S.5 Cre 2 Notes Caltec S.5

REASONS WHY THE NEW TESTAMENT BOOKS WERE NOT IMMEDIATELY PUT DOWN INTO WRITING The writing of the NT books took long after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Gospel was spread orally until about 49AD when the first written material appeared in the Church. The following are the reasons why it took long for the Good News to be written down. The Church was still small geographically and numerically that is, it had a limited spread and the number of believers was still small. Preachers could therefore access all people and therefore there was no need to put down the Gospel into writing. The Old Testament scriptures were in existence on scrolls and were referred to in religious matters and therefore there was no need to put down the Gospel into writing. The eye witnesses of Jesus’ ministry were still alive and therefore people could easily consult them on what they needed to know hence the delay in writing the Gospel. Lack of writing materials since the Church was still poor and therefore could not afford the expensive writing materials. The illiterate nature of the people in the Roman Empire made it impossible for the Gospel to be put down in writing. The Oral method suited them. Also, the illiteracy of the apostles, who were the original bearers of the Gospel made it impossible for the Gospel to be put down into writing. The early believers expected Jesus to come back soon and therefore could not spend time on anything else but to quickly spread the Gospel by word of mouth as instructed by their master. The Holy Spirit had inspired apostles to only preach by word of mouth and therefore could not write down the Gospel. Jesus, their master had not put down anything into writing during …