Ch. 9, Called to Share the Good News
The New Testament Letters

  1. What is the one key idea of this chapter. pay attention to the title of the chapter!
  2. Write about two major ideas you want to remember. Write a short paragraph on each clearly stating the idea and then telling why you want to remember it.
  3. One image that captures the chapter for you.
  4. One significant question you have from this chapter. It can be intellectual or personal.

Journal

  1. The key idea in this chapter is "Called to Share the Good News". That is what the apostles and disciples were doing when they wrote the letters to the various groups in the early years of the Church. They were sharing the Good News of Jesus while keeping his message and translating it from Jesus' Jewish backgrounds to the people's Gentile background. Each letter contained information sent to each of these groups about Jesus' message, and those who wrote the letters were conscious of the weaknesses of these people, so they wrote in solutions according to Jesus' teachings.
  2. Something I want to remember is Paul's four concepts of his understanding. Grace is the transforming power received from God that changes and sustains us. To Paul, justification is a person being saved by having faith in Jesus Christ and living in right relationship with God. The Paradox of the Cross is is when the cross is viewed as a sign of victory and life, not just death and execution. The Body of Christ is something Paul understands we are all a part of. Each of us is a part of this body and we create the whole. I want to remember this because I think if you listen to Paul's teachings with these four key concepts, it will help you to better understand his writings.

    Another thing I wish to remember is the general letter format that Paul wrote in. There were six parts. The address was the section where the name of the writer, co-senders, and receivers are named. The greeting was a short passage that blessed and willed peace upon the receivers. The section of thanksgiving was a place for the reason of sending the letter. The message was where the issues were addressed. The final greetings was where Paul told some personal news about himself, and the blessing was a prayer offered to the receivers. I wish to remember this because again I think understanding the structure of the letters would help me to better understand what is meaty information and what is just friendly chit chat.

  4. What would happen if someone wrote a letter in the symbolistic language seen in Daniel and Revelations to one of the people Paul wrote to?

    I think that the people receiving it were trusting that the Christians would tell them how to be a Christian, thus, they would take the letter literally and be either frightened or skeptical, hurting the trust between the Christians and the other people.
    Home 1