Why a ''New Testament''?

Covenant as an Impetus for New Scripture in Early Christianity

Series: 

Author:
Levi S Baker
Why would early Christians perceive the need for a ‘New Testament’? Unfortunately, most studies on the NT canon concentrate on its development and closing to the neglect of its impetus. Yet NT texts like 1 Tim. 5:18 and 2 Pet. 3:16 reveal that, within the first century, early Christians began receiving recent Christian texts as “Scripture”, on par with their Old Testament scriptural collection. What explains this rapid and remarkable development? Levi Baker traces the connection between Scripture and covenant in early Judaism and early Christianity, arguing that the answer lies in early Christianity’s conviction that Jesus had inaugurated the new covenant.
Copyright Year:
2025
E-Book (PDF)
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Published
ISBN:
978-90-04-73542-2
Publication:
22 Sep 2025
Hardback
Availability:
Published
ISBN:
978-90-04-73539-2
Publication:
02 Oct 2025
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Levi S. Baker (Ph.D., Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary) is Associate Professor of New Testament at William Tennent School of Theology. His research and writing focus on elucidating the New Testament’s relationship to the religious world of Second Temple Judaism, including the Old Testament.
Acknowledgements
List of Tables
Abbreviations

1 The Impetus of the New Testament Canon
 1 Introduction
 2 Research Problem
 3 Thesis of This Study
 4 Approaches to the NT Canon and Proposals for Its Impetus

2 The Hebrew Bible Foundation for a Scriptural Expectation
 1 The Importance of Covenant in the ANE and the HB
 2 The Relationships of the Covenants and the Paradigmatic Nature of the Mosaic Covenant
 3 The Mosaic Covenant and the Covenant Pattern
 4 The Emerging Covenant → Covenant Document Pattern
 5 The Expansion and Status of the Covenant Document
 6 Other Suggestive Evidence
 7 Conclusion

3 Covenant and Scripture in Second Temple Judaism
 1 Introduction
 2 The OT Apocrypha
 3 Old Testament Pseudepigrapha
 4 Philo
 5 Josephus
 6 Other Suggestive Evidence
 7 Summary and Conclusion

4 New Covenant and New Scripture in the Dead Sea Scrolls
 1 Technical Introduction
 2 The Community’s Identity as a New Covenant Community
 3 1QS
 4 Other Suggestive Evidence
 5 Conclusion

5 New Covenant and New Scripture in the New Testament
 1 Introduction
 2 Assumptions
 3 Conducive Theological Beliefs and Their Effects
 4 NT Evidence for New Covenant Documents
 5 Other Suggestive Evidence
 6 Summary and Conclusion

6 New Covenant Scripture in the Second Century
 1 Approaching the Second-Century Evidence
 2 The Didache
 3 Epistle of Barnabas
 4 Justin Martyr
 5 Conclusion

7 Conclusion
 1 Situating the Study
 2 Summarizing the Argument
 3 Considering Implications
 4 Mapping Out Further Research

Bibliography
Ancient Sources Index
Modern Authors Index
This book will be of interest to academic libraries and specialists, instructors, and graduate students in the fields of biblical studies, New Testament, and early Christianity, and canon studies.
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