The Bible Project | – New Testament Letters: Historical Context

In the New Testament, there are 21 letters or epistles written by early Christian leaders to communities of Jesus’ followers in the ancient Roman world. A wise reading of these letters involves learning about their historical context. Who were the letters written to, where did the recipients live, and what prompted sending the letter? In this video, we explore the different layers of historical context with these letters, so that we can better understand the wisdom they still have to offer.

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BibleProject BibleProject is a nonprofit animation studio that produces short-form, fully animated videos. Our videos and all of our other resources are available for free to help people everywhere experience the unified story of the Bible. For the entire list of our localized channels visit www.tbp.xyz/languages BibleProject

Comment (38)

  1. The New Testament letters are some of the most accessible and easy to read parts of the Bible. They were written by early Christian apostles, representatives of Jesus who were appointed to spread the good news about him to the ancient world. And they are addressed to a "you," which makes any reader feel like they are being directly spoken to by the people who were closest to Jesus. What could be better? But if you read these letters at any length, you know they are full of sections that are inspiring (Paul's bit about the foolish wisdom of the cross in 1 Corinthians 2), puzzling (Paul's discussion of hairstyles in 1 Corinthians 11), and off-putting (Peter's depiction of obedient slaves and wives in 1 Peter 2-3). It is passages like these that remind modern readers that these letters are ancient texts written in a language and culture vastly different from our own. However, it's precisely by honoring the historical context of the New Testament letters that we can learn how to wisely read them and see how they can speak a powerful word to our own time and place. The apostles were heralds of the good news of Jesus as the risen king of the world, and they believed this message had the power to transform people and whole communities (see Paul's exposition of this theme in Colossians 1-3 and Ephesians 2-4). But because they lived in the first century Roman world, the specific cultural issues and challenges they wrote about are not identical to our own today. This means we need to learn something about life in the ancient Roman empire to gain a deeper understanding of why the apostles said what they said. We also need to search each letter to understand what circumstances in each church community prompted the writing of the letter in the first place. Once we see that Paul's letter to the Romans was written to a church divided along cultural and racial lines, or that Peter's letter was sent to churches facing shame and persecution for following Jesus, we can better comprehend these letters. In these letters we get to watch the apostles navigate the challenges of their day with the good news that the risen Jesus is the king of the world. And if Jesus is still king of the nations, we must address the unique issues of our own time and culture with the same message. And what better guide than the people who surrounded Jesus himself? The ancient words of the apostles, when they're read in historical context, are full of divine wisdom to guide Jesus' followers in every generation.

  2. A simple appearance by Yahweh/Yeshua the desert god
    invented by the ancient Hebrew tribes living on the Sinai Peninsula during the Bronze Age
    should be enough to establish Yahweh's existence to the entire world.
    He can accomplish this right now.
    But he won't.
    And Hell awaits billions of helpless souls.

  3. Ah, como eu gostaria que algum brasileiro fizesse as traduções destes vídeos, como fizeram os de outros anteriores 🙁 . Ter que contar com a tradução automática do Youtube não é de todo mal, mas não é como de alguns vídeos que já vi por aqui. Deus os abençoe por esse projeto e saibam que divulgo á todos que conheço, Deus seja louvado pelas vida envolvidas em todo o processo <3

  4. "The Christian faith from the beginning, is sacrifice the sacrifice of all freedom, all pride, all self-confidence of spirit, it is at the same time subjection, self-derision, and self-mutilation".
    – Friedrich Nietzsche.

  5. The animation is getting lazy. The old style was far better and really is what made me watch. These look like very little effort went into it. Great Art in the beginning butnthis is Bible Square pants. Bye guys. was nice

  6. Hi! Thank you so much for the work you are doing. I am a Bible teacher in a Christian university in the Philippines. I have been recommending your videos as a Bible study resource for lay and university Bible classes students . Can we translate the text to local language and add as subtitles to the videos for local use particularly in churches?

  7. + letters or epistle are written by apostles (people appointed by Jesus to shared the good news to communities of Jesus follower)
    + literary genre – discourse: logical argument, “if…then” statements, author wants audience to come to a conclusion & make a decision
    + 3 historical contexts when reading the NT letters:
    1. the big picture – arrival of God's kingdom
    2. the culture of the ancient roman empire i.e. social status
    3. the issue the letter is addressing; why did the author write this letter to the community

  8. Regarding BibleProject! … I thought these videos were amazing but now I believe I've sniffed out the problem I sensed! Satan will give 99 truths just to deliver 1 lie! They are SUPER, SUPER light on the evil of sin while preaching a sweety pie Gospel of NO CLEAR AND SERIOUS FOCUS ON REPENTANCE! ANGEL OF LIGHT, SHEEP IN WOLFS CLOTHING possibility! With good points, they seem to go too far in convincing people not to stand against evil in their nation! No real Fear of God or seriousness of eternal judgment/hell. .. .. Closet sexual perversions issues? No one is more sweet, more likable, more helpful, more knowledgeable than the one that's hiding a secret dark sin in because their guilty conscience fuels what it takes to conceal it. Worldly, fleshly, emotional, Hippy "peace and love"! REAL LOVE delivers THE TRUTH!

  9. Thank you for these wonderful explanations about the Bible. I do wonder about the situational context involving the church and women speaking because that is so counter to our culture today. Thanks again Bible Project, these videos are amazing!

  10. I have used Bible Project in teaching classes and for personal sharing and weekly family studying. We LOVE the Bible Project since the very beginning. We know you are extremely talented artists, which we as a family with an art history background appreciate, however, please do not use this abstract style so much. It “hurt our brains” and we could not listen and watch at the same time, whereas other styles you’ve done enhance the audio teaching and make it easier to grasp immediately and help it be memorable. This was work, which many can appreciate the details of, but we feel it is more successful if the message is clear and enjoyable to the brain. This was the first critical comment we have had of Bible Project in all the years of supporting it financially and in prayer, doing Read Scripture, and church at home—we have had countless praises. Love you all!

  11. This style is much more dense. That is good and bad. I found it hard to absorb all the speaking, because there is SO much to take in visually. I'm not saying go back to your old way. Just be aware that your levels of dissemination have exploded in complexity. If I can train my brain to take it all in, it will be great. But at the moment, it's tricky.

    I don't want to sound down about it. It's stunning. SO creative. It just asks a lot more of your audience.

    Ending on a higher high, The Bible Project is, for me, THE best way of better connecting to scripture. BY MILES. Thanks so much for everything you do.

  12. This is very helpful. Please make a series of the historical context of each New Testament letter, broken down the way you did here with Romans. I’d like to read the New Testament on my own, with the light of their proper historical context.

  13. Fun fact 1 : The letters are the meaning of the letter in the in the letter.
    Fun fact 2 : When you early to a new Bible Progect video you do not know what to say and you just say fun fact.□.

  14. Paul in 1 Corinthians talks about how women should wear head coverings and shouldn’t speak in church. And only ask there husbands questions once they get back home. Am I understanding this correct or am I confused this seems very un fair and unloving.

  15. Paul’s letters to the romans might as well be a letter to the Christians in America as there are the same issues of immortality, division, and lack of social justice for the lower members of society —> minorities are being tread upon by us white Christians

  16. ETERNAL GLORY TO THE ONLY HEAVENLY FATHER YAHUAH AND HIS SON YAHUSHA! THE RIGHT NAME OF OUR HEAVENLY FATHER IS YAHUAH, AND THE NAME OF HIS SON OF OUR SAVIOR IS YAHUSHA! LORD, GOD ETC … THESE ARE ONLY PAGAN TITLES REPLACED BY REAL HEBREW NAMES!

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