Was there disagreement among the author-editors of the NT?
Was Matthew 7 Luke pulling our legs?
2007-02-26 06:02:38 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Moloi, you're right on!
2007-02-26 06:17:07 · update #1
I believe it is because the virgin birth is more contested than crucifixion. There are more probabilities that it didn't happen while crucifixion is a fact. It happened.
2007-02-26 06:12:46 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
The very first written literature of the Christian scriptures was the letters of Paul. He establishes two facts, Jesus died and Jesus was raised by God. That's it, no other miracles, healings, teachings, events or descriptions. There were stories about Jesus, the most important being the death and resurrection, but there was no need to write them down because Jesus was coming back soon. Only when the original apostles started dying did Christians decide they needed a written record.
Mark was first. His account was pretty stark. Jesus was always in a hurry, performing signs and wonders but urging silence on all the witnesses (Why else would there be all these questions?). It didn't occur to him to dwell on Jesus' childhood. That was not his mission. And in fact, Mark's gospel originally ended with the empty tomb, so abruptly that people felt the need to tack a few extra verses of explanation onto it. But people still wanted to know more. Where did Jesus come from? What was his family like? How do we know he was human, or divine?
Matthew and Luke apparently had access to a tradition that described Jesus' birth, but they described it in opposing terms. Matthew was showing that Jesus was the Messiah, the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. His father Joseph had dreams that told him what to do, just like another Joseph who dreamed and eventually brought his family to Egypt. There were foreign wise men who saw signs in the sky, and a pharaoh-like king who wanted to kill all the first-born. Very Jewish, very Biblical.
Luke was trying to convince the Gentiles that Jesus was the savior of ALL people. His angel appeared to the woman, Mary. Jesus' guests were common shepherds. And even John the Baptist got a history and a synchronizing link to the promised one. Simple people, outsiders. The authorities were apparently none the wiser.
About the only thing Matthew and Luke agreed on was that Jesus was born in Bethlehem and his mother was a virgin. Those were the only crucial facts, to give Jesus' birth a prophetic basis and a divine cause. Mary's pregnancy made Jesus human. Joseph's chastity made him divine. The other details were just the evengelists' efforts to speak the languages of their intended audiences.
By the time John put his hand to pen, the humanity issue had been settled. The question was, how divine was Jesus? Was it "genetic" or had he been "adopted" at his baptism? The Arians were claiming that Jesus had been promoted into a semi-divine being subordinate to the real God. So John's "infancy" narrative is entirely mystical, explaining that the Word WAS God.
Our historical sensibilities are very fact oriented. We hang on the details. There was no such regard for trivia back then. It was the idea, the message that was important, not the background. How the story was told affected how it was accepted, so the evangelists adapted the narratives to fit their audiences. They weren't lying, they were just emphasizing the truth, not the extraneous facts.
2007-02-26 07:59:07 · answer #2 · answered by skepsis 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Dude, the NT was written over a span of 125 years. Your'e acting like the authors were writing together in a room or something.
The crucifixion wsa probalby mentioned more because His dying for our sins is considered the apex of His ministry on Earth.
I have a question for you. In the 'Lethal Weapon' movie series, Murtaugh says, 'I'm getting too old for this s---'. But, he only says it in the first 2 movies. He didn't say it in the last two. Was he really too old for this s---?
2007-02-26 06:08:05 · answer #3 · answered by irish_giant 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Dear misguided heathen. It is natural that the central theme and sole purpose for Christ existence would be mentioned more often than anything else in the new testament. Christ died for our sins. The fact that Mary was a virgin was only a historical fact it didn't need to be repeated at all. No one in the bible is pulling your leg they are only trying to pull you into the fold with truth and honesty. God loves you and so do your Christian brothers and sisters, God Bless.
2007-02-26 06:59:44 · answer #4 · answered by . 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The virgin birth was to fullfill a prophesy but I think what youre not getting about the crucifixion is how tremendous it is theologically. Therefore it would be no surprise that such an event would be so talked about, especially when it brings us salvation and its something that shouldnt have had to happen. (someone completely innocent dying for anothers crime)
2007-02-26 06:13:12 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Why do people mention Thomas Edison's discovery of the light bulb more than where he was born? - because some things are a little more important.
2007-02-26 06:07:29 · answer #6 · answered by daisyk 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because they were men. What would a man rather watch as a film? Bridget Jones' Diary or Gladiator?
2007-02-26 06:06:46 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Wow, it's uncanny...almost like different people wrote the different books in the NT, emphasizing different things...
Oh wait...
2007-02-26 06:07:59 · answer #8 · answered by Open Heart Searchery 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
They didn't think that it was important enough of a subject to dwell on it.
2007-02-26 06:07:36 · answer #9 · answered by Randy G 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Give it a rest
2007-02-26 06:06:11 · answer #10 · answered by uncle J 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋