theo chapter 4

• Phase 1: Jesus And His Disciples


  1. Jesus is a historical person who existed flesh and blood

  2. He personally approached and called twelve men to become his apostles

  3. They became his immediate circle accompanying him in his journey even after death, serving as eye witnesses to his miraculous deeds, and listening to his life-changing teachings

  4. What was recorded in the gospels originated from the life and work of Jesus and his interaction with his apostles

  
• Phase 2: The Disciples And The Early Christians


  1. The resurrection transformed the disciples who were hiding in fear after crucifixion

  2. They became fully convinced of their faith

  3. Wasted no time to share and preach the good news

  4. Fundamental concern is the proclamation of their faith in the risen Christ

  5. Labored without ceasing in proclaiming the life and message of Jesus Christ to all me
• Phase 3: The Early Christians And The Evangelists


  1. During persecution, evangelists showed great courage for their faith

  2. The example of the martyrs attracted more courageous converts

  3. With pressing concern of the dying of the apostles and early Christians, the evangelists began writing the life and message of Jesus Christ
• THREE OBJECTIVES IN WRITING THE GOSPELS

  • To provide a source of catechetical teaching and instruction for the new converts and communities of faith
  • To preserve the story of the life and message of Jesus for the future generation
  • To propagate the message of the risen Christ to all
• Synoptic Gospels


  From Greek "sunoptikos" meaning seen together
• Synoptic Gospels

  • Mark, Matthew, Luke
• Synoptic Problem


  How is it possible that three gospels written by three different authors from different places and periods have similar descriptions?
• Mark is the earliest gospel
• Q


  A source, not a gospel in the usual sense but a collection of sayings of Jesus and narratives
• Comparative Presentation of the Canonical Gospels

  • Mark
  • Matthew
  • Luke
  • John
• Authorship of Mark

  No direct evidence from the Gospel pointing to Mark as author, explicit statement came from Papias of Hierapolis who labeled Mark as Peter's coworker
• Date and Place of Composition of Mark

  Before 70 CE, Rome as plausible place due to Mark's association with Peter and use of Latin terms
• Situation of the Audience of Mark

  Audience placing a threat of persecution by the Roman Empire, revolt in Palestine is viewed as a potential source of trouble
• Theological Message of Mark

  Mark recalls Peter's confession of faith that Jesus is the Messiah, but Jesus forbids them to tell anyone (Messianic Secret), Jesus portrayed as the Suffering Servant Messiah foretold in Isaiah 53
• Authorship of Matthew


  Matthew attributed author, gospel put to strict examination as an eyewitness account due to its obvious traces from Mark
• Date and Place of Composition of Matthew

  80-90 CE, Galilee or Antioch where Jews and Gentiles lived in harmony
• Situation of the Audience of Matthew

  Matthew was confronted by mixed group of Jewish and Gentile audiences, conflict with the interpretation of Mosaic law arise
• Theological Message of Matthew

  Matthew started with the genealogy of Jesus as Son of David and Son of Abraham, Jesus portrayed as Messiah both in word and deed
• Authorship of Luke


  Luke believed to be a physician, companion of Paul, and Gentile convert, also wrote Acts of the Apostles, named as the twin writings of Luke
• Date and Place of Composition of Luke

  After 70 CE, around 80-85 CE, Antioch Syria
• Situation of the Audience of Luke

  Luke's audience was situated in the aftermath of the destruction of Jerusalem, delay of Christ's coming, spread of faith among Gentiles, Jesus as universal compassionate Savior
• Theological Message of Luke

  Core meaning of Jesus' message — to preach good news to the poor, proclaim release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, liberty to the oppressed, and proclaim acceptable year of the Lord, Jesus as universal compassionate Messiah
• Authorship of John

  Gospel traditionally attributed to John, but a closer study revealed that it is written by members of the community or school founded by the Beloved Disciple
• Date and Place of Composition of John

  Around 90 CE or as late as 100, Ephesus in Asia Minor
• Situation of the Audience of John

  John was confronted with a mixed audience, majority was Jewish, some were Gentiles, it is said that the Gospel is addressed to the 2nd and 3rd generation of Christians in Asia
• Theological Message of John

  John wanted his audience to understand the meaning of Jesus' miracles, passion, death, and resurrection, that Jesus is the real embodiment of God the father, and paschal lamb for the atonement of sins, he emphasized the role of the Holy Spirit
• Gnostic Claims and Theology

  The Gnostics, adherents of Gnosticism, claimed to have a salvific type of knowledge, they view the world of matter as evil and the spirit alone as good, Gnostic group was an exclusive affiliation claiming to have an assurance of salvation, they claim to have the ability to liberate themselves from the evil that traps the soul, another controversial claim of the Gnostic secret was the alleged sexual relationship of Jesus and Mary Magdalene because Jesus kissed her on the lips as it was written in the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas
• Gnostic Gospels are not part of biblical canon because their teachings were not consistent with the teachings of Jesus, Jesus offered salvation to all, but the Gnostics only to an exclusive few, Jesus cleansed everything, the entire creation, but Gnostics claimed that matter is evil, Jesus experienced bodily resurrection but Gnostics claimed that Jesus did not have a physical body, only an appearance
• Irenaeus exposed that the Gnostics' claim is made out of fabricated information
• Conspiracies on Trial


  • A documentary film entitled Conspiracies on Trial was produced by Discovery Channel, subjected the claim of Dan Brown on his book
  • Experts found it false and ungrounded based on scholarly standards
• Claims by Dan Brown


  • That Da Vinci, as grand master of the Priory of Sion (secret group), placed hidden evidences on his fresco The Last Supper
  • That Christ was married and the Church covered up such truth with the intention of protecting his divinity by editing the Gospel references
  • That in the French library, researchers found the genealogical table of the Merovingians who were believed to be the clan of Jesus' descendants
  • That a document known as Dagobert parchments was discovered containing symbols and inscriptions that would reveal the holy grail, Christ's bloodline
  • That the Secret Dossiers, a compilation of clippings and articles of the masters of the Priory of Sion, was found