Introduction to thefirst letter to the Thessalonians The 52nd book of the Bible, the 13th in the New Testament Thessalonica, now known as Thessaloniki, was an important trading city in northern Greece and also the capital of the Roman province of Macedonia. Paul visited the city on his second journey and spent several months there,…
Introduction to the letter to the Colossians The 51st book of the Bible, the 12th in the New Testament In the letter to the Colossians, the apostle Paul writes to a church that was not founded by him personally, but by Epaphras, one of his disciples.Epaphras delivered this letter, along with the letter to the…
Introduction to the letter to the Philippians The 50th book of the Bible, the 11th in the New Testament The letter to the Philippians was written to the church in Philippi, a city in the eastern part of the Roman province of Macedonia, in northern Greece.The congregation in Philippi, was the first Christian community on…
Introduction to the letter to the Ephesians The 49th book of the Bible, the 10th in the New Testament Ephesus was one of the most important cities of antiquity, both economically — a wealthy trading city on the west coast of modern-day Turkey—and in terms of pagan religion, with its temple dedicated to the Greek…
Introduction to the letter to the Galatians The 48th book of the Bible, the 9th in the New Testament During his second missionary journey, Paul traveled through Central Anatolia, where Turkey’s current capital is located, and founded several churches there. About 300 years earlier, some 20,000 Celtic mercenaries from the Volcae tribal confederation, who originated…
Introduction to the second letter to the Corinthians The 47th book of the Bible, the 8th in the New Testament The apostle Paul wrote his Second Letter to the Corinthians not long after his first letter, probably as early as 56 AD from Macedonia. The Second Epistle to the Corinthians is a very personal letter…
Introduction to the first letter to the Corinthians The 46th book of the Bible, the 7th in the New Testament The apostle Paul likely wrote his first letter to the Corinthians around A.D. 55 during his stay in Ephesus on his third missionary journey. Corinth, located in southern Greece, was at that time a large…
Introduction to the letter to the Romans The 45th book of the Bible, the 6th in the New Testament The Epistle or the letter to the Romans is one of Paul’s longest and most important letters, and is considered the first—and perhaps the greatest—work on Christian theology.It is also the earliest evidence of a Christian…
Introduction to the Acts of the Apostles The 44th book of the Bible, the 5th in the New TestamentA historical book about the beginnings of Christianity Like the Gospel of Luke, the Acts of the Apostles is addressed to Theophilus and was written by Luke the doctor, a companion and co-worker of the Apostle Paul….
Introduction to Gospel according to John The 43rd book of the Bible, the 4th in the New Testament The fourth Gospel, the Gospel according to John, was also written by one of Jesus’ disciples, namely the Apostle John. On this point, not only the Church Fathers but even the early opponents of Christianity are in…