An Introduction to the
Four Gospels
Christian Scriptures’ Class: Pat Orr
Review:
Inspiration and Salvation History
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Salvation History is the belief that God is involved in
human history; Inspiration is the belief that God
makes his presence known to humans and that
humans are capable of putting those truths into their
own words, examples, and idioms. The difficulty is
making sure that we work to understand the words
so that we can find the truth behind the words
The Scriptures may include historical information, but are
not intended to be History: they tell of God’s continuing
love for the world.
Review: Gospels
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Literally, the word Gospel means “the Good News” that
the promised Messiah has finally arrived in the person of
Jesus of Nazareth and that we didn’t have to live lives of
wishing but rather could live lives of fulfillment in the
“olam ha-ba” or “eschaton”-the promised “reclaiming” of
the world by God.
The Gospels are to be considered “communal portraits” and not
“literal photographs” of Jesus and His mission.
The Jews of the Diaspora (Jews living outside of Israel) were
the first to hear the Good News when Apostles told them the
story of Jesus in the Synagogues of the Diaspora. Gentiles
(non-Jews) were then introduced to Jesus.
Excursus: a little trip that explains
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Synagogues were run by Rabbis of the Pharisee Sect
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Believed in Table Fellowship as way to God
Believed the entire Tenach was inspired by God
Believed in a promised Messiah, resurrection of the dead, life
after death with God.
Believed the Scriptures needed to be applied to the present
moment and not just be taken literally
Wanted to make the Scriptures “Phar-I-see”!!!
Excursus: a little trip that explains
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The Temple was run by Priests of the Sadducee Sect
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Believed that Temple Worship was only way to God
Believed only the Torah was inspired by God
Did not believe in a promised Messiah, resurrection of the
dead, life after death with God because these ideas came
from the Prophets– these were not inspired by God.
Believed the present moment needed to fit into the Scriptures
which were to be taken literally.
This is why they were “Sadd-u-cee”!!!
An Introduction to the Four Gospels:
The Story of the Storytellers
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Forty years separates the death of Jesus from the writing of the first
gospel– we move from first generation Christians to second, third, and
fourth generations.
The death of Jesus was a reminder to each generation that their
personal death and the death of their own way of life was imminent.
Telling about this Apocalyptic world-view was the work of the early
writers of the Scriptures.
Early Christians were engaged in one of the most basic of human
activities: STORY TELLING
So, an introduction to the Gospels is as much the story of the
Storytellers.
An Introduction to the Four Gospels:
The Story of the Storytellers
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The Storytellers passed on the tradition of:
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what happened to Jesus,
what he stood for and
what he did.
This was done orally, refining the story by telling it
and retelling it.
In this process they defined Jesus for themselves:
Is Jesus the Moshiach or the Savior or both?
They also defined themselves by defining what it
meant to be a Christian.
An Introduction to the Four Gospels
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These shared memories, passed along by word of
mouth, are known as “ORAL TRADITION."
They included stories of Jesus' miracles and
healings, his parables and teachings, and his death
The first written documents probably included an
account of the death of Jesus and a collection of
sayings attributed to him.
An Introduction to the Four Gospels
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In about the year 70 CE, the evangelist known as Mark
wrote the first "gospel" -- the words mean "good news"
about Jesus.
The Greek word for “good news” is “eu-angelium” but
since the Greek letter for “u” looks like a “v” (think “W”),
we have made the word “evangelist.”
The word “Gospel” comes from the German translation of
good news, “Gut spiel”, which becomes
“Godspel”/Gospel in English.
An Introduction to the Four Gospels
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This first Gospel is called “Mark’s” with a certain amount
of speculation, since it was common practice in the
ancient world to attribute written works to famous people.
The community of Mark (called “Mark”) was concerned
that his message about Jesus would be lost, so they
collected all his thoughts.
“Mark's” genius was to commit the story of Jesus to
writing, and thereby start the written gospel tradition
about the year 70 AD/CE.
An Introduction to the Four Gospels
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Matthew composed his Gospel about 15 years after Mark (ca. 85 CE),
using as his sources: his own experience, Mark’s Gospel, and a
collection of sayings called "Q", for Quelle (Grk for “source”)
The Gospel of Luke, written about ten years later, (ca. 95 CE), also
uses Mark and “Q”.
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Matthew, Mark, and Luke are collectively known as the “synoptic”
Gospels because they have the “same vision.”
The Gospel of John (the “Spiritual Gospel) is completed around 100
CE and its style is totally different from the Synoptic Gospels.
An Introduction to the Four Gospels
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Mark’s “Messianic Secret” emphasized the need to be ready:
– to be “messianic” themselves and
– for the “Eschaton” which was surrounding them.
Matthew wanted to make sure that his Jewish community
recognized their prophesized “Messiah” from their Tenakh.
Luke wanted his diverse community to realize that the Spirit of
God and the Messianic Good News was operating in all people.
John looked at Jesus’ life as a continuing exposition of his
Divinity rather than just a narrative of events which led up to
the Passion and Resurrection.
An Introduction to the Four Gospels
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The gospels also reflect the growing tensions between
Christians and Jews.
The Traditional Jews and the “Messianic” Jews start as
brotherly sects of Judaism and become bitter enemies; this
bitterness begins to show up in the writings about each
other.
This leads to a certain amount of “Anti-Jewish”
commentary and blame in the Gospels as opposed to the
original concerns over theology.
Council of Rome
decides the Canon of Scripture
Council of Rome: 382 CE/AD
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Before Constantine, Christians and Jews were often
considered to be enemies of the Empire.
Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the
Roman Empire by 325 AD/CE; Christians now had to
conform to official Christian rules or be declared
heretical and face persecution and death.
The Council of Rome decided what material would be
in the Canon of Scripture in the year 382 CE/AD.
Pope Damasus hires St. Jerome to decide the Canon or
official list of Scripture in order to unify Roman
Christianity and stifle dissent.
Rome’s Criteria
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Historical-Traditional ties to Apostolic Times
Truth to the Apostolic ideal of Service
Jesus was truly a human who suffered
Scriptures must be acceptable to all Christian
churches
Rome’s Criteria
1. Real historical-traditional ties to the Apostolic timesnot necessarily to an Apostle who followed Jesus:
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Luke and Mark certainly never met Jesus.
After starting out as a prosecutor against the heretical, upstart,
Christian-Jewish sect, Paul converted and knew of Jesus only from
the preaching and teaching of the early church leaders.
Rome’s Criteria
2. True to the apostolic ideal of service to others- being
willing to give one’s life for others rather than taking
lives:
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This is important because Christianity had become the accepted
religion of the Roman Empire and was now a power.
Soldiers and politicians, who had once killed Christians, were now
in the position of killing in the name of Christ.
Service became an even more important virtue to be stressed for the
now powerful and strong Christian.
Just War Theory develops out of this concern kill for
the right reasons.
Rome’s Criteria
3. Jesus was a real human being who really suffered and
was also a divine being;
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Other Christian Churches were advocating mystic and ethereal
views about Jesus which made him appear not to be a real, physical
human being.
The importance of stressing the Real Humanity alongside the
Divinity of Jesus was to stress the absolute connection between
God and Creation--- There was to be no separation between the two
even if there were distinctions.
Rome’s Criteria
4. The message of the Gospels and Epistles must be
acceptable to the universal church and not just
to one of the national Churches- Coptic,
Byzantine, Roman, Greek, Syrian, etc.
King James Bible: 1611 CE/AD
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In 1611, the Theologians appointed by King
James I of England published their
“Authoritative” English version of the Bible
This has become the Canon for Protestants,
Reformers, Evangelicals, and modern Christian
Churches
Introduction to Gospels
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Divorce
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Mark 10:10-12
Matt 5:31-32
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Sermon on the Mount
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Source of Matthew 5:31
Matt 5-7
Sermon on the Plains
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Luke 6:20-46
Introduction to Gospels
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Genealogy of Jesus
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Matt 1:1-17 (Genealogy to Abraham)
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Luke 3:23-38 (Genealogy to God)
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Jesus is primarily Messiah for Jewish expectations
Jesus is Messiah for all humans
Christian-Jews conflict with Pharisaic Judaism
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Matt 27:62-66 (Gospels claim conspiracy theory by
“cynical” Jewish leaders)
Introduction to Gospels
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John is “Spiritual” Gospel
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Uses Greek Philosophical Principles about Jesus
John 3:1-8: Rebirth is metaphor
John 4:13-15: Water is metaphor
John 6:47-59: Bread is Metaphor
Introduction to Gospels
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Paul the Persecutor turned Convert
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Acts 7:54-60: Paul/Saul helps kill Stephen
Acts 9:1-9: Paul is converted to believe in Jesus
An Introduction to the Four Gospels
The End