Who Chose the Gospels?: Probing the Great Gospel ConspiracyThe Bible contains four Gospels which tell the story of Jesus of Nazareth. And yet, many more Gospels once existed. Who, then, determined which Gospels would, for the next two thousand years, serve as the main gateways to Jesus and his teaching? Recent books and films have traced the decision to a series of fourth-century councils and powerful bishops. After achieving victory over their rivals for the Christian name, these key players, we are now told, conspired to 'rewrite history' to make it look like their version of Christianity was the original one preached by Jesus and his apostles: the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John became the prime tools for their re-sculpting of the Christian story, leading to the destruction of previously treasured writings like the Gospels of Judas, Mary, and Thomas. Are the four canonical Gospels, then, in the Bible as the result of a great, ecclesiastical conspiracy? Or does this explanation itself represent another 'rewriting of history', this time by a group of modern academics? Who Chose the Gospels? takes us to the scholarship behind the headlines, examining the great (and ongoing) controversy about how to look at ancient books about Jesus. How the four Biblical Gospels emerged into prominence among their competitors is a crucial question for everyone interested in understanding the historical Jesus and the development of the Christian church. |
Contents
| 1 | |
| 7 | |
The Lonely Irenaeus | 34 |
The Ugly Irenaeus | 52 |
A Teacher a Preacher and a Canonlist Maker | 69 |
Of Harmonies Synopses and Codices | 103 |
Justin Martyr and the Apostles Memoirs | 123 |
The Gospels as Public Documents | 151 |
Two Forgers and an Apologist | 161 |
Other editions - View all
Who Chose the Gospels?:Probing the Great Gospel Conspiracy: Probing the ... C. E. Hill No preview available - 2010 |
Common terms and phrases
accepted Alexandria already apostles appears believe bishop called canonical Gospels cent chapter Christ church cited claim Clement codex collection conclusion considered contained copies Diatessaron disciples earlier earliest Early Christianity elder Eusebius evidence existence fact Fathers followers four Gospels Fragment gnostic Gospel according Gospel of Judas Gospel of Peter Gospel of Thomas Greek hand Harmony Hierapolis History Irenaeus James Jesus John John’s Justin knew known late later least letter Luke manuscripts Mark material Matthew means Memoirs mentioned noted original Oxford Papias papyrus perhaps person popular possible preached present probably prophets question readers reason received recent recorded reference Rome says scholars Scripture second century seems seen Serapion simply sometimes speaks story Studies Tatian teaching tell Testament texts things third tradition translation true truth University Press writings written wrote