Hot answers tagged gospels
25
Syn- means same (as in synchronize, same time), and optic of course refers to sight. The three first Gospels are syn-optic because they see alike; they basically tell the same story as each other, covering many of the same events. John, on the other hand, focuses on a lot of different material than the other authors, and has a very high percentage of ...
16
Short Answer: We don't know.
Some possibilities:
There was some sort of heavenly announcement, similar to the voice of the Father at Jesus' baptism (reference)
Jesus explained it to them, as He was accustomed to having to do for them. (Keep in mind that there is a lot of stuff that wasn't recorded in Scripture!) (reference)
They recognized it by divine ...
14
1 “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. (Matthew 6:1)
In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)
God is telling us not to be prideful and boast ...
12
The Bible does emphatically state that Jesus was without sin.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our
weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are,
yet without sin. Hebrews 4:15 ESV
Since Jesus was never reported to have been married in the Bible, a sexual relationship would have been a sin. ...
11
Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, and Zealots were the four primary religious/political factions of the time.
Pharisees were keepers of the Law and held the entire (what we would call) Hebrew Bible as the word of YHWH. They emerged from the exile as the dominant faction because they (correctly) connected Israel's abandoning of the Law as the reason for the ...
10
A brief look at any harmony of the Gospels will immediately point out an obvious fact - namely, Matthew, Mark, and Luke go over a lot of the same ground, but John is very different.
For the uninitiated, a harmony of the Gospels is a work that attempts to show the life of Christ in chronological order, pointing of the reference texts.
The number of ...
10
Yes, although not quite the way you put it.
It is agreed by pretty much all Bible scholars that there is some degree of interdependence between the gospels. This is based on the fact that many of the stories in the gospels are told in a very similar way. Exactly what depended on what is the subject of much debate, and more information can be found on ...
9
The doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary is tradition (mostly Roman Catholic), but actually not in Scripture at all. (I'm not taking a stand on that doctrine for purposes of this question, just pointing out that even Roman Catholics would not, I believe make the case from Scripture.) It mentions that at the time Jesus was conceived by the Holy ...
9
In context:
21 From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how
that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders
and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the
third day. 22 Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be
it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. 23 ...
9
I am not sure I'm understanding the question. I see two possible things you might be asking...
I don't know about evidences of others calling them the four Gospels (not sure that's exactly what your last sentence is asking), but there is first century manuscript evidence for at least some of the Gospels.
There is potentially evidence for the book of ...
8
These answers have really been helpful, and they helped me in my reading when I came to Exodus 28:32. God is telling Moses the design of the priest's garments:
And there shall be an hole in the top of it, in the midst thereof: it
shall have a binding of woven work round about the hole of it, as it
were the hole of an habergeon, that it be not rent.
...
8
This potential discrepancy is addressed at http://www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=6&article=768
Possible resolutions to the discrepancies between the accounts:
Possibility #1: Initially, both thieves reviled Christ, but then one of them repented.
After hearing Jesus’ words on the cross, and seeing His forgiving
attitude, the ...
7
Check out the easy to read version (more at my level, haha ;) :
Matthew 6:1-18
Easy-to-Read Version (ERV) Jesus Teaches About Giving
6 “Be careful! When you do something good, don’t do it in front of
others so that they will see you. If you do that, you will have no
reward from your Father in heaven.
2 “When you give to those who are ...
7
John 21:25:
Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.
If "the whole world" would not have space for all the things He did do, it is unlikely to have space for all the things he didn't.
7
Tradition.
Writers in the apostolic era such as St. Ignatius and others give identification of the writers of the Gospels. These are our earliest witnesses and where we get the original naming from. Later on, some textual analysis was done to examine the accuracy of those claims, but I do not think they have been successfully contested, expect to say that ...
7
DJClayworth's answer is spot on. I'd like to take a moment to defend Bible scholars, their theories, and the gospel writers.
There is a serious question about whether John knew about the Synoptics. The Fourth Gospel was almost certainly the last written and it would seem the others would be available. But there's no textual evidence that I'm aware of ...
7
A large, solid rock that served as a foundation to build something upon that nothing could wipe out calls to mind the end of the Sermon on the Mount:
Matthew 7:24-25
24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them,
I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
25 And the rain descended, and the ...
7
It does not mean:
do not fight temptation to sin
do not defend yourself
Look at the context in which the passage is found:
38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
40 And ...
6
Clearly Jesus described himself as being within Judaism and not opposing or superceding it. Matt 5:17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill."
Perhaps the easy answer to your question is to turn it around: What did Jesus ever do or say that contradicted the Hebrew scriptures? What did he say ...
6
Irenaeus
We can thank Irenaeus, not only for identifying the tetramorph gospel, but also for providing the names of the authors who are traditionally assigned to them. He summarized the tradition he received:
Matthew also issued a written Gospel among the Hebrews in their own dialect, while Peter and Paul were preaching at Rome, and laying the ...
6
This is an English translation of the Decretum Gelasianum de Libris Recipendis et Non Recipiendts. The Decretum Gelasianum was issued by Pope Gelasius [Pope of Rome 492-96].
One of the apocryphum mentioned is "the Gospel in the name of Barnabas".
Now, the document floating around in the present day is probably a 16th century writing, just based on content ...
6
In the case of the devils wanting to have permission to enter the pigs rather than be cast into no particular place it seems to be under a simple desire of destruction. The demons are enraged to destroy and in this story we clearly see the bounds of the destruction they seek are under the power of God. They are tied to a divine leash, not being permitted to ...
6
Mason and Dan have both noted the literal significance of the blood/water issue. It was a medical indication that A) he was dead and B) he didn't die as the direct result of the crucifixion.
On practical thing we can note from this is that Jesus was in control of things right up to the end. We know from Scripture that nobody forced Jesus's life from him, he ...
6
First, the Bible is the entire collection of Jewish scripture (known by Christians as the "Old Testament") and Christian scripture (which also includes the "New Testament") as recognized by modern Christian groups. Most Christian groups recognize 66 "books" (or individual pieces of literature) as their Bible. Some Christian groups add additional "books". ...
6
From the Gospel of John, we learn that He wore sandals:
"...He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”
John 1:27
He also wore a single piece undergarment, and apparently four other items of clothing:
When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each ...
6
I guess I'd question whether or not God's children really do suffer more than the wicked. We all suffer in this world, and while some Christians suffer horrific things, so do non-believers. But assuming the premise is true...
This is one of the great philosophical questions to which there are many answers given. There are several possible reasons for any ...
6
While there are some verses that can be misinterpreted as suggesting that Jesus is somehow not God, there are many more that make it absolutely certain that Jesus is, indeed, God. I will first address the verses you brought up. This will be a bit long, but I hope it's worth it.
Acts 2:22
In Acts 2, Peter is speaking in his first sermon to unbelieving ...
5
It's interesting that Jesus often ends the telling of a parable with the phrase "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." (Matthew 11:15, 13:9, 43; Mark 4:9, 23; Luke 8:8) During Jesus' life and ministry, much of Jesus' teaching was, indeed, veiled, but only to those who did not have ears to hear. Perhaps those who really wanted to follow Jesus would ...
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