2 results for tag: gospels

Q&R – When were the Gospels written? Brad Jersak

Question: When were the four Gospels written? And by whom? Some claim they were a late invention of the church, generations even after the apostles, discounting their reliability as trustworthy witnesses to the life and teachings of Christ. When I read them, is it just the religious fiction of people trying to make Jesus into a religion? Response: What I notice about those who set late dates for the Gospels and discount the authorship of Matthew, Mark, Luke or John is an underlying bias toward skepticism that wants or even needs to discredit the Gospels. But far from bringing an objective analysis to their discipline, they betray ...

Q&R – Are the Gospel Narrators Reliable? Brad Jersak

Question: Are the stories and words of Jesus 'narrated' to us, like the Old Testament stories? How does that affect our reading of the four gospels and our understanding of God? Response: Thanks for the excellent question. It's very important and specifically, the style of narration is important. Here's how I would approach it: 1. First the Gospels ARE narratives. A narrative means that we have a story-line told from a particular perspective... hence, a narrator. Who the narrator is, how the narrator relates to the protagonist, who the narrator's audience is, and what agendas he'd like to put forward all impact the narration. And ...