The Toronto Catholic District School Board
Course: Grade 10 Religion – Living as a Disciple of Jesus Christ in Society
Date/Lesson Number: Lesson 1
Unit: Scripture – Social Teaching of the Church
Lesson Topic: Gospel Formation
Focus Question:
The purpose of this lesson is to review how scriptures were written and in particular how the
formation of the gospels progressed in the early Christian Church.
Instructional Objective(s):
1) Students will learn about the stages of gospel formation.
2) Students will learn about how the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were
selected as the canon of scripture for the New Testament.
New Evangelization Essential Element(s):
Key Element I: Knowledge of the Faith: What We Believe.
Key Vocabulary:
Gospel
Evangelist
Synoptic
Key Scriptural Passage(s):
Matthew 16:13-16.
Key Catechism Reference(s):
CCC 101-121, CCC 139
Key People:
Internet Link(s):
www.avemariapress.com
www.vatican.va
www.cccb.ca
Textbook Suggestions:
Encountering Jesus in the New Testament. (2009) Michael Pennock. Notre Dame: Ave Maria
Press, Inc.
Jesus Christ: God’s Revelation to the World. (2010) Michael Pennock. Notre Dame: Ave Maria
Press, Inc.
Materials required:
1) Sacred Scripture (NRSV)
2) PowerPoint presentation [Appendix A]
3) Student Handout/Questions
Prayer learned or reviewed:
Shine within our hearts, loving Master, the pure light of Your divine knowledge, and open the
eyes of our minds that we may comprehend the message of your Gospel. Instill in us, also,
reverence for Your blessed commandments, so that having conquered sinful desires, we may
pursue a spiritual life, thinking and doing all those things that are pleasing to You. For You,
Christ our God, are the light of our souls and bodies, and to You we give glory together with
Your Father who is without beginning and Your all holy, good, and life giving Spirit, now and
forever and to the ages of ages. Amen.
Step by Step Procedures:
Task 1: How were the gospels written?
Why are the gospels so important?
Share the following with the class.
What is the issue at hand?
A class discussion should ensue around the following questions which could be presented to the
students as part of a large group discussion.
Who authored the New Testament gospels?
Did Jesus write down anything?
Were there other gospels written at the same time period?
Why did the Church decide on these four gospels?
Were the gospels written by the apostles? Why or Why not?
How can we decide which parts of the gospel we can take literally?
How is it that certain parts of the gospel are meant to be interpreted?
What is the truth that we as Christians are meant to understand from the stories about Jesus?
Activity 1. True or False. [This activity is meant to engage the students and sift through what is
myth, untrue, or simply what requires clarification. Even though many of these questions may
have been covered in the Grade Nine scripture section, students will probably need a review
and the opportunity to re-address the questions they may have at this stage of their faith
formation].
True or False Quiz on Christian Scriptures.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Jesus told the apostles what to write down.
St. Mark the evangelist knew Jesus of Nazareth.
There were over 50 gospels circulating during the first hundred years of the early Church.
All stories of the gospels should be taken literally.
The epistles of St. Paul were written before the gospels even though they come after the
gospels in the New Testament.
f. There are 46 books in the New Testament.
g. Catholics believe in the literal interpretation of the Bible.
h. The synoptic gospels are Matthew, Mark and John.
i. Jesus of Nazareth knew the exact hour he would be betrayed.
j. The original language of the New Testament was Latin.
Answers to the Activity 1 Quiz.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
False.
False.
True.
False.
True.
False.
False
False.
False.
False.
(30 minutes)
Task 2: PowerPoint. [See Appendix A]
Show the students the PowerPoint with the view that they will correct their True/False Quiz after
the PowerPoint noting what questions they got wrong and jotting down any questions or
reflections they have after viewing the PowerPoint. It is important to emphasize to the students
that it is alright to have incorrect answers at this point and to suspend any judgment on their
“score,” since even adult Catholics (who are not experts), have some difficulty with these
questions!
Another suggestion with the digital version of the PowerPoint on the formation of the gospels is to
delete certain vocabulary in the PowerPoint so the student version/handout has blanks for the
students to fill in and follow along.
(30 minutes)
Task 3: Questions for Reflection.
After the PowerPoint presentation and notes, ask the students to review the Quiz answers. If the
answer is false, why? Refer to the textbooks suggested for appropriate and relevant readings:
Encountering Jesus, Chapter One; Jesus Christ, Chapter Six.
(5 minutes)
Task 4: Definitions.
The students will copy down the following definitions:
Gospel: The “Good News” preached by Jesus; the four written records of the Good News are the
gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
Evangelist: A person who proclaims the Good News of Jesus Christ. The four evangelists refers to
the authors of the gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Synoptic: The gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke which because of their similarities can be
“seen together” in parallel.
(10 minutes)
Thought Provoker
Did you know that not all the Evangelists were Apostles?
Assessment Assignment
Who do Say I am?
Adaptations (for students with learning disabilities or students who did not receive instruction in
Gr 9 Religion):
Is The Bible True?
This question can only be answered if we understand that there are different kinds of truth
represented in the Bible.

Historical truth The Bible contains the history of the Hebrew people from about 2000 B.C.
to A.D. 100. Much of this history was passed down orally for generations before it was
written. It is, nonetheless, surprisingly accurate. There are few historical errors in the Bible.

Geographical Truth The geography of the Bible is accurate as far as it goes—which isn’t
very far. The “whole world” of the Bible consisted of the Mediterranean and
Mesopotamian areas.

Religious truth The Bible is primarily religious truth. Religion is concerned with the person’s
relationship with God, and the Bible is the record of the relationship between God and
his Chosen People, the Hebrews. The Bible gives a true account of how the people
experienced God, and how they responded (or failed to respond) to Him.

Character/relational truth The authors of scripture are perceptive interpreters of human
character and relationships. The people in the Bible act and think and respond
emotionally in very typically human ways.

Scientific truth The Biblical writers reflected the scientific understanding of their day,
which as we now know was very primitive. When the Bible says the world was created in
seven days, we are able to read through the scientific “error” and find the religious truth
the writer was trying to get across. There was no need for God to reveal a more
accurate understanding of science to his people. Revelation is concerned with religious
truth, that God created the world, not scientific truth, how the creation event took place.
The Hebrew people didn’t have to know the latter in order to be close to God.

Proverbial truth Much of the Bible, especially the wisdom books, is the kind of folksy truth
contained in proverbs; for example, “Do unto others as you would have others do unto
you.”

Symbolic truth Much of the truth in scripture is told in symbols, parables, myths, and
allegories. To discover the truth being presented, one must read between the lines. The
story of the tree of good and evil in Genesis is an example of such a symbol. There is
truth there, but is religious truth about human freedom and divine laws, not factual truth
about eating fruit and talking snakes.

Moral truth The Bible contains much moral truth. Moral truth tells us what is right and
wrong, what we must do and how we must live if we want to be good people and close
to God. The Old Testament reflects the morality of the Hebrew people and should be
read in this light. Their standards may have been be very different from ours. According
to Hebrew morality, if a person poked out your eye, you were permitted to poke out one
of his; if he knocked out your tooth, you could knock out one of his. The New Testament
tells us that Jesus expressly raised the moral standards. “It was said of old. . ., but I say to
you. . .”
Kinds of Truth
Write below each statement the kind of truth it represents and the source or
methods you might use to verify the truth of each statement
1. Montréal is east of Toronto. _______________________________________________________________
2. Teilhard de Chardin died in 1955. __________________________________________________________
3. 762 x 47 = 35,814. _________________________________________________________________________
4. My mom and dad love me. _______________________________________________________________
5. Mary Jane is kind and generous. ___________________________________________________________
6. The earth revolves around the sun. _________________________________________________________
7. Early to bed early to rise makes a person healthy, wealthy and wise. ________________________
8. Stealing is wrong. _________________________________________________________________________
9. The child’s eyes sparkled like dancing stars. ________________________________________________
10. God loves me even when I sin. ___________________________________________________________
Look again at each of the above truth statements. Decide whether or not you would
find this kind of truth in the Bible. Mark the blank at the right of each line above using
this code:
+
- The Bible contains some of this kind of truth.
++
- The Bible contains much of this kind of truth.
0
- The Bible contains little or none of this kind of truth.
x
- Statements in the Bible containing this kind of truth would probably be
inaccurate and/or misleading.
Extensions (for gifted students):
The Gnostic Gospels.
Research the origin of the more than 50 gospels circulating in the Early Church.
What were some of these gospels?
How did they compare with the Four Gospels of the Christian scriptures?
What were the selection criteria for the canon of the New Testament?
Appendix A
PowerPoint on Origin and Formation of the Four Gospels in the New Testament. [24 Slides]
What does the Catholic Church teach about:
Sacred Scriptures
Sacred Traditions
• Inspiration
The Canon of the Gospels
of the New Testament
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•
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