I took New Testament during Jan Term, and a lot of the time was spent on The Gospels.
Our professor told us that Matthew, Luke, and John most likely got most of their information from the book of Mark. They also could have gotten some other information from what many people call "source Q" or an unknown source.
Even with all of the content similarities, they all emphasize many different things. A lot of verses are the same, but some are just one word different than the others. This can sometimes seem to emphasize the writers specific beliefs or what they think is more important.
For example, two of the books (I cannot remember 100% which book was which) both talk about the poor at the same time in Jesus' teachings. One refers to the poor in spirit and another refers to the physically poor. One praises those who need spiritual help and one condemns the wealthy. This kinda gives you whiplash.
It just seems confusing to me that they have different subjects at the top (or mixed in) when they should have had the same final outcome.
Allyson,
ReplyDeleteWe're going to talk about the differences. I think, acually, that it's great that we have 4 different gospels. They fill out the picture of Jesus and the disciples.