New Testament

The Acts of the Apostles
Luke-Acts: a unified literary work in two parts; but in the canon separated by the Book of John
in its canonical position, Acts connects the four Gospels to the collection of letters that follow, and its narrative focus, first on Peter and then on Paul, whether by accident or design allows it to function as an appropriate transion from the accounts about Jesus to the writings of the apostles
Introduction to the Letters / Epistles in the New Testament

The Letter of Paul to the Romans:
to the city of Rome
because it was the longest of his letters, probably the reason for being placed first in the NT
probably the latest (last?) of Paul's undisputed letters to be written 

The First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians
for Corinth, west of Athens
Greco-Roman
Map 14 shows the routes of the early missions
First Corinthians affords an unparalleled glimpse into the life of an early Christian community in a Greco-Roman city. The richness of this portrait both reflects the ethical challenges faced by converts rooted in Greco-Roman polytheism, and signals intense experimentation with their new social identify discovery in Messiah Jesus

The Second Letter of Paul to the Corinthians
Corinth, Greece; west of Athens
Greco-Roman

Second Corinthians switches topics and tone rapidly.
Paul shifts into a self-defense based on an exegetical discussion of Moses' veil in Exodus and ending in an anxious appeal for reconciliation. But then returns to a conciliatory tone by expressing his complete confident in the Corinthians.
Two chapters (8 and 9) may well be separate solicitaion letters.
A highly charged polemical section, dripping with sarcasm and irony (10.1 - 13.10) concludes the letter
Suggests that 2 Corinthians may be a composite of different letters
Paul has a running dispute with the Corinthians over money

The Letter of Paul to the Galatians
central Turkey: Ankara
This is the reason I started this post: there is a book in print that suggests this was the turning point for Christianity. This was a "make or break" time for Paul and Christianity
Apparently Galatians, at one time, were all in with Paul but then while he was away, an interloper, Jewish?, reversed some of Paul's earlier gains
circumcision is the proxy for Jewish Law and is the crux of his argument

The Letter of Paul to the Ephesians
Ephesus, Turkey

south/coastal Turkey; nearer to the west than to the east
Paul spent a considerable amount of time here
unclear to whom the letter really addressed
it could have been a "circular" letter that was sent to a number of churches, or
the original audience might have been the churches of Hierapolis and Laodicea
Hierapolis: "Holy City": southwestern Anatolia; the ruins are adjacent to modern Pamukkale, Turkey
area uses as a spa since the 2nd century BC
would have been a spa (resort area) when Paul visited?
Laodicea on the Lycus: region later became the Roman Province of Phrygia Pacatiana
now near the modern city of Denizli, Turkey
one of the Seven churches of Asia mentioned in the Book of Revelation

The Letter of Paul to the Philippians
Philippi was a major city of Macedonia in northern Greece
originally names Crenides; established by Thasian coloniss in 360 BC; renamed by Philip II of Macedon in 356 BC; abandoned in the 14th century after the Ottoman conquest
present municipality: Filippoi; part of the region of East Macedonia and Thrace in Kavala, Greece
it was a Roman colony on the Via Egnatia, the Roman road linking Byzantium in the East to the western coast of Macedonia, from which ships could easily reach Italy
The Christian community in Philippi was the westernmost of Pauline churches at the time of its founding
one of the richest of Paul's letters; has never been seriously questioned as genuine
mutual affection between Paul and the Philippians is evident

The Letter of Paul to the Colossians
for the Christian community in the city of Colossae
also an ancient city of Phrygia in Asia Minor (see Ephesus, above)
one of the most celebrated cities of southern Anatolia
a significant city from the 5th century BC onward
dwindled in significance by the time Paul arrives
but notable for the existence of its local angel cult
part of the province of Phrygia Pacatiana (again, see Ephesus above) before being destroyed in 1192; population relocated to nearby Chonai (modern day Honaz)
Colossae had been founded by one of Paul's associated: Epaphras
also on the Lycus River (see Ephesus / Laodicea above)
either written by someone else or written by Paul near the end of his life when he was in Roman prison
need to re-read page 2067

The First Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians
for the Christian community in Thessalonica in Macedonia in northern Greece
now the second largest city in Greece
the capital of Greek Macedonia
in Greece, it is known as the co-capital
on the Aegean Sea, on the Thermaic Gulf
considered to be Greece's cultural capital
Thessalonica was not part of the heading for this letter, but was added when Paul's letters awere copied and collected together -- sort of like what happened to Shakepeare's writings after he died
the senders of these two letters: Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, though Paul is clearly the leader
widely regarded as Paul's earliest letter; seldom questioned as genuine
written from Corinth during his founding mission there;
during Paul's visits to Thessalonica and then, via Athens, to Corinth
corresponds to Paul's Corinthian mission, usually dated about 49 - 51 CE but sometimes as early as 41 - 44 CE
Thessalonica was the capital of the Roman province of Macedonia

The Second Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians
see page 2080

Introduction to the Pastoral Epistles, p. 2074
the term "pastoral epistles" has been applied since the 18th century to three letters Paul sent to his two co-workers and envoys, Timothy and Titus
the big question: were these three letters actually written by Paul or were they pseudepigraphical, a common custom in ancient literature)

The First Letter of Paul to Timothy
Timothy: Paul's "loyal child"

The Second Letter of Paul to Timothy
a more personal tone than the first

The Letter of Paul to Titus

Titus: mission to Crete

The Letter of Paul to Philemon
enigmatic letter
first-named recipient: Philemon
combines business with personal
addressed to three individuals: Philemon, Apphia, and Archippus and to the church that meets in one of their houses
has to do with Philemon's slave Onesimus

The Letter to the Hebrews
page 2103

The Letter of James
author: Iakobos from the common Jewish name Jacob translated into English as James
page 2119


The First Letter of Peter
p. 2126
a pastoral letter from the apostle Simon Peter from "Babylon" where he is accompanied by Silvan (= Sila), to churches in five provinces of Asia Minor
its canonical status was never disputed in contrast to 2 Peter

The Second Letter of Peter
p. 2132
another pseudepigraph (again, not unusual in ancient literature)
sounds like most consider this not to have been written by Simon Peter (or the writer of the first letter of Peter)

The First Letter of John
not in the literary form of an ancient letter (see pp 1973 - 1974); no greeting; no conclusion; does not introduce himself (identify himself in an introduction or its recipients)
p. 2137
the first letter of John connected with the author of the Gospel of John in the second century CE
complex link between the Gospel of John and the letters of John

The Second Letter of John
p. 2145

by the 4th century CE, three Johannine "letters" along with four others said to be written by apostle were included in the canon as "catholic" or universal

The Third Letter of John
p. 2147
most scholars distinguish the author of the three letters of John from the evangelist (the author of hte Gospel)


The Letter of Jude
p. 2149
named for its author Jude
Jude is identified in the first verse as the brother of James, who was Jesus' brother and leader of the Jerusalem church (Gal 1.19)
the author himself is not identified either as Jesus' brother or as Judas Thomas (Jesus' twin in the Syrian Act of Thomas)
so still confusing as to authorship
time of writing: it must be earlier than 2 Peter which uses Jude (see p. 2132)
the reference to "the predictions of the apostles" (verse 17) suggests a period when the apostles were a well-known group from the past; if so, a date late in the first century CE is likely, although some scholars have dated the letter as early as the 50s (the time of Paul's writings)

The Revelation to John
p. 2153
also known as the Apocalypse or the Apocalypse of John, from the Greek work meaning "disclsure" or "unveiling"
the title has lent its name to a literary genre, the "apocalypse", that characterizes a range of Jewis and Christian writings that first appeared about 250 BCE 
from wiki: 
The apocalyptic literature of Judaism and Christianity embraces a considerable period, from the centuries following the Babylonian exile down to the close of the Middle Ages.
very interesting: see the background to this book