SECTION 3: What the Gospels Reveal about the Life of Jesus

What are the three criteria for interpreting scripture in light of the spirit?

1. Read the specific passages with the content and unity of the entire Bible in mind 2. Read the scripture within the living trans tradition Idaho Church CCC, 113 3. Pay attention to the analogy of Faith. This is the unity of truth among themselves and the entire plan of Revelation.

Explain the uniqueness of gospel text: references to Abba, the use of Amen, Parables, Jesus is forgiveness of sins.

Abba means father, Amen is used as an introduction and it can be translated as certainly. Parables are stories that uses easily understood words to teach a lesson.Jesus' forgiveness of sins means that he forgave sins as a man because he is the son of God

How were the biographical sketches of Jesus provided by the gospels similar to those in other ancient biographies?

Ancient biographies were not much interested in telling about the childhood or the physical appearance of a person. Instead, they tended to focus on certain key events in a person's life, especially how a person died. Retelling certain key events like this was seen as a way of understanding the character of the person. This pattern and orientation can also be seen in the gospels. Certainly the evangelists, who wrote the gospels wanted the readers to take as historical fact the episodes, events, and teachings that they did present and their writings about Jesus. Gospels were not biographies but they have many biographical elements that can be found in ancient biographies. The gospels offer historical evidence that Jesus existed. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, the gospels were written from a faith perspective and are not biographies in the modern sense of the word.

Explain the meaning of the literal and spiritual senses for reading scripture.

In the text, it says the literal sense is what the words mean at the surface level, how it was understood at the time, and how things actually happened. The spiritual sense refers not only to the text of scripture itself, "but also the realities and events about which it speaks can be signs" (CCC, 117). The spiritual sense can be subdivided further. The allegorical sense allows you to understand events of scripture more profoundly as they relate to Christ. For example, the story of Jonah in the belly of a large fish (Jon 2:1)refers to crisis burial. The moral sense reports events that remind you to act justly. As St. Paul concluded a warning to the Corinthians about immorality, he added that the examples "have been written down as a warning to us" (1 Cor 10:11) The anagogical sense ("leading") sense refers to the message Scripture has for your place in eternity. For example, the Church on earth is a sign of your heavenly destiny.

Name the three stages of gospel formation.

The first stage of the formation of the Gospels was the public life and teaching of Jesus himself in the years he was on earth. The first stage spans not only Jesus' earthly ministry but also his Death and Resurrection "until the day he was taken up" (Dei Verbum, 19) to heaven.The second stage of Gospel formation involves the years when the Good News was shared by the preaching of the Apostles, and likely, many other people in union with them. The period of about 25 to 30 years after the Death, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus is known as the oral tradition.The third stage was the period in which the Gospels was written.

Why are the four gospels the most important part of the New Testament Canon?

The four gospels are the most important part of the New Testament Canon because they are authentic testimonies of faith in Jesus Christ; The son of God, inspired writings, they are in written form, and they are communal expressions of the Good News of Jesus.

What accounts for differences in perspective in the four Gospels?

They were written for different people and purposes. They have different lengths and styles.

NOTE TAKING

WHY THERE ARE FOUR GOSPELS They were each written for a different audience. All forecast spores are divinely inspired truth, but the perspectives are different because they were composed by different people riding in different times and for people who live in different places. Each gospel was written to and for a local church and was Taylor to meet the needs of that communityAll four Gospels present the good news of Jesus, but they adopt a presentation to the religious needs of their intended audience. They are divinely inspired truth Composed by different people at different times THREE STAGES OF GOSPEL FORMATION The first stage of the formation of the Gospels was the public life and teaching of Jesus himself in the years he was on earth. The first stage spans not only Jesus' earthly ministry but also his Death and Resurrection "until the day he was taken up" (Dei Verbum, 19) to heaven. The second stage of Gospel formation involves the years when the Good News was shared by the preaching of the Apostles, and likely, many other people in union with them. The period of about 25 to 30 years after the Death, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus is known as the oral tradition. The third stage was the period in which the Gospels was written. HOW TO READ AND STUDY SCRIPTURE Read the specific passages with the content and unity of the entire Bible in mind Read the scripture within the living tradition of the whole Church (CCC, 113) Pay attention to the analogy of Faith. This is the unity of truth among themselves and the entire plan of Revelation. Two Ways to Read: Literal sense: What the words meant at the time they were written Spiritual sense: The spiritual sense refers to what the words point to. What the author meant by using those words. The spiritual sense can be subdivided further: Allegorical: Points to Jesus. References Jesus Anagogical: Points to Heaven. Moral: Tells you how to live. Literal Sense: What does it really mean? We are not talking about how it's literally raining cats and dogs. How am I using those words? What am I trying to show? That it is raining hard. It's raining so hard that actual cats and dogs are hitting me on the head/. What did the words mean at the time they were written? Spiritual:What do they point to? Trying to say more than it's just raining. What do the words point to?