New Testament the distinctively Christian portion of the Bible , consisting of 27 books of varying lengths dating from the earliest Christian period. The seven epistles whose authorship by St. Paul is undisputed were written c.AD 50-AD 60; most of the remaining books were written in the era AD 70-100, often incorporating earlier traditions. All were written in the koine idiom of the Greek language . The works are, in the conventional order: the Gospels of Matthew , Mark , Luke , and John ; the Acts of the Apostles , a history of apostolic missionary activity; 21 ... Read more