Studying the books in the chronological order in which they were written does have some advantages in that it enables us to trace more directly the development of Christian thought through the period during which the New Testament was being written. The chief objection to this method lies in the fact that Christianity was an ongoing concern before any portion of the New Testament was written. The literature that the New Testament contains was the product of the Christian movement, not the cause of it. For this reason, an understanding of what was written presupposes a certain familiarity with what had taken place before the writing began. For example, when Paul wrote his letters to the Christian churches of his day, he was writing to people who already knew something about the life of Jesus and the significance of what Jesus had done, which the people must have obtained from oral traditions because the sources from which we derive our information about Jesus had not yet been written. Hence, we must consult the later literature of the New Testament in order to understand what was known earlier. In the case of the Gospels and other portions of the literature, it is quite impossible to comprehend what the respective authors were saying apart from the beliefs that they were trying to establish.
In view of these considerations, it seems wise to begin the study of the New Testament with a survey of the historical background that is implicit in the literature itself. This survey will necessarily include some of the more important elements in the religious life of the Jewish people prior to the beginning of the Christian era, as well as an account of the religious hopes and ideals that were current among the Gentile or non-Jewish parts of the population. Some familiarity with both of these backgrounds is a prerequisite for the study of the New Testament, for while Christianity had its earliest beginnings among the Jews, it was not long until Christianity began to spread among the Gentiles. For each of these groups, Christianity's meaning had to be formulated in terms of the ideas and concepts to which they were accustomed. Knowing something about the religious beliefs and practices of these two groups, together with the more pertinent facts in connection with the life of Jesus as it was understood by the early Christians, prepares one for a more intelligent reading of the literature included in the New Testament.
