Matthew
How do you start a Books of the Bible: Matthew research paper? Our expert writers suggest like this:
As the first book of the Biblical New Testament, the Gospel of Matthew contains a substantial amount of the scriptural basis for the Christian religion. Although the precise author of Matthew remains unknown, the book is believed to have been written approximately fifty years after the crucifixion of Jesus or around 80-90 CE. The book of Matthew, alongside the books of Mark, Luke, and John, is only one of four gospels contained within the New Testament and is considered to be one of three synoptic gospels that, along with the gospels of Mark and Luke, create three parallel views of the life and times of Jesus, the central figure within Christianity. As such, the book of Matthew can be divided into seven distinct sections that correspond to various portions of Jesus' life.
- Matthew begins with an extended linage tracing Jesus' family history back to Adam, the first man in the Jewish and Christian faiths. This section also includes the story of Jesus' birth and his early infancy.
- The second section of Matthew includes Jesus' temptation by Satan and his famous "Sermon on the Mount" including the often-quoted Beatitudes.
- The third section includes Jesus performing various miracles and sending out his disciples.
- The fourth and fifth sections deal with the opposition and denial that developed against Jesus among members of the Jewish faith.
- The sixth section records his eventual crucifixion at their hands.
- The final section of Matthew describes the various events that are believed to have occurred after Jesus' resurrection.