Why do Christians follow 'gospels' written by people who weren't there in preference to those of the diciples

Question

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I know about the historic creation of the New Testament, but I would like to hear from actual Christians, why they don't insist on first hand accounts as modern people.Or are some of the gospels written by the disciples after all ?

I was under the same impression as Noezzell (if I got that right ).
I also feel that placing authority in books is very dodgy territory, in any faith. Buddhists as well as Muslims place authority in old books.
Myself ,I have learned the painful way ,not to place too much faith in third hand accounts. Ideas and even 'facts' are accidentally distorted by each person that hears and passes them on.
The thing that I wondered has two parts : 1: Why do people believe that something written long after the events described ,is truer if it's pre modern than if it's modern, and; 2: Why chose to believe those particular 'gospels' ,and not some of the older one's that we now know about ?
Although my intention here is to encourage a critical approach to belief, as I believe a flexible mind is open to 'real' faith ,however that manifests. I would especially love to hear something that surprises me ,and makes me think again . cheers.

ps: I've been looking things up on Wikipedia, and I would say that the 'Gospel of St Thomas' version of the lost sheep parable is the one that hits the spot , for example.

Answer 1

Speaking as a recovering Christian: Almost all the stories in the Bible could not have been written "first-hand". Most people then couldnt read or write. The ones who could usually worked for the government as historians. One thing you cannot trust about history: It always favors the conqueror. Another way of putting that is, "Conquerors always decide what histories to have written down."

A committee of scholars got together, many centuries after these stories were born, to decide which ones were appropriate to include in the Bible. Before that, all these stories were handed down from generation to generation verbally, The next generation would verbally pass it on to THEIR kids, and so on. If you've ever been to a US public school, one game you play in grade school is called, "Pass It On". In this game, one person reads a message on a piece of paper, then whispers the message to his neighbor, who in turn whispers exactly what he heard to the next one, and so on. By the time it gets to the end, the message the last person remembers, is radically different from the original message. I have a hard time believing the Chapters in the Bible are anything but the same thing.

This committee of scholars, clergymen, etc. picked the stories they did, for they were trying to finally write down GODS OWN WORD about Creation, God and later, His Son Jesus.

There is, however, another book available. It is the collection of stories which were submitted for inclusion in the Bible, (especially the New Testament) but were not chosen, mostly because they didnt portray a very flattering picture of either God or Jesus, or they repeated what was already included in the Bible. This collection is called "The Books of the Apocrypha"

One story in this collection talks about Jesus (as a teenager) performing miracles for entertainment, one has Joseph complaining to Mary about Jesus' anger (according to the story, He tended to smite those who pissed Him off), and how they shouldnt let Him go outside anymore.

You can plainly see why these were not included in the regular Bible. The whole mythos surrounding the Bible stems from the fact that Christians believe every story in it was "Divinely Influenced". There can be no mistakes n it, because God Himself exerted influence to make sure His Word was written correctly. What this likely means is that the committee couldnt agree on some book to include or exclude. They would adjourn for the evening and say something like, "Ill pray on it, and we'll see what The Big Guy says." Wake the next morning, and decide "Gee, God doesnt want that book in the Bible. I'll go tell the others."

John Updike wrote in a book once (and I'll never forget this quote). "Why would God entrust his Holy Word to a race of people at a time when they couldnt even understand the mechanics of rainfall?"

The books of the Disciples in the Bible were not written by the Disciples as far as I know. They are retellings of retellings of retellings of verbal stories about Jesus. There are inconsistencies in these stories, even when they're describing the same events. When I used to bring up these discrepancies to my reverend, I was always told, "We see through a glass darkly."- Meaning, I suppose, we're all too stupid to interpret these stories correctly. It seems to me if God wanted us to understand His Word, there would BE no discrepancies, if God is perfect, then how COULD there be mistakes, even between Disciples? And when the Bible was translated from Hebrew into English (King James version), once again, "Divine Influence" was supposedly used, to make sure they got it right, EXCEPT, as most people know, there ARE mistranslations.

When you approach the Bible as a book about why Christians believe WHAT they believe, then it becomes a little easier to interpret. To use it to justify a particular behavior is perverting it for your own ends. The Bible can justify:
-The murder of your own children (Abraham was ordered by God to sacrifice his son)
-Incest (Noah and his daughters)
-Murder, in almost all its forms (The crucifixtion, etc)
-Prostitution (Mary Magdaline)
-Violence (Pick any page)
-Allowing wild bears to maul children, for making fun of an old man's bald head
-The mass destruction of whole cities and populations (Sodom and Gemorrah)
-Predestination and the foreknowledge that some of God's creations were damned as soon as they were born, no matter what they did in life.
-- just to name a few.

No religion has all the answers. Only by looking into your own soul, honestly, with no rationaliztions, and doing all you can to improve the condition of it on a continuing basis will you ever achieve that state of bliss we know as Heaven.

Answer 2

Good question, and I'm curious about the answers too.

It is a fact that the gospels are written at least 3 generations after Christ (the gospel of John was written 4 generations after Chr). So it couldn't be written by the disciples themselves. Besides, the disciples were humble fisher men who probably couldn't read or write.
And the original gospels were written in old Greek: not the language Jesus and his disciples spoke.

I'm quite surprised when some people persist in saying that the gospels were written by the disciples.

Answer 3

Not sure what you're looking for here, but will try to answer as best I can.

The Apostles were witness to Christ's passion and ministry. The role given them was to bear witness to others what they had seen and spread this new ministry. Read Acts:

Acts 4:13. Now seeing the constancy of Peter and of John, understanding that they were ILLITERATE and ignorant men, they wondered: and they knew them that they had been with Jesus

Later Peter acknowledges:

Acts 4:20. For we cannot but SPEAK the things which we have seen and heard

The Apostles role was to spread the GOSPEL...THEIR disciples role was to collect their accounts for posterity and the four canonical gospels present four God inspired and UNIQUE perspectives of Christ's life. The roles of these gospels were:

Gospel according to Matthew-written by or to Jewish Christians
Gospel according to Mark-written to a Roman audience
Gospel according to Luke-written to "most excellent Theophilus" (Greek)
Gospel according to John-written to non-Jews


Now is your problem with the gospels also a problem with the Quran, which was also "transcribed" by someone OTHER than the illiterate person who experienced the gift of God's word?

Or do you just have a problem with ALL religion?

Answer 4

There are only 4 gospels: Mathew, Mark, Luke and John, all of these were disciples. The remainder of he New Testament consists of Letters and the Acts of the Apostles culminating with Revelations

Answer 5

Dude, people are not equal. We have different levels of knowledge; True have many different meanings and belief are distributed at many different levels too.

Most of people on earth are not able to distinguist Doric than Jonic Column. Most of people are not Able to ditinguish Ethanol than Methanol.

We are talking about needs, about needs to many different levels and be blind by their beliefs happens to everybody at all levels.

Most common people need religion to maintain and define their own rules and keep order instead of chaos, but more dangerous are those people taht believe that they have knowledge and do not go far from it. they do not try to understand the world before judge it.

Faith is a gift not a rational result from logical mind. Some people need read or have phisycal objects to have it, other, just keep going through, learning with other kind of guides, like conscience and global understanding.

When we look to behind, we easily can see how stupid are association between animals and Alphat letters.... but are we able to see it at that time?

Answer 6

What do you think. All gospels was originally written by the disciples, for example John wrote the gospel of John, Mathew wrote the gospel of Mathew.
Well, the modern Bible we get is, of course, printed.

Answer 7

If you take only John and read it, it is so clear that the person was actually THERE with Jesus. I think it's the coolest gospel, cause when you read it, it's very straightforward, and sometimes I do feel like it was written by a modern person. Just describing the events he saw! :)

Answer 8

Gospel means Good News,The way I see it, there is only one gospel but many versions of it, different people best describing a version of events that delivered a new covenant to mankind.
There has only been One who was Christlike.
Peace,

Answer 9

Because the power of religion has brainwashed people for years, and at times is getting worse. Think about it, how many wars, and murders have there been in the name of God, but in truth it's in the name of religion that is man made, done to gain, and profit from the weak minded people.
Forget books like the bible, which was written by man, for man to gain, think of God, not religion, some people think it's the same thing, but it's not.
God is forever, God is for us, religion is a killer, and con's us all.

Love & Peace

Answer 10

The easiest answer is:- 'it's not real.....it's a good old fable about a bloke who, may, or may not, have existed... that has snowballed, answered being distorted to fit the fact or simply lies, so as not to undermine millions of believers, such as youself!!! Sorry to pee on your bonfire, but every time a HUGE relevance in the Bible is PROVED wrong by science, which works and studies REAL events and theories, the answer /explanation given by the Church is that it was only the 'principle' that was supposed to have been relevant---OK!?....Brilliant and TRUE Quote by, at the time, THE HOLIEST, CLOSEST TO GOD THAN ANY OTHER LIVING BEING, ON EARTH!!!! "IF GOD WASN'T REAL, WE'D HAVE TO INVENT HIM!!!"....excellent point!!...I truelly admire and honour yours and anyone elses beliefs, but am frustrated as to how 'THE RICHEST COMPANY ON EARTH...(FORGET GATES & M/SOFT) have the most impoverished followers!!(yeah, yeah.. I know, richness is in your faith and heart, etc, etc...)..and THE most fantastically written, Best-Selling NOVEL... true.... great authors have appended over thousands of years!!..... is taken so literally, and unquestionably believed, by logical, reasoning adults. It should be read to children at bedtime, not devoted to!!! Great read, though, with some excellent pointers(NOT DIRECTIVES) on how to live your life!! Q/ How do you KNOW Matthew, Mark, Luke and John wrote the Gospels?? Q/ Do you, an independently thinking, sane adult believe that the world was made in 7 days?, Did you believe that the Turin Shroud was actually REAL?, Or the Towel with Jesus' face impression(sorry forgotten it's name!!)? Heaven is up, Hell down!!!????(proved not....."Ahh...ERM..... but WE meant that it rhetoric!!!--Don't believe the hype!!!....VERY TRUE... People Have to believe in something, we're not automatrons, but are we now SO lazy as to find and discover our OWN beliefs, instead of, as the BOOK says, following like sheep!!, one of a few chosen/given options?? Why are so many prepared to believe in an all- powerful,Omnipotence GIVEN AND SCHOOLED INTO THEM, rather than the existence of, say, Aliens...(Don't worry..not going far here!!)... that have a much greater possibility of EXISTING--- Are we so selfish, and ignorant, that we believe that WE are the only planet in this, and possibly many more, unending Universe containg any kind of life?? I believe that RELIGION is EVIL!! In every war known to man RELIGION has been the excuse (Cause, or effect!) Perfect as an ethnic cleanser, easy way to gain wealth and gain territory, BRILLIANT as an excuse for racism/xenophobia and far, far better than Nuclear missiles as a deterent to smaller populated religions!... At this very moment Genocide, and fear of religious fanatics is literally dividing the world!!! Those for, alledged, belief, beyond all doubt, in their BOOK, and The Others for their, again alledged, belief in THEIR BLOODY BOOK!! Want me to believe in God, Allah or ALL OTHERS... Tell them to come round to mine, in person, we'll have a chat, and all being well, see you in your PLACE of WORSHIP nxt week! Believe I'm sinnig, writing this 'vile filth'?? Same get your forgiving, or vengeful, not bothered at this moment in time, to pop round and I'll apologise!!!.............................BUT..WHO AM I?? Your right... NOBODY!! AND ALWAYS WILL BE!!...... My GOD/Beliefs??? ---Sorry...none!! My apologies... Put down your BOOK, pay attention to the here and now... and listen to the sound of a BABY LAUGHING!! Or, better still, if you have been as lucky as me with three kids, and are about to have a baby, as soon as that baby is born and placed gently on it's Mothers chest, take a step back.....and watch!!! The pure, unquestionable trust, love, never-before seen devotion..... 'THAT SPARK' is GREATER THAN 'ANY' GOD, i promise you!! BLASPHEMY.....possibly!! But I DON'T CARE, REALLY I DON'T, BECAUSE i have seen something greater, more powerful and infinitly more worthy than YOUR GOD