Thursday 3 July 2008

4 Gospels

Why 4 Gospels ?

Justin Martyr (c. 155) in 1 Apology 66 wrote: "...the apostles, in the memoirs composed by them, which are called Gospels". Irenaeus was ultimately successful in declaring that the four gospels collectively, and exclusively these four, contained the truth. By reading each gospel in light of the others, Irenaeus made of John a lens through which to read Matthew, Mark and Luke. The four gospels present different narratives, reflecting different intents on the parts of their authors. You can see the last gospel, the gospel of John, presents a very different picture of Jesus and his ministry from the synoptics.

4 difference wordings

In the 4 Gospel, 4 difference wordings used to record the same events. Ninety-one percent of Mark's content is found in Matthew, and fifty-three percent of Mark is found in Luke. The wording in the 4 Gospels are not 100% identically same.


Synoptic problem

The synoptic problem concerns how this interrelation came to be and the nature of the interrelationship itself. Any solution must account for the similarities and differences in content, order, and wording. The VPP theologian does not explain this to you, they are ignorance about the Synoptic Problem.


The comparison for the feeding of the 5 thousand is taken for study:

Matthew 14:13-21 (King James Version)

13When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities.
14And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.
15And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.
16But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat.
17And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.
18He said, Bring them hither to me.
19And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.
20And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.
21And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.



Mark 6:30-44 (King James Version)


30And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught.
31And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.
32And they departed into a desert place by ship privately.
33And the people saw them departing, and many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and outwent them, and came together unto him.
34And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.
35And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him, and said, This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed:
36Send them away, that they may go into the country round about, and into the villages, and buy themselves bread: for they have nothing to eat.
37He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat?
38He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes.
39And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass.
40And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties.
41And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all.
42And they did all eat, and were filled.
43And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes.
44And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men.



Luke 9:10-17 (King James Version)


10And the apostles, when they were returned, told him all that they had done. And he took them, and went aside privately into a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.
11And the people, when they knew it, followed him: and he received them, and spake unto them of the kingdom of God, and healed them that had need of healing.
12And when the day began to wear away, then came the twelve, and said unto him, Send the multitude away, that they may go into the towns and country round about, and lodge, and get victuals: for we are here in a desert place.
13But he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they said, We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people.
14For they were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, Make them sit down by fifties in a company.
15And they did so, and made them all sit down.
16Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them, and brake, and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude.
17And they did eat, and were all filled: and there was taken up of fragments that remained to them twelve baskets.


John 6


1After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias.
2And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased.
3And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples.
4And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.
5When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?
6And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.
7Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.
8One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him,
9There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?
10And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.
11And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.
12When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.
13Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.
14Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.



Please made comparison about the wordings, 4 gospel writers used 4 different kinds of wording to record the same event. Nothing wrong about. The meaning is more important than just the wordings. Paul did not attack any of the Book of Gospels, or the Gospel writers because of the wording, or did he attack any other NT writer because of wording in the New Testament? Which is more important, the wording or the meaning? Asked Paul, what did he said. Tell, me. He said "all scripture is God-breathed" (2 Timothy 3:16).

The twentieth century has seen many new translations of the Bible. More than 70 new versions have been produced since 1948. These newer versions have the advantage of being based on more extensive manuscript evidence and contain more modern language which is more easily understood by current readers. The most widely used of these newer versions is the New International Version (NIV), first released in 1978. Ask those VPP theologian, so many bible version, which is more important, wordings or the meaning?


Remember this:For the writers of the Gospel accounts he, the living Lord of the church, is the only one who is important.






I had put a smiling face at the bottom of the blog. Look!

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