Questions tagged [gospels]
The New Testament books describing the life of Jesus: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
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What explanation do ‘Anonymous Gospel’ proponents give for the first person portions of Acts?
I have heard supporters of the idea that the Gospels were only named long after the fact - such as Bart Ehrman - say that they were so named to pretend that they were written by an Apostle or the ...
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What are all of the instances in which Christ discusses marriage? [closed]
I am not entirely convinced that the idea of marriages being divinely blessed or preferable of a Christian life is entirely Christian. It seems, aside from Matthew 19, that Christ is entirely ...
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How early would the first canonical Gospel need to be to (virtually) eliminate concerns over inaccurate memories?
Some scholars have challenged the accuracy of the Gospels by claiming that eyewitness memories and oral tradition methods could not ensure perfect retention and transmission of the extensive teachings ...
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Are there prominent textual criticism books defending the faithful preservation of the gospels in modern Bibles compared to the original manuscripts?
Numerous skeptics assert that modern Bibles are the result of a succession of copies of copies of copies of copies, implying that across centuries of transcription, translation, and interpretation, or ...
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What lines of evidence and arguments refute the notion that the gospels are nothing more than dismissible 'reports of reports of reports of reports'?
In a previous question addressing skeptical analogies aiming to cast doubt on the evidential worth of testimonies for extraordinary claims, I cited this source which I'd like to revisit here with a ...
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As Mark being the earliest one of all the gospels, why doesn't it mention the virgin conception?
This haunting question came to me after seeing a documentary regarding the gospels and how John is not considered synoptic. It seems that scholars hold the belief that Mark was the first gospel ever ...
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How did the apostles and other disciples distinguish between themselves during the time of Jesus' public ministry?
We read in Mtt 26:14 :
Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests...
On a number of occassions including the Last Supper, 'the twelve' are referred to as '...
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Were any new doctrines introduced in the non-Gospel Greek scriptures?
After the Gospels, the Greek scriptures contain many instances of application, clarification, and detail about Christian doctrine.
For instance:
The Book of Revelation certainly gives many specifics ...
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Why do Protestant Christians accept the Apostles' Testimony as Credible, Reliable, and Substantial for Dedicating their Lives to?
The Testimony of the Apostles concerning the ministry, miraculous deeds, and alleged Resurrection, was fantastic, way out of the ordinary, revolutionary, and mind-boggling! The message they proclaimed ...
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If transubstantiation is true, did Jesus eat some of His own body and drink some of His own blood?
Jesus sent disciples to prepare a place so He could eat the Passover with them. (Luke 22:8). He did eat with them at this meal (Mark 14:18). I could not find any indication that after having blessed ...
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Which Events are Covered in All Four Gospel Accounts?
I have in mind to make two unified Gospel accounts as a project to help me focus on the essential aspects of the Life, Ministry,and Atonement of Jesus Christ. For the first, I want to draw from ...
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Is it possible to trace the origin of the Canonical Gospels chronologically?
Matthew 2:23
And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled: He will be called a Nazarene.
It is widely known that academics were unable to ...
user64132
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Why are the gospel writers called the "Four Evangelists" in traditional church commentaries / studies, but not in modern Study Bibles?
In viewing and scanning theological literature and commentaries of the past centuries, the four disciples who wrote the Gospels were called "evangelists", the "Four Evangelists". ...
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What are the "gospels" in the Gospels?
As far as I know there are 4 Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
I am an ex-Christian (currently atheist) who had a debate with a Muslim about a few discrepancies between the Qur'an and the Bible. ...
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Contemporary Evidence for Jesus [closed]
Within Jesus's lifetime:
I expect that Jesus would have written or dictated thousands of
documents, and insured their preservation.
I expect that Jesus's
disciples would have written or dictated tens ...
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Why doesn't Matthew replace Mark?
My question is motivated by the discrepancies between Mark and Matthew, for example on who was in Jesus's tomb initially, Matthew 28:2 says it was an angel and Mark 16:5 says it was a young man. ...
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Why do the Gospel accounts not specify what crimes the two men crucified next to Jesus were guilty of?
Matthew 27:38 and Mark 15:27 say “two robbers” were crucified with Jesus. Luke 23:32 says “two criminals” were crucified with Jesus. John 19:18 says only that “two others” were crucified with him.
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Do Matthew 26:29 and Mark 14:25 prove that Jesus took a Nazirite vow?
Matthew 26:29, Mark 14:25 and Luke 22:18 are three New Testament passages that seem to indicate that Christ once took the Nazirite vow (as did Samuel, Samson, and John the Baptist).
It is known that ...
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Is the Catholic Church altering the Gospels and the teachings of Jesus?
The Catholic Church seems to be adding things to the Gospels which were never written down by the Apostles. For example, where in the Gospels is it mentioned that the Pope is the representative of God ...
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Does Papias’ vine statement impact on his reliability?
Papias was a church father from 60-130 AD. It is often said that he represents an authentic chain of tradition back to the original apostles as he has connections to either John, or elders related to ...
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Self-Referencing by the Gospel Writers
Aside from the literary prologue of Luke, are there any instances where any of the four Gospel writers refer to themselves by the personal pronoun I?
It seems, for example, that in the case of the ...
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How does the Catholic Church reconcile the resurrected body pictured by St Paul in 1 Cor 15 vis-a-vis the narrations in Luke 24 and John 21?
We read in Luke 24:31 (NRSVCE) how Jesus walked with two disciples on the way of Emmaus post-Resurrection and joined them for a meal:
When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and ...
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Is Our Lord Ever Referred to as "Jesus" by His Enemies?
Our Lord is often referred to as Jesus by the writers of the Gospels; however, I cannot think of an instance where He is referred to, or called, Jesus by any of His enemies (or strangers).
Can anyone ...
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Why did John the Baptist "cry out in the wilderness"?
We read in Mark 1:1-4 :
The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,“See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your ...
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Why do the Gospels not mention the name of Enoch?
I use the NRSVCE of the Bible.
We read in Gen 5:24 :
Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him
We also read in Heb 11:5 :
By faith Enoch was taken so that he did not ...
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If Jews are not allowed to eat pork why in the Bible appear pig farmers?
A question that isn't really that important, however, it comes to my mind every time I read some Scripture verses. If the Mosaic Law forbids the consumption of pork meat, why do we see a pig farmer ...
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Did people of different cultures adopt No. 3 to signify completeness, from Christianity?
Christianity has held the number three in high esteem, as a symbol of completeness. For instance : The Trinity, The threefold office of Christ namely, that of prophet, priest, and king; three ...
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Was Simon who hosted Jesus in Lk 7, Mk 14 and Matt 26 one and the same person?
We hear Jesus telling his host in Lk 7:44
Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my ...
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What's the criterion for the sequence of the Four Gospels?
I once read that the letters of Paul were placed in the New Testament ordered by size, starting from Romans and ending with Philemon.
What was the criterion for ordering the gospels then, since the ...
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How do Catholics and other Christians respond to the US Bishops' teaching that Matthew was not written by it supposed author?
In its Introduction to the Gospel of Matthew, the website of the US Council of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) states:
The ancient tradition that the author was the disciple and apostle of
Jesus named ...
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What is the basis for the Jesus Seminar's search for the "Historical Jesus" movement?
"The Jesus Seminar was a group of about 50 critical biblical scholars and 100 laymen founded in 1985 by Robert Funk that originated under the auspices of the Westar Institute. The seminar was ...
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Based on post-2000 scholarly research, how do Christians defend that it was Jesus himself who prophesied the first Jewish-Roman war?
It's a common assertion by liberal Bible scholars that rather than Jesus himself who prophesied the destruction of the temple in AD 70 along with the ensuing wars and sufferings, it was the Gospel ...
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Why don’t the gospel authors specifically identify themselves?
It seems to be the mainstream scholarship view today that the gospels were originally anonymous, and gained their attributed authorship through church fathers .
Regardless of whether you believe this ...
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Required readings for courses on the Gospels at the Westminster Theological Seminary
I want to learn Biblical Theology by myself, but I don’t know the appropriate textbook to start. Though I’m not a student from Westminster Theological Seminary, I still want to read what students ...
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Why were the disciples so concerned about their status within the group?
Why did the disciples, and the mother of James and John, seem so concerned about their status within the group of disciples? eg Mark 9 - but others too.
I am wondering if there is more to this than ...
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How can the gospels use omniscient narration?
I've come across some criticism of the gospels as historical accounts based on the author’s ability to know certain events that seem unknowable, or at least hard to know, like the quote below:
Mark’s ...
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Why don’t the apostles quote Jesus or reference any gospel events? [closed]
For somebody like Paul, it can perhaps be justified by the fact that the synoptics weren’t written yet, but that doesn’t explain why James and Peter barely reference any of the events or teachings in ...
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Why is there a day of judgement? [closed]
John 5:24
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. ...
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Which of the Gospels were written by eyewitnesses and why?
Were the Gospels written by eyewitnesses? Which ones? What do scholars & historians have to say on this?
What are the best arguments for the eyewitness authorship of (some of) the Gospels?
Even if ...
user50422
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Does the Catholic Church recommend `pestering 'God with intercessions?
We read in Lk 18:1-5:
Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for ...
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Harmony of the Gospels (earlier versions)
Following is the introduction to A Harmony of the Gospels, by A.T. Robertson. Does anyone know the titles/authors/publication dates of the previous "old plan" harmonies? Augustine wrote a ...
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According to Catholic scholars, was the Star visible over Bethlehem on the day of Nativity?
The Star of Bethlehem has become an indispensable part of the Christmas Crib. But, we do not see the star in Gospel narrations till the time Magi arrive :
In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was ...
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Why did Jesus arrange his 11 disciples in two places on the way to his place of prayer in Gethsemane?
We read in Matt 26:36-39 (NRSVCE) :
Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took with him Peter and the ...
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Scriptural support - Measuring our salvation, God's love and blessings
Please help me with scriptural support for the following:
“Be careful not to measure your holiness "salvation" by other people's
sins.” - Martin Luther
In the same way, if we measure God's ...
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How do Christian apologists defend the credibility of the miracles reported in the gospel accounts?
I'm reading Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy's article on Miracles, and it has an interesting section that presents several objections to the credibility of witnesses that may justify one's being ...
user50422
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Is the mainstream scholarly view that the Gospels are anonymous works?
The skeptic, Matthew Wade Ferguson, writes the following at the infidels.org website:
The mainstream scholarly view is that the Gospels are anonymous works,
written in a different language than that ...
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How did traditional Catholic teachings s determine the sides on which the Good Thief and the Bad Thief respectively hanged?**
We read in Luke 23: 39-42, of the two thieves crucified with Jesus and the way they looked at Jesus:
One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, “Are you not the Messiah? ...
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How does the Catholic Church reconcile the two different narratives of behavior of the thieves in Calvary as reported in Mtt 27 and Lk 23?
We read in Mtt 27:38-44 (NRSVCE) :
Then two bandits were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by derided him, ......The bandits who were crucified with him also ...
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Does the delayed burial of Jesus attest to the fact that he had no close relatives other than his mother?
As per the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus breathed his last at 3.00 p.m.on Friday (27: 46-50)
We read again in Mtt 27: 57-58 :
When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named ...
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Can the entirety of Jesus's teachings be summed up in a few words? A phrase or sentence? [closed]
Albert Einstein once said "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." So I asked myself what the most comprehensive explanation of Jesus's teachings would be.
I ...
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