Christian Scriptures of Four Gospels - Essay Example

Christian Scriptures: Workbook 4 General Impressions of the Four Gospels The sacred gospels of St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke and St. John form what are known as the canonical gospels and are part of the New Testament of God. They are written narrative accounts of the life, deeds, words and teachings of our beloved Christ. “The gospels summarize Jesus’ activity as ‘preaching, teaching and healing’” (Lion Handbook b, p.338) and this is how Jesus appeared to his contemporaries. On preaching, the gist of the gospels’ message is, “The time has come, the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” (ibid, p.340) As the word ‘gospel’ suggests, these books bring good news and glad tidings to the Christian faithful. The real purpose of the gospels is therefore to establish faith in Christ (NIV Compact Dictionary, p.226). Relationship between the four gospels The first three gospels i.e. of St. Matthew, St. Mark and St. Luke, have an “obvious and striking” (Catholic Encyclopedia) mutual resemblance, and grouped together are known as the Synoptic Gospels. Synoptic means of the ‘same view’. The fact that some material is common between the synoptic gospels also suggests that some of the synoptic texts were used as source material for the others. These synoptic texts contrast with the final fourth Gospel of St. John “whose relations with the other three is that of dissimilarity rather than of likeness.” (ibid) This gospel narrates “few incidents in common with the synoptists, and differs from them in respect to style, language, general plan, etc.” (ibid) That is, its content cannot be harmonized with the synoptic narratives. It also does not contain any parables as the other three. In short, whilst the Synoptic Gospels offer alternative but parallel accounts of the life of Jesus, the Gospel of St. John the Apostle stands apart from them in terms of its content, coverage and approach. Nonetheless, all four gospels are intimately related in being related to Jesus’ life and teachings. Each gospel writer therefore presents a particular picture of Jesus in their own unique way. “Matthew concentrates on the relationship of Jesus to the Jewish faith… Mark emphases action rather than teaching… Luke stresses the blessings of salvation brought by Jesus… [and] John reveals Jesus as the One sent by God the Father into the world to be its Saviour.” (Lion Handbook, p.470-472) So, Matthew writes for his fellow Jews, concentrates on Jesus as the Messiah, and carefully records what Jesus said about the kingdom of heaven. “Matthew’s gospel more than any other is the link between the Old Testament and the New” (ibid, p.474). Mark concentrates on the things that Jesus did and where he went based on the disciple Peter’s account hence the vivid details. Luke’s gospel is more detailed on the life of Jesus with an overriding concern “to get at the truth of what happened in Palestine” (ibid, p.514). John’s gospel appears to assume that the reader is already acquainted with Jesus’ life and concentrates on “interpreting and bringing out the meaning of what took place” (ibid, p.533) to strengthen the reader’s faith. To this end, Jesus’ many miracles are illustrated as signs of who he was. Historical character of the four gospels The four gospels however, are built upon the oral preaching in the actual days of Jesus on Earth (in Aramaic). This is because, Jesus Christ neither himself committed his teachings into writing whilst he dwelt among us, nor did he direct his disciples to do so. Instead, the early Christian faithful went out as a duty and preached the good news to their fellow men by word of mouth based on what they themselves saw and heard from their master (Holy Bible, Acts 4:2). It is only later that the eyewitness accounts of the disciples of Jesus were preserved in writing for the benefit of future generations. Each gospel preserves different aspects of the historical tradition. For this reason, there was little concern with the order of the content and greater concern with propagating the message of Christianity. They were written to satisfy the intellectual needs of the expanding Church. As per the Catholic position, the canonical Gospels embody “in substance, the oral teaching of the Apostles concerning the words and deeds of Christ” (Catholic Encyclopedia). This establishes the historical character of these gospels. As St. Luke (Holy Bible, Luke 1:1-4) is careful to stress, he made use of authentic eyewitness testimony. And, they wrote so that readers might believe in Jesus and have eternal life (Holy Bible, John 20:31) Of the four, Matthew and John were actual disciples of Jesus, Mark gave Peter’s account of events, and Luke also relied on the accounts of others in compiling his gospel. Dating and Location of the four gospels The four gospels as we have them today then were not written during the lifetime of Jesus but composed “until at least 30 years after the death of Jesus” (Lion Handbook, p.469). According to Catholic Planet however, “Matthew wrote between 3 to 6 years after Christ’s Ascension, Mark wrote between 15 and 16 years after the Ascension, Luke wrote between 25 to 27 years after the Ascension, and John wrote between 49 and 62 years after the Ascension.” (Conte, 2005) Many other scholars believe that Mark’s gospel preceded Matthew’s and so was the first based on the observation, “Almost the entire content of Mark can be found in both Matthew and Luke.” (NIV Compact Dictionary, p.227) The original language in which each of the gospels was written and the place in which it was written also differ. Matthew wrote in Hebrew in Judea, Mark in Latin in Rome, Luke in Greek in Boeotia, and John in Aramaic in Ephesus (Conte, 2005). Although the four gospels were written soon after the Ascension, it is sad to note that there are no extant copies of the complete original manuscripts. One of the earliest original partial manuscripts of the four gospels is the Rylands Papyrus preserved in the Rylands Museum, England. It is a fragment of the book of John and “has been dated to about AD 125.” (Oakes) This estimate is based on the writing style and material used. As to when the gospels became public, this is uncertain but they are mentioned in some earlier writings of the New Testament such as the Epistle of Barnabas, and bear “a stronger resemblance to the text of Matthew than to that of any other gospel.” (NIV Compact Dictionary, p.226) In terms of the coverage of Jesus’ life, “scarcely anything is mentioned before he reached the age of 30, and even the account of his ministry is incomplete.” (Lion Handbook, p.470) Christian Scriptures: Essay (Choice 2) The Gospel of Judas The Gospel of Judas containing early Christian teachings was in use among the Cainites and resurfaced after 1,700 years (Noble, 2006). St. Irenaeus (died 202) of Lyons in ‘Against the Heresies’ referred to it in the second century as “a fictitious history” (Tomlin, 2007). How the gospel differs from the canonical texts In the Gospel of Judas, Judas Iscariot is portrayed as a loyal disciple rather than a traitor as in the canonical gospels. Unlike Paul who repented denying Jesus, Judas’s crime was grave because he actually handed over Jesus to the Roman authorities to be taken away for crucifixion in return for money. But this is not the impression of Judas in this gospel. Here, “Judas Iscariot as Jesus’ favorite disciple, [is] the only one whom he [Jesus] trusts with his deepest mysteries. And all the other disciples appear as people who completely missed the message of Jesus, and entirely distorted it.” (Pagels, 2008) In the words of National Geographic, “The Gospel of Judas gives a different view of the relationship between Jesus and Judas… unlike the accounts in the canonical gospels… in which Judas is portrayed as a reviled traitor… Judas as acting at Jesus’ request…” This is the stark contrast between this and the canonical gospels. It does however, appear to have some resonance with the words in John’s gospel, when upon giving Judas a piece of bread, Jesus says, “What you are about to do, do quickly, Jesus told him, but no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him (Holy Bible, John 13:27-28). It could be argued that the Gospel of Judas is an elaboration of why Judas did what he did. If this Gospel is authentic, it suggests that not only was Judas exhorted to do what he did but also that it was in pursuit to know ‘the mysteries of the kingdom’, which according to the Gospel was made possible for Judas to reach but not without grieving a great deal. (Gospel of Judas) Jesus’ position according to orthodox understanding is made clear in the Gospel of Matthew: “The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.” (Matthew 26:24; also in Mark 14:21 and Luke 22:22) This is in reference to Judas’ impending act of betrayal. There is no doubt because in John (Holy Bible 13:26-27), Jesus identifies the betrayer as the one to whom he gives a piece of bread before giving it to Judas Iscariot. Thus there is no suggestion that Judas was exhorted to betray Jesus. In fact, Luke (Holy Bible, Luke 22:3) makes it clear that Judas was possessed by Satan. The only thing in common is that Jesus had foreknowledge of what was to happen to him. But the Gospel of Judas differs by suggesting both Judas and Jesus had planned the event. Furthermore, in the Gospel of Judas, the twelve disciples are portrayed in a very negative light. Firstly, when Jesus laughs at the prayer of thanksgiving over their misperception of God and states that they do not know him saying, “Truly, I say to you, no generation of the people that are among you will know me,” (Gospel of Judas) which makes them angry and blaspheme “against him in their hearts.” (ibid) Secondly, when Jesus denies them in seeing the great and holy generation, which makes them “troubled in spirit” (ibid). And, then in interpreting their dream by identifying them as serving a different God at the altar and leading people astray. It is interesting that this does echo more loudly the feeble attitude of the disciples portrayed in the New Testament, especially their often misunderstanding of Jesus’ parables. The latter part of the Gospel is also distinctly different from the canonical texts because rather than being a narrative of Jesus’ life, it deals extensively with cosmological descriptions not to be found in the canonical texts. Gnostic connection of the text Father Williams, dean of theology at the Regina Apostolorum University in Rome points out, “One of the major differences between Gnostic belief and that of Christianity concerns the origins of evil in the universe.” (Zenit, 2006) Whereas Christians view God and his creation as good and that the abuse of free will made sin and corruption enter the world to produce disorder and suffering, “Gnostics blamed God for the evil in the world and claimed that he created the world in a disordered and flawed way.” (ibid) It is not mere coincidence therefore that the Gnostics should promote this text that places Judas with the likes of Cain and Esau. The Gospel of Judas is clearly a Gnostic text because “Judas fits perfectly into the Gnostic agenda of showing that God intends evil for the world.” (ibid) Gnostics link the path to salvation not to having faith but to acquiring spiritual knowledge, hence the name derived from gnosis. It is a departure from orthodox Christian teaching because the crucifixion then has less significance in their view. Instead, Jesus becomes more of a teacher of knowledge and wisdom. However, the confusion in suggesting a direct connection with Gnosticism is that the aforementioned Gnostic beliefs are nowhere explicitly stated (Ehrman, 2003). Actually, “the Gnostic credo is the construction of modern scholars, who have compiled it in part by drawing on the polemics of such critics of heresy as Irenaeus, and in part by creating a synthesis of ideas found in the various Nag Hammadi writings as well as other texts.” (Irichinschi, 2006) Looked at in this way, it can only be said that certain elements of the tenets of Gnosticism can be found in the Gospel of Judas rather than state that it is a Gnostic text, which would be an inaccuracy. Essential purpose of the Gospel of Judas Judas’ superior knowledge over the other disciples is demonstrated when he stands to face the challenge put to them by Jesus, and mentions his knowing that Jesus is “from the immortal realm of Barbelo” (Gospel of Judas). This makes Jesus sufficiently impressed with Judas to take him aside for the secret revelations and later imparting to him the teachings on cosmology. The twelve disciples did not have sufficient understanding to be given the same. This Gospel takes a very different direction from the canonical texts, which deal more with the story of Jesus’ life rather further our understanding of the source of evil and cosmology. It also emphasises the knowledge and revelation as the true path to salvation. As for the crucifixion, the Gospel of Judas instead of revealing details of what happened explains what made it happen. These Gnostic ideas are not unique to the Gospel of Judas though. As a television documentary (Vision Video, 2006) on the subject points out, they pervade in the non-canonical texts. Without getting into detail of differences, in short the canonical gospels contain only public teachings whereas the Gospel of Judas contains secret knowledge for the selected few. Professor Clinton (2006) remarks, “Whereas the four canonical gospels are written for all people to read and understand, the Gospel of Judas as well as the other Nag Hammadi documents are written by and for an educated elite with some level of philosophical sophistication.” A comparison of the differences only highlights what the majority was to know and what was not authorised for them to handle. As such, it does not pose a challenge to Christianity but gives better insight into the relationship between Jesus and Judas that is missing from the canonical texts. References Arnold, Professor Clinton, E. (2006) The Gospel of Judas: Perspective on Some Crucial Questions. Biola University. April 10, 2006. http://www.talbot.edu/news_events/downloads/judas-gospel.pdf [April 26, 2009]. Bible, Holy. The New International Version Study Bible. Zondervan Publishing House. (1985). Conte, Ronald L. (2005) The Writing of the Gospels – Relationship between the Synoptics. Catholic Planet. http://www.catholicplanet.com/TSM/NT-synoptics.htm [April 26, 2009].. Ehrman, Bart D. (2003) The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings. Oxford University Press. 3rd edition. P. 173. Catholic Encylcopedia. Gigot, F. (1909) Gospel and Gospels. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved from New Advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06655b.htm [April 26, 2009]. Gospel of Judas, The. (2006) Rodolphe, Kasser et al. (Ed.) The National Geographic Society. Irichinschi, Eduard et al. (2006) The Betrayer’s Gospel. The New York Review of Books. Volume 53, Number 10. June 8, 2006. http://www.nybooks.com/articles/19031#fn1. [Accessed April 26, 2009]. Lion Handbook. (1993) The Lion Handbook to the Bible. England: Lion Publishing Plc. Lion Handbook b. (1993) The World’s Religions: A Comprehensive Guide. Czech Republic: Lion Publishing Plc. National Geographic. (n.d.) The Lost Gospel of Judas. National Geographic. http://www.nationalgeographic.com/lostgospel/ [April 26, 2009]. NIV Compact Dictionary. Douglas, J.D. and Tenney, Merrill (n.d.) NIV Compact Dictionary of the Bible. Hodder and Stoughton. Oakes, John. (n.d.) What are the dates when the four gospels were first written? How do we know? Evidence for Christianity. https://www.evidenceforchristianity.org/index.php?option=com_custom_content&task=view&id=4680 [April 26, 2009]. Pagels, Elaine. (2008) Reading Judas: The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity. Penguin. Tomlin, Gregory. (2007) Prof: Gnostics called Judas demon, no hero. November 6, 2007. Baptist Press. http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=26763 [April 26, 2009]. Vision Video. (2006) Gospel Of Judas And Other Gnostic Secrets Revealed. DVD. Wilford, John Noble and Goodstein, Laurie. (2006) ‘Gospel of Judas’ Surfaces After 1,700 Years. New York Times. April 6, 2006. Zenit. (2006) The Gospel of Judas: Interview with Father Thomas Williams, Theology Dean. Zenit, April 5, 2006. http://www.zenit.org/article-15726?l=english [April 26, 2009]. Read More