Getting to Grips with the Gospels (Original Jesus, Chapter 8)

Many readers of the Gospels, particularly within devout Christian contexts, assume that they tell us the same as we would have got if someone had been following Jesus around with camcorder. You don’t have to read very far, though, before you discover that this can’t be so.
(Original Jesus, 92)

Following Jesus today means joining with others who are trying to follow him in getting a good understanding of what they believe and why. This means studying the earliest evidence about Jesus: the Gospels. There are two basic fundamental approaches to these writings today that, according to Wright, don't do justice to the intent of the Gospels: (1)It happened exactly like that (simplistic realism); or (2) nothing like that happened (simplistic cynicism).

Wright uses the story of Jesus' trial in the four Gospels as a telling case-study of why these approaches don't work. On the one hand, clearly something actually happened and these are not cleaned up attempts later written to bolster a vision of Jesus not rooted in history. On the other hand, we have a hard time mashing together the accounts we have in order to get a harmonised picture, perfect in every detail.

If we are to take Jesus seriously, we need to be careful to avoid simplistic approaches to the Gospels.

This means considering why they were written. Wright lists two reasons (p. 105-106):
(1) To tell the story of Jesus. This sounds obvious. But some people will actually try to tell us that the Gospels were not about an actual person but about the faith of the early Christians projected onto a more or less fictionalised version of Jesus. A close reading of the story doesn't allow for this. It is clear that the Gospels intend to tell a story that is real, to introduce the reader to a person who is real.
(2) To address the evangelists' contemporaries. All storytelling involves selection and interpretations. The Gospels were not written by a fly on the wall. Why did they arrange the story as they did? How does the original setting affect our understanding today?

It is important to understand the two worlds in which the Gospels were written in. On the one side, the Greek/Roman culture dominated Palestine with its combination of classical Greek culture and ruthless Roman government. On the other, the Jewish people lived with their strong sense of national and cultural identity as the people of God. These two peoples lived uneasily with one another, learning portions of each others’ cultures and languages and, at times, seeking to fight or dominate each other. To that world, Jesus came, and in it, Christianity was born. There the Gospels were written. There, the Gospels make sense.

Embedded Questions:

• What do you make of the Gospel accounts?
• What does it mean to take Jesus seriously today? (and what does that have to do with in depth study?)
  
• How does our understanding of the world in which the Gospels were written affect the way we read them?
  
• How can we steer clear of simplistic readings without getting bogged down in the details?
  
• What about other ‘gospels’ like Thomas, Peter?