Prayer: Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled. Lk. 1 Lord, you did not give humankind a maid but a merciful mother. In Mary Immaculate, your son's mother has become the great blessing and protector of the humble, the poor, the lost and the lonely. We give you thanks. Amen.

The final stage in the development of proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ was the actual writing of the New Testament. Three things caused the early Christians to finally commit the Good News to writing: The End of the World did not come as soon as they had first expected it to. Distortions to the apostles’ message needed to be addressed and clarified. Early Christians realized that people needed to be instructed about the faith, and written Gospels provided a good teaching tool.

Over the next twenty years, the apostles obeyed Jesus’ command to go out to all the world and spread the Good News. Approaching their audience as people who did not yet possess faith in Christ, the apostles preached an outline of basic truths about Jesus called the kerygma.

Over the next twenty years, the apostles obeyed Jesus’ command to go out to all the world and spread the Good News. They put together an oral set of essential teachings about Jesus known as the didache, which means “teaching.”

Over the next twenty years, the apostles obeyed Jesus’ command to go out to all the world and spread the Good News. Early Christians also came to reflect their beliefs about Jesus in public worship, or the liturgy. Celebration of the Eucharist came to be the focal point of the early Church’s worship.

The earliest New Testament writings are the letters of The final stage in the development of proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ was the actual writing of the New Testament. The earliest New Testament writings are the letters of St. Paul.

Next came the four canonical Gospels. The final stage in the development of proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ was the actual writing of the New Testament. Next came the four canonical Gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were recognized as Scripture based on the fact that they were connected to the apostles, they had widespread acceptance in the early Church, and they reflected what the early Church truly believed about Jesus.

The final stage in the development of proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ was the actual writing of the New Testament. Writings about Jesus that did not meet these requirements were called apocryphal gospels, “Apocryphal” means “hidden.” An example is the Protoevangelium of James, which attempted to fill in some details about Jesus’ early life, but was neither historically accurate nor true to Christian belief.

The final stage in the development of proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ was the actual writing of the New Testament. Certain writings in early Christianity reflected various heresies, or false beliefs. One such belief was Gnosticism, which claimed that there is some secret knowledge that is necessary for salvation. The presence of heretical ideas is a reason that some books were not included in the Bible.

The four canonical Gospels present different perspectives, and address their writings to different audiences. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are so similar, they are called the Synoptic Gospels. “Synoptic” comes from the Greek word meaning “to see together.” John’s Gospel is different. It was the last one written and only about 10% of the material in the Synoptics appears in John.

realize that the picture Each Gospel stands on its own, but all four share the same Good News about Jesus Christ. It is important to realize that the picture of Jesus is incomplete until you have all four Gospels together.

The Reliability of the Gospels Scripture scholars have developed various ways of investigating the Gospels so that we may have a better understanding of the Biblical texts.

Biblical “criticism” refers to the analysis, judgment, and investigation of the written texts. Historical Criticism uses our knowledge of ancient history, language, archaeology, etc. to determine the historical accuracy of the Biblical texts. Redaction Criticism studies how the author edited his material for a particular audience. Textual Criticism analyzes the Gospels by comparing various early texts of the same passages. Form Criticism looks at the different literary forms used in the Gospels. Source Criticism tries to determine what sources the Gospel writers used to compose their works.

Through these various types of criticism of the Gospel texts, we can conclude that certain important concepts are original to Jesus. By “original,” scholars mean that Jesus was the first to convey these ideas—that he did not borrow them from earlier thinkers or teachers.

Abba Jesus was the first to invite us to refer to God with this Hebrew term that means “Daddy.” By this invitation, he dramatically changed the way human beings viewed God.

Amen Rather than using the word “Amen” at the end of a phrase to indicate assent with the previous statement, Jesus used it as an introduction—indicating that he spoke with unusual authority without quoting some other teacher.

Parables Jesus told stories that were unlike anything heard before or since. They were memorable, unique, and contained important insights into the Kingdom of God. Their existence proves that there was a remarkable person who created them.

Consistency Love Forgiveness of Sin Sacrifice There are no contradictions in the words, stories, or actions of Jesus. Everything Jesus said and did is also consistent with the larger picture that arises from the Gospels. Forgiveness of Sin Sacrifice

Linguistic Analysis Through studying the language Jesus used, scholars have found a unique and poetic quality to his words. Jesus was clearly more than just another teacher.

The Church and Martyrs People who deny the historical existence of Jesus have a difficult time explaining how the Catholic Church came to be.

The earliest disciples of Jesus were so convinced about his being the Son of God that they gave up their lives to proclaim him and his message. Most of the apostles died as martyrs. People who do not truly believe what they are saying will not die to defend a lie. The martyrs of the early Church provide us a strong witness to the truth of the Gospel.

Nothing but eternal life. Witness of the Martyrs The martyrs of the Church had nothing to gain when they proclaimed Jesus as the Savior of the world. Nothing but eternal life.

Open the Peter Kreeft and NT Wright articles Answer the following questions: 1. What happens to the value of the Church’s teachings on Christ if we can prove he was not divine? 2. Why is it impossible to assume the Jesus we have learned about was simply a good man, while not being God? 3. What are the three possibilities for a man making the claims Jesus made (What could he be?) 4. What was the central claim Christ Jesus made about himself? If it wasn’t true, what does that say about the kind of man he really was? 5. If the early Church leaders and writers of the gospel story are unreliable or mere inventions, who is it that makes the most sense as the fabricator of the lie? Why? 6. Kreeft says the Apostles were rewarded for their efforts if they were just spreading a hoax. Give four examples of things the Apostles got for their hoax? 7. What does it mean to say some people will “Orientalize” Jesus in order to avoid thinking of him as God? 8. How should we view the person who hears the word of God, listens and contemplates what he is told, but is not ready to make accept the word through an act of faith?