Sacred Texts and Writings

Overview• The Bible• Importance of the Bible• The Gospels

– The Gospel of Mark– The Gospel of Matthew– The Gospel of Luke– The Gospel of John– The Synoptic Gospels

• Acts of Apostles• The Epistles• The Christian canon• The Bible & Beliefs

The Bible

• The Christian Bible is a collection of writings that Christians believe are of divine and human origin.

• The Bible is also sometimes referred to as ‘Scripture’ and ‘Holy Scripture’.

• The Christian Bible is divided into the Hebrew or Jewish scriptures (Old Testament) and Christian scriptures (New Testament).

• The Jewish scriptures contain 39 books from the Jewish tradition while the Christian scriptures contains 27 early Christian works.

Importance of the Bible

• The Bible is the basic source of belief and practice.

• The Bible is the central sacred text for Christians, mainly due to its role in the everyday life of believers.

• The Bible is used in the liturgy of Christianity and is the basis for prayer, providing the guidelines of the behaviour of Christians.

• Christians read the Bible and celebrate the Eucharist, Mass or Lords’ Supper with it.

The Gospels• Most of the available

information about the life of Jesus comes from the Gospels… a series of texts that are considered to be some of the most important in the Bible.

• They were written at different times by authors of different communities. However, the names and identities of the Gospel’s actual authors are unknown.

The Gospels of Mark and Matthew• The Gospel of Mark is

the earliest of the four Gospels, written around 70 CE.

• The author apparently wrote it for the non-Jewish Christian community.

• The main point of this Gospel is the manifestation of the Crucifixion of Jesus.

• The Gospel of Matthew was written for Christians of a Jewish background in 85 CE.

• The emphasis is on Jesus as a teacher.

• Matthew tries to convert his Jewish audience by stressing the miracles of Jesus.

The Gospels of Luke and John

• The Gospel of Luke was composed around 90 CE.

• Its probable goal was to convert wealthy Greek Gentiles to Christianity.

• Luke presents a strong religious mentality.

• The Gospel of John is the last to be written (95 CE).

• It regards Jesus from a theological viewpoint as the divine redeemer.

• This was written for Jews and Gentiles alike.

• The author’s emphasis is on Jesus as the Messiah of Salvation.

The Synoptic Gospels• The Synoptic Gospels are

the first three Gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke.

• Matthew and Luke have been noted to have similarities compared to mark. Scholars call this connection “Q”.

• The Synoptic Problem concerns the differences between the Gospels.

Acts of the Apostles

• The Acts of the Apostles was written the same time and by the same author as the Gospel of Luke.

• It begins where Luke ended, with the appearance of Christ after resurrection.

The Epistles

• These are a part of the New Testament.

• The Epistles are apostolic letters attributed to Paul, Peter, James, Jude and John.

• They advise the first Christians about how to handle specific problems faced by their communities.

The Christian Canon

• In 180 CE, the Canon of Scripture was set by the Church.

• The Old Testament was completely accepted. The Gospels, the Acts, the Epistles and Revelations were then added as the New Testament.

• The last writing accepted was the Second Letter of Peter.

• The attitude of that era was that faith in the Church was superior in the New Testament, which was adapted to the changing conditions.

The Bible & Beliefs1. The major Christian beliefs• Jesus is Lord (Rom 10:9)• Jesus is the wisdom of God (1 Cor 1:24)• Jesus is the son of man (Mk 2:28, of Dan 7)• Jesus is the word of God made flesh (rev19:13)• Jesus was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit (Lk

1:34-35)• Christ will judge both the living and the dead (Rom 14:9)• At Pentecost the Holy Spirit was poured out and the

church was born (acts 2:33-36)

The Bible and Beliefs

2. Liturgy• Baptism ‘you are one in Christ’ (Gal 3:28)• Accounts of the last supper (Mk 14:22-25,

Lk 22:14-22, 1 Cor 11:23-26)• The early Christians ‘devoted themselves

with the Apostles’ teachings and fellowship of ‘the breaking of the bread and the prayers’ (act 2:42)

The Bible and Beliefs

3. Prayer

• God hears our prayer (Ps 34:15)

• Prayer is likened to a person talking to God as a friend (Ex 33:11)

• Jesus, the modal for prayer, prays at decisive moments in his life (Lk 3:21; 6:12; 22:39-46)

The Bible and Beliefs

4. Ethical Behaviour

• God, who defends the poor and oppressed, is the modal of all behaviour (Jer 9:23-24)\

• Love of neighbour and God, the ‘Great Commandment’ (Mk 12:24-28)

• Love your enemies, a challenging ethical principle (Mt 5:43-46)