Introduction
The gospels tell us of Jesus Christ. They describe His character. They narrate His life and His miracles. They have preserved for us His beautiful sayings and parables. The gospels present the most important part of human history: how God became man and redeemed mankind. If we want to be mature Christians, if we want to love Jesus Christ more and serve Him better, if we want to bring Him to others through our teaching of the catechism or through the apostolate we will have to make a thorough study of the gospels. To get to know the gospels well, we should acquaint ourselves thoroughly of the gospel text itself. We should often read the gospels and read them again. There is no substitute for this. However profound books may be and however learned the commentators, they may never take the place of the gospels themselves. Make a habit of reading the gospels frequently, and when reading about the gospels, do not forget to turn to God's Word itself at every good opportunity. A superficial reading of the gospels will, of course, be quite insufficient. We may not read the gospels as we read other books. For here it is God himself who speaks to us. Prayerful reading alone will open our ears to what Jesus Christ wants to tell us. It is, therefore, not good to read too much at a stretch, or to read the gospels 'in a hurry'. Before we open the book, we should put ourselves in God's presence. While we read, we should remain aware of the sacredness of the text. And when a good thought strikes us, we could reflect on it and pray over it. Five minutes, gospel reading of this kind is no luxury, but a necessity for the daily life of any Christian. But even if we have the best of intentions and if we approach the gospels frequently and prayerfully, we need to have some background knowledge to understand them fully. This book will try to help you by providing as much information as possible. Having read this book you will find it much easier to find the meaning of the gospel passages. The book will tell you much about the gospels, but with the aim of making you read the gospels with more insight. The gospels themselves are really the thing that matters. For they bring us in contact with Jesus Christ, who is our Life, our Truth, and our Happiness. The Name: "Gospel"/ "Gospels"The word "Gospel" ( "good-spell", "good tidings" ) is derived from the Greek term 'eu (i.e. good)? - angelion (i.e. message). In Latin it became 'evangelium'. Many English words have been derived from this: evangelist, evangelical, etc. In Old Testament usage, we find the term employed at first with a purely profane meaning. When Joab, the General of David's army, has defeated the rebel Absalom, he wants someone to bring the message of victory to David. Ahimaaz offers to do this:
But in the language of the prophets, the term 'good tidings' began to mean much more than just some 'happy news'. The prophets point to the messianic future. Then, when God will begin to redeem His people, they will hear the "good tidings" of messianic salvation.
The Jews were waiting anxiously for these "good tidings" of messianic salvation. They were looking forward to them. That is why, when Jesus begins His preaching, He announces His own message as these "good tidings" of salvation: (The people tried to keep Him from leaving) "But He said to them: 'I must preach the GOOD NEWS of the Kingdom of God in other towns also, for that is what God sent Me to do'." (Lk 4:43) After John (the Baptist) had been put in prison, Jesus went to Galilee and preached the GOOD NEWS from God. '
Jesus' doctrine soon became known as "the Good News", the Gospel. "The GOOD NEWS" (i.e. the Gospel) means here: the happy announcement that God has finally begun His work of Redemption, as promised to the prophets - See also: Mt 11:5; Lk 4:18; 7:22. Preaching about Jesus and relating all He did and said was called 'Preaching the Gospel'. So we read:
In the New Testament the word 'Gospel' 'the GOOD NEWS' always refers to the happy announcement of all Jesus said and did. See also Acts 8:35, 11:20; Rom 1:ff. In this sense there is only one Gospel. Since there is only one Gospel St Paul can write in this way:
It is in the same way we should also understand the first line of Mark's Gospel:
The evangelist wants to indicate hereby that the contents of his work give a faithful rendering of the 'Good News'. In actual fact, this Good News about Jesus Christ, this one Gospel, which was preached by the Apostles has come down to us in four different editions. The editors were: MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE, and JOHN (the Apostle). In the early centuries Christian writers stressed the unity of the Gospel underlying these four versions. They did not like to speak of 'gospels' in the plural, since this might be misunderstood as if they were to contain different messages. They would, therefore, rather speak of:
And to make clear that all four editions present what is basically one and the same Gospel, they indicated them in this way: "the gospel according to Matthew" " the gospel according to Mark" "the gospel according to Luke" "the gospel according to John" This means: The GOOD NEWS about Jesus Christ as it is presented to us by the editor Matthew, etc. It is only in later times that Christians started calling each of these editions a "gospel". This usage has now become so universal that we speak of "the four gospels" and that we entitle the gospels in this way: "the gospel of Matthew"; "the gospel of Mark"; etc. Such a use of speech is legitimate, but we should always remember that strictly speaking the 'four gospels' are four 'editions' of the one undivided GOOD NEWS, the one Gospel of Jesus Christ. The word "evangelist" has undergone a similar change of meaning as the word "gospel".
After the reformation the word was used once again for preachers in some Protestant Churches. In today's writings the term 'evangelist' is therefore sometimes given the meaning of: a (Protestant) minister or a catechist The Inspiration of the Gospel AccountsThe Gospel texts excel the work of human authors, because through the Gospel God Himself speaks to us. We express this by saying that the gospels have been 'inspired'. God Himself is the author because He moved the human authors to write down what they wrote. He used the human authors as His instruments through whom He could express His word to us. How did God actually do this? In the case of the gospels we can distinguish the following stages: Stage One: Jesus Christ revealed divine truth to the apostles. He taught them by parables and instructions what they should believe and practise. He showed them by His deeds what God's salvation means. Finally He gave them the commission to preach this salvation everywhere. Stage Two: After Jesus' Resurrection and after receiving the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the apostles fulfilled the commission Jesus had given them. By their oral preaching, by their example and their counsels they handed on the apostolic tradition. The greater part of this tradition they had received directly from Jesus. In some matters of interpretation they were assisted by the Holy Spirit in passing on Jesus' gospel faithfully. Stage Three: The apostolic preaching was written down by zealous disciples. What Jesus had said and done was put on paper. First collections were made of passages that belonged together. Then the time came for a complete written expression of Jesus' message. That is why the Holy Spirit prompted four writers, the evangelists, to compose a written account of Jesus' Gospel. According to Christian tradition those writers were: Matthew, the apostle, who composed the gospel especially with the view of converting his fellow Jews; Mark, St. Peter's assistant and interpreter, who knew so well the conditions in pagan Rome: Luke a Greek convert and a great missionary who wanted to bring all people, Jew or non-Jew, to faith in Christ; John, the apostle who enjoyed Jesus' special love, and who desired to complete the other gospels by preserving words and deeds of Jesus not mentioned in them. The Holy Spirit was at work in all these stages. He helped the apostles understand Jesus' teachings. He guided the early Church in the faithful expression of apostolic traditions. And He moved and assisted the evangelists during all their work of writing. The work of inspiration embraced the formation of the gospels in all their stages. For, mark well, the gospels are not the product of the four evangelists alone. The gospels are the product of the Church's preaching. Some individuals, it is true, had an important hand in giving the final shape to the gospels: that was the special task and glory of the evangelists. But what they wrote down was not their own personal opinion. They were conscious of the fact that they wrote as representatives of the Church and they drew their information from the Church. ( Read about all this: Vatican II, Decree on Revelation, no. 7.) Summarizing we may, therefore, say: the gospels are the writings of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John; the gospels contain the apostolic preaching of the early Church; the gospels express Jesus' words and deeds; the gospels are the Word of God, who through the apostolic preaching and through the writings of the evangelists speaks to me. The Date of Writing 27 A.D. The preaching of John the Baptist. The beginning of
Jesus' public ministry. Apocryphal GospelsThe four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, were not the only gospels that have been written. Many others tried to compose lives of Christ. None of these were inspired, as they were the work of individuals and not of the whole Church. We call such gospels which have not been inspired, the 'apocryphal gospels'. Many of them had some devotional value in their own time. Others were downright heretical and untrustworthy. Here we may mention some of the better known ones:
Right from the beginning the Church exercised its teaching authority by clearly indicating which gospels where inspired and which not. Some of these apocryphals could be used for private reading, but none of them could be read during Mass in the Church Only the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were put on the list (the 'Canon') of New Testament writings that could be used in Church and for public instruction. These four gospels have, therefore, also been called the 'canonical gospels' to distinguish them from the apocryphal ones. (Cf. the 'canon' of the Mass: refers to the list of saints!) Textual Tradition of the Four GospelsThe apostles and evangelists used the normal writing material of their days. They wrote on "papyrus", a rather primitive sort of paper. This paper was liable to decay soon, especially if constantly used. No wonder then that the original manuscripts of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John no longer exist. But from the earliest days hundreds and thousands of copies were made. Each of these copies was written out by hand and checked for its accuracy. After some years copies were made on parchment, that is: on the skins of animals, and these copies were practicably indestructible. The accurate transmission of the text throughout the centuries has been proved by scientific research. Even now we possess many ancient copies of gospel texts:
We have, moreover, abundant material for comparison of the early gospel texts in the ancient translations (Latin, Gothic, Syriac, Coptic, Armenian, etc.) and in the quotations of the Fathers. Since so many copies had been made and preserved in so many different places, it was impossible for any individual to change the text. The differences would soon be noticed and corrected by others. Modern scientific research on the Bible has gathered all the information found in the manuscripts and compared it with the actual text used in the Church. The result of this investigation has confirmed the Christian claim that the gospel text has been handed on in all its purity. In fact, the gospels are the best preserved writings of antiquity. For no other profane or religious writing of the same can such abundant proof of integrity be produced. Regarding some smaller details the old manuscripts show differences. Such differences are called 'variant readings'. Compare these two variant readings in some manuscripts:
Careful study of all the available information proves that the reading of the Codex Vaticanus (and other manuscripts) was the original one. This reading is, consequently, followed in our editions. In any case, meaning of both variants is the same! Reading Aids to the Gospel TextAt the time when the evangelists wrote, it was customary to write all letters as capitals and without intermediate spaces. This kind of text was difficult to read. Example:
After some centuries an easier way of writing and reading was introduced, including the spacing of words and the use of punctuation. The same phrase now reads: Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. "God forbid it, Lord!", he said. Since all the gospel passages were written without any divisions, it was extremely difficult to find any precise text. For this reason the four gospels were divided into chapters ( Bishop Stephen Langton, died in 1228) and into verses (R. Estienne, printer,1551). To indicate say precise text we now mention: (i) evangelist; (ii) chapter; (iii) verse. The text quoted above will be found in Matthew 16:22. (i.e. chapter 16; verse 22 ). In Catholic editions of the gospels it also became customary to print subtitles and footnotes. All these things are not an essential part of the text, but they serve a good purpose since they make the reading of the gospels so much easier for us. Translation of the GospelsChrist preached in Aramaic, the language of the Jews in Palestine. The early apostolic traditions were first formulated in that language. St. Matthew too wrote his gospel originally in Aramaic. But as the Church spread over the then known world, Greek soon took over as the language of communication. For Aramaic was only known to the Jews, whereas Greek could be understood by everybody. Greek was the 'lingua franca' for all educated classes, for business and trade, for politics and culture at the time. Thus we kind that all the books of the New Testament were eventually composed in Greek. From the third century onwards Latin became more important than Greek as language of communication. Various Latin translations of the Gospel were made. In 383 A.D. St. Jerome was commissioned by Pope Damasus, to revise these translations. His work, the so-called VULGATE, became the standard Latin translation, which is still in use today as the gospel text for Latin Masses. The Gospels were translated into the languages spoken by nations that had embraced Christianity. At present, Gospel translations exist in more than 1,200 languages of the world. As such it ranks as the book that has the widest circulation in the whole world. A special word of praise should go to the Protestant Bible Societies which have contributed very much to spreading the Bible text to all continents. Of course, it will not do to have only one translation in a living language. We need translations for the learned, for children, for use in Church and for devotional use. Moreover, the language we speak changes with the course of time. New translations are, therefore, essential from time to time. If we take ENGLISH as an example? since this book is written in English?. there have been more than 250 independent translations of the Gospels into English. Some of these translations are outdated, but many of them are still being used. We will now briefly discuss some of the translations in English which we are sure to come across. They are Catholic, unless stated otherwise. The RHEIMS-DOUAY Version: by English scholars, mainly following the Vulgate The first edition appeared in 1582 A.D., but many revisions have been made since then. It was widely used by Catholics in England. The translation has its own beauty, but it is outdated on account of its antiquated language.
The KNOX Version: In 1945 Mgr. Ronald Knox published a new translation which he had made at the request of the English Hierarchy. Being a great scholar and writer of English, Knox has a majestic style of speech. Though of outstanding merit for people who know English very well, those not acquainted with English literature would find it difficult to understand.
The CONFRATERNITY edition: a new translation made by American scholars and approved by the Hierarchy in 1941. (quite accurate, simple and expressive.
The CATHOLIC REVISED STANDARD Version: This version comes as the conclusion of a long history. In 1611 the Anglican Church brought out an English translation which is known as the King James Bible or the Authorised Version. For many centuries it remained the principal version in the Protestant Churches, and even today it is still in wide circulation. The Gideon Bible uses this version. In 1870 the beginning was made of a revision of this Authorised Version. It went through many stages, but eventually it received a definite shape and was widely accepted as the Revised Standard Version. Some Catholic scholars went through the text and prepared an edition for Catholics, which is now known as the Catholic Revised Standard Version (1966). This version has the good quality of being exceptionally faithful to the original diction of the inspired books. It is, therefore, well suited for professional students of Scripture. But its tendency to give literalistic translations makes it less readable for the ordinary faithful.
The KLEIST Version: A translation produced by Father James A.Kleist in the United States. It is highly praised for being both faithful to the original and yet very expressive in modern English. .
The JERUSALEM Bible: Following the example of the scholarly edition of the French Dominicans in Jerusalem (1955), English Catholic scholars produced a very fine, new version.
TODAY'S ENGLISH Version: The American Bible Society experienced the need of an English translation which would be both very accurate and at the same time extremely clear and easy to read. Dr. Robert G. Bratcher and other scholars achieved this in 'Today's English Version'. Since its appearance in 1966 it has sold millions of copies all over the world. The translation is very well suited to those for whom English is not the mother tongue, but who have learned English as a second language. It has been approved for Catholic usage, and, with permission of the American Bible Society, quotations from Scripture in this course will be taken from this version (unless stated otherwise).
The NEW ENGLISH BIBLE (Protestant, 1961) and the NEW AMERICAN BIBLE (Catholic, 1970) may also be recommended for accuracy and readability. |