1. Jesus Christ, the Son of God

2. The Good News God Has Sent His Son The Witness of Historians.Evidence for the existence of Jesus is not limited to the witness of the early believers in Jesus, Pliny the Younger, Tacitus, Suetonis, (Roman historians) and Josephus (Jewish historian) also mentions Jesus in two of his writings The Witness of the Gospels.The twenty-seven books of the New Testament proclaim the Churchs’ faith in Jesus Christ, however the four canonical gospels are the best witnesses to Jesus.Each of the Gospels is a unique statement of the faith of the early Church regarding who Jesus was and what he did.The four Gospels are the heart of the New Testament and indeed proclaim the good news that God has sent his son who:.conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary; suffered, died, and was buried; rose from the dead; ascended into heaven; sent the Holy Spirit; and will return again in glory at the end of time The Formation of the Gospels.The Church teaches that the written Gospels resulted at the end of a three-stage process: the life and teaching of Jesus, the passing on of the Church’s faith in Jesus by word of mouth (oral tradition), and the writing down of the Church’s faith in Jesus Christ.

3. Stages of Forming the Gospels Stage 1: The Life and Teaching of Jesus. Jesus was from around 4 to 6 B.C and died around 30 to 33 B.C..The Paschal mystery (the passion-death and resurrection of Jesus) is at the center of Jesus’ life on earth, Gospels faithfully hand on what Jesus taught and did for our salvation Stage 2: Oral Tradition.The period of oral tradition lasted from Jesus’ ascension until the time the Gospels were written, the early followers passed on the faith through prayers, stories, testimonies, homilies, hymns, proclamations, and catechetical lessons, but they were not compiled at this time Stage 3: Written Gospels.Common opinion holds that the Gospels were written in a thirty-five year span, Mark written between 65 and 70, Matthew and Luke between 75 and 85, and John between 90 and 100.Each evangelist (which means “writer of the good news”) adapted materials for a particular audience for whom the Gospel was written, for example, Mark’s Gospel was probably written in Rome during a time of persecution when the Christians were being tempted to give up their faith in Jesus.Each evangelist had a particular audience and purpose in mind when he wrote his version of the good news, for example, Mark stressed Jesus as the Suffering Servant, Matthew focused on Jesus as the New Lawgiver, Luke highlighted Jesus as the Universal Messiah, John presented Jesus as God’s Unique Word who came to be the Way, Truth, and Life

4. The New Testament and Other Writings Acts of the Apostles.Written by the author of Luke’s Gospel, the Acts of the Apostles recounts the life and growth of the Church from the first Christian Pentecost until the arrest of Paul in Rome around A.D. 63 The Epistles and Letters of Paul.The New Testament contains thirteen letters or epistles that are attributed by name to the apostle Paul, all his writings highlight the importance of faith in Jesus Christ, these include Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, and Philemon.Six other letters bear the name Paul but probably were written by his disciples, these are Ephesians, Colossians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, and Titus Hebrews and the Seven Catholic Epistles.Hebrews focus more on Jesus’ priesthood, written primarily for Jewish Christians, Hebrews passes on the Church’s faith in God’s revelation that the worship of the Old Covenant has been fulfilled by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.The seven Catholic epistles are the letters of James; 1 and 2 Peter; 1,2, and 3 John; and Jude, these writings encourage the universal (“catholic”) Church to remain faithful to Jesus Christ and to faithfully live as his Christian followers The Book of Revelation.This highly symbolic work also known by its Greek name the Apocalypse, encourages Christians under persecution to remain faithful to Jesus Christ