Gospel Development, the Evangelists Test

Since the Gospels make statements of faith about Jesus, they are often considered…

subjective sources of information.

Who is an objective view testimony of Jesus

Other ancient historians and writers mention Jesus and His

followers

What do the non-Christian sources about Jesus tell us about Jesus?

-The beliefs and traditions of the Christian community are consistent with historical reality.

-The oral traditions handed down within the Church are accurate.

-Christians were persecuted for practicing their religion

Who are the ancient non-Christian sources about Jesus?

-Pliny the Younger

-Suetonius

-Celsus

-Josephus

-Talmud

-Thallus

-Tacitus

-Bar-Serapion

-Phlegon

God continues to speak to us through

the written words of Scripture

What is the inspiration of Scripture

➢ Dual authorship of Scripture: God is primary author

➢ Human authors freely wrote everything that God wanted written

What is the inerrancy of Scripture

God is perfect and makes no mistakes

➢ Scripture is without error on matters of faith and morals

What is the literal and spiritual sense of scripture?

➢ Literal sense: discovers the meaning of words and expressions

➢ Spiritual sense: goes deeper into the meaning of text (allegorical, moral, anagogical)

What are the three ways God continues to speak to us through the written words of Scripture

-inspiration

-inerrancy

-literal and spiritual sense

Though there are non-Christian sources about Jesus, the Gospels

remain the highest authority on information about Jesus’

earthly life

Gospel means

good news

Why is there good news?

Protoevangelium

Protoevangelium

■ Jesus is the fulfillment of that promise

● The Gospels present the Messiah to us

◆ His life, death, and Resurrection

The process that brought about the written Gospels and the rest of the New Testament took place in three stages:

-Life of Jesus

-Oral Proclamation

-Writing of the Gospel

Life of Jesus

6/4 BC - AD 30/33

-Jesus’ Early and Hidden Life

-began His public ministry

-around 31 or 33 AD, Jesus was arrested and crucified under Pontius Pilate

Oral Proclamation

AD 30-50

Writing of the Gospel

AD 50-120

Jesus’ Early and Hidden Life

○ Lived a typical life of a Jewish boy in 1st

century Palestine

○ Most likely worked as a carpenter like

Joseph

Began His public ministry

○ Preached and proclaimed the Gospel and

the Kingdom of God

○ As a rabbi, He chose students to follow and

learn from Him (Apostles)

● Around 31 or 33 AD, Jesus was arrested and

crucified under Pontius Pilate

○ Rose from the dead three days after His

crucifixion

Five Categories of the New Testament

1. Gospels

2. Acts of the Apostles

3. Pauline Epistles

4. Catholic Epistles

5. Revelation

Gospels

➢ Evangelium - Greek for “good news”

Act of the Apostles

➢ Accounts of the formation and development of the Early Church

Revelation

➢ Genre: apocalyptic or “revealing”

Canonical Order New Testament

Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Letters, Revelation

Chronological Order New Testament

Letters, Mark, Matthew, Luke, Acts, John, Revelation

Stage 2

Oral Proclamation

-Kerygma

-Didache

-Liturgy

Kerygma

● Preaching to

unbelievers (basics of

Christianity)

● The core of the Gospel

○ Jesus’ Life, Death,

Resurrection, and

Ascension

● For Jewish audience,

used passages from

Scriptures to show

Jesus is the promised

Anointed One

Didache

● Teaching to believers

(in-depth catechesis)

● Deeper knowledge and

understanding of the

Gospel

● Catechetical instruction:

○ Jesus’ teachings and

meaning of His

sufferings

○ How to live a

Christ-filled life

Liturgy

● “Service of the people”

● The way people pray reflects their beliefs

● Early Church preached the Gospel that Jesus lived and proclaimed

● Recalls the central moments, teachings, and prayers in the Eucharistic celebration

Stage 3

Writing the Gospels

1. Jesus’ Second Coming did not come as soon as they had

2. Distortions to the Apostles’ message needed to be addressed

and clarified

3. People needed to be instructed about the faith, and the written

Gospels provided for that

■ The Church that Jesus established on earth had a future

Gospel writers report about

real people and events

Gospels are not strict

biographies

Genre of Gospels

Greco-Roman biographies

What is a Greco-Roman Biography

Characteristics: single focus, broadly chronological,

material or stories can be arranged by topic or theme

Five ways the Gospels are accurate in showing Who Jesus is

1. Use of the term “Abba”

2. Use of the term “amen”

3. Parables within the Gospels

4. Consistency of Jesus

5. Linguistic analysis

Usage of Abba by Jesus

-Jesus was the first to invite us to refer to God with the Aramaic term of affection for “father” (similar to “papa”)

-Christians regard God the Father in a more personal way than OT Israel had

Amen Usage in Gospel

-Greek word for “so it is,” “truly”

-Hebrew word = has the sense of reliability

-in OT confirms a divine oath or

curse

-expression to insist that His

words are incontrovertible declarations

of truth - used as an introduction

Parables Usage in Gospel

-unlike heard before

-memorable, unique, contained important insights about the Kingdom of God

-daily experiences of people in that time

Consistency of Jesus in the Gospels

-no contradictions in words, stories, or actions

-everything done consistent with larger picture from the Gospels

-love, sacrifice, forgiveness of sin

Linguistic Analysis

-studying the original language of Jesus, unique and poetic quality to His words

-more than just a teacher

Testimonies of Faith

❖ Primary sources of Jesus

❖ Not historical or literary accounts

❖ Testimonies of faith

❖ Each Gospel gives a different

Portrait of Jesus

Saint Mark (full name, connection, when, where, audience, nature stressed, portrait, genealogy)

❖ Author: John Mark

➢ Disciple of St. Peter

➢ Known by Roman name “Mark”

❖ When: 50-70 AD

❖ Where: Rome

❖ Audience: Gentile Christians

❖ Nature stressed: humanity of Jesus

❖ Portrait of Jesus: Suffering Servant

❖ Genealogy? none.

1ST Writer

Uniqueness for Saint Mark’s Gospel

❖“Distilled Gospel” -shortest of 4

❖ “Gospel of Action”- Jesus always moving

❖“Unrecognized Messiah”

Why did Mark write his Gospel?

❖ Persecution in Rome

➢ To deepen the faith of the Christian community

❖ Consolation

➢ “You were misunderstood and killed, but so was

the Son of God!”

Themes of Mark’s Gospel

1. Kingdom of God

➢ Display God’s power over all things, especially Satan

➢ “This is the time of fulfillment. The Kingdom of God is at hand.

Repent, and believe in the Gospel.” (Mk. 1:15)

2. Messianic Secret

➢ Real meaning of messiahship became clear only after the Death

and Resurrection

3. Discipleship

➢ Ideal disciple of Jesus is “being with Him” - learning and

sharing in His mission of preaching and healing

Symbol of the Gospel of Mark

Winged Lion

Saint Matthew (full name, connection, when, where, audience, nature stressed, portrait, genealogy)

❖ Author: Matthew the Apostle

❖ When: 75-85 AD or 50s-60s

❖ Where: Syria (Antioch)

❖ Audience: Jewish-Christians

❖ Nature stressed: humanity of Jesus

❖ Portrait of Jesus: Promised Messiah

❖ Genealogy? Traces back to Abraham

Uniqueness of Matthew’s Gospel

❖ Structure: 5 discourses or

speeches

➢ Connected to Jewish Law

❖ Jesus is the royal Son of

God and Emmanuel with us)

❖ Jesus is the New Moses

Why did Matthew write the Gospel?

-To instruct and encourage members of his

community

-To provide liturgical address to outsiders of good will

-To offer a missionary reading and sermon material

-To respond to attacks of hostile critics and rivals

Themes for Matthew’s Gospel

1. Kingdom of God is for all

2. Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies

Symbol of Matthew

❖ Winged human

➢ Gospel begins with Jesus’ Incarnation

■ Symbolizes the humanity of Jesus

➢ Symbolizes reason used in the Gospel to explain concepts

Saint Luke (full name, connection, when, where, audience, nature stressed, portrait, genealogy)

❖ Author: Luke

➢ Greek convert and friend of Saint

Paul

❖ When: 60s AD

❖ Where: Mediterranean World

❖ Audience: Gentile Christians

❖ Nature stressed: humanity of Jesus

❖ Portrait of Jesus: Compassionate One

❖ Genealogy? Traces back to Adam

Theme in Luke’s Gospel

❖ Stresses the universality of the Christian message

❖ “Mary’s Gospel”

❖ Stresses the importance of the Holy Spirit

Who wrote a sequel, when, why

❖ Written most likely in 60s

❖ Traces the first 30 years of Christian history from the Ascension of Jesus in Jerusalem to the imprisonment of Paul in Rome

❖ Written to help Christians understand themselves

more clearly

❖ To demonstrate the full scope of God’s plan for Israel

Symbol of the Gospel of Luke

❖ Winged ox

➢ Emphasizes Jesus as compassionate to all

➢ Symbolizes strength

➢ Jesus is Priest and Sacrifice

Saint John (full name, connection, when, where, audience, nature stressed, portrait, genealogy)

❖ Author: John the Apostle

❖ When: 90-100s AD

❖ Where: Ephesus (Asia Minor)

❖ Audience: Jews, Jewish Christians

❖ Nature stressed: divinity of Jesus

❖ Portrait of Jesus: God Incarnate

❖ Genealogy? Traces back to God

LAST

Why did John write his Gospel?

❖ Correct heresies

❖ Strengthen belief in Jesus as God's Son

❖ Gain new converts

Themes in John’s Gospel

-Faith in Jesus is the Way to eternal life

-Jesus is the Son of God and belief is essential for eternal Life

Holy Spirit is the third person of Trinity

-The Hour of Glory- Passion, Death, Resurrection

-Jesus is the Resurrection

Uniqueness of John’s Gospel

-His Prologue with in the beginning (Jesus)

-“I Am” statements

• reveals who Jesus is

• God revealed his name to Moses this way

• Connection between himself and the Father

Symbol of the Gospel of John

❖ Rising Eagle

➢ Sees far into the mystery of God

➢ Writes in poetic style of writing

➢ Symbolizes sky, Heaven, and spirit

Synoptic (from which Greek word, which, why)

❖ Three of the four are considered “synoptic Gospels”

(Matthew, Mark, Luke)

➢ Synoptic: from the Greek word synopitkos which

means “seeing together” or “at the same time”

❖ Contents, order, language, and narrative sequences are

remarkably similar

Solving the “Synoptic Problem”

❖ Explains the similarities and differences among the

three

❖ Explains the interrelationships between the Gospels,

asking:

➢ Which came first?

➢ Which was the inspiration and source for the other Gospels?

4-Source Theory and Q-Source Theory

❖ Synoptic Gospels of Matthew

and Luke have almost 235

verses in common

➢ Matthew and Luke used

same document for their

accounts as a source

➢ Hypothetical theory

Q Source stuff

❖ “Q”-Source Theory

➢ Quell - German for

“source”

Scripture=

written divine revelation

What is one important form of Kerygma we have today?

the Apostle’s Creed

Evangelium is Greek for _____ making evangelists _____

good news, good news writers