The Four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John Before Looking at the Gospels What are the Gospels? What do you know about these texts already?

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1 The Four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John Brief Overview Before Looking at the Gospels There are 27 books of the New Testament Not organized in chronological order (in terms of date written) Begins with life of Jesus, then goes on to the beginning and expansion of the Church, then issues and problems in the Church, then the End Times Order is as follows: 4 Gospels listed in the order they originally were thought to be written in Acts of the Apostles 2 nd volume of Luke s writing after his gospel (a continuation of Luke s gospel), but placed after John s Pauline Letters Letters written by St. Paul (2 groups: those written to communities and those to individuals), not in chronological order, but in order of decreasing length Romans, Corinthians 1/2, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians 1/2 Timothy 1/2, Titus, Philemon Letter to the Hebrews originally thought to have been written by Paul; most likely written by a follower of Paul Catholic or General Epistles listed in decreasing order of length (letters written by same apostle grouped together) James, Peter 1/2, John 1/2/3, Jude Book of Revelation description of the end of time (New Heaven, New Earth, New Jerusalem, etc.) What are the Gospels? What do you know about these texts already? The Gospels Gospel Old English for Good News Evangelion in Greek Authors called evangelists Accounts of the life and teachings of Jesus Not a historical biography as we would understand it (detached and academic) Written to inspire, teach a lesson, warn, or persuade, as well as inform 2 purposes: To give account of the events of the life of Jesus To do so in way that leads to the growth of faith The Gospels God revealed the truth of Jesus to the authors The authors used their own words and personal understandings in writing out the revealed truth The role of the authors in the writing of the gospels can be seen in 4 ways 1. Selectors - chose the stories to include and which to omit, out of all the things Jesus said and did. 2. Arrangers - organized materials in particular sequence, not necessarily chronologically; often based on themes 3. Shapers - adapted and edited individual stories from their sources to emphasize themes they thought important 1

2 Proclaimers - were not objective historians, but preached the "good news" about Jesus in ways appropriate to their audiences. From: Felix Just, S.J., Ph.D. ( The Gospels Cont. Mark, Matthew, and Luke are known as the Synoptic Gospels Greek for seen together or viewed together Refers to these three having a similar vision Most of Mark s gospel is used by either Matthew or Luke (631 of 661 verses) Matthew and Luke share material that is not found in Luke Scholars suggest these two gospels borrow material from a source no longer in existence called Q source or Q document Q is hypothesised to have been a Sayings Gospel written in the 50 s A.D. Contained the collected sayings of Jesus John s Gospel is different from the other 3 Contains symbolism, imagery, and events not seen in the other 3, also leaves out events seen in the other 3 Gospel Formation and Transmission 10 stages have been identified (all of them overlap each other) 1. The Historical Jesus - words spoken, deeds performed by Jesus during his lifetime 2. Oral Tradition traditions/beliefs about Jesus develop and are passed 3. Written Sources - some miracles and/or sayings of Jesus are compiled and recorded documents. 4. Written Texts - individual letters, full Gospels, etc.; with particular messages for particular situations. 5. Distribution - some writings copied and shared with communities throughout Mediterranean. 6. Collection - certain Christians begin collecting letters of Paul and gathering together several different Gospels. 7. Canonization - four Gospels, several collections of letters, and a few other texts accepted as authoritative 8. Translation - biblical texts translated into ancient and modern languages: Latin, Syriac, Coptic, Armenian, etc. 9. Interpretation - meaning of scriptures investigated on various levels: literal, spiritual, historical, social, etc. 10.Application NT used for practical purposes: liturgical, moral, sacramental, theological, etc. From: Felix Just, S.J., Ph.D. ( First off Who Wrote the 4 Gospels? Catholic Tradition has it that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John wrote the 4 gospels of the New Testament Evidence of these names being used for the Gospels exists as early as the 2 nd century A.D. ( A.D.) Eusebius, ca. 125 A.D. Clement of Alexandria, ca. 180 A.D. The oldest manuscript copies existing have the names of these 4 men attached to 2

3 them No other claims of authorship have presented themselves Modern scholars often take the position that they probably were not written by the men they are named for Probably written by the disciples or communities preached to by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (2 nd or 3 rd generation Christians) These names being attached as they followed the oral tradition from those men Either way the exact authorship remains unknown The Gospel according to vs. The Gospel of Who was Matthew? Traditional (canonical) View One of the original 12 apostles Former tax collector Collaborator with Romans, exploiting Jewish population Historical (critical) View Jewish-Christian scribe (possibly of Palestinian origin) Writing for and educated community (living close to the homeland) experiencing tensions socially and politically Who was Mark? Traditional (canonical) View A Jerusalem youth Probably not an eyewitness to Jesus ministry Missionary with Paul Interpreter for St. Peter Wrote down the sayings of Peter Historical (critical) View Bi-lingual (Aramaic/Greek) interpreter Writing to a persecuted Gentile Christian community Who was Luke? Traditional (canonical) View Was a convert Client of Theophilus Disciple of St. Paul Well educated: was a physician (medical) Not an eyewitness to Jesus ministry Historical (critical) View Gentile-Christian historian Writing to a wealthier urban community that was possibly becoming complacent (Gentile-Christians) Written in very high quality Greek Who was John? Traditional (canonical) View One of the original 12 apostles Also the youngest (tradition says 18 years old) A fisherman and brother of James son of Zebedee Historical (critical) View Jewish-Christian believers 3

4 Probably disciple(s) of John (John was their source) Written for a community that was in conflict with Jews Conflict with synagogue across the street When and Where were the Gospels Written? Mark (the first and the shortest) written between the years A.D. (possibly as late as 80 A.D.) Rome Matthew written in the 70 s and 80 s A.D. (possibly as late as 100 A.D.) Antioch Luke written in the 80 s A.D. (possibly as late as 130 A.D.) Greece John Written in 90 s A.D. (possibly as late as 120 A.D.) Ephesus Symbols of the Evangelists Matthew is represented by a Man or Angel Refers to the recording of Jesus human ancestors at beginning of Gospel Incarnation Mark is represented by a winged Lion Refers to John the Baptist, the voice of one crying out in the desert at beginning of Gospel The Resurrection (lions were symbolic as it was believed to be born dead to be awakened by the breath/roar of it parent Symbols of the Evangelists Cont. Luke is represented by an winged Ox Ox is a sacrificial animal; refers to Zechariah sacrificing in the Temple at beginning of Gospel. Atonement for sin by blood The Passion John is represented by an Eagle Refers to beginning hymn praising Jesus who looks on the face of God, as an eagle looks on the sun The eagle also soars towards heaven as John s spirit did to bring revelation The Ascension Dates Other New Testament Texts were Written Acts of the Apostles: A.D. Romans: A.D. Corinthians 1: A.D. Galatians: A.D. Ephesians: A.D. or A.D. Philippians: A.D. Corinthians 2: A.D. Colossians: A.D. or A.D. Thessalonians 1: 50 A.D. Thessalonians 2: 52+ A.D. 4

5 Timothy 1: A.D. Timothy 2: 67 A.D. Titus: A.D. Philemon: A.D. Hebrews: 65 A.D. or A.D. James: A.D. Peter 1: 64 A.D. Peter 2: early 2 nd c. A.D. John 1/2: early 2 nd c. A.D. John 3: 2 nd c. A.D. Jude: 90 A.D. Revelation: A.D. 5