The early Church, the Gospels and the New Testament letters
What this domain tests
This domain combines the first Christian communities, the formation of the Gospels and the New Testament letters. Questions often ask how the early Church proclaimed Jesus and how the written Gospels and letters arose.
Core rules and concepts
- Acts presents Pentecost as the birth of the Church: the Spirit empowers witness, and Peter's kerygma centres on Jesus crucified and risen.
- The early Church shared teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread and prayer (Acts 2:42). The Jerusalem Council (Acts 15) decided that Gentile converts need not be circumcised, a decisive moment for mission.
- Gospels are theological narratives, not neutral biographies. The Synoptic Problem concerns Matthew, Mark and Luke; the dominant solution is Markan priority plus a sayings source (Q) and each evangelist's own material.
- New Testament letters include Pauline and deutero-Pauline letters, Hebrews and the Catholic Epistles. They address concrete communities, so identify occasion, audience and rhetorical purpose.
Worked example
Why is Mark usually dated before Matthew and Luke? Reasoning: Matthew and Luke share most of Mark's material, often in the same order, yet improve his Greek and soften difficult passages. It is more plausible that they used Mark than that Mark abbreviated both. This is the 'Markan priority' argument from editorial tendencies, not from a single proof text.
Traps
Reading Acts as a complete history; assuming all letters are by Paul; ignoring the difference between a Gospel's theology and a modern news report; treating Q as a surviving manuscript rather than a hypothetical source.