Pat Arensberg: How did the Gospels come to be?

“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded.”  -Matthew 28:19-20

Jesus commanded his disciples to preach and baptize.  We cannot find any commissioning to write Gospels or letters.  The first disciples taught by preaching the Word, much like Jesus did.  Most expected that Jesus would return (his second coming) within the lifetime of those first followers.  There was not time to write; they had to prepare for that second coming.  And there was no need of writing because there would be nobody left to read it.  As the decades passed it became clear that Jesus’ second coming might not occur within the lifetime of that first generation of followers (since many of them were in fact dying!).  They realized that the eyewitness accounts needed to be written while the eyewitnesses were still around.  

Paul’s letters were certainly the first books written, even before the Gospels.  In fact, when St. Paul refers to Scripture he is speaking of the Old Testament since most of the New Testament had yet to be written, not to mention defined as being inspired.  Not all books written about Jesus or as letters to Churches were ultimately included in the “canon” of Scripture (canon means a measure or rule used to judge).  I think it would be helpful to look at how the Church determined which books were in the Bible and which were not, but the most important point to remember is that it was in fact the Church which determined which books were inspired and which were not.  The Church exercised authority of what was in the Bible to begin with.

About Pat Arensberg Patrick Arensberg is the Director of Religious Education for the Archdiocese of Mobile. Previously, he taught for 17 years at McGill-Toolen Catholic High School, where he served as Chairman of the Theology Department. He attended the Gregorian University in Rome and holds an M.A. in Theology from Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans. He is married to Connie and they live in Mobile with their 5 children.