors are all named, either in the body of the text or in its title. In alphabetical order, they were:

• James – brother of Jesus and Jude, who wrote 1 letter.
• Jude – brother of Jesus and James, who wrote 1 letter.
• John – 1 of the 12 original apostles, who wrote a Gospel and 4 letters (including Revelation). This is not John the Baptist, who left no writings.
• Luke – helper of Paul, who wrote a Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles.
• Matthew – 1 of the original 12 apostles, who wrote a Gospel.
• Mark – helper of Peter, who wrote a Gospel based on Peter’s recollections.
• Paul – apostle, who wrote 14 letters.
• Peter – 1 of the 12 original apostles, who wrote 2 letters.

Characteristics of These Writers

• Contemporaries of Jesus ​- The writers were all 1st-century men, contemporaries of Jesus.​ ​They and their many co-workers led the very first generation of Christians – which consisted of Jews at first, but then Gentiles as well.
• Known and respected by each other ​- None of the writings are anonymous, and each writer is explicitly named in at least two of the others’ writings. Though often separated by great distances, these 8 men knew each other and labored for the same cause.
• A subset of the apostolic workforce​ – The 8 writers responsible for the New Testament texts were a subset of the workers Jesus commissioned to represent him in that age. The vast majority of apostolic work was in-person preaching and teaching. Writing was an occasional byproduct of such work, and were produced by a minority of the workers.
• Working collaboratively ​- Some of the writers had occasional help in the writing. Collaborative activities included composition of the text, transcription of dictation (that is, scribal work), and delivery of the document to the intended audience. Even in those cases, however, one individual was considered the primary writer of each text.
• A single generational, not multi-generational, focus​ – As all the writers were of the same generation, so the audiences for all the writings were of that same generation. That is, these texts were not written as if for a time capsule to future generations.

Characteristics of Their Writings

• The writings are genuine ​- Forgeries of apostolic writing were rampant, especially once the apostles had all died and were no longer able to personally claim or reject writings as their own. Because the writings derived their authority from the identity of the writers, the congregations took great pains to root out all forgeries.
• All writings are internal to the movement​ – None of the writings are addressed to “whom it may concern,” cynics, or to any other outsiders to the movement. All the writings are from followers of Jesus to followers of Jesus – the mature followers teaching, encouraging, and exhorting the less mature followers.
• Eyewitness testimony plus many varied communications​ – In addition to telling us what Jesus said and did, the writers give us their personalized versions of Jesus’ teaching as well as a great variety of comments relating to congregational welfare.
• Written to be read aloud​ – Literacy rates in antiquity were much lower than we have today and all writings were hand-written and hand-copied. Texts did their work by being read aloud to a congregation of followers.
• Incidental, occasional, and specific to local needs​ – Like any documents exchanged between people who know each other, there is a lot of information and explanation omitted in the text. This was all the more the case because the letters were usually hand delivered by someone who had been with the writer, so the messenger was available to address questions that arose when the texts were read.
• Agreements and Disagreements​ – The writings reveal many points of disagreement within the ranks of first-generation Christianity – especially as it sought to assimilate Gentiles into what was in the beginning an exclusively Jewish sect. However, there were also major themes on which there was unanimous agreement, at least among the leadership of the movement, and certainly among the writers of these texts.

Summary

Someone may object that I have described the contents of the New Testament at face value. Indeed, I have. Since they are artifacts of history, how else should I describe them? They are what they are. Someone may object to what they say, but it would be utter foolishness to say they are something other than what they appear to be. There are too many witnesses, and the chain of custody goes all the way back to the 1st century – when Jesus walked the earth.

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The next essay in this series: What Do the Primary Historical Sources Say about Jesus? (5 min)

All Essays

11/16/25