7/16/2019

“Ignorance of
Knowing How the the Scriptures
Gospels were Formed
is ignorance
of Christ”
-St. Jerome

“It is worse still

to be ignorant
of your
ignorance.” Jesus' Life in Palestine
-St. Jerome (1 - 30 A.D.)

Jesus' life in Palestine (1-30) Jesus' life in Palestine (1-30)

ØThe Birth of Jesus
ØA certain Jesus who lived in Palestine.
ØJesus started his public ministry at the age of 30.
ØHe preached with unique authority as foretold by the prophets.
ØHe performed many miracles and chose twelve men as His
apostles to preach His message of salvation to all nations.
ØHe promised them that He would send His Holy Spirit to
enlighten and empower them as they spread the Good News
throughout the world.
ØDuring the last days of His life, he was betrayed by one of his
disciples.
ØHe was arrested by the Sanhedrin and accused of several
criminal cases.
ØHe was tortured, persecuted and stoned to death as he carried
the cross to the Mount Golgotha.
ØThe crucifixion happened. Jesus dies as he excruciatingly
endured the physical pain and suffering.
ØHe was taken down and laid on a borrowed tomb.
ØHe resurrected.

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Let us reflect a bit...

ØWhy do we need to know that there was a person named Jesus of
Nazareth who lived 2000 years ago in Jerusalem?
ØHow important is the account of the life of a person who truly lived
in the history of mankind?
ØBe mindful that 30 - 40 years after the death of Christ, the Gospel of
Mark was written, try to think about the implication of this historical
inquiry.
ØJesus truly lived and there were eye witnesses, however, these eye Oral Tradition
witnesses did not think of writing the raw experience they had with
Jesus since they believed that his promised second coming was at
hand. Up to now we are waiting for this second coming.
(31 - 64 A.D.)

Oral Tradition (30 - 64) Oral Tradition (30 - 64)

ØThe apostles/disciples of Jesus fulfilled Jesus' command to
preach the Good News.
ØAlthough during this period the
ØThe apostles travelled throught Palestine and the Middle East Apostles preached about Jesus Christ
and moved to Greece, Egypt, Asia Minor, Syria and Rome itself. only orally, partial written compilations
ØThe period when the apostles were preaching the Good News to
all nations was “The Great Evangelization”
of Jesus' parables, miracles, and sayings
ØWhen did the Oral Tradition began? After the resurrection of and an outline of the Passion Narratives
Christ, people were talking about what happened in Jerusalem,
and most of them were astounded on how the death of Jesus
were already being written and passed
had happened. around.

Why did it take so long for the first
Gospel to be written?
Øthe Semitic people preferred the spoken,
“living” word to the written word.
Øthe early Christians did not feel the
need to record the facts about Jesus' life
in written form since the proclamation
about Jesus was only confined in
Palestine.
Why did it take so long for the first
Gospel to be written?
ØEarly Christians expected the Risen
Christ to come back soon, hence they
saw no need to record the accounts of
His life and teachings. For them,it was
more urgent to preach Jesus' Good News
than it was to write about Him and His
teachings.

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Reasons of writing the Gospel then

eventually;
ØThe apostles and the original witnesses were dying and
being martyred.
ØThey need to write some sayings and words of Jesus for

The Written
guidance to the new preachers outside Palestine.
ØThe first Christian community realized that Jesus

Gospels
would not be coming back soon as they had originally
expected, they realized the need for a more permanent
record of Jesus' message for the future generations of
Christians.

The Written Gospels John 20: 30 - 31

Revised Standard Version_

ØThe Gospels were written overa period of 30 - 40 years,

from about A.D. 65 - 100.There is nothing quite like
them in the world of religious or secular literature.
ØThey are faith testimonies to the Life, Death and
Resurrection of Jesuswritten by believers to guide
fellow believers and inspire new ones.
ØThe Gospels were not written to serve as
biographies whose historical need to be confirmed by
many resources.
“Now Jesus did many other signs in
the presence of the disciples, which
are not written in this book; but these
are written that you may believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of
God, and that believing you may
have life in his name.”

The Written Gospels

“Scripture is
ØThe evangelists, the writers of the four better learned
canonical Gospels, drew their materials from
the oral preaching of the apostles and the through prayer
earliest disciples of Jesus. than through
ØThe evangelists organized the materials study.”
according to their own particular sources,
audience, social, political and religious -St. Philip Neri
context and purpose.