Search
Search
St Teresa'sCatholic Primary School
'A welcoming family of God, growing and achieving together, with Jesus at our side.' "I am the vine and you are the branches"
Translate
Translate
Log In
Log In
Log in
Learning Focus 5
New Testament Books: Acts/Letters/Revelation.
CONTENT
The Bible contains different styles of writing. The New Testament contains lots of letters.
Paul was a prolific letter writer. He wrote letters to many of the early Christian communities before, and sometimes after, he visited them e.g. Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi and Colossae. He wrote to explain his understanding of the Christian faith and its practical implications for the lives of Christians. The Bible also contains letters Paul wrote to some of his fellow workers i.e. Timothy, Titus and Philemon. There are also letters written by other people, the e.g. letters to the Hebrews by an unknown author and the letters from James, Peter, John and Jude.
The Acts of the Apostles is the story of the beginning of the Christian community, the Church – how it began among the Jewish people and went on to become a faith for the whole world. The purpose of the Acts of the Apostles is to tell how Jesus’ early followers, led by the Holy Spirit, spread the Good News about him. It tells of the joys and difficulties that the early Christian community encountered and how they overcame them. One of things that had to be settled was whether new followers of Jesus, those who were not Jewish, had to take on all the Jewish laws as well as being a Christian. It was decided at a meeting in Jerusalem that these new followers could belong without taking on the Jewish customs and rules (Acts 15).
Revelation, the last book in the Bible was written at a time when Christians were being persecuted because of their faith in Jesus. It gave its readers hope and encouragement during difficult times and urged them to remain faithful. It contains lots of symbolic language which would have been understood by the Christians of the day but would have remained a mystery to others.
SOME KEY QUESTIONS
- Why do you think Paul wrote to the communities ‘before’ he visited them?
- What is the importance of being led by the Holy Spirit?
- Can you imagine how difficult it was at the beginning of the Church. What do you think made it hard?
Your task:
|