The Gramazin Blog
One article every day from Charles Wagner's two commentaries on the New Testament.
Page 22 of 22
Statement About the Four Gospels
Take Every Passage to Prayer - Volume 2, The Gospels
Saturday May 18, 2024
Father, while we are grateful for having the entire Word of God in 21st century America, including the four gospels, I fear the church has lost the power of testimony sharing. We keep our faith to ourselves and tell people to read the Bible without feeling the need to share our joy at how Jesus’ has changed our lives. Father, may this not be so of me. Please lead me to share not just the Word of God but also my testimony with courage and boldness to all who will listen. Amen.
Father, it is believed by some that Jesus’ death and resurrection occurred in 29 or 30 AD. However, Matthew, Mark, and Luke’s gospels were not written until approximately thirty to forty years later, in the 55-70 AD timeframe. It is believed that the books of Galatians, James, and 1 and 2 Thessalonians had already been written before any of these gos......READ MORE.
Theories About the Content Sources of the Gospels
Take Every Passage to Prayer - Volume 2, The Gospels
Friday May 17, 2024
The four gospels can be separated into two groups.
- Matthew, Mark, and Luke share similar text in common. Therefore, they are called the “synoptic gospels.”
- John has unique text not found in Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
How do we account for the similarities between the synoptic gospels? There are five theories.
- Matthew first. The writers of Mark and Luke both used the gospel of Matthew as a source. There are two sub theories associated with this theory.
- Mark was the first of the two gospels that relied on Matthew. The writer of Luke then used both Matthew and Mark as a source.
- Luke was the first of the two gospels that relied on Matthew. The writer of Mark then used both Matthew and Luke as a source.
The problem with the “Matthew first” theory is that logic informs us that an original source document would have less ......READ MORE.
Prelude and Testimony
Take Every Passage to Prayer - Volume 2, The Gospels
Thursday May 16, 2024
I grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the third child and the only son of my Christian parents. My family worshipped at an independent evangelical church where I became familiar with Sunday school and vacation Bible school. I spent my high school years at a reputable private Christian day school. I earned a bachelor’s degree from a Christian college in Massachusetts in 1983.
By the age of 46, I had seen seven counselors and received prescriptions from three psychiatrists to combat my depression. I was committed into the hospital for a weekend in April 2004 after mental health professionals had become alarmed by my persistent talk of committing suicide.
“I am a failure!”
My career had become a study in underachievement. When my first wife filed for divorce, I understood I had failed in relationships as well. My life was not worth living.
In early August of 2007, I received word that a close friend of mine had died of......READ MORE.
