Edip Yuksel

THE NINETEEN QUESTIONS FOR CHRISTIAN CLERGY

by Edip Yuksel

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QUESTION 5 What Gospel did Jesus preach? "People have been reading the Bible for nearly two thousand years. They have taken it literally, figuratively, or symbolically. They have regarded it as divinely dictated, revealed, or inspired, or as a human creation. They have acquired more copies of it than of any other book. It is quoted (and misquoted) more often than other books. It is translated (and mistranslated) more than others as well. It is called a great work of literature, the first work of history. It is at the heart of Christianity and Judaism. Ministers, priests, and rabbis preach it. Scholars spend their lives studying and teaching it in universities and seminaries. People read it, study it, admire it, disdain it, write about it, argue about it, and love it. People have lived by it and died for it. And we do not know who wrote it." (Who Wrote the Bible, R. Elliott Friedman, Harper & Row, New York, 1989, p. 15). The New Testament consists of four Gospels and 23 books. Catholics add 7 more books to their Bible, which Protestants consider doubtful (apocrypha). So, each sect accuses the other with the following verses: "... If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life." (Rev 22:18-19). Unfortunately, we do not have a Gospel according to Jesus. The four Gospels are not word for word from God. The Gospels were written decades after Jesus' departure. The original Gospel was transmitted orally for about 30 or 40 years. Years later Christian scholars and priests recorded and collected those narrations, and created hundreds of manuscripts. There was an proliferation of Gospels. Thus in 325 AD, two thousand Church fathers gathered at the Nicene Conference wanting to put an end to this chaotic situation. Finally, they limited them to four Gospels. The authorized Gospels were called the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The Gospel of Matthew The Gospel ascribed to the disciple Matthew must have been written in Hebrew or the Syriac language, because Matthew was a converted Syrian Jew. However, the oldest copy of Matthew is in Greek. We can easily find out that this Gospel was not written by the disciple Matthew: "And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he said unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him." (Matthew 9:9). This verse points to the fact that there is a third person besides Jesus and Matthew and that person wrote the "Gospel according to Matthew." J. B. Philips, an Anglican translator of the Bible, in the beginning of the Gospel of Matthew acknowledges this fact: "Early tradition ascribed this Gospel to the apostle Matthew, but scholars nowadays almost all reject this view. The author, whom we still can conveniently call Matthew, has plainly drawn on the mysterious "Q", which may have been a collection of oral traditions. He has used Mark's Gospel freely, though he has rearranged the order of events and has in several instances used different words for what is plainly the same story. The style is lucid, calm and "tidy". Matthew writes with a certain judiciousness as though he himself had carefully digested his material and is convinced not only of its truth but of the divine pattern that lies behind the historic facts." (The Gospels, J. B. Philips, Geoffrey Bless, London, Introduction). The Gospel of Matthew, a digested copy of Mark consists of 28 chapters. It starts with listing the genealogy of Jesus, trying to make David the prime ancestor of Jesus so that Jesus could be the promised Messiah. The Holy Bible of the Catholic Biblical Association in the introduction has good information on the history and source of the Gospels. It reads: "Matthew's Gospel in its present form was written in a Jewish milieu, probably after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. There are evidence of the fulfillment of the Mosaic law (1:19; 5:18), and also references to violence (21:38-41), to the burning of a city (22:7), and to punishment in the wake of Jesus' death (27:25)... "Matthew is obviously an expanded version of Mark, considered the first gospel form to be written. Very few scholars hold that Mark is a condensed version of Matthew... "Both Matthew and Luke, neither of whom can be proved to have copied from the other, seem to have had, besides the Gospel of Mark, another source of some 240 verses which Mark does not include. This source, not found but deduced, is designated simply as Q from Quelle, the German term for "source"... "Current and more common opinion dates the composition of the Gospel of Matthew between 80-100 AD, or roughly 85 AD. There is also the compelling evidence for the dependence of Matthew on Mark: namely, the 600 of Mark's 661 verses found in Matthew, as well as the relationship of language and order in these two gospels." The Gospel of Mark Mark was not a disciple of Jesus. Christian scholars are not sure about the author of this Gospel either. It is the shortest Gospel with 16 chapters and begins: "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." It narrates the teachings and miracles of Jesus in a very simple language. It's narration of the events is clumsy. Christians dispute the last part of Chapter 16. There are two different endings (16:8-16:20) claimed by modern editors. Many Christian scholars confess that these verses are non-existent in the original manuscripts. The date of composition is around 70 AD. The Holy Bible of the Catholic Biblical Association of America claims that "Modern scholarship has shown quite clearly that Mark's sources cannot be explained solely in terms of Peter's preaching. On the basis of manuscript and stylistic evidence, Mk 16:9-20 derives from a hand other than Mark's." The Gospel of Luke Luke was not a disciple either. He is known to be a follower of Paul. His Gospel is supposed to have been written between 80-90 AD. The author is an intellectual person and his literary skill is good. In the beginning of his Gospel, Luke confesses that he had never seen Jesus. Luke is also the author of "The Acts". The Gospel of Luke, with 24 chapters, mentions some important things that others do not mention; nevertheless, Luke also uses the Gospel of Mark freely, like the author of Matthew. Because the first three Gospels are similar, they are called Synoptic Gospels. The number of common sentences between these three gospels are: Between Matthew and Mark ............................... 178 Between Mark and Luke .................................. 100 Between Matthew and Luke ............................... 230 Among these three Gospels............................... 330 The Gospel of John Although the author of this Gospel is thought to be John, brother of the disciple Jacob, this is disputed by Christian scholars. The identity of the real author is unknown. This Gospel is very different from the other three Gospels in style and in the kind of information it contains. It is the latest but least authentic of the Gospels. The Gospel of John consists of 21 chapters and the last chapter is believed to have been added later. Additionally, the verses 8:1-11 are shown in parentheses, because they too are believed to be additions. Some Christian scholars claim that there are signs of some disorder within the gospel; e.g., there are two endings to Jesus' discourse at the Last Supper (14:37; 18:1). Having looked at this brief information on the four gospels, let's examine several verses about Jesus' preaching: "And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, ..." (Matthew 9:35) "Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, ..." (Mark 1:14) "And it came to pass, that on one of those days, as he taught the people in the temple, and preached the gospel, ..." (Luke 20:1) Related Questions: 1. Well, which gospel was Jesus preaching? Matthew? Mark? Luke? Or John? Or the gospels that were banned by the Nicene Council? 2. The important portions of the official four gospels are about Jesus' life story. Was Jesus preaching his life story? Was he telling people about his ancestors, his birth, his miracles, his trips, his disciples, etc.? 3. Where is the gospel of the kingdom of God? Where is the gospel according to Jesus? 4. Why not eliminate the interpretations of Gospel writers and stick with the words uttered by Jesus himself? 5. What do you think about Catholic's extra 7 books; are they apocrypha or books of the Bible? What does Rev 22:18-19 say about this issue? (There was a cartoon here!) This cartoon is from a free booklet: "This Was Your Life," published by Chick Publications. It is a good summary of distortions in Christianity.

Moslem Questions on Christianity Edip Yuksel P.O. Box 43476, Tucson, AZ 85733-3476 U.S.A. Tel/Fax: (520) 323-7636

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	THE NINETEEN QUESTIONS FOR CHRISTIAN CLERGY by Edip Yuksel ISNET Homepage \| MEDIA Homepage \| Program Kerja \| Koleksi \| Anggota \| Indeks Antar Agama \| Indeks Artikel \|
	QUESTION 5 What Gospel did Jesus preach? "People have been reading the Bible for nearly two thousand years. They have taken it literally, figuratively, or symbolically. They have regarded it as divinely dictated, revealed, or inspired, or as a human creation. They have acquired more copies of it than of any other book. It is quoted (and misquoted) more often than other books. It is translated (and mistranslated) more than others as well. It is called a great work of literature, the first work of history. It is at the heart of Christianity and Judaism. Ministers, priests, and rabbis preach it. Scholars spend their lives studying and teaching it in universities and seminaries. People read it, study it, admire it, disdain it, write about it, argue about it, and love it. People have lived by it and died for it. And we do not know who wrote it." (Who Wrote the Bible, R. Elliott Friedman, Harper & Row, New York, 1989, p. 15). The New Testament consists of four Gospels and 23 books. Catholics add 7 more books to their Bible, which Protestants consider doubtful (apocrypha). So, each sect accuses the other with the following verses: "... If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life." (Rev 22:18-19). Unfortunately, we do not have a Gospel according to Jesus. The four Gospels are not word for word from God. The Gospels were written decades after Jesus' departure. The original Gospel was transmitted orally for about 30 or 40 years. Years later Christian scholars and priests recorded and collected those narrations, and created hundreds of manuscripts. There was an proliferation of Gospels. Thus in 325 AD, two thousand Church fathers gathered at the Nicene Conference wanting to put an end to this chaotic situation. Finally, they limited them to four Gospels. The authorized Gospels were called the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The Gospel of Matthew The Gospel ascribed to the disciple Matthew must have been written in Hebrew or the Syriac language, because Matthew was a converted Syrian Jew. However, the oldest copy of Matthew is in Greek. We can easily find out that this Gospel was not written by the disciple Matthew: "And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he said unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him." (Matthew 9:9). This verse points to the fact that there is a third person besides Jesus and Matthew and that person wrote the "Gospel according to Matthew." J. B. Philips, an Anglican translator of the Bible, in the beginning of the Gospel of Matthew acknowledges this fact: "Early tradition ascribed this Gospel to the apostle Matthew, but scholars nowadays almost all reject this view. The author, whom we still can conveniently call Matthew, has plainly drawn on the mysterious "Q", which may have been a collection of oral traditions. He has used Mark's Gospel freely, though he has rearranged the order of events and has in several instances used different words for what is plainly the same story. The style is lucid, calm and "tidy". Matthew writes with a certain judiciousness as though he himself had carefully digested his material and is convinced not only of its truth but of the divine pattern that lies behind the historic facts." (The Gospels, J. B. Philips, Geoffrey Bless, London, Introduction). The Gospel of Matthew, a digested copy of Mark consists of 28 chapters. It starts with listing the genealogy of Jesus, trying to make David the prime ancestor of Jesus so that Jesus could be the promised Messiah. The Holy Bible of the Catholic Biblical Association in the introduction has good information on the history and source of the Gospels. It reads: "Matthew's Gospel in its present form was written in a Jewish milieu, probably after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. There are evidence of the fulfillment of the Mosaic law (1:19; 5:18), and also references to violence (21:38-41), to the burning of a city (22:7), and to punishment in the wake of Jesus' death (27:25)... "Matthew is obviously an expanded version of Mark, considered the first gospel form to be written. Very few scholars hold that Mark is a condensed version of Matthew... "Both Matthew and Luke, neither of whom can be proved to have copied from the other, seem to have had, besides the Gospel of Mark, another source of some 240 verses which Mark does not include. This source, not found but deduced, is designated simply as Q from Quelle, the German term for "source"... "Current and more common opinion dates the composition of the Gospel of Matthew between 80-100 AD, or roughly 85 AD. There is also the compelling evidence for the dependence of Matthew on Mark: namely, the 600 of Mark's 661 verses found in Matthew, as well as the relationship of language and order in these two gospels." The Gospel of Mark Mark was not a disciple of Jesus. Christian scholars are not sure about the author of this Gospel either. It is the shortest Gospel with 16 chapters and begins: "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." It narrates the teachings and miracles of Jesus in a very simple language. It's narration of the events is clumsy. Christians dispute the last part of Chapter 16. There are two different endings (16:8-16:20) claimed by modern editors. Many Christian scholars confess that these verses are non-existent in the original manuscripts. The date of composition is around 70 AD. The Holy Bible of the Catholic Biblical Association of America claims that "Modern scholarship has shown quite clearly that Mark's sources cannot be explained solely in terms of Peter's preaching. On the basis of manuscript and stylistic evidence, Mk 16:9-20 derives from a hand other than Mark's." The Gospel of Luke Luke was not a disciple either. He is known to be a follower of Paul. His Gospel is supposed to have been written between 80-90 AD. The author is an intellectual person and his literary skill is good. In the beginning of his Gospel, Luke confesses that he had never seen Jesus. Luke is also the author of "The Acts". The Gospel of Luke, with 24 chapters, mentions some important things that others do not mention; nevertheless, Luke also uses the Gospel of Mark freely, like the author of Matthew. Because the first three Gospels are similar, they are called Synoptic Gospels. The number of common sentences between these three gospels are: Between Matthew and Mark ............................... 178 Between Mark and Luke .................................. 100 Between Matthew and Luke ............................... 230 Among these three Gospels............................... 330 The Gospel of John Although the author of this Gospel is thought to be John, brother of the disciple Jacob, this is disputed by Christian scholars. The identity of the real author is unknown. This Gospel is very different from the other three Gospels in style and in the kind of information it contains. It is the latest but least authentic of the Gospels. The Gospel of John consists of 21 chapters and the last chapter is believed to have been added later. Additionally, the verses 8:1-11 are shown in parentheses, because they too are believed to be additions. Some Christian scholars claim that there are signs of some disorder within the gospel; e.g., there are two endings to Jesus' discourse at the Last Supper (14:37; 18:1). Having looked at this brief information on the four gospels, let's examine several verses about Jesus' preaching: "And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, ..." (Matthew 9:35) "Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, ..." (Mark 1:14) "And it came to pass, that on one of those days, as he taught the people in the temple, and preached the gospel, ..." (Luke 20:1) Related Questions: 1. Well, which gospel was Jesus preaching? Matthew? Mark? Luke? Or John? Or the gospels that were banned by the Nicene Council? 2. The important portions of the official four gospels are about Jesus' life story. Was Jesus preaching his life story? Was he telling people about his ancestors, his birth, his miracles, his trips, his disciples, etc.? 3. Where is the gospel of the kingdom of God? Where is the gospel according to Jesus? 4. Why not eliminate the interpretations of Gospel writers and stick with the words uttered by Jesus himself? 5. What do you think about Catholic's extra 7 books; are they apocrypha or books of the Bible? What does Rev 22:18-19 say about this issue? (There was a cartoon here!) This cartoon is from a free booklet: "This Was Your Life," published by Chick Publications. It is a good summary of distortions in Christianity.
	Moslem Questions on Christianity Edip Yuksel P.O. Box 43476, Tucson, AZ 85733-3476 U.S.A. Tel/Fax: (520) 323-7636
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