where&how, alone locked up in a dark place? GARBLED TRANSMISSION?
Role of the Scripture Writers and Translators
At first, Christians gave little thought to their own history. The Lord would return soon, they believed, and put an end to all history. When men give up their jobs, gaze into the heavens, and look for the end of the world, they write no history. Why record the past if there will be no one to remember it? -Robert Wilken (Myth of Christian Beginnings, 1971)
We tend to think of the early Christians as pious men who knew that they were helping to form and spread a religion which would become the great force that it is today. We assume that the disciples Matthew, Mark, Luke and John wrote the Gospels as tools to be used in the early spread of that religion. It comes as a surprise to most people that the first writings to circulate among early Christians were Paul's letters.
In face, much of what we recognize today as the basic teachings of Christianity came to us through Paul, originally known as Saul of Tarsus. Though he never met Jesus, he was the major missionary to the gentiles in the years immediately following the crucifixion.
His letters were written to various different congregations, often trying to solve localized problems, or to consolidate the faithful into one cohesive congregation, rather than to document and spread the teachings of Jesus. For the early Christians, the Kingdom of God was veryclose at hand. They expected it at any time. These expectations undoubtedly changed the nature of the transmission of Jesus' teachings.
Any study of Christian doctrines must deal with the issues involved in that transmission, for it is only through the transmission process that we have any idea what Jesus taught.
Role of the Scripture Writers and Translators
At first, Christians gave little thought to their own history. The Lord would return soon, they believed, and put an end to all history. When men give up their jobs, gaze into the heavens, and look for the end of the world, they write no history. Why record the past if there will be no one to remember it? -Robert Wilken (Myth of Christian Beginnings, 1971)
We tend to think of the early Christians as pious men who knew that they were helping to form and spread a religion which would become the great force that it is today. We assume that the disciples Matthew, Mark, Luke and John wrote the Gospels as tools to be used in the early spread of that religion. It comes as a surprise to most people that the first writings to circulate among early Christians were Paul's letters.
In face, much of what we recognize today as the basic teachings of Christianity came to us through Paul, originally known as Saul of Tarsus. Though he never met Jesus, he was the major missionary to the gentiles in the years immediately following the crucifixion.
His letters were written to various different congregations, often trying to solve localized problems, or to consolidate the faithful into one cohesive congregation, rather than to document and spread the teachings of Jesus. For the early Christians, the Kingdom of God was veryclose at hand. They expected it at any time. These expectations undoubtedly changed the nature of the transmission of Jesus' teachings.
Any study of Christian doctrines must deal with the issues involved in that transmission, for it is only through the transmission process that we have any idea what Jesus taught.