Theology of the Four Gospels (original) (raw)

The Distinctive Testimonies of the Four Gospels

Religious Educator, 2007

Dating, authorship, and provenance. Most scholars date the Gospel of Mark to the time of the Jewish War (c. AD 66-73). This dating is due, in part, to the Savior's reference to the destruction of Herod's Temple (see Mark 13:2) that occurred in AD 70. For scholars who do not accept the possibility of prophecy, Mark's Gospel could not have been written before that event. But as Joel Marcus has concluded, "In favor of a pre-70 dating is the probability that Jesus actually prophesied the Temple's destruction, as did other Jewish prophets down through the centuries;. .. a prophecy of its end, therefore, would not require a post-70 date." 11 Some early Christian traditions claim that Mark wrote his Gospel around the time of the death of Peter, which occurred in Rome in AD 64 or 65. 12 Mark is often identified with "John, whose surname was Mark," the missionary companion of Paul during the Apostle's first mission (Acts 12:25). According to the book of Acts, John Mark left that mission early to return to Jerusalem (see Acts 13:13). The cause for John Mark's early departure is unknown, but it later caused a temporary rift between Barnabas and Paul when, in preparation for their second mission, Barnabas wanted to bring along John Mark but Paul refused (see Acts 15:37-38). Whatever the reason, later tradition claims that Mark continued faithful in the gospel. Papias preserved the following information concerning Mark's later relationship with Peter: "Mark became Peter's interpreter and wrote down accurately, but not in order, all that [Peter] remembered of the things said and done by the Lord. For [Mark] had not heard the Lord or been one of his followers, but later, as I said, a follower of Peter. Peter used to teach as the occasion demanded, without giving systematic arrangement to the Lord's sayings." 13 If this tradition is accurate, Mark did not actually witness the events he included in his Gospel but rather wrote down the things he heard Peter teach about the Savior's ministry. The importance, therefore, of Mark's Gospel is that it may record the memories of the leader of the fledgling post-resurrection Church. Internal evidence strongly suggests that the Gospel of Mark was written for a Gentile, or non-Jewish, audience. For example, Mark interprets Aramaic phrases for his readers, such as "Talitha cumi" (Mark 5:41) and "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" (Mark 15:34). Mark also explains Jewish customs and ideas. 14 If Mark's audience were Jewish and spoke Aramaic, there would be no need for such explanations. Significantly, Matthew, who was indeed writing to a Jewish audience, omits Mark's explanations of these Jewish concepts in his Gospel. 15 The Distinctive Testimonies of the Four Gospels

A Glimpse in to the Narrative Technique of the Four Gospels

This article emphasises on the narrative skill in the Four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John while bringing to light the synoptic nature of Matthew, Mark and Luke and highlighting the differences between the Four Gospels as John is different from the others. It throws light on the style and technique of the Gospels and the usage of such devices as similes, metaphors, symbols, images, parables and idiomatic expressions etc. to convey the truth about God, to explain the origin of man, to point out the only way of salvation and eternal life and to enable us to comprehend the age-old problem of sin and suffering.

The Sources of the Gospels and the Way of Writing Them

The Relationship between the Gospels Authors and the Old Testament The fourth fact which has been ignored by the scholars and researchers who have searched for the sources of the Gospels is the study of the texts of the Old Testament, which were cited in the Gospels, objectively and subjectively to find out the truth and the reality of these texts and its accuracy, as well as study the stories that containing those texts, to find out the reliability and the credibility of them. The study of the texts of the Gospels through this way will lead us very clearly to the sources which the Gospels authors have relied upon, and how they wrote them. The first thing that draws the attention of the researchers in the New Testament is the large number of texts which are quoted from the Old Testament, and this was considered by the various churches as prophecies talk about Jesus, and is a proof that the New Testament is an extension to the Old Testament, and the Gospels authors had received them from the same source which was received by the authors of the Old Testament, which is the revelation and the inspiration of the Spirit, but after the emergence of the contradictions between the principles and the concepts of the Gospels and the principles and the concepts of the Old Testament, and prove that they were not written by the revelation or the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, so we should examine them in detail to find out why the Gospels authors have used these texts to talk about the life of Jesus and their beliefs, as well as to know the truth and the reality of these quotes. The emergence of the Gospels authors and the Early Churches among the Jewish communities make them trying to persuade the Jews particularly, and the other nations generally, in the notions and beliefs which they believe in through the texts of the Old Testament, which the Jews believe in it. Because on the one hand, represents the divine source of what they believe in, and any attempt to call them for something new should be based on the divine source similar to their source, on the other hand, since the Gospels authors and the rest of the New Testament authors do not have such as this source, as mentioned previously, so they have been forced to quote from the texts of the Old Testament to preach among the Jews, and this can be seen clearly in the Acts of Apostles, which showed the way of preaching of the disciples in many texts, the following is a review of some of them. Act 1:15 And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples (altogether the number of names was about a hundred and twenty), and said,

The Synoptic Gospels an overview.doc

The synoptic Gospel present an interesting set of books, all giving a perspective of the Life and ministry of Jesus Christ, though from different perspectives and target readerships. This paper gives a basic over view of the said Gospels as well as comments on the fourth. The reader s encouraged to proceed to a more detailed treatment of the subject after reading through this paper