Why four gospels?
People often wonder why there are four gospels? Why not more or less? Why are they even called gospels and what does the word Gospels mean? Therefore, I'm here to tell you by studying the gospels and reading reviews and books from other people explaining why it is the way it is, why it's set up to only four Gospels. I've read a few reviews from David Alan Blacks, Book, Why the four gospels, and it has been an inspiring informational book to a lot of people and goes really in depth of why he thinks and has evidence to back up his claims of why there are only four gospels. Also, from other professors who teach from New Testament studies like this one.
The New Testament, contains 27 manuscripts. The most well-known of these
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The Gospel of John was written between 90 and 100 CE. The Gospel of John, was sometimes called "the spiritual gospel," because it told the story of Jesus in ways that were different from the other three Gospels. The gospel of John begins with Jesus' activity and characteristics of the Son of God before Jesus Became human. The gospel of John emphasizes the deity of Christ, as is seen in his use of such phrases as “the Word was God” (John 1:1), “the Savior of the World” (John 4:42), the “Son of God”, and “Lord and...God” (John 20:28). In John's gospel, Jesus also affirms his deity with several “I Am” statements; most notable among them is (John 8:58,) in which He states that “...before Abraham was, I Am”. But John also emphasizes the fact of Jesus' humanity, desiring to show the error of a religious sect of his day, the Gnostics, who did not believe in Christ’s humanity. John's gospel spells out his overall purpose for writing: “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name”. (John
The contents of the Bible have dealt with controversy in regards to its inerrancy since publication, and will surely continue to. Historians progress to learn more about biblical stories in order to provide evidence for the reliability of information. Many believers today understand that not everything in the Bible has been factually proven. An outstanding topic many scholars pay attention to lies within the four gospels. The three synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, replay essentially the same story with minor inconsistencies, while John portrays Jesus in an entirely different way. The differences in each gospel are due to how each gospel entertains different portrayals of the life and understanding of Jesus himself, in order to persuade
The study of the Gospel of John can be viewed as distinct and separate from the study of any of the previous three synoptic gospels. The Fourth Gospel contains language and conceptions so distinct from the synoptics that scholars are often faced with the question of its historical origins. Originally, scholars believed the main source for the Gospel of John to be Jewish wisdom literature, Philo, the Hermetic books and the Mandaean writings, leading to the idea that John was the most Greek of the Gospels. However, with the discovery of the scrolls, scholars were now faced with source materials, remarkably similar to the concepts and language found in John, illuminating the literature as not only Jewish but Palestinian in origin. The discovery of the manuscripts opened up an entirely new interpretation of the gospel of John and a progressive understanding of its proper place within biblical scripture.
The Gospel of John, the last of the four gospels in the Bible, is a radical departure from the simple style of the synoptic gospels. It is the only one that does not use parables as a way of showing how Jesus taught, and is the only account of several events, including the raising of Lazarus and Jesus turning water into wine. While essentially the gospel is written anonymously, many scholars believe that it was written by the apostle John sometime between the years 85 and 95 CE in Ephesus. The basic story is that of a testimonial of one of the Apostles and his version of Jesus' ministry. It begins by telling of the divine origins of the birth of Jesus, then goes on to prove that He is the Son of God because of the miracles he performs and finally describes Jesus' death and resurrection.
John focuses on the profound meaning of the life of Jesus, whom he saw as the
The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are the origin of nearly everything the Christian Church teaches about Jesus. The Gospels, in turn, serve as the scale or test of truth and authenticity of everything the church teaches about Jesus. It is said that the Gospels are the link between Jesus of Nazareth and the people of every age throughout history who have claimed to be his followers. Although the Gospels teach us about Jesus’ life they may not provide concrete evidence that what they speak of is true there are several other sources.
The New Testament teaches about who Jesus is and what he did on the earth. John wrote the last of the four gospels which recount Jesus’ life and what is to come. The gospel of John is somewhat different from the other three gospels, in that it is more symbolic and less concrete. For example, John expresses Jesus as the Passover Lamb when Matthew, Mark, and Luke do not. This gospel is showing that Christianity is moving away from the long-practiced Jewish traditions. John’s gospel can be laid out into four parts: the prologue or the incarnate word, signs of the Messiah with teachings about life in him, the farewell teaching and the passion narrative, and the epilogue or the roles of Peter and of the disciple whom Jesus loved. The Gospel of John is arguably the most
Four books of the Bible, referred to as the Gospels, summarize the good news of Jesus Christ. The four books of the Gospel are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
Before making some discussions on the gospel we believed to be written by the disciple who loved by Jesus (John 13:23, 19:26, 20:2, 21:7) it is good to see the purpose of this gospel. The purpose of the gospel of John seems summarized in two verses “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, who are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:30-31, NIV).
God’s written law is something that is and should be continuously turned, to not only when Christians find themselves in need, but also throughout in one’s daily life. The four gospels tell to story of Jesus’ life and his teachings he gave while on the earth making it possible for there to be a true example of Christ-like faith. The proposition that there are differences in the story of Jesus and in his teachings seems to question the basis upon which the Christian faith is found upon. Rather than proclaiming the gospels as falsehoods because on the differences they possess, by analyzing the differences in the context of the particular gospel it can be understood that the differences are not made by mistake, rather as a literary device. While the four gospels have differences and similarities, they cannot be regarded as an argument against the faith because their differences are what point to the many aspects of Christ.
The first three gospels are sometimes called the 'synoptic' (same view) gospels. This is because they each cover teaching and miracles by Jesus that are also covered in another account. John, writing later, recounts Jesus' other words and miracles that have a particular spiritual meaning.
The four-Gospel canon is attributed to Irenaeus of Lyons whose argument went thus “There are four zones of the world…four principal winds…four faces on each of the cherubim…and four covenants between God and the human race’’ (quoted in Patterson). Patterson further notes that there were other Gospels that other theologians contemporary to Irenaeus that championed the inclusion of other Gospels as equally relevant, divinely inspired and not heretical. Indeed, the possible existence of a document like ‘Q’ or other sources that the Synoptics are based on tell us that primacy was not the defining feature in Irenaeus decision. While many of these documents have been lost to time, one can argue that a reader who is magically transported to early second century would soon realize that there is a breadth of Gospels considered to be part of the orthodoxy depending on what part of the world is visited and not just the four Synoptic canon. They would likely come to a realization that “the impulse toward mysticism is very strong in early Judaism and Christianity…even foundational [and] it is this form of religiosity...
The gospel can be a synopsis or a prolonged message that one person can write stating the many works of Christ while another person may briefly describe Christ’s death and resurrection. There is only one gospel but it is described by more than one apostle just as there is only one Christ therefore there can be no more than one gospel. Consequently, we need to discard the idea that there are four gospels and four evangelists and adopt the view that there is only one gospel. Every time we hear the gospel we should perceive the sermon as Christ coming to you or us being brought to him. One must recognize Christ as a gift so that you do not doubt that Christ himself belongs to you. The gospel is a book of divine promises in which God gives us all of his possessions and teaches us in an affectionate and loving way rather than forcing us (Luther 73). Luther made it clear that “you do not make Christ into a Moses, as if Christ did nothing more to teach and provide examples as the other saints do, as if the gospel were simply a text books of teachings or laws” (Luther
The four gospels are detailed accounts of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Each portrays a unique story and angle of Jesus, who is the savior of the Jews and the world. Apostle Matthew’s writings are to prove to the Jews that Jesus is their Messiah. Mark stressed the humanity of Jesus and also his deity. Luke wanted to show that the gentile Christian in God’s kingdom is based on the teachings of Jesus. John speaks of Jesus as one sent from God to reveal His love and grace to man. The four gospels work together to elaborate on the several key themes; salvation, spreading His word, and the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise.
The New Testament is a collection of different spiritual literary works, which includes the Gospels, a history of early church, the epistles of Paul, other epistles and apocalypse. Without deeply thinking or researching of the chronological order of the Gospels, a reader should not have problem to observe that the Gospels begin with the Gospel of Matthew, and to notice that there are many common areas, including content and literary characteristics, among the first three Gospels, the Gospel of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
The term “Synoptic Problem” alludes to the similarities and differences that is apparent in the Synoptic Gospels. Events that occurred are detailed in somewhat different arrangements and narrations. These differences and similarities have caused observant Christians to wonder what could cause what appear to be a chronological difference in these Gospels and why do we have more than one Gospel? All of these observations and questions in essence make up the “Synoptic Problem.” (Lea and Black,The New Testament Its Background and message 2003:114) The development of the Gospel as described by Luke referred to “eyewitnesses” an “account of the things” and “an orderly account”. These stages correlate to the Oral tradition, the period of written sources, and the period of final composition.(Lea and Black,The New Testament Its Background and message 2003:115)