How We Got the Bible
Early Gospel Sources
General Outline
5.
6.
7.
8.
Early Gospel Sources
The Writing of the New Testament
The Dissemination of the New Testament
The New Testament Canon
Questions We Have
• In what form did the gospel exist before the
written Gospel accounts?
• Did the Gospel writers use their own
memories?
• Did the Gospel writers have sources?
• Did the Gospel writers use each other?
• When were the Gospels written?
• Are the Gospels reliable witnesses?
Remembering Jesus’ Teaching
• The authority that Jesus spoke with
commanded respect, Matthew 7:28-29
• Jesus identified himself as Messiah, John
4:25-26, 28-30
• If the disciples viewed Jesus merely as a
rabbi, they stilled would have passed down
his teachings.
• Over 80% of Jesus teaching is in the form of
memorable comparisons and proverbs.
Remembering Jesus’ Teaching
• Elementary education for boys through age
twelve was typical in Israel.
• The disciples learned, discussed, and taught
Jesus’ teachings, Luke 11:1, etc.
• The early church was aware of Jesus’
teachings outside of the Gospels, Acts 20:35
Oral Tradition of the Gospel Story
How did Paul learn the Gospel?
• The Lord through Ananias, Acts 9:10-18
• Received of the Lord, 1 Corinthians 11:23
• Received of witnesses, 1 Corinthians 15:3-8
• God revealed it, Galatians 1:11-17
• Paul met Peter & James, Galatians 1:18-24
While we do not exclude the work of the Spirit,
direct revelation is not the only vehicle for the
early gospel teachings.
Rehearsing the Gospel
How did Aquila and Priscilla “explain” to
Apollos the way of God (Acts 18:26)?
• Date: After 49 AD? (Acts 18:1-2)
• The term is used of a “rehearsal” of events in
Acts 11:4 and of a retelling of the gospel in
Acts 28:23.
• The same term is even used of written
documents (decrees) in the LXX: Esther 3:14;
4:3,8; 8:13,14,17; 9:14; Daniel 3:29; 6:8;
Zechariah 1:16.
Did Gospels Use Each Other?
• Luke 1:1-4 admits that his material is at least
partially “compiled” (from ανατάσσομαι,
meaning “to put together in order, arrange,
compose”) and is based also on eyewitness
testimony that was available.
• One common belief is that Luke and
Matthew drew a large portion of their
material from Mark.
• The relationship between Matthew, Mark,
and Luke is called the Synoptic Problem.
Did Luke Use Sources?
Blomberg on Luke 1:1-4
• “Certainly, Luke admits familiarity with
previous presumably written accounts of the
events of Jesus’ life (Luke 1:1), but it is
impossible to know if he had in mind any of
the other three Gospels in finished form.”
• “The Greek word for ‘narrative’ in this
context (diegesis) most naturally refers to a
written account.”
Did Gospels Use Each Other?
• Only 10% of Mark’s brief Gospel is not also
found in either Luke or Matthew.
What about the other stuff?
• Material in Matthew and Luke that is not
found in Mark has been attributed to
another document, called Q (from the
German “Quelle” meaning “source”).
• However, there is no end to theories on how
this might have worked out.
Death By Charts
Death By Charts
Death By Charts
What About Q?
• First, there is precisely zero manuscript
evidence that such a document ever existed.
• As Blomberg admits, “we have no external
evidence to demonstrate that Q even
existed, much less to tell us anything else
about it.”
What About Q?
• Second, Q cannot be rightly called a “lost
gospel,” since as we have already discussed,
Q by definition is just the material that we
have in Matthew and Luke.
• There is definitely no evidence that it
contains additional information than is
contained in the Gospels that we have.
What About Q?
• Third, we should also acknowledge that there is
no shortage of doubt about the Q document.
• Klyne Snodgrass, Professor of New Testament
Studies, North Park Theological Seminary: “I am
not convinced of the existence of Q, but even if
it did exist in some form, the procedure used in
reconstructing or determining original forms is
not trustworthy. Hypotheses on these matters
cannot be demonstrated and often show more
about the scholar’s assumptions than anything
about the tradition history.”
What About Q?
• N.T. Wright, Bishop of Durham, writes that
he remains “skeptical about how much we
can know of the ways in which traditions
developed prior to their first appearance in
our sources, and between then and
subsequent appearances,” and he writes, “I
am not even sure whether to believe in Q or
not, and if so in what version of it.”
• Wright mentions the populated “ranks” in
the scholarly community, “if not of ‘Q
skeptics’, at least doubters or questioners.”
Final Thoughts On Sources
John’s Explanation of the Source of Gospels:
• The Holy Spirit was promised as a “teacher”
(John 14:26).
• He would also make use of the memory of
the apostles (John 14:26).
• As the Spirit was a witness to the apostles, so
they would be to others (John 15:26-27).
• The Holy Spirit would provide additional
material beyond even what Jesus taught
(John 16:12-13).
Dating the Gospels: Mark
• Papias (early 100’s AD) taught that Mark
worked with Peter “and wrote accurately all
that he remembered, not indeed, in order, of
the things said or done by the Lord.”
• Irenaeus (late 100’s AD) wrote that “Mark
the disciple and interpreter of Peter also
transmitted to us what he had written about
what Peter had preached.”
Dating the Gospels: Mark
• Clement of Alexandria adds that this took
place during Peter’s lifetime.
• Compare 1 Peter 5:13.
• Tradition says that Peter died from 64-68 AD
and that Mark died in Alexandria in 62 AD.
• Marks gospel would be written some time
before that.
Dating the Gospels: Matthew
• Irenaeus writes that Matthew produced his
work “while Peter and Paul were preaching
the gospel and founding the church in Rome”
(60’s AD).
• Papias agrees and claims that Matthew
originally wrote the “sayings” of Jesus in a
Hebrew dialect.
• That would put Matthew as early as the 50’s
or some would say 40’s.
Dating the Gospels: Luke
• Luke and Acts are part of one narrative (Luke
1:1-4; Acts 1:1-3).
• Acts ends abruptly and inconclusively before
the results of Paul’s appeal to Caesar are
known (Acts 28:30-31).
• This would place the text’s authorship
around 62 AD.
Dating the Gospels: John
• John is usually considered the last of the
Gospels.
• Many place his gospel in the 90’s, though a
minority put it as early as the 60’s.
• John A.T. Robinson: “I believe John
represents in date, as in theology, not only
the omega but also the alpha of the New
Testament development.”
Dating the Gospels: John
• Irenaeus: “We will not, however, incur the
risk of pronouncing positively as to the name
of Antichrist; for if it were necessary that his
name should be distinctly revealed in this
present time, it would have been announced
by him who beheld the apocalyptic vision.
• “For [it or he] was seen not very long time
since, but almost in our day, towards the end
of Domitian's reign.”
Dating the Gospels: John
• Option #1: For it, that is the vision, was seen
not very long ago, but almost in our day,
towards the end of Domitian's reign.
• Option #2: For it, that is the written book,
was seen not very long ago, but almost in
our day, towards the end of Domitian's reign.
• Option #3: For he, that is the Apostle John,
was seen no very long ago, but almost in our
day, towards the end of Domitian's reign.
Dating the Gospels & More
Clement of Alexandria (150-215 AD):
• “For the teaching of our Lord at His advent,
beginning with Augustus and Tiberius, was
completed in the middle of the times of
Tiberius. And that of the apostles, embracing
the ministry of Paul, ends with Nero.”
Reliability of the Gospels
Comparison to Plutarch
• Lived from 46–120 AD
• Wrote about Julius Caesar (100 year gap)
• Wrote about Alexander (400 year gap)
• His works are the definitive ancient history of
these two figures.
• How does this compare to the “biographers”
of Jesus of Nazareth?
Reliability of the Gospels
Blomberg: “Still, given that Jesus was crucified
no later than AD 30, we are still speaking of
only one or two generations between the
events narrated in the four canonical Gospels
and the time of their being recorded (a point
that remains true even if we accept the
modern, more ‘liberal’ consensus that Mark
should be located in the 70s and Matthew and
Luke in the 80s). …
Reliability of the Gospels
• Blomberg: “… Compared to the centuries
that typically elapsed between other people
and events of antiquity and the time of their
first biographers or historians, this is a
remarkably short period of time that should
inspire confidence in the Gospels’
trustworthiness.”
• Only 30 years separate Jesus from Gospels:
Could you believe a book written in 2013
about the Carter Administration (19771981)? What if the author was in it?
Reliability of the Gospels
Things to Keep in Mind:
• The Gospels are largely topical and not
chronological.
Example: Mark vs. Luke
• John the Baptist’s imprisonment: Early in
Luke 3:1-20; Late in Mark 6:14-29
• The call of Peter, John, & James: Early in
Mark 1:16-20; Late in Luke 5:1-11
Reliability of the Gospels
Things to Keep in Mind:
• Quotations marks do not even exist in
ancient languages.
Example: Is it “you” or “him”?
• Mark 1:11
• Luke 3:22
• Matthew 3:17
Reliability of the Gospels
Things to Keep in Mind:
• Details in a story are selected to reinforce the
teller’s emphasis.
Example: Matthew Tells More About Peter
• Matthew includes Peter stepping out of the
boat (Matthew 14:28-32) but not Mark or
John (Mark 6:45-52; John 6:15-21).
• Matthew includes promises to Peter
(Matthew 16:17-19) but not Mark or Luke
(Mark 8:27-30; Luke 9:18-21).
Reliability of the Gospels
Things to Keep in Mind:
• Differing details are not the same as
contradictory details.
Example: Sermon on Mount or Plain?
• Matthew says Mount (Matthew 5:1).
• Luke says Plain (Luke 6:17).
• Luke admits the plain was near the mountain
(Luke 6:12), and Matthew probably doesn’t
imagine the crowd up on a peak!
Reliability of the Gospels
Example: What women were at the tomb?
• Matthew 27:61; 28:1
• Mark 15:40, 47; 16:1
• Luke 23:49, 55; 24:1, 10
• John 20:1-2
Matthew
Mark
Luke
Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene
Other Mary
Mary, mother of Mary, mother of
James & Joses
James
Salome
Other women
Joana
John 20:1-2 (ESV) Now on the first day of the week
Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, … she ran
and went to [Peter & John], and said to them, “They
have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not
know where they have laid him.”
Reliability of the Gospels
• N.T. Wright on the Resurrection: “The stories
exhibit … exactly that surface tension which
we associate, not with tales artfully told by
people eager to sustain a fiction and
therefore anxious to make everything look
right, but with the hurried, puzzled accounts
of those who have seen with their eyes
something which took them horribly by
surprise and with which they have not yet
fully come to terms.”
Conclusions
• Oral teaching predate the Gospels.
• The Gospels made use of various sources,
including their own memories and the
memories of others.
• The Gospels are reliable, especially if we
know what to expect from them.
• The Gospels probably date to the years
between 45-65 AD, with the possibility of
John’s being later near 90 AD.