Assignment by Jessica

What kind of book are the Gospels of the New Testament? 

Fairy tales? Religious novels? Ancient biographies? 

I think that the gospels are somewhat between ancient biographies and religious novels, because it concerns much about Jesus' birth to crucifixion and his teachings. The gospels are written by the four main disciples of Jesus telling about Jesus' and all the things that he has done to be the Messiah, Jewish King.

Some of the gospels focuses more to the life of Jesus and his teachings, but some of them focuses more on Jesus' teachings' meanings and the meaning of him being crucified to save us from the sins. 

So, concluding this, for me the gospels are mixed literature of religious novels and ancient biographies.

-Jessica Jeon

Jose Pac and felipe marquez

What are the gospels. The Gospels are ancient biographies that have distinctive  features of their own. Most of the distinctive features of the Gospels relate directly to their Christian characteristics. They are only biographies  written by christians about the man they worship as the Son of God who died for the salvation of the world. The Gospels may anticipate a miraculous beginning to his life and a miraculous ending.

I think that this ancient biographies written by early christians are really real ancient biographies. I also think they are very related, because the biographies characteristics are straightly come from the christians characteristics, so thats why I think this.

Ricky and Gabriel's assignment question

Nowadays the gospels are viewed as biographies but in earlier years they were viewed differently.  They used to be viewed as a totally new kind of genre, unlike every thing else.  Nowadays the view is different, the gospels are viewed as ancient biographies but they are more interested in making the person look good and not so much interested in giving facts.  The modern biographies are now more worried in giving direct facts that can be proven with letters and the such.

We think the gospels are biographies, but that they were made to make Jesus look good.  We am not sure if every thing in the gospels is true because after so many years of oral traditions people could have changed the stuff. We think that the essence is true but maybe some things were changed.  But we do believe the gospels are biographies that were made to make Jesus look good rather than to express facts.  

Hugo and I think that that the Gospels are inspired by God because, the Gospels were books in which this men were chosen by Jesus to spread out his word. So the Gospels are inspired on God, and whatever he wants to tell all of his people. they were also some historical accounts, that were, and are used to know that some mythical facts were true. 

The author of the book says that the gospels were autobiographies, but they were not always view like this. he says that they were autobiographies. as we experssed on the passed paragraph.  

Tamara: what to expect: what are the Gospels? Fairy tales? Novels? Ancient biographies?

According to the text the Gospels are a sort of ancient biography that is not strictly a biographical account but also encompasses the spiritual nature of the central figure, Jesus Christ. Though it is now thought to be a biography it was initially believed to be a unique kind of literature with one sole purpose. But scholars soon came to understand that it was a Greco-Roman biography and therefore is different from what we understand as a biography. 

My opinion differs from the book. To me the Gospels represent a mixing of most literary genres. It is a book of belief and therefore carries those very important connotations. It is part fairy tale, part novel, and part biography. Like most fairy tales, that are for the most part, degeneration of older myths, it has a prince, through which salvation is achieved, and all the symbolism that is common in fairy tales. It is part novel for it has enough of a plot-building, from the exposition of the characters to the climax. I think this in part because the authors wanted to keep the readers interested and entertained. This is giving the writers a license which I believe they took. The biographical part of it consists in that it follows a life story and only passes from that to describe the spiritual life of Christ.  

There may have very well been a man by the name of Jesus who was crucified whether he was the son of God , or whether there is a God, is a matter for another discussion. His sayings and works have probably been taken far enough out of context and changed to fit personal or communal reasons that we have a distorted telling of what really happened. If there was divine inspiration it could vary from a bad acid trip, in some sort of shamanic ritual, to pure addiction by the writer or some divine force I can't recognize.

But we have the Gospels and they provide, a biased, distorted insight into the past and the beginnings of the church. 

Jimena, Maggie, Lu, and Gaby What to expect?

The Gospels of the New Testament were written 35 to 65 years after Jesus' death.  The Gospels of the New Testament were written by authors who lived in different countries, in different times, written to different communities, and with different problems.  The Gospels of the New Testament were written in Greek language, and the authors used the narrative sources of the stories that they had.  The Gospels of the New Testament are viewed as pieces of early Christian literature.  The conventions involve in the Gospels of the New Testament are form (is it poetry of prose? long or short story?), perspective, and function.  Unlike anything else in literature, the Gospels of the New Testament, are an entirely new genre, which was invented by Christians.  

In reference to the new testament, modern scholars generally agreed that the new testament gospels were unlike anything else in all of literature, that they were an entirely new genre invented by the christians, and represented by four books. Ways that people could tell what kind of books they are, is by asking such questions: Is it poetry or prose? narrative or descriptive, short or long?, the content, is it about nature or society? A twelfth century philosopher or a twenty second century space traveler? The function, to entertain or aim work, to inform or to persuade or a little of everything? 

Jimena Marquez Chapter 3

1) On one level, even modern people consider_?

a.magic    b. reality  c. Moral truth.

2) This analysis gives just one example of how historical fact may have been changed to convey theological_?

a. truth    b. climate    c. love

3)In short , it appears that the Gospel have inherited traditional from both written and oral sources, as Luke himself acknowledges, and that these sources as _ himsef acknowledge, and that these sources drew from traditionas that had been circulating for years, decades even, among Christianity communities throughout the Mediterranean world

a. Mark     b. Jesus     c. Peter

Answers

1)c

2)a

3)a