Gospel Comparing

Mark: Jesus’ Burial and John: Burial

Comparison

Joseph asked for the body of Jesus and Pilate granted it after confirming his death.

Jesus was buried in a Jewish manner.

It was the day of Preparation, the day before the Sabbath.

Contrast

Joseph was a member of the council who also had a belief in the Kingdom of God in Mark’s whereas he was a disciple of Jesus in John’s.

Joseph alone buried Jesus in Mark’s while Nicodemus and Joseph buried him in John’s.

Pilate summoned the centurion and inquired on the death of Jesus for the burial in Mark’s whereas soldiers confirmed the death when they tried to take executed bodies off for the Sabbath day. Besides, they harmed the body by piercing him with a spear before the burial.

Overview

Overall, the gospel of John has more descriptions on the process as well as explanations on Jewish traditions, which might show that it’s targeting non-Jewish population, whereas the gospel of Mark lists the facts in short sentences, especially focused on the fact that Jesus died and buried.

Mark: Empty tomb and resurrection and John: the resurrection.

Comparison

The stone was rolled by a mysterious force.

The very person who found Jesus resurrected is female.

Contrast

When finding the stone rolled out, Mary Magadalene was alone in John’s whereas there were Mary Magadalen and Mary the mother of James and Salome.

Jesus was anointed before he was put in a tomb in John’s whereas Marys were going to anoint Jesus after the Sabbath.

In Mark, it seems that God granted their wish to move the stone for anointment when they realized the blockage whereas the stone was moved in advance before Mary arrived the tomb in John.

Marys found Jesus, entering the tomb, who told other disciples in astonishment, even though they didn’t believe it in Marks. In Johns, many disciples came altogether, ending up without discovery of Jesus’ trace, however Mary remained and encountered angles that brought Jesus in front of her. Afterwards, she told the disciples about it.

Overview

This section is especially emphasized by the presence of females. They are the ones who cared to attend to the tomb and found Christ. However nobody was willing to believe what they said around the time when females didn’t hold much credibility. This must be related to faith in some way but I can’t connect any more dots to plot a bigger picture.

Introduction to Gospels

Introduction to Gospels

-Written over the course of almost a century after Jesus's death, the four gospels of the New Testament, though they tell the same story, reflect very different ideas and concerns.

-Before written documents, people were passing on the tradition of what happened to Jesus, what he stood for and what he did orally. Oral tradition included stories of Jesus' miracles and healing, his parables and teachings and his death

-the gospels are very peculiar types of literature; they are not biographies. what they do is proclaim their individual authors' interpretation of the Christian message through the device of using Jesus as a spokesperson for the evangelists' position.

-Each of the four gospels depicts Jesus in a different way. these characterizations reflect the past experiences and the particular circumstances of their authors' communities as well as the growing tensions between Christians and Jews.

-Despite these differences, all four gospels contain the passion narrative: the central story of Jesus' suffering and death

The Gospel of Mark

-It was the first attempt to tell the story of the life and the death of Jesus and this narrative began the gospel tradition.

-He probably composed his work in or about the year 70 CE, after the failure of the First Jewish Revolt and the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple at the hands of the Romans. That destruction shapes how Mark tells his story.

-The gospel of mark is really about the death of Jesus and the hope of his return when God brings an end to the present evil age.

-In Mark's story, the High Priest dispatches Jesus to Pilate who sentences him to death. It is the death that reveals his true identity. With deliberate irony, the figure who recognizes that identity is a Roman soldier

-In Mark's story, jesus is buried in a tomb. His original ending of the gospel does not contain an account of the resurrection, but it's added by a later author

The Gospel of Matthew

-Writing for a jewish Christian Audience, Matthew's main concern is to present Jesus as a teacher even greater than Moses.

-the Evangelist who composed the gospel of Matthew was probably a Jewish Christian and he addressed his work to a community in conflict with Pharisees who pushed Jewish Christians out of the larger communities. It's very important for Matthew that Jesus is the son of Abraham to resolve the conflict.

-Matthew grounds his entire work in the traditions of Judaism so that he can present Jesus as a teacher even greater Moses. Accordingly, Matthew uses his sources to create a somewhat different narrative.

-In Matthew's gospel, Jesus delivers five major speeches, which parallel the five great books of Moses known as the Pentateuch. the First and most important is the Sermon on the Mount.

-Matthew makes the Pharisees the hypocrites. Matthew's attitude toward the Pharisees is reflected in the way he tells the story of the death of Jesus. Pontius Pilate is portrayed as a sympathetic figure and the blame is placed on the Jewish leaders.

The Gospel of Luke

-The author of Luke wrote for a community which also awaited the arrival of God's kingdom, but which was concerned about its life in another kingdom, the Kingdom of Caesar. It is learning to live and to flourish in the Roman world, becoming absorbed into its surrounding society and clture. Luke wants to assure that there is no conflict between faith in Jesus and loyalty to the Emperor

-According to Luke, the birth of Jesus occurred in Bethlehem because bethlehem is the city of King David; Luke is drawing a direct parallel between the first king of Israel and the new king, Jesus Christ.

-Jesus of Luke is a powerful figure and he offers advice on how to live a good life besides doing a series of blessings addressing the peoples' physical needs.

-the most notable difference between Luke's gospel and others is its sense of joy. the gospel begins with the joyous account of Jesus' birth and ends on the victorious note of Jesus' resurrection and ascension into heaven

-Luke's Jesus is not only a king, he also resembles a Greek philosopher or a semi-divine hero portrayed in Greek stories.

Gospel of John

-the so-called spiritual gospel which presents Jesus as the stranger from heaven stands apart from the other three.

-If Matthew's Jesus resembles Moses and Luke's Jesus resembles a Greek Philosopher, John's Jesus resembles the Jewish ideal of heavenly wisdom

-Another feature of John's gospel is that Jesus speaks in long monologues, rather than pithy statements or parables.

-He openly proclaims his divinity and insists that the only way to the Father is through him. The central them of this work is ascent/descent. He knows the Father; belief in him is the only way to reach the Father, the only way to salvation, whereas Jews didn't recognized it.

-The gospel itself suggests that its members were in conflict with the followers of John the baptist and were undergoing a painful separation from Judaism.

The Emergence of the Canon

-The New Testament, published in Christian bibles used around the world, contains 27 manuscripts or texts. the most prominent of these are the four gospels known as Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

-As the number of Christian communities grew, so did the number of gospels. Irenaeus felt the need to limit the number of gospels to four.

-The choice of these four gospels reflects the preferences and practices of a growing majority of early Christian communities.

[I believe that the article is incomplete. Therefore I end with only three points]

Christianity Vocabulary + Paragraphs

Trinity

-Trinity is the Christian idea of the unity of the father, son and Holy Spirit as three persons in one main god. The religion is still monotheistic and the separate entities constitute one God.

Repentance

-Repentance is a change of thought and action to correct a wrong and gain forgiveness from God, ceasing sin against. It includes living according to religious laws and admission of guilt.

Incarnation

-Incarnation is the conception and birth of a sentient creature that is the material manifestation of an entity, god or force whose original nature is immaterial. In Christianity, it is the belief that the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, aka the Son or the Logos, became flesh when he was miraculously conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary. In the incarnation, the divine nature of the Son of God was perfectly united with human nature in one divine person

Church

-A church is a building or structure whose primary purpose is to facilitate the meeting of a church. Christian Church, aka thing belonging to the lord, is used to denote both a Christian association of people and a place of worship.

Salvation

-Salvation is deliverance from danger or suffering. The word carries the idea of victory, health or preservation. The Bible sometimes uses the word Salvation to refer to temporal and physical deliverance such as Paul’s deliverance from prison. In Christianity, Salvation comes from God and Jesus and it can only be achieved by accepting the two as Lord and Savior.

Kingdom of God

-Kingdom of God originally referred to the spiritual realm of which God had ruled over, however it means that the coming of an age when God would come with justice after Jews lost their autonomy. In Christianity, it refers to the time after the second coming of Jesus.

Atonement

-Atonement is a doctrine found in Christianity and Judaism, which describes how sin can be forgiven by God. In Christianity, atonement refers to the forgiving and pardoning of sin through the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, creating reconciliation.

Sin

-Sin is a common term used in religious contexts to indicate an act that violates moral rules or occurrence of committing a violation. Sin alienates the sinner from God, damaging the relationship of humanity to God. The relationship can only be restored through acceptance of Jesus Christ and his death on the cross as a sacrifice for mankind’s sin.

Redemption

-Redemption is an element of salvation that broadly means the deliverance from sin, achieved through the atonement.

Resurrection

-Resurrection is the return of someone from the dead. In Christianity, the resurrection refers to the rising of Jesus from his tomb, indicating that he is the Son of God.

Reconciliation

-Reconciliation is an element of salvation that refers to the results of atonement, describing the end of the estrangement between God and Humanity, caused by sin

Grace

-Divine Grace is unmerited favor from God in Christianity. It is the outpouring of the love of God on humanity as well as the basis of Christians’ hope for eternal salvation. Grace is considered the fruit of redemption; the reason Jesus Christ became a man, shy he suffered and died on a cross. Rather than being only a description of the character of God, it is considered the very essence of God and who He is. Grace describes the means by which humans are granted salvation. Therefore salvation and grace are synonymous.

Logos

-Logos is an ancient pagan Greek term meaning word or reason and used to represent the concept that God and Jesus are the same entity.

Sacrament

-A sacrament is a visible sign of an invisible reality: religious symbol or a rite, which conveys divine grace, blessing or sanctity upon the believer.

Agape

-Agape is a Greek word for love found in the Christian Scriptures, meaning the characteristic attitude of Christians toward others and all humanity.

Apostle

-Apostle is a Christian term, referring to Jesus’ immediate followers. An apostle must be male and chosen by Jesus, himself. Sometimes, the term only indicates the twelve disciples.

Canaan

-Canaan refers to the biblical name of the area encompassing modern Israel, Palatine and Lebanon, where Jesus lived under Roman rule and died, creating Christianity.

Christ

-Christ represents Jesus’ role as the Christian Messiah after his crucifixion. Jesus of Nazareth became Jesus Christ after his death for sinners to save humanity.

Cosmogony

-Cosmogony is a theory concerning the coming into existence or origin of the universe or about how reality came to be. Theistic explanation for origins indicates one or more supernatural beings as the explanation.

Eschatology

-Christian Eschatology is the study of its religious beliefs concerning all future and final events as well as the ultimate purpose of the world and of humankind. This also refers to a doctrine that represents a history of inquiry into the concept of the destiny of all things. Eschatology concerns the afterlife, the return of Jesus, the end of the world, resurrection of the dead, the last judgment, renewal of creation, heaven and hell, the establishment of the kingdom of God and the consummation of all of God’s purposes, the fulfillment of messianic prophecy and the beginning of the messianic age.

Ecumenism

-Ecumenism refers to initiatives aimed at greater religious unity or cooperation and it also means a greater cooperation among different religious denominations of Christianity.

Gospel

-A gospel is a writing that describes the life of Jesus, which primarily refers to the four canonical gospels: the Gospel of Matthew, Gospel of Mark, Gospel of Luke and Gospel of John

Heresy

-Heresy is an unorthodox change to an established system of belief in a religion, originally used to describe opponents against the early Christian Church.

Canon

-A Biblical canon is a list or set of Biblical books considered to be authoritative as scripture by a particular religious community. Believers consider these canonical books to express the authoritative history of the relationship between God and his people.

Messiah

-A messiah is someone who is predicted and anticipated as a savior of a group. In Christianity, Jesus is the Messiah for those with Christian faith

Kerygma

-Kerygman is a Greek word used in the New Testament for preaching. It sometimes means the messages of Jesus.

Miracle

-A miracle is an unexplainable phenomenon beyond the law of nature, considered to be supernatural or an act of God.

Parable

-A parable is a brief story in prose or verse that illustrates a moral or religious lesson. It differs from a fable because a parable generally features a human character. Jesus used many parables in his teachings as a helpful analogy and some scholars apply the word solely for its relation to Jesus although a parable can be any story that presents ethical ideas by describing human events and interactions.

Pentecost

-Pentecost is a Catholic based celebration that takes place 50 days after Easter Sunday. This prominent feast celebrates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles and other followers of Jesus. It’s also related to the Jewish harvest festival, which commemorates God giving the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai fifty days after the Exodus, as well as the Church’s Birthday.

PARAGRAPHS

The Human Condition

The human condition in Christianity is based on a notion that humans are born sinful, however they can achieve salvation through having faith in Jesus and God with repentance and then God redeems and atones them in return, creating reconciliation between two entities.

Sin, Salvation, Redemption, Atonement, Reconciliation. Repentance.

Eschatology

Eschatology concerns all the future and final events; especially Christian eschatology involves second incarnation of Jesus as a messiah, who will bring the kingdom of God on earth

Incarnation, Kingdom of God, Messiah,

The concept of God

The concept of God in Christianity is trinity: The father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Father is God itself, and Son is Christ, resurrected Jesus from Nazareth as well as incarnation of God, and this idea is further believed by the concept of logos. Another concept of God is mercy and judgment; God loves everyone with unconditioned love (Grace) and he also set a list of moral ideas to follow (Canon) where people can get punished if denying the authority.

Trinity, Christ, Resurrection, Incarnation, Logos, Grace, Canon.

Sacred texts

The most sacred text is the Bible, however there are other sacred texts as well. A gospel is description of how Jesus lived as a decent example, written by apostles. Canon is an authoritative text that describes how to improve relationship between one and God. Parables are not so much of sacred text however they represent Christ’s ideas and thoughts

Bible, Gospel, Apostles, Canon, Parables, Christ

Huston Smith: Christianity

1) What is the Christ of Faith?

Christ is believed to be God in human Form. He can be scrutinized in three parts: what disciples saw Jesus do, what they heard him say, and what they sensed him to be. Jesus was able to do miracles or deeds that went against the law of nature, however he didn't utilize them to populate his belief but performed quietly, apart from the crowds. The reason he was and still is so influential is that Jesus went about doing good, which is thought as how divine goodness would behave if it were to manifest itself in human form.

Even though a similar form of many Jesus's teachings could be found in any other document, his words were especially strong and moving for two reasons. his language was powerful even aggressive in a way so that words could be imprinted in people's minds, shown in such quotes as "If you hand offends you, cut if off" or "If your eye stands between you and he best, gouge it out". the second feature that makes his language so appealing is that he invited them to see things differently rather than telling them what to do or what to believe, meaning he spoke of things that were very much a part of his hearer's worlds, instead of difficult abstract ideas.

the contents that conveys his ideology were astonishing. We are told that we are not to resist evil by him but to turn the other cheek, even though the world assumes that evil must be resisted by every means available. they all are totally unconventional and difficult to follow, however these have been making the world better.

the two most important points he emphasized were God's overwhelming love of humanity and the need for people to accept that love and let it flow through them to others. the word Compassion would encompass those two points. Be compassionate to others regardless of their classes is the the teaching. Another reason that his words still prevail so broadly is that he not only taught them but also lived them.

2) What is the Good News?

the translation of the Good news would be Gospel in Jerusalem and the logo (Fish) indicated for Christian underground meetings where the Good news were preached when they were persecuted out open. a lot of people found themselves incapable of understanding Christian theology unless they saw lives that had been transformed completely by the Good news preached by Jesus' disciples; they were equipped with compassion and joy yet ridden of burdens. Early Christians had mutual regard, neglecting social barriers. The conventional barriers of race, gender and status meant nothing to them. Even though majority of Christians were not wealthy nor powerful and faced by more adversity than others, they found joy in their lives, feeling that God loved them. God's Love and Christian teachings also unburdened fear including the fear of death, guilt and self concern.

what can we really know about Jesus?

Jesus is a historically and religiously important figure, so people try to define who he really was. However, we have no access to Jesus anymore yet to responses about him, even though they are not facts but interpretations on many faced Jesus. Those responses originate from two forms: written and oral sources. Jesus preached people with parables and stories. Consequently we can learn about Jesus from what he said and advocated for, even though his sayings are not always corresponding in each source. Besides interpretations may be exaggerated reality seen through their particular views. therefore we need to consider most credited version of Jesus.

Huston Smith: Judaism

In Judaism, what is the meaning in history

-History is important for Jews, because history is scripted and planned by God, so every event in history holds some extent of significance. They happen for a reason. Jews have active stance toward their lives and their contexts: history, according to free will that God gave. the goal of Judaism is to better the world by acting on changing what is to what should be. They also value collectiveness because an individual can't make a change on history but a group. Even a prophet needs a group to effect a change in a society.

In Judaism what is the meaning in morality

-Since human beings are social creatures, the need for morality becomes necessary in which the focus of morality in the religion is narrowed on force, wealth, sex, and speech. there is no need of morality for animals because they do not have free will that conflicts morality. the rules for these morality are well written in the Ten Commandments that promotes collective life with others rather than solitary life.

In Judaism what is the meaning in Justice

-Advocates of justice in Judaism are prophets who are extraordinarily attentional at the social order. They are meant to speak on the authority of another. To be a prophet, one has to go through three stages. the progress seems like one has decent spirituality and others follow this one for its decency and as it gets a bigger crowd of followers, it becomes a religion. a prophet at first or second stage is a joke. the custom(?) of a prophet is revolutionary, because someone without official position took the side of a wronged man and denounced a king to his face on grounds of injustice as well as the prophet was speaking of an authority not his own.

In Judaism, what is the meaning of suffering?

-Suffering in general carries a negative connotation, however in Judaism, suffering is significant in a way that God gives Jews suffering in order to test or punish so that they can learn from it. suffering might give some Jews doubt about God and his will, however faithful ones get a lesson and reward from God in return. Because those lessons and rewards are acquired with difficulty, Jews value and take them in consideration every time whenever practicing privilege.

In Judaism, what is the meaning in Messianism?

-Messianism is a belief that the conditions of life can improve by a messiah. Jewish history is full of oppression and persecution in which Jews were a minority: underdogs. that's why messianism is very important or appealing in Judaism; oppressed people hope for improvement. There are two sides to it: the politico-national side and spiritual-universal side. a messiah would come, save Jews from persecution and restore their position in the world (politico-national side). Aftermath, the messiah would better morality of the world. Therefore, there are three ideas of messianism: hope, national restoration, and global betterment of morality.

In Judaism, what is meant by the "hallowing of life"?

-Judaism puts emphasis on practice and ritual for hollowing like eastern religions whereas western religions do on abstract reason and theology. those rituals which is seemingly wasteful and nonsensical, ease people through tense situations and times of anxiety, or intensify experience and joy in times of happiness by connecting people who practice the same rituals. the mental aspect of hollowing in Judaism is piety that consists in seeing the entire world as belonging to God and reflecting god's glory. Hollowing doesn't mean abstinence in Judaism, but Jewish law recommends that enjoying what's given by God is good without conflicting with other laws. Through tradition and history, Jews could maintain their identity and find holiness in historical events where God was involved.

In Judaism, what is the role of revelation?

-Jews say that they didn't reach these ingenious doctrines on their own but were revealed to them. God revealed himself and ideas in Torah by actions rather than words, described first in the Exodus where God liberated an unorganized, enslaved people from Egypt, launching Israelites as a nation. there is another evidence of revelation: a tiny, loosely related group of people, who had no real collective identity and were in servitude to the great powers survived for thousands years, which seems impossible without divine intervention. from the beginning, God has been leading, protecting and shaping his people from the Exodus to their survival in modern world. the Exodus reveals that God is powerful and merciful, and that God wants Jews to be good as he is and most importantly that suffering must carry significance because it was unthinkable that a God who had miraculously saved his people would ever abandon them completely. God once revealed himself and made a covenant saying God would continue to bless the Israelites if they would honor the laws they had been given.

As I read this section, I got deeply confused about the concept of revelation. I thought it only meant divine ideas revealed by God, but it also means revealing himself in order to lead Jews and what the Bible reveals about God. I personally don't think that the book should be written in this way, but I am not Huston Smith. I guess the role of revelation is where Jewish belief starts as well as a way to learn God and morality.

What is the concept of the "chosen people" in Judaism

-The idea that a universal God decided that the divine nature should be uniquely and incomparably disclosed to a single people is difficult to grasp because God shouldn't be unfair toward everyone. however "being chosen" in Judaism is different. God make chosen people suffer as a sacrifice for the fellow human beings, rather than give them privileges. Deducing from the idea, the reason that Jews were chosen might be that they were only people who are willing to endure vicarious suffering when God was presented to peoples. Therefore they are not chosen for favoritism, however in return, God leads them. Also Jews don't see themselves as a innately special people, giving God a credit for what Jews have done.

year of living biblically

Answer the following questions on the blog or hand in a hardcopy by Friday, December 4th.

1. On Page 208 Jacobs is told to stop using the Bible as a "self help" book. Based on the the information given by his adviser Yossi what is the role of religion and why is Jacobs on "thin ice?"

- Only using the Bible as a self help book is selfish while religion is about serving God. The role of religion should be to teach selflessness rather than selfishness.

Thin ice is associated with fragility. I guess the reason Yossi said that to Jacob is that he solely focused on self-contenting "Thanksgiving prayers", excluding selfless glorifying god prayers, which broke the balance of the goals set in religion.

1. On page 219 - 220 Jacobs describes his experience of being "hit" with a realization like a punch in the stomach and then he "praises the Lord." What was his realization and how does this reconcile a problem he previously had in his search of religion?

-he realized the might of God that created almost perfect world by himself, which solved the issue with saying praising prayers to God. this realization and the prayers humbled Jacob and made him realize how small his existence is