Back to The Gospels

I can understand how challenging it must be to a serious academic scholar to present The Gospels as a subject to a class.  So many strong ideas!

My teacher has put the gospels in the context of other writings at the time.  Showing that just about everything in there also appeared in other writings.

Last week he started in about theories about how the four stories as well as the Gospels of Peter and Thomas fit together temporally.  There are enough theories (with attendant diagrams) to make your head swim.  He subscribes to the 'two source' hypothesis that Mark was first, then Matthew and Luke  Along with another source now lost known as Q.

One student reacted strongly.  How could anybody take this seriously when we don't even know if Q existed.  She seemed so upset; I think she's reacting to what she has been taught and believes that the Gospels are perfect and immutable.  If you believe that, you're not going to buy this analytical business and other sources. Everything is divinely inspired, right?  The teacher does not dispute that

From a website about the study of the Gospels

"There are no real contradictions among the four accounts. The four different perspectives complement each other and help to fill out the whole picture of His perfect life. Therefore, there is harmony, continuity and unity among the four accounts. It's profitable to combine the perspectives into an overall view, but it's also interesting and profitable to focus on one perspective at a time.

 Myself, I come from a completely different  space.  How could I ever be seen reading this material?  How do I feel even having it in my house?  Remember I bought a copy of a Bible from the Gideons for $2 in a thrift store in Coleville in the Antelope Valley in a very remote partr of California east of the Sierras.

Dennis and I went to Fidalgo Island with Teddy to Fidalgo Island to have lunch with our friends.  On an impulse, I stopped at the Rexville Grocery and bought two pieces of carrot cake to go.  They have dynamite carrot cake.  Which turned into our dessert for lunch.