“The Gospels were written by men who were among the first to have the faith and wanted to share it with others.”Today we begin to look briefly at specific Gospels, but first we must acknowledge that three of the Gospels share a great deal while one Gospel is very different in character and events chosen to describe. The three that are similar are Matthew, Mark and Luke. These are called “synoptic” Gospels because they are so much alike. Synoptic is Greek for “appear together” because one can make a chart of the three and find great similarities. The Gospel that is written very differently is the Gospel of John.
Tomorrow we will begin to look specifically at Matthew’s Gospel, but today a word about the Gospels in general. The dating of the Gospels is an inexact science. There were no publishers to put the date on the first few pages. Scholars use various methods to date the Gospels. They look for other authors to quote the Gospel. If an author who died in 89 a.d. quotes Matthew’s Gospel then it is a sure bet that Matthew’s Gospel was written before 89 a.d. Another clue they can look for is evidence that the author is aware of significant historical events. For example, if an author is aware that Barrack Obama succeeded President Bush, then we can be sure that the book was written after 2008. Scholars may also look at elements of the language that an author uses to help date the work. This blog is not meant to be a scholarly debate on the exact dating of each Gospel. Suffice it to say that there is some minor disagreement among scholars as to the exact dates for a couple of the Gospels, but all agree that the Gospels are all written before the year 100 a.d. This is significant because eyewitnesses to the events would have still been alive to refute any falsehood in the stories had there been any.
 | 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. |
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