Author: John, “the beloved disciple,” one of Jesus’s closest followers. He lived longer than the other apostles, likely reflecting back in his old age. His Gospel is shaped not just by memory but by decades of reflection.
Date & Audience: Written between 90–100 AD, probably for a mixed audience of Jews and Greeks living in Asia Minor, at a time when people were asking deeper questions about meaning, identity, and ultimate reality.
Key Ideas: John emphasizes that truth is not an abstract principle but embodied in a person. His Gospel is more philosophical than the others, beginning with cosmic language: “In the beginning was the Word.” For a modern audience, John reads almost like a dialogue between ancient thought and today’s search for meaning. It invites us to consider truth as something relational, not merely conceptual. This is a firsthand testimony of the life of Jesus. As John tells us who Jesus is, Jesus tells us who God is.

Author: John, the beloved disciple, also the author of the Gospel of John, and Revelation.
Date & Audience: Written around 85–95 AD to communities in Asia Minor wrestling with divisions and competing versions of truth.
Key Ideas: 1 John emphasizes love as the ultimate evidence of truth. Light and darkness, truth and deception, are presented in stark contrast. For today’s audience, it challenges empty words and superficial claims—urging us to measure truth by its fruit: does it produce love, integrity, and clarity?

Author: Attributed to Luke, a physician and companion of Paul. He was likely a well-educated Greek and not one of the original disciples. His careful, orderly account shows the mindset of someone trained to investigate and document.
Date & Audience: Written between 70–90 AD, addressed to “Theophilus” (a name meaning “lover of God,” which may have referred to a specific person or a symbolic audience of truth-seekers).
Key Ideas: Luke emphasizes compassion, justice, and the universality of truth—Jesus as a figure for all nations, not only one people. Luke pays special attention to outsiders, the poor, women, and those often ignored in society. In modern terms, Luke reminds us that truth cuts across cultural, social, and economic boundaries—it refuses to remain trapped in privilege or power.

Author: The same Luke who wrote the Gospel of Luke. Acts is essentially “Part Two” of his historical account. As a physician and companion of Paul, Luke traveled widely and documented both what he witnessed and what he carefully researched.
Date & Audience: Likely written between 70–90 AD. The intended readers were truth-seekers like Theophilus, but also a broader audience curious about the spread of the Jesus movement throughout the Roman world.
Key Ideas: Acts traces the spread of a new worldview—one centered on truth and Spirit rather than empire and power. It highlights tension between cultural systems (Jewish law, Roman rule) and a movement claiming to embody a higher truth. For modern readers, Acts resonates with questions of cultural change: how do new ideas about truth spread, resist suppression, and reshape societies?