People who should/could have written about Jesus

[Asimis]

I was wondering, does anybody finds it strange that neither Mary, Joseph or even John the baptist, wrote anything about Jesus? The magi didn’t write about him either and they went on a great journey to meet him.

Does any one think there is any reason for this?

 

[Salmon]

Asimis:

I was wondering, does anybody finds it strange that neither Mary, Joseph or even John the baptist, wrote anything about Jesus? The magi didn’t write about him either and they went on a great journey to meet him.

Does any one think there is any reason for this?

Have you checked Amazon.com? They have lots of stuff there.

Peace in Christ…Salmon

 

[Reepicheep]

My question is, why should they? They weren’t 21st century Americans - they were 1st century Isreali Jews, and in their society most people didn’t read or write. Some written accounts were made - the Gospels - and I see no reason to think it strange that the Blessed Virgin didn’t think it necessary to add to them.

 

[Pax]

There is nothing in the words of Jesus that indicated that anyone, including the apostles, were to write anything. The apostles were told to preach the word and to teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The issue of literacy is of great importance. We should consider ourselves blessed that we have the NT writings, but we have no reason to expect particular individuals to write anything per se. As it stands, God’s ultimate plan and divine providence for the written word has been very effective and has withstood the test of time.

 

[Asimis]

Well the problem I see is that there does not seem to be any eye witness accoun about Jesus.

 

[adstrinity]

Well, would a 13 year old Jewish girl really know how to write? I mean, I know she was dedicated to the Temple & all, but, still. Were women educated at that time? How about Carpenters? Would they know HOW to read & write?

What do you mean no first hand accounts? Matthew & John were His Disciples & Luke interviewed Mary among others for his book.

 

[Asimis]

adstrinity:

Well, would a 13 year old Jewish girl really know how to write? I mean, I know she was dedicated to the Temple & all, but, still. Were women educated at that time? How about Carpenters? Would they know HOW to read & write?

Well by the time Jesus was in his ministry and performing miracles Mary would be almost 50 and Joseph perhaps a bit older. If you are wondering if they would know how to write then who wrote the NT?

What do you mean no first hand accounts? Matthew & John were His Disciples & Luke interviewed Mary among others for his book.

John is a really late book maybe around 80-90 AC just like revelations and the new testament was written around 70-100 AC which would place all accounts around 40 years from Jesus death.

 

[Reepicheep]

Asimis:

Well by the time Jesus was in his ministry and performing miracles Mary would be almost 50 and Joseph perhaps a bit older. If you are wondering if they would know how to write then who wrote the NT?

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John wrote the Gospels. Paul and some others wrote the Epistles. John wrote the Apocalypse. All under Divine guidance. Literacy was rare, not unknown.
**I still see no need for the Blessed Virgin to do any writing of her own. **
**Also, it is very likely that the Gospel writers interviewed her first. **

John is a really late book maybe around 80-90 AC just like revelations and the new testament was written around 70-100 AC which would place all accounts around 40 years from Jesus death.

Some people say that. Others say much, much earlier.

 

[Ghosty]

Mark was Peter’s scribe. Peter likely couldn’t read or write, so he dictated to Mark, who wrote down what he was told. The Gospel of Mark can technically be thought of as The Gospel of Peter, and is believed to be from very shortly after the death of Jesus, well within the lifetime of St. Peter. Everything in the Gospel of Mark came right out of Peter’s mouth and into Mark’s pen; it’s really the dictates of an eye-witness and best friend of Jesus. In fact, I would argue that the Gospel of Mark even SOUNDS like Peter talking, given what we know about him. It’s very clear, concise, and simple, direct and to the point.

The Gospel of Matthew is said to have been written by the Apostle Matthew in Aramaic, and later translated into the Greek we have today. It also represents a first-hand account. We’ve yet to find an Aramaic copy, but early Christian accounts state that it was indeed written in Aramaic and intended for Jews.

Both Mark and Matthew are given very early dates by most scholars, both within the lifetimes of the Apostles that are credited with them. John is generally regarded as a later work, but that doesn’t necessarily indicate that it’s less accurate. It could simply have been an oral tradition that took a while to write down.

 

[Tantum_ergo]

Also, Paul’s writings obviously antedated his death (duh), and the earliest of them was probably in the late 40s or early 50s A.D.

Many of the apostles would have thought that the Second Coming would be within their lifetimes, and that the most important thing for them was to get out and PREACH to as many people as possible. . .since as has been mentioned, public literacy rates were low, and most people relied on word-of-mouth teaching, the sort of teaching Jesus Himself did in his 3 year ministry. Of course, they would also write or have scribes dictate for them in their communications with people far away, and as time went on they also began to write down the gospels and other writings, as well as correlate what they knew AND what they had written regarding Jesus (we know that not everything Jesus did or said has been “written” down, that many things have been passed along via Sacred Tradition), IOW assimilating the O.T. works which Jesus had referenced.

And at the SAME time this was all happening, Christians were being ruthlessly persecuted. In that dangerous atmosphere it would be a lot easier to go to a place and have someone “talk” to you about Christianity, especially in an “oral culture”, than it would be to go somewhere and READ about it–any writing could be found and confiscated and serve as evidence against you, so it would be indeed quite DANGEROUS.

 

[Zooey]

First of all, there was oral transmission. Luke (I believe) is said to have got a lot from Mary, & obviously John would have too.
But you know, there is nothing to say that there were no writings by others, that have not survived. For example, many details in Luke’s gospel could have come in letters from Mary. They did not survive, but it could be. There are tantalizing references in secular historical sources to “they say”, or “they claim”…
Joseph had almost certainly passed away by the time of the passion of Christ (or he would be there!). John the Baptist was killed young.

I think that we have to admit that it is a miracle that the Bible that we have was preserved, considering Roman persecution!!

 

[puzzleannie]

Asimis:

I was wondering, does anybody finds it strange that neither Mary, Joseph or even John the baptist, wrote anything about Jesus? The magi didn’t write about him either and they went on a great journey to meet him.

Does any one think there is any reason for this?

probably for the same reason many people today do not videotape or photograph life events, they prefer to remember the person and the event, not the record of the person or event. 1st Century Jews were highly literate, at least the men, and the Magi were presumably from the educated caste in their own countries, so illiteracy is probably not the reason. Joseph apparently died before Jesus’ public life, and felt no reason to make any record, Mary most probably related her experiences to the evangelist Luke, who records her inmost thoughts and things only she could know and share. John the Baptist probably had no place to plug in his laptop out there in the desert, standing in the middle of the river, or in Herod’s dungeon. In other words, he was too busy to write.

 

[deb1]

Asimis:

John is a really late book maybe around 80-90 AC just like revelations and the new testament was written around 70-100 AC which would place all accounts around 40 years from Jesus death.

I find this 80-90 Ad unlikely considering that the temple was destroyed in 70A.D Don’t you think that writers in the years 80-90A.D would have mentioned such an important fact as the destruction of the Jewish temple?

 

[Ghosty]

I find this 80-90 Ad unlikely considering that the temple was destroyed in 70A.D Don’t you think that writers in the years 80-90A.D would have mentioned such an important fact as the destruction of the Jewish temple?

An excellent point, and one I always forget to mention. Considering how heavily later Christians dove into that for meaning, you’d think the Gospel writers would have been all over it. They didn’t even try to connect Jesus statements about the destruction of the Temple to its actual destruction, which is bizarre considering how often they appealed to prophecy to prove Jesus correct.

 

[Zooey]

deb1:

I find this 80-90 Ad unlikely considering that the temple was destroyed in 70A.D Don’t you think that writers in the years 80-90A.D would have mentioned such an important fact as the destruction of the Jewish temple?

I think you have to remember that the Christians had been put out of the synagogues by this time. Also, that Revelation/Apocalypse was written far, far from Jerusalem, & not to a Jewish audience.
There was therefore no reason to include any mention of the destruction of the temple. Quite apart from the fact that that was not the purpose of the book.
And we must recall that the scriptures were written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. If there had been an intent to address the subject, it would be there.

 

[mjdonnelly]

Ghosty:

Mark was Peter’s scribe. Peter likely couldn’t read or write, so he dictated to Mark, who wrote down what he was told.

Most likely he could write. His family was bi-lingual, his brother Andrew has strictly greek origins. Also, fishermen were among the more wealthy careers.

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