Section B: Part 2 – Evidence about Jesus Christianity Section B: Part 2 – Evidence about Jesus

The Old Testament This foretells the coming of the Messiah It contains 3434 books, describing the creation of the world to the life of Jews. The Old Testament Prophets spoke on behalf of God e.g. Jeremiah They reminded the Jews about Gods law and warned them against disobeying it. The Old Testament traces the history of the Jews

The New Testament The New Testament contains the story of Jesus. The 4 Gospel writers are called Evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke & John The Gospels came together in 3 different stages The Actual Events (Jesus life) Disciples preaching about Jesus The writing down on the Gospels

The Evangelists The authors of the four Gospels are called the evangelists. The title evangelist means ‘one who announces good news’. An evangelist is a Gospel writer (Mark, Matthew, Luke or John) who spread the ‘good news’ of Jesus Christ. According to Christian tradition: Mark was a missionary who travelled with St. Peter to Rome. Matthew was one of the original twelve apostles. Luke was a Greek doctor who worked as a missionary alongside St. Paul. John was a student of John, one of the original twelve apostles.

Mark Evangelist: Date: Written for: Main points: Was a Jew before becoming a Christian. Knew Peter, Jesus’ closest disciple. Written around 70 CE. First Gospel to be written. New Christians in the city of Rome. They were suffering terrible persecution at the hands of the Romans. Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus had feelings like everyone else. Jesus suffered, was crucified and died on the cross.

Matthew Evangelist: Date: Written for: Main points: Was a Jew before becoming a Christian. Was a Rabbi ( a teacher) who taught Jewish scripture in the synagogue. Written around 85 CE. Written about 15 years after Mark’s Gospel. New Christians in the city of Antioch. They had been Jews until they realised that Jesus is the Messiah. This changed their lives. Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus had feelings like everyone else. Jesus knew a lot of Jewish scripture. He taught his followers a new way of living.

Luke Evangelist: Date: Written for: Main points: Was a gentile (non-Jew) before becoming a Christian. Was a doctor. Was impressed by the healing work of Jesus. Written around 85 CE. Written at same time as Matthews Gospel. New Christians in the city of Corinth. They had been Gentiles before they heard about Jesus. The Good News changed their lives. Jesus is the Saviour of all people. Jesus was a friend to everyone: he cared for rich and poor, Jews and Gentiles, sinners and sick people.

John Evangelist: Date: Written for: Main points: Was a Jew before becoming a Christian. Was a follower of the youngest disciple of Jesus, who was also called John. Written around 95 CE. Last Gospel to be written. Mature Christians in the city of Ephesus. They had been Christians for many years and needed help to deepen their faith. Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. Jesus had a spiritual nature and thought deeply about things. Follow him and have faith in him.

Three Gospel Stages Stage Time Period Outline 1 – The Life Stage Approx. 30-33 CE The last 3 years of Jesus’ life, when he teaches, performs miracles, is crucified and is resurrected. 2 – The Oral Stage Approx. 33-70 CE A period when the apostles travel all over the Roman Empire to tell the Good News that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. 3 – The Written Stage Approx. 70-95 CE A period when the 4 evangelists, Mark, Matthew, Luke and John, write down the story of Jesus in the 4 Gospels.

The Synoptic Gospels Key Word: Synoptic – To be alike or similar The Gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke are so alike they are known as the Synoptic Gospels.

The Synoptic Gospels vs. John’s Gospel Synoptic means ‘having the same view point’ Matthew, Mark and Luke tell very similar stories and so are synoptic. Very focused on Miracles, Parables and the Kingdom of God Visits Jerusalem only once Focused on what Jesus did No Parables Kingdom of God is only mentioned once Jesus Visits Jerusalem a number of times Jesus performs just 7 ‘signs’, no reference to exorcisms or Miracles Themes of Life and Love Focused on who Jesus is

Documents of History A source of information about Jesus written by a non-Christian i.e., a Jewish or Roman Author Josephus Written about 60 AD by this Jewish scholar Tacitus Written about 80 AD by this Roman scholar Both Historians Described Jesus as a wise man & leader and wrote about Pilate, Jesus death & Resurrection. Neither men had anything to gain by writing about Jesus as neither were followers Key Word: Evidence – information about a religious tradition collected from different sources

Documents of Faith A source of information about Jesus written by a member of the early Christian community. A Gospel is not a history book about the life of Jesus. There are no dates and the names of people and places are often left out. The events of Jesus’ life are not written down in the exact order they occurred. A Gospel is not a biography of Jesus either. The Gospels focus mainly on the last three years of Jesus’ life only. There is very little information given about his childhood. There is nothing at all about his 15 years spent working as a carpenter. The authors of the Gospels were men of deep faith. They wrote their Gospels with the intention of showing that Jesus, the Messiah, is the Son of God.