The Four Gospels
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The books of the Old Testament and those of the New have been closely studied for authorship and other historical evidence. The four gospels differ in many details regarding the life of Christ, including differences in details over his birth and death. The different writers selected and arranged material according to their different intentions. This creates some problems given that the story as a whole is not consistent. Matthew, Mark, and Luke have the same basic point of view and share more material than with the version of John. The first three are considered the Synoptic Gospels and are associated with the teachings of Christ as given in Galilee through his lifetime. The version of John is more associated with earlier teachings in Judea. The first three tell of the miracles accomplished by Christ, while John is more interested in the nature of the man himself. Both Matthew and Luke offer a genealogy, but they present the material in different order, Matthew in the traditional way, and Luke going backward. There are some differences in the listing. Mark has an apocalyptic tone and a dramatic way of telling the story. Matthew is more poetic and writes in a style similar to Hebrew poetry. Matthew follows Mark closely after Chapter 12. Matthew writes as an evangelist. Luke is more formal in style, and his version would become the model for presentations of the life of Jesus meant to be imitated. John has a different chronological framework. In the earlier gosp
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context of a Christian church whose members were still acutely conscious of their roots of Judaism and who needed to work out the true relation of Jesus to Israel (France 28).
Scholars have also tried to work out the date of composition and have generally determined that it was written during the last twenty years of the first century. First, it is noted that the work was not written before AD 65 and that it made use of Mark, which thus had to predate it. Second, the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 is thought to have influenced the language in certain passages. Third, the work has an "anti-Jewish" tone that fits the period around AD 85, when Christians were effectively excluded from synagogue worship by the addition of a curse on "Nazarenes and heretics" in the synagogue liturgy. Fourth, the Gospel is considered to reflect too "developed" a theological and ecclesiastical situation to come from an earlier period. Some scholars argue that these factors are not conclusive. Some argue that it is not certain that Mark was used, for instance. Patristic tradition dates Matthew before Mark. There are certain passages in the gospel itself that seem to refer to an earlier date, such as references to practices in the temple. It
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Approximate Word count = 1965
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)
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