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Why Are The Four Gospels Essay

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Hayford 3
Ryan Hayford
Mr. Stanczyk
Sophomore Theology Honors
25 September 2017
Why are there 4 Gospels?

1) Why do we have 4 different accounts (gospels) of Jesus' life and teachings?

The gospel writers tell us the story about the life of Christ, told from different perspectives because each disciple had a unique message to a different audience. They were written between two generations after the death of Jesus, and are based on the stories of Jesus and his ministry, told by his followers. The church did not combine these accounts into one gospel, but preserved them as four, maintaining their individual views of the teachings, ministry and life of Jesus. In Matthew, Jesus was the Messiah of Israel. He is the ideal servant …show more content…

They would only listen to their own, so the strategies Mark used were to draw parallels between the life of Jesus and events from Israel’s history. His gospel parallels the Torah, the most sacred book of the Hebrew Bible, and the five books of Moses. It tells the relationship of Jesus to the Old Testament prophets. Matthew wrote to prove that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Messiah’s prophecy; the King of the Jews. He records how the promises God made in the Old Testament, are realized in Jesus. Matthew encouraged Jewish converts to maintain their Hebrew Scriptures, which now gained significance through Jesus and continue to be the sacred scribe of the kingdom of heaven.

3) Who was Mark's primary audience? What unique strategies does he use to address this audience?

Mark’s gospel was written Christians who were living under threat of persecution by the Jews in the Roman Empire who were unfamiliar with the Jewish religion. Christ is portrayed as the servant and the son of God. Since Mark was not written to a Jewish audience, his strategy was to explain customs that Jews would have known, that the Romans would be unfamiliar with. His gospel is action-packed with the powerful ministries of Christ, to show He could meet their deepest needs.

4) Who was Luke's primary audience? What unique strategies does he use to address this

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