...The 4 Gospels written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John collaborate to present Jesus. An in-depth look that reviews structures, themes, authors, settings, and dates, are ways to shape each Gospels contribution to the portrait of Jesus. By doing so, this pin points how they are similar and different from each other. What some referred to as, “memoirs of the apostles”, are not considered to be a biography of Christ; rather, the same information arranged and written as their individual interpretation to present the portrait of Christ that they choose to show . Out of The four Gospel writers Luke's interpretation is fascinating for many reasons. Luke had so much to tell, so he needed a second book, The Acts of the Apostles that is considered to be...
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...Theology of the Four Gospels The first three gospels are sometimes called the 'synoptic' or same view gospels. This is because they each cover teaching and miracles by Jesus that are also covered in another account. The fourth gospel, John, writing later, recounts Jesus' other words and miracles that have a particular spiritual meaning. All four gospels present Jesus as both the Son of God and son of man. In this paper information will be provided that describes the major theological differences between the synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. Information will also be provided that describes a theological perspective of the gospel of John. Finally, information in this paper will include how ones understanding of the various theological perspectives presented in the four Gospels can be used as an additional tool to facilitate the proclaiming of the Four Gospels. Theological Differences between the Synoptic Gospels and the Gospel of John The Gospel According to Matthew The first three books of the New Testament have been identified as the synoptic gospels. These books are Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The first book of the New Testament is identified as the book of Matthew. Matthew was one of the first twelve disciples of Jesus, as recorded in Matthew 9:1; 10:1-4 and therefore an eye-witness. Matthew records more of Jesus' teaching concerning God's heavenly kingdom than the other writers, Mark, Luke, or John. In the first four books of Matthew, the miracle story of Jesus’...
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...The Gospel and the Four Gospels In the beginning the New Testament is given in metaphor as described as a turtle. The New Testament should be treated just like a snapping turtle. You do not know that it’s a snapping turtle until your each out for it and it quickly snaps back at you. You have to be very careful in approaching both, we have to take into consideration that dealing with them both we have to not only look at the impression or the first impression they give off. You would think you can trust a turtle because it’s so harmless, but you don’t know until you reach out. The New Testament is innocent until you start to read and you start to see that it’s definitely different from your other readings. The first four documents will give us a more mature look about the New Testament. The content of the message is that its important when reading and studying the four Gospels. You have to recognize that each of the Gospels are written and specifically designed for a certain audience and group of people. Matthew is written for the Jewish audience. Mark is written to the Romans. Luke is written to the Greek. John is written to the Christian that is born again. Even though they all generally, but not always, include events that are the same but gives different information from a certain event. The biggest difference in the four Gospels is that God is reaching out to everyone. He created us all different but the bible was that one source that will make us all alike. He creared...
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...In completing a hundred percent of my reading for session two, I have learned about the important factors of having the four Gospels in the New Testament. "The books called Gospels deal with the life and ministry of Jesus." P.150 Though each of these books hold a significant value of information on thier own the unity of four gospel books multiples the quality of its value. Having the four authors of Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) be a narrator of who Jesus was and what he did, allows us to encounter who God is in a varity of standpoints. "They give us proclamations and instructions written from theological standpoints." P.150Having the four perspectives provide more of a complete picture of Jesus. Through the four Gospels we can get...
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...Patience Syokau Mutonga |1 When reading the Gospels, the reader quickly realizes that the accounts are similar1. However, a closer look reveals that they narrate the life and work of Jesus Christ in different ways. Four different authors address their Gospels to four different audiences, expounding on four different themes. Can such different narratives collectively refer to the same Person and give a complete, unshakeable picture of His life and work? The answer lies in a study of each Gospel writer’s interpretation of Jesus’ person, life and work2. That way, each Gospel account is seen, “… like a different – coloured thread in a tapestry woven together to form a more complete picture of this One who is beyond description.” 3 Together the diverse themes of King, Servant, Son of Man and Son of God as independently portrayed in the Gospels all relate together to show a complete picture of Jesus Christ’s life and work. Matthew, Mark and Luke are jointly called the Synoptic Gospels4 (from the Greek word, ‘synopsis’, meaning “a seeing together”).5 They share many of the same events and largely concentrate on Jesus’ Galilean ministry.6 Furthermore, there is a common synopsis in these Gospels, namely: the introduction of Jesus, preaching in Galilee, journey to Jerusalem, and Passion (His death and resurrection).7 John’s Gospel, however, stands alone in its perspective and audience. Unlike the Synoptics, John begins his Gospel ‘from heaven down,’ stating that “…the Word was made...
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...BOOK CRITIQUE: WHY FOUR GOSPELS? Tiago Souza NBST 515 September 24, 2013 INTRODUCTION This work will analyze the book “Why Four Gospels” by David Alan Black. The main objective will be compare the Fourfold-Gospel Hypothesis opposed to the Markan Priority. In order to do that, this work will first analyze the historical background and reality context of the composition of each gospel. The author David Black has published over 100 scholarly articles and book reviews in such journals as Novum Testamentum, New Testament Studies, Bible Translator, Journal of Biblical Literature, and many others. He also serves as Professor of New Testament and Greek and the Dr. M. O. Owens Jr. Chair in New Testament Studies at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina. SUMMARY The book starts by bringing up a description of the development of the gospels, and a not very known basic historical fact is that the Gospels were written through a not so brief period of time. The “Gospel according to Mathew” was published in 42 AD, and there was a 20-25 years gap between its publication and the publication of “Luke’s Gospel” and “The gospel according to Mark”. And than, another huge gap between the publication of those and finally “The Gospel of John” being published in 96 AD, so there was a 54 years interval between the publication of the 4 Gospels, and that fact shows that sometimes God likes to act in a way that takes time, seems unusual to human eyes, but in...
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...The Gospels include the first 4 books of the New Testament which are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These stories in a way show the time period from Jesus' birth to Jesus' death and resurrection. One of the purposes of the 4 Gospels is to share the same stories but from different people with different perspectives from each other. Which has a whole message in it's self. I believe a key theme in these 4 books is the theme of laying down your life for others. Jesus obviously laid down his life in huge ways for all of us and we are to lay down our lives for others as well. We are taught in these books many things that we are called to carry out still to this day. There are so many themes that I can not even begin to list them all. You can get...
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...The four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John 1. Introduction The term Gospel means good news, a message which was desperately needed (Guthrie, 1965: 11). According to Talbot (2013: 69) gospels can be divided into 2 groups namely the Synoptic gospels- Matthew, Mark and Luke and Gospel of John. He explains that Matthew, Mark and Luke are called the synoptic gospels because they have so much in common. Kotze (6), outlines their similarities and differences as follows: |Mark | |Matthew | |Luke | |Total: 661 verses | |Total :1068 verses | |Total: 1149 verses | |600 verses parallel to Matthew | |505 verses parallel to Mark | |380 verses parallel to Mark | |61 verses peculiar to Mark | |235 versus parallel to Luke | |235 versus parallel to Matthew | | | |328 verses peculiar to Matthew | |534 verses peculiar to Luke | There are suggestions due the similarities and differences that (1) Mark was the original writer and was copied by Matthew and Luke (2) Matthew was original writer copied by Luke, and Mark made a shorter version. The material where obtained from the following suggested sources: (1) Oral tradition – the good news spread by word of mouth before it was written down (2) An earlier...
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...indeed true or not, we must check the manuscripts. The New Testament documents have more manuscripts, earlier manuscripts, and more abundantly supported manuscripts than the best ten pieces of old literature combined… Scientists believe there are nearly 5,700 hand-written Greek manuscripts of the New Testament. In addition, there are more than 9,000 manuscripts in other languages. Some of these nearly 15,000 manuscripts are complete Bibles, others are books or pages, and a few are just fragments. If you check most of these manuscripts that are in different languages, you will see that they all have the same meaning and are for the most part the same thing. Therefor we can easily say that the Bible and the Gospels were accurately preserved for us....
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...Why is a theological motif important for systematic theology? Is it necessary? What part does it play in the theological task? Theological motif has a great deal of importance. It is one of the four theological formulation that expresses the Christian beliefs. "When we move beyond mere haphazard reflection on faith and consciously seek to articulate our beliefs systematically, we step into the discipline called theology"(Grentz 2000). Grentz admits to its importance although it has been under stress by many systematic theologians. Grentz enphasizes the importance to the identification of a motif or connecting, organizing theme is the systematic expression of doctrines. It was also mention how the integrative motif is basically the central idea that provides the thematic perspective of light of all theological concepts that gives understanding to its meaning and value. Yes theological motif is necessary and the part it play in it is that it is the reflection on and the theology articulation of faith. The part that the theological motif plays in the task for systematic theory is that it is an "ongoing undertaking that involves the philosophies of church heads and intellectuals from the past whose ideas about scripture and works of church are passed along in the traditon"(Grentz 2000). As we look deeper into the understanding of theological we will open up so much understanding while we increase our knowledge of God and awareness. "The theological enterprise, therefore...
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...However, after studying Christian Socialism in Socialist Theory class it began to be clear to me that Jesus was in fact socialist. The Four Gospels gave me some clues to derive to such conclusion. Although at first sight the Four Gospels seem to only tell us about Jesus’ life, you must analysis a bit further to begin to see similarities. Back in the day when the Four Gospels were written, there was no actual definition for socialism, nor even a term like this. However, Jesus claimed that in addition to asking his followers to respect and trust him, he also talks negatively about the wealthy people, stating that they are greedy and even says that a day will come when the rich and the poor will get what they deserve. The poor ones will travel to Heaven, whilst the rich will be sentenced to life in hell. The main issue with this theory is that it cannot be used to guide socialism. The theory is rather unreasonable especially when stating that the rich will only receive what they deserve once they...
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...Summary of the Chapters In chapter one of Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, J.I. Packer doesn’t waste time explaining the general truths. He already expects his readers to know that God is sovereign over His world. He is the author and source of all things, therefore, our prayers do not force the Lord of all to do anything. Packer wants his audience to realize that because the God is sovereign, we cannot save ourselves. Our salvation comes through Him and in Him; it is nothing we did ourselves. Packers gives two examples, that he believes can prove that God is sovereign in salvation. The first, he argues that we (Christians) thank God for our salvation. By doing so we acknowledge that God is solely responsible for our salvation. We do not thank ourselves for being saved, do we? No, because we know that it is God who is in control. The second way we acknowledge that God is sovereign in salvation, is that we pray for the conversion of non-believers. Packer defends his reasoning by saying, “Do you limit yourself to asking that God will bring them (non-believers) to a point where they can save themselves, independently of Him?”[1] Again, by praying to God for the salvation of others we practice the act of acknowledging God is sovereign. Proven now, that God is sovereign, in chapter 2 the author explains what an antimony is and how to deal with hardships that come along with it. An antimony is an appearance of a contradiction between conclusions which seem equally...
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...Oliver Metzler GLST 220-D02 “Gospel Presentation” December 13, 2015 Background Information The person whom I intend to share the Gospel with is my friend Drew Harmatz. We have been friends now for over three years and over that time grown to be really good friends. Even though we are good friends we do not share the same beliefs. Drew is Jewish and has chosen to stick with his birth religion because he likes the Jewish moral compass. Basically, he has expressed that he feels the Jewish culture is more peaceful and presents a better moral basis than that of any other religion. While we have talk of God, Christ, and the Bible; I have never tried to relay the Gospel to him. Elements of Communication There are a couple key points I must understand when trying to communicate the Gospel to Drew. The first thing I should do is try and relate to him as Paul did. Paul stated in 1 Corinthians 9:20 that in order to win over the Jews he must become a Jew. Jews and Christian both hold the Old testament as truth and I should start with trying to embark on common ground. The written Torah that Jews reads are actually the first 5 books of the Bible. This is a great way to relate and attempt to break down the walls. Using common ground is one way, another would be to relate the Jewish and Christian moral compass to him. Drew relates the moral compass of Christians to the history that has been documented and not to what the scripture writes. In order to do this, I would need to...
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...For more expensive vessels, the potter first refined the clay by treading it out in water. Clay pots found many uses. Items of value could be kept in them, and clay jars were especially popular for storing liquids because the pottery hindered evaporation and kept the contents cool at the same time. Even broken pieces of pottery, or "shards," found a use as writing material for notes, receipts and messages. In verses 7-15 Paul compares the gospel minister to a piece of Palestinian pottery. We have this treasure in jars of clay (v. 7). This treasure is the glorious good news about Christ (vv. 1-6). Jars of clay is actually "earthenware vessels" (ostrakinois skeuesin). The noun skeuosrefers to a vessel serving a specific purpose (such as a jug, cup, pan or pot). When used of people it often carries the sense of "implement" or "instrument" (Maurer 1971:358-67). So to be God's "vessel" is to be his instrument in carrying out a specific service--in this case, the gospel ministry. The marvel of Paul's statement is not to be overlooked. The gospel minister is a vessel made of common,...
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...METHODS OF EVANGELISM Methods of Evangelism James Mathew McInnis Sr. Liberty University Online Methods of Evangelism Intellectual Method Summary of Method: The Four Spiritual Laws are a way of sharing the good news of the salvation that is available through faith in Jesus Christ. It is a simple way of organizing the important information in the Gospel into four points. Advantages of Using This Method – This method was developed by Bill Bright in 1957 and can be found in the pamphlet Have You Heard of the Four Spiritual laws. The method is easy to understand and simplifies the gospel to the basics. It can take a simple believer and turn him/her to an evangelist. The Four Laws are (1) God loves us and has a wonderful plan for our life (John 3:16, John 10:10), (2) Man is sinful and separated from God. He can’t know and experience God’s love for his life (Roman 3:23, Romans 6:23), (3) Sin can only be forgiven through Jesus Christ will we know God’s plan for our life (Romans 5:8, 1 Corinthians 15: 3-6, John 14:6), (4) We must receive Jesus Christ individually as Savior and Lord to know and experience his plan for our life (John 1:12), Ephesians 2: 8-9), (John 3:1-8), (Revelation 3:20) There are a few disadvantages to these spiritual laws. The first disadvantage is that the message of the gospel is watered down and this allows a conversion that is too quick. This is not a good idea for non-believers. It also suggests that a person can be saved easily by the prayer of...
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