They are so designated to distinguish them from the pre-Christian Greek Septuagint Version of the Hebrew Scriptures. This last part of the Bible is called the New Testament. (See BIBLE.)
The Christian Greek Scriptures are made up of 27 canonical books. After Jesus’ death, eight men wrote these books under inspiration: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, James, Peter, and Jude. Not all of them were followers of Jesus during his ministry; only three are known to have been so, namely, Matthew, John, and Peter. Mark may have been the “certain young man” who followed Jesus from a distance when he was arrested. (Mr 14:51, 52) James, Judas, and perhaps Mark were at Pentecost with the others. (Ac 1:13-15; 2:1) The apostle Paul was later converted. All of these writers had a close relationship with the governing body of the first-century congregation, which was in Jerusalem.
In what language were these books originally written? With the exception of Matthew, which was first written in Hebrew and then translated into Greek, the other 26 books were written in common, or Koine, Greek, the international language of the day. (See MATTHEW, THE GOOD NEWS ACCORDING TO.)
The Christian authors, all of them Jews by birth (Ro 3:1, 2), did not write their books in Greek by chance. It must be borne in mind that the content of his writings was not private, as they were to be widely distributed for all congregations to read and study. (Col 4:16; 1Th 5:27; 2Pe 3:15, 16) The writers had received a divine mandate to spread this good news and teaching to the most distant part of the earth, to places where Hebrew was not even spoken. nor latin. (Mt 28:19; Ac 1:8) Even in territories close to Palestine, many Gentiles entered the congregations. Also, when quoting from the Hebrew Scriptures, the writers frequently used the Greek Septuagint Version.
This is the list of the books of the Christian Greek Scriptures according to their approximate date (CE) of writing: Matthew, 41; 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 50 and 51; Galatians, 50-52; 1 and 2 Corinthians, 55; Romans, 56; Luke, 56-58; Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon, Philippians, 60-61; Hebrews, Acts, 61; Santiago, before 62; Mark, 60-65; 1 Timothy, Titus, 61-64; 1 Peter, 62-64; 2 Peter, 64; 2 Timothy, Jude, 65; Revelation, 96; John and 1, 2, 3 John, 98. This period of less than sixty years contrasts with the nearly eleven centuries it took to complete the Hebrew Scriptures.
When the time came to combine these books of the Christian Greek Scriptures into a single volume, they were placed not in the order in which they had been written, but in a logical thematic order: 1) the five historical books of the Gospels and Acts, 2 ) all 21 cards and 3) Revelation.
The four gospels (the word “gospel” means “good news”), written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, provide a fourfold historical account of the life and activity of Jesus, each with its own characteristics. The first three gospels have been called “synoptic” (meaning “overview”) because they have a similar approach to the ministry of Jesus compared to the gospel of John, although each gospel is independent of the others. The Gospel of John provides certain details that the other three omit. The book Acts of the Apostles follows the Gospels in logical sequence, and tells the story of the Christian congregation founded on Pentecost up to about thirty years after the death of Jesus.
The 21 letters that follow the historical section explain the workings of the congregation, its problems, its public preaching, its other privileges, and its hopes. Paul is named as the writer of thirteen of these letters, and the letter to the Hebrews is also often attributed to him. These writings are followed by a group of letters, most of which are addressed to the generality of the congregations, written by Santiago, Pedro, Juan and Judas. Finally, as a finishing touch to the entire Bible, is the book of Revelation, in which future events of great importance are anticipated.
How much of the Hebrew Scriptures did the writers of the Greek quote?
Hundreds of quotations from the Hebrew Scriptures have been counted. The New World Translation presents as direct quotations from the Hebrew Scriptures 320 passages from the Christian Greek Scriptures. According to a list published by Westcott and Hort, the combined total of citations and references is about 890. (The New Testament in the Original Greek, Graz, 1974, vol. 1, pp. 581-595.) All inspired Christian writers they draw examples from the Hebrew Scriptures. (1Co 10:11) Christian writers must have used the divine name Jehovah when quoting from the Hebrew Scriptures. These writers recognized that the Hebrew Scriptures were inspired by God and were helpful in fully equipping the man of God for every good work. (2Ti 3:16, 17; 2Pe 1:20, 21)
After the death of the apostles, uninspired writers frequently quoted from the Christian Greek Scriptures, just as inspired Christian biblical writers had quoted from pre-Christian writings.
More than 13,000 papyrus and vellum manuscripts containing all or part of the Christian Greek Scriptures, dated from the second to the sixteenth centuries, exist for comparative study. About 5,000 of these are in Greek, and the rest are in various other languages. More than 2,000 of these ancient copies contain the Gospels, and more than 700 contain Paul’s letters. Although none of the original writings exist today, the oldest copies date from the second century, a date very close to the original writing. This large number of manuscripts has enabled Greek scholars to produce over the years a highly refined Greek text of the scriptures, confirming in many respects the accuracy and completeness of modern translations of the Christian Greek Scriptures. (See MANUSCRIPTS OF THE BIBLE.)
Due to this abundance of manuscripts, one scholar commented: “Most of the words of the New Testament are not subject to any discriminatory process of criticism, since they do not undergo any variation and only have to be transcribed . If comparative trivialities, such as changes of order, the insertion or omission of the article in proper names, and the like, are not taken into consideration, in our opinion, the words that are still subject to doubt do not exceed one-thousandth of the entire New Testament† . (The New Testament in the Original Greek, vol. 1, p. 561.) To this comment may be added Jack Finegan’s observation: “It is surprising how little time separates the earliest copies of the New Testament from the original manuscripts. Our knowledge of the writings of most classical authors is based on manuscripts dating, the oldest, from the 9th to the 11th centuries. So the security with which the text of the New Testament is established exceeds that of any other ancient book. The words with which the New Testament writers addressed their world and time have spanned distances and centuries and have come down to us substantially unchanged and undiminished in force† . (Light From the Ancient Past, 1959, pp. 449, 450.)
As an integral part of the written Word of God, the Christian Greek Scriptures are of inestimable value. They contain four accounts of the ministry of God’s only begotten Son, explaining his origins, teaching, example, sacrificial death, and resurrection. The historical record of the formation of the Christian congregation and the outpouring of the holy spirit that fostered its rapid growth, as well as detailed knowledge of its problems and how they were resolved, are essential to the proper functioning of the true Christian congregation today. Books that were written for particular people or situations, or for a special purpose, merge with others to form a unified whole that lacks no detail. These books complete the biblical canon and are of great importance and interest today, not only to spiritual Israel, the congregation of God, but also to all people who seek God’s approval.
For information on the contents of each of the 27 books, their writers, when they were written, and proof of their authenticity, see each one by name.
Source: Dictionary of the Bible