The Four Gospels???

[MortalCoil]

I was recently having a conversation with a friend and he brought up a rather interesting point that I'm unsure as how to answer. He asked why is it that in some gospels important details such as the virgin birth or King Herod's killing off baby boys are left out.

I was given an answer for this question sometime ago but I can't for the life of me remember it or find it. Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you.

[barley]

All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, etc. II Timothy 3:16. How many times do you need to hear the same story before you recognize what is going on?

[OldChurchGuy]

There is a theory Matthew and Luke were written based on Mark. Modifications were made to Matthew and Luke as each Gospel was written to a specific audience. Therefore, the virign birth was important to Matthew as his was primarily a Jewish audience and it was important to Luke as his was a Greek audience who were accustomed to such births and expected them. Not sure who Marks' audience was nor John's.


Sincerely,

OldChurchGuy

[sonnyboy]

How about a simple conclusion like because they are obviously not all that foundational to some of the gospel writers. The question could be rightly asked why it is that we consider some of these matters so important. Are we perhaps striving to make more out of the virgin birth than we should? Is it really essential to theology?

[sonnyboy]

Why can't the answer be that some authors just did not consider some things important that theologians today classify as foundational. Is the Virgin birth essential to Christian doctrine? Is the killing of baby boys historical fact?

[nightcrawlercyp]

It is rather simple. The four gospels where written by four different people. Although most of facts are the same some differ sligthly as one of the writters thought an event sufficiently important to add to the gospel, while others did not see this so important.

[Racer X]

One reason we have four gospels is that it's the most important message in the bible, so it's repeated four times. Jesus would emphasize something he was telling his disciples by stating "truly truly" or the four creatures that encircled God's throne say "holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty" stressing it's importance. Stating the gospels four times within scripture gives it the up most importance.

Also consider that each gospel portrays an aspect of Jesus' character. Matthew shows Jesus as the king (lion), Mark portrays him as a servant (ox). Luke shows him to be human (man). John shows Christ to be God (eagle). If you like I can break this down further as to why each gospel focuses primarily on one characteristic, though all the gospels do demonstrate all four characteristics within themselves.

One last thing, in Revelation the four creatures that fly around Jesus' throne demonstrate his character. Each have a different face, Rev 4:7 "the first living creature like a lion (Matthew), the second living creature like an ox (Mark), the third living creature with the face of a man (Luke), and the fourth living creature like an eagle (God) in flight. Notice that the order of the four creatures matches the order the gospels are presented in the New Testament.

Ezekiel 1 "In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by the Chebar canal, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God....And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had a human likeness, but each had four faces, and each of them had four wings. As for the likeness of their faces, each had a human face. The four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle."

Trying wrapping the Q document around that