There was a gap of more than 40 years between the life of Jesus narrated in the Gospels and its recording in the form of written texts and they were not accounts written by eye-witnesses on the spot. If this fact affects the historical credibility of the Gospels, no historical recordings could escape the same charge and often with much longer gap in time. Besides, recording something on the spot does not guarantee accuracy as we see from the divergent views expressed by journalists present on the spot and reporting the same events. In the case of the Gospels, there were eye-witnesses among those who were responsible for shaping the texts known as the Gospels. The beginning of the Gospel according to Luke mentions the methodology used to research on events that happened in those days. Luke informs us how the previous writers had followed the traditions handed down to them by the original eye-witnesses and servants of the Gospel. Though Theophilus to whom the Gospel is addressed knows the details, Luke wants to make his knowledge about those events authentic for which he took extra care to examine everything in detail. (Luke, 1: 1-4). The Apostles and the disciples of Jesus were those eye-witnesses who preached what they heard directly from Jesus and formed communities with the new insights they received after the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and reception of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The first Christian communities thus formed turned out to be the bulwarks of truth, which they received assiduously and kept like a treasure for the future generations.
The believers who accepted the teaching and preaching of the Apostles and the other disciples formed into communities around the all-important breaking of the bread in memory of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It was a representation of what Jesus himself did at the Last Supper enabling the believers to take part in the fruits of the sacrifice of Calvary. Paul's Letters were the first New Testament writings, even before the Gospels, where he mentions how he received directly from the Lord himself information about the institution of the Eucharist in the Last Supper. The first Letter to the Thessalonians is the first New Testament writing having been written around the year 52 A.D. The Letters to the Corinthians were written around the year 57 A.D. where we have references to the Eucharist. The same tradition we have from the other Apostles written down in the Gospels between the years 70 and 100 A.D.Thus the two independent sources of the tradition about the Eucharist of Paul and the other Apostles confirm the veracity of the tradition involved. What is more, Paul was originally outside the circle of the 12 Apostles and was even hostile to the primitive Church persecuting it out of his zeal as a pharisee of the Jewish religion.
How can a community of believers guarantee the credibility of the events narrated in the Gospels? In that case, any story, myth, fable etc. narrated in communities could be adduced as reason for historical credibility. Here we have to remember that what the believing communities heard from the Apostles and disciples of Jesus were directly experienced by them going about in the company of Jesus from the time of his public life. The believers were so thoroughly convinced of the reality and truth of what they received that no incentive could tempt them to abandon or change them. An interesting experience of the believing community of Rome in the second century may easily prove our point. Marcion from Asia Minor, the present day Turkey, a wealthy man being a merchant and ship owner, was a great benefactor of the Christian community of Rome helping them in their financial needs.The community was very pleased with him till he demanded that the references to the Jews in the Gospel of Luke be amended. Without any hesitation, the believers in Rome returned his money to him and severed all connections with him This shows that the believing community instinctively knew what is to be accepted or rejected even when they were in dire straits in their worldly possessions. This kind of 'the sense of the Church' is the criterion to distinguish between the canonical Gospels and the apocryphal ones. From what we have seen above, it is clear that a gap of 40 or more years , especially in the case of the Gospels, was not a problem for their historical credibility, but an advantage given their particular history.
The believers who accepted the teaching and preaching of the Apostles and the other disciples formed into communities around the all-important breaking of the bread in memory of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It was a representation of what Jesus himself did at the Last Supper enabling the believers to take part in the fruits of the sacrifice of Calvary. Paul's Letters were the first New Testament writings, even before the Gospels, where he mentions how he received directly from the Lord himself information about the institution of the Eucharist in the Last Supper. The first Letter to the Thessalonians is the first New Testament writing having been written around the year 52 A.D. The Letters to the Corinthians were written around the year 57 A.D. where we have references to the Eucharist. The same tradition we have from the other Apostles written down in the Gospels between the years 70 and 100 A.D.Thus the two independent sources of the tradition about the Eucharist of Paul and the other Apostles confirm the veracity of the tradition involved. What is more, Paul was originally outside the circle of the 12 Apostles and was even hostile to the primitive Church persecuting it out of his zeal as a pharisee of the Jewish religion.
How can a community of believers guarantee the credibility of the events narrated in the Gospels? In that case, any story, myth, fable etc. narrated in communities could be adduced as reason for historical credibility. Here we have to remember that what the believing communities heard from the Apostles and disciples of Jesus were directly experienced by them going about in the company of Jesus from the time of his public life. The believers were so thoroughly convinced of the reality and truth of what they received that no incentive could tempt them to abandon or change them. An interesting experience of the believing community of Rome in the second century may easily prove our point. Marcion from Asia Minor, the present day Turkey, a wealthy man being a merchant and ship owner, was a great benefactor of the Christian community of Rome helping them in their financial needs.The community was very pleased with him till he demanded that the references to the Jews in the Gospel of Luke be amended. Without any hesitation, the believers in Rome returned his money to him and severed all connections with him This shows that the believing community instinctively knew what is to be accepted or rejected even when they were in dire straits in their worldly possessions. This kind of 'the sense of the Church' is the criterion to distinguish between the canonical Gospels and the apocryphal ones. From what we have seen above, it is clear that a gap of 40 or more years , especially in the case of the Gospels, was not a problem for their historical credibility, but an advantage given their particular history.
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