The events in the New Testament and more especially in the four gospels do not seem to keep a good track record of the times in history according to Bruce when compared to the Old Testament. A good number of the parables have their interpretations from the distinct traditions whereas some have the interpretations from evangelist Bruce, the writer of the book. The move of biblical evangelism seems to take a center stage in the book about the ancient past of the New Testament. The author has given room for interpretations of the mysteries found in the New Testament according to the divine insight given. The author gives an example of the kingdom Jesus represents as of a heavenly realm which many could not interpret.
For instance, the history about the birth and the life of Jesus according to the Gospel of John present a more clear detail of the events that took place. The author apparently cannot state particular points in time in the flow of all the four gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John which address the same issues. Tracking the history of the New Testament seems to be somehow complicated unlike in the work found in the Old Testament. Different authors writing the books in the New Testament seem to unfold events in the era from different perspectives and times in history. In fact, most of them do not give a chronological account of events.
The author allows more research to be carried out on the times in which the New Testament seems to emerge. This is because even in the letters of Paul, who has written many of the epistles in the New Testament, other events happened earlier as indicated in the letters. Therefore, we cannot say that the New Testament began with the birth of Jesus and then after His ascension, Paul took over. In the context of the epistles of Paul, there are other letters which were previously written. In most of his epistles, Paul seems to reply to some other letters written before. The theme of establishing the history of the New Testament continues all throughout the book. The author gives a record of the earliest Apostles such as Clement from Rome in one of the interpretation of the New Testament.
He indicates that clement first wrote a letter to the church of Corinth back in C. A.D. 96 correcting some behaviors and encouraging the church in it. This is one of the many events that are not found in the New Testament but with careful interpretation they could be found. This is an indication that the events that are recorded in the New Testament are not exactly the things that formed the real history of the modern church of those times. The author relates the history to the Socrates philosophers who come out as the story of the New Testament emerges.
From the structure of the New Testament, it is easy to say that the whole story of the New Testament began from Rome in Italy but according to the analysis by Bruce, this is not the case. Bruce looks into the people called the Galatians who were Greeks. This was recorded in the canon of Maricon which had ten epistles, the first of which was Galatians. The Galatians first received the truth although they were swayed away by false teachings later on. They all went back to the law as well as the belief held din circumcision.
Among other earliest centers in the history of the New Testament was Ephesus. F.F. Bruce says that the people of Ephesus are as the heart of Paulinism. This is because Ephesus is presented as the biggest measure of all the themes that are leading in all the letters that Paul wrote in the New Testament. The author has carried out a lot of research in the process of establishing the real origin of the New Testament writing. Ephesus and its people as presented by the author seem to be the indispensable motive of the ministry of Paul who was sent to be a minister the gospel among the Gentiles. It is from this point where Paul writes to the Galatians pleading them to come back to the faith.
Ephesus is presented as a very significant center in the introduction of the history of the New Testament. The events revolve around Ephesus and back to Rome. Rome was visited by many prophets, true and false alike. The events and occasions as told by Bruce bring out very surprising results. The author has a lot of strengths in writing about the history of the New Testament. His knowledge in the bible and its history has helped him bring out believable facts surrounding the bible. Through this he gradually presents an analysis relating the epistles of Paul with the first four books of the New Testament.
In between the first four books of the New Testaments, and the Acts of the Apostles all the way to the book of Romans, there is a period of time which is not that clear. The author through his research has tried to analyze the events in between. He unveils that the book of Romans was written from the city of Athens. There were beliefs that any church whose foundations were not laid by Paul could not be taken with a lot of seriousness. The author reveals that Ephesians were referred to as Laodiceans meaning the Asians in the canon of Marcion.
The Asians receives commendation from Paul after receiving the world of God as the truth. This was a time when Paul was held up in prison. The author portrays the times of Paul as the duration in which the New Testament has laid much focus. The epistle of Paul to the Philippians and Philemon were also found to have been written from the prison he was bound in Rome. It is also during this period that other places in Asia like Colossae emerge. From these times on, the history builds itself following closely the operations of Paul all through Europe and Asia. The ministry of Paul went from a person to the other, a society to the next and consequently formed a very large network.
The author could not continue writing the book without mentioning Antioch school and the church in the place. Later on the story about the Latin fathers comes on as well as the middle age. There are very many events that that the author establishes in the book. The book is one of the few ones which could be most applicable in learning about the stories surrounding the earliest impressions of the early Christianity. This is where even the most mundane story is made true.
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