Some things in the gospels are not readily understood. After all, two thousand years lie between their world and ours. A new series takes a closer look: at people and powers, at customs and traditions.

Why was the New Testament written in Greek rather than Hebrew, as most of the Old Testament was? Where did the belief in life after death come from, given that there had previously been hardly any mention of it? And why was the sharing of meals between Jews and Gentiles such a sensitive issue that it even occupied the first Apostolic Council?

Answers from another world

Questions like these crop up time and again when reading the Bible. And many answers point in the same direction: towards the historical developments in Palestine during the centuries surrounding the birth of Christ. Anyone who wants to understand the world of the gospels will benefit from knowing the historical context of that period.

This is where the new nac.today series “The world of the gospels” comes in. It is based on the book An Introduction to the World of Jesus and the Gospels by Markus Cromhout. He is a theologian with the New Apostolic Church Southern Africa and serves as an Evangelist in his congregation. His field of expertise: social science studies of the New Testament.

More than just a backdrop

The book—and, by extension, the series—was “conceived for the sole purpose to provide an accessible resource—available to both the ministers and members of the New Apostolic Church—of contemporary biblical scholarship,” as stated in the foreword.

What was the world like in which Jesus and the first Christians lived? The series explores the social, cultural, and economic conditions of the time. Readers gain insights into life in the Roman Empire and become familiar with customs and traditions that can differ considerably from those of our own day.

Faith meets history

This requires taking a fresh look at the Bible. Its books are a source of divine revelation for the faith. At the same time, for scholars, these writings are historical documents that emerged at specific times, in specific places, and under specific social conditions.

To explore these texts and the world they depict, academics have developed a whole range of methods. As a result, the Bible has become arguably the most studied book in human history.

With heart, soul, and mind

And faith? Far from being left behind, it has much to gain. The more we come to understand about the world of that time, the better we can understand what the biblical texts meant to their original listeners and readers—and what their message means for us today.

For Markus Cromhout, this is more than a purely academic matter. He concludes his foreword with a wish: “Nevertheless, it is my prayer and wish that our ministers and members will benefit much from this book, in showing we can love and worship God with our intellects, as much as we can do with our hearts.”

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