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The Origins of Christianity—Part 2
The Gospel Writers First Gospel Mark When: Probably in the early 70's CE
Audience: Mark wrote his gospel for an audience of Roman Christians who were suffering intense persecution at the time at the hands of Nero who had blamed them for the Roman fire and other problems.
Profile: Mark was not very literate in Greek and therefore not highly educated.
Message: Mark concentrated on the suffering of Jesus and salvation to give the believers courage and hope in times of trial. It is also clear that his gospel was greatly influenced by the stories circulating in the Christian community as to just who this Jesus was.
Source: Possibly Q
Second Gospel Matthew. When: Probably 85 CE
Audience: Hebraic world to show just what Jesus had to offer them.
Profile: Well-educated conservative Jew, trained in the nuances of the Levitic tradition.
Message: Jesus fulfilled Old Testament prophecy Source: Mark and Q. Matthew used as his primary source the gospel of Mark. In doing so, he incorporated many of Mark's myths and added a few of his own, changing bits of the story line here and there to better make the points for his Jewish audience.
Third Gospel Luke (also author of the Acts of the Apostles) When: Probably 80 CE Audience: Luke saw the need to write a gospel to explain this new religion to the gentile community. Because Luke was writing for an official Roman audience as much as for an audience of prospective gentile converts, he was careful to portray Rome in as good a light as possible. For example, Luke has Herod's soldiers scourging Jesus, not Rome's soldiers as does Mark. Profile: Highly educated scholar. He was fluent in Greek and his work is more polished than Mark and Matthew. Luke was probably also a gentile himself.
Message: His mission was to make this Jewish sect a relevant religion for the gentiles who had nowhere else to turn in the search for a strict moral code by which to live.
Source: Mark and Q
Fourth Gospel John When: Probably 100 CE Audience: John wrote his gospel with an eye to the growing rift between Judaism and Christianity, and sought to heal it by trying to bring the two together. Profile: Unknown. Message: John fashioned a mythology that would be acceptable to both Jews and gentiles, quoting liberally from respected and appreciated Jewish literature and by incorporating a mythology of Jesus that sought to fulfill Jewish law and prophesy.
Source: Unknown The book of Acts can be seen as a sequel to the gospel of Luke, starting where the previous book ends. The letters to the Romans, the Corinthians, the Galatians, the Ephesians, the Philippians, the Colossians, the Thessalonians, Timothy, Titus and Philemon are widely assumed to have come from the hand of the apostle Paul and are called the Pauline epistles for that reason.
A few small stylistic variations in Colossians and Ephesians make some scholars suspect Paul didn't write them, but the evidence is sparse and unconvincing. The letters to Timothy and Titus are suspect as well, and some critics feel they were later edits of some of Paul's more personal correspondence to individual church leaders, or pastors. Hence, they are often referred to as the Pastoral Epistles.
The author of the letter to the Hebrews is completely unknown. Stylistic or literary criticism has failed to match it with any known author, although it is usually included among the letters of Paul.
The letter of James isn't anonymous, but it's not known who exactly James was. Five people named James are mentioned in the New Testament, one of whom was the brother of Jesus. It's this person whom tradition has accepted as the author, although the evidence is sketchy.
It's always been assumed the first and second letters of Peter were in fact written by Saint Peter. No real objection to that belief has been raised until rather recently, largely because few early church fathers quoted it as they did other canonically accepted books.
Canonicity
Canonicity is the discussion regarding which books belong in the canon of the Old and New Testament. The word canon simply means standard.
Early Christians engaged in a more fundamental argument about what constituted Christianity and especially about the nature of Christ.
One group known as the Gnostics believed that one did not need the intermediary of the church to experience God. This view threatened the orthodox church and was considered ‘heresy’. However, it was a second century Gnostic named Marcion who started to compile the first list of books he felt appropriate for a New Testament.
After several attempts to get an agreement for canonicity, a final decision was reached in Rome, around 473 CE.
Spread of Christianity
About CE312 the Roman emperor Constantine, saw a vision of the cross superimposed on the sun with words - " In this sign conquer". Constantine had his soldiers paint the symbol on their shields. Constantine went on to defeat the army of Maxentius at the Battle at the Milvian Bridge (Oct AD 312) and so Christianity became a state religion with the cross becoming the symbol for Christianity. Constantine tried to strengthen his declining empire through Christianity. The empire eventually failed but Constantine’s edict gave Christianity a free reign to spread over much of Europe and later world wide.
It was a practice for early Christians to blend pagan customs with Christian rituals to win converts. Statues with Isis holding the enfant Horus now served as the Virgin Mary holding the baby Jesus. Easter is a celebration of the risen Christ but also celebration for the rites of spring and Easter eggs are a remnant from pagan times.
Epilogue
As the Roman Catholic Church grew and become more powerful, differences of opinion developed and the first of the schisms began with the Eastern Orthodox Church starting in 1050. Then there was German Martin Luther’s 95 Theses in 1517 and in England, via Henry the VIII in 1533, on the matter of divorce. Christianity’s influence in the West was considerable and left a legacy of schools, hospitals, sanctuaries, impressive art in buildings, paintings and music. On the darker side, Christianity is also responsible for impeding the progress of science, hostility to women, torture, generating wars and creating a parochial society. The development of this faith became far removed from early Christianity where women could be ordained, officials could marry and there were no intermediaries.
Any idea is strengthened by the repeating of stories through the generations that over time, becomes respectable. Distance from the time in question also makes the conviction even more believable despite some incredulous claims.
*The law that, according to the Old Testament, God gave to the Israelites through Moses. The Mosaic law begins with the Ten Commandments and includes the many rules of religious observance given in the first five books of the Old Testament. In Judaism, these books are called the Torah, or “the Law.” |