After a week of nonstop reading and snippet-reviewing, I finished the New Testament of the Holy Bible for the first time.
Substance and Quality
The New Living Translation (NLT) stayed consistent with the tone of writing of the 27 books of the New Testament.
Just like the Old Testament, the level of readability was made for high school, college and professionals.
Each book was shorter if compared to the books of the Old Testament. The longest books were Matthew and Acts of Apostles, which both had 28 chapters.
The shorter books were letters written by Paul to the people living in:
- Philippi.
- Ephesus.
- Colossae.
- Churches in Galatia.
- Corinth.
- Thessalonia.
Half-brothers of Jesus Christ namely James and Jude also had books with one chapter in a letter form.
Overall, it was easy to love the digital version of the NLT New Testament as it highlights the dialogues of Jesus Christ in red.
The one negative feedback was the Book of Tobit was scraped out in the Old Testament. Someone told me Archangel Raphael played an essential role in the story.
Plot
The four Gospels were plot-driven books. The sequence of the most notable events was fast, except for the character of Jesus Christ.
The Gospels were strong character-driven books for Jesus for He received 90% of the page-time due to His miracles and analytical parables.
The contents of Books of Matthew and Mark narrated the life of Jesus Christ in chronological order with similar contents.
The way these books were written, the three highlighted events of His life were:
- Birth.
- Crucifixion.
- Resurrection.
Magdalene was present in the last two events implying that she was an essential character of the Holy Bible.
The rest of His life in between birth and crucifixion proved he was an extraordinary human being. Jesus Christ played the role of an immaculate psychiatrist!
After the Gospels, the New Testament re-directed the flow of the story to the Apostles of Christ until the Book of Revelation.
My Favorite Characters
4 – Apostle John.
John was best remembered as the youngest apostle who narrated the Book of Revelation. Jesus Christ selected him to witness the War in Heaven and the introduction of a New Earth after the total devastation.
John wrote these events in vivid details. I could imagine the scenery in my head like watching a movie in 3D glory.
Apart from the Book of Revelation, John was also the author of one of the Gospels that was kind of different from the other three namely Luke, Matthew and Mark. Still, it highlighted the key points of the life of Jesus.
3 – Mother Mary.
Mary was the symbol of beauty and elegance of The Holy Bible. She opened the Gospel of Luke like no one else could.
Her vulnerability and courage represented the qualities every woman could have.
However, her character disappeared completely after the four Gospels. Apostle John briefly described her presence in the Book of Revelation but without a single dialogue.
2 – Mary Magdalene.
Magdalene was the most mysterious character of the New Testament. She was present in the two of the most iconic events in Jesus’ life namely crucifixion and resurrection, but she had a limited amount of dialogue.
The descriptions about Magdalene in the Gospels revealed the depth of her character but it seemed filtered and carefully thoroughly edited.
The real Magdalene was not totally flesh-out. Somehow, it seemed okay.
If the gossips about her reputation were true, her every appearance was a symbol of repentance, especially in the Book of John 12:3.
All-Time Favorite Character
Before reading The Holy Bible, I made a plan to select the best characters of my liking. Then, I trimmed down the selection into two with one to represent each testament.
1 – Paul or Job?
Job was my Number 1 favorite in the Old Testament, and Paul was my pick for the New Testament.
Both Job and Paul were well-educated and insightful. They expressed their thoughts in a way that they do not have to please everyone.
Both were humble. Both suffered too much.
Job and Paul were not ashamed to reveal how vulnerable and flawed they were.
There was a point in his life that Job questioned the existence of God without becoming the villain.
Paul started the Book of Acts as a bad character, but he had an immediate change of heart after a miracle.
The difference was Job was a married servant of God while Paul stayed single while spreading the Good News to the world.
Despondency almost consumed Job. Paul found his inner strength amid the greed of power and false accusations from the public.
The life of Job ended happily as God rewarded him more than what he had before.
Due to his mission, Paul’s sufferings were endless until his last breath but accepted his death wholeheartedly for he stayed faithful.
Question:
Between these two, who had the better story to remember for years and years to come?
Answer:
The life story of Paul was closer to me.
We were both singles and were persons with disabilities who could express our deeper thoughts and feelings through writing.
While Paul has recurring problems with his vision, I had permanent problems with my locomotion since five.
Yet, we did not allow our physical conditions to define us. We continued to thrive in an imperfect world filled with uncertainty, envy and temptations.
Paul and I were both survivors. He is my favorite Bible Character of all-time.
Photos Courtesy of: IMDb
I AM SURVIVORDEAN 