A paper I wrote for New Testament Literature

Charles Walker

New Testament Literature

BIBL 216

Prof McCabe

When I started my freshman year in high school, I also started my first

Year participating in a group that went by the name His Witness. We were a group of high

school students from around the thumb area of Michigan that toured different churches and we

gave testimonies and performed different songs. My first deep experience with the New

Testament came from writing testimonies for these concerts. I always tried to link them with

whatever I was going thru at the time. I have always looked towards the New Testament for

words of comfort and hope. The last five years of my life have been the most challenging that I

have ever experienced and the words in the New Testament have always helped me get through.

It’s difficult to single out one single part of the New Testament that I can

say is my most favorite. I have heard a lot of people say that the Sermon on the Mount is their

favorite, while I do like the Sermon on the Mount I would have to say that John 10:1-21 is

favorite part. It talks about how Jesus was telling his followers about a shepherd who knew each

one of his sheep by name. When the shepherd called his sheep by name, they stopped being

afraid and even followed him away from the safety of their fenced in yard. Of course this meant

that they could get lost or hurt, but because the shepherd knew their names, they trusted him. The

sheep knew and trusted their shepherd’s voice even when they couldn’t see him. Its comforting

to know that even know they are billions of people on this planet, God knows my name and is

there for me.

I am not sure of the impact the New Testament has on our current culture.

I can’t help but think that many people today don’t want to take the time to open up the Bible

themselves and actually read it. We have become so consumed by our busy lifestyle that we

would rather have someone tell us what to think in regards to God and the afterlife then actually

open up the Bible and discover it ourselves. So I suppose the argument can be made that it’s not

making as much of an impact as it did back when my great grandparents were alive and well. I

have to admit I am troubled by that. Before I moved to this area, I lived in Vassar Mi. The pastor

at the church I attended would give his sermon on Sunday morning but after he was done would

always remind us that what we just heard was his interpretation and would encourage us to open

up our Bibles and read it ourselves. I wish more pastors would do that.

I have been to numerous churches during my thirty two years on this

planet. I have heard numerous interpretations of different passages out of the Bible. I have been

to churches that I have felt feed at and those that I haven’t. The ones that I haven’t felt fed at are

ones that focus mainly on the fact that we are all sinners and deserve our punishment. These

churches seem to fill their attendees full of so much anger. I use to live with all that anger and

sadness inside of me and it nearly destroyed me. I have always thought of the writings in the

New Testament as intended to be inspiring. I have been through some very dark times in my life.

Its comforting to know that I have a risen savior to guide me out of those dark times.

It is my prayer that those who proclaim themselves to be Christian would

provide a better witness to those that do not. There are two people in my life right now that

proclaim themselves to be Christian but have been acting very ugly to me lately. I believe that

we need to be a good witness in what we say and how we conduct ourselves. But I will admit

that I don’t always adhere to that myself but I do try. Some people try to project themselves as

perfect Christians but deep down inside they need help. It reminds me of a play that I saw. It

takes place when Christ has returned and is placing judgment on people. This one person comes

before God and she believes that she will get into Heaven because she was a perfect Christian.

but come to find out she was just going thru the motions and didn’t truly believe. She in the end

didn’t get into Heaven. I can’t help but think that some people are missing the point of the New

Testament.

I would think that the Hellenization movement had to have been a huge

challenge to the early Christians. The two people that I spoke of earlier think that I should

believe and act a different way than I do now. They are trying to force there way on me through

making me fell bad and making threats and calling me names. But I cant imagine a way of life

being forced upon you by the edge of a sword.

Its important to remain truthful to who you are and what you believe. That

is something my Grandmother taught me. I graduated from high school in 1996 and moved to

minneasota to start college. I went for a degree in computer networking even though that wasn’t

what I wanted to do. I chose that degree because I was told that was where the money was. I was

there for only a year and then dropped out. I got married and was involved in a lifestyle that

really wasn’t me and it nearly destroyed me. So I have decided that from now in I need to remain

truthful to who I am as that is how God Made me.

Widespread immorality is a huge problem today as it was back then. It is a

huge challenge for us Christians today as it was also back then. That way of life is being forced

on all of us today thru mass media and also through, as I spoke of before, people missing the

point of not only the New Testament but the Old Testament also. It seems that today’s mass

media is our version of the edge of the sword. It seems as if sensualism is alive and well in

todays society. It is alarming to me what is being allowed on TV and to attend a movie at the

theaters that a young child shouldn’t be allowed to see and notice that a parent has brought their

children with them.

Out of the first three chapters, I would pick the start of the Second Temple

Judaism out of which Christianity arose as an important development for the beginning of

Christianity. A typical synagogue service consisted of many of the practices that are used at a

church service today; Examples are prayer, singing of the psalms, the sermon and the

benediction. There was a freedom in the wording of the liturgy. Qualified visitors were invited to

speak, a practice that opened many opportunities for Jesus and Paul to preach the gospel in

many synagogues .Not only was the synagogue a center for religious worship every Sabbath.

During the week it also became a center for funeral services and the study of the Old Testament.

Very similar to how todays church works.

I have been very much looking forward to this class. It looks to be a

challenging yet exciting class. As I mentioned earlier the past five years of my life have been the

most difficult of my life. I had indeed gotten involved in a lifestyle that wasn’t me and in doing

so I had fallen way from God. The group that I was involved in high school was a rewarding

experience but I think I could honestly say that I was only going thru the motions and was

projecting the image of a perfect Christian on stage but in my private life I was in trouble. When

I was in Minnesota that trouble became worse.

Lately I have been on the rebound, I have found comfort in the words in

the not only the New Testament but in the Old Testament as well. I look forward to what I will

learn in this class.

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