The God of the new Testament - Part 2 - The gospels
In this section we pick up on where we left off at the end of part 1. See Catholic Questions 7
There we noted that the important things in relation to who God is and who God calls his people to be had been received in one form or another but that something else was needed. What could God do? It is in answer to this question that the essence of the Catholic faith is expressed. The heart of Christianity, as understood and taught by the Catholic Church, is that Jesus Christ is the incarnation (literally, the one-made-flesh) of the Second Person of the Trinity. God becomes one of us. What this means is explored more fully elsewhere. For now, in short, it is in Jesus that we encounter who God truly is, but as a human being.
The heart of the New Testament are the four versions of the story of Jesus, traditionally referred to as the ‘Gospels’ (‘The Good News’).
Interestingly, these are not intended to be primarily a historical record of the events of Jesus' life. Instead, they each have a story to tell and a perspective to present.
One way to think of them is as four different insights into the person of Jesus, his teachings and the things he said, did and experienced. While they are certainly related, they are also all different. This difference can be confusing until you take into account the character, insight and context of the gospel writer. Like four artists painting the same scene, the gospel writers use their own colours, textures and highlights that reflect not only the scene they depict but which also reveal something about the artist. The gospels are as much art as they are history - and bring with them a truth that only art can convey.
This doesn't make them ‘less than true’. Think of it this way: a photograph may be more historically accurate and certainly revealing in its own way, but a painting created by a great artist provides an insight into a scene that is different to that which a photograph is able to achieve. Both are 'true' and both are revealing. Both seek to engage the person who is looking at them, calling them into the scene and into deeper understanding. The Gospels are there to provide ‘truth’ about who Jesus is and about who we are called to be in response to him. They are not limited to a contemporary understanding of what ‘history’ should be.
What is this ‘truth’ they depict? The author, Alister McGrath, believes that the New Testament makes “the most important and exciting assertion of all: that Jesus is none other than God”.
McGrath goes on to say that:
“the affirmation that Jesus is divine is the climax of the New Testament witness to the person of Jesus Christ. At least ten texts in the New Testament seem to speak explicitly of Jesus in this way (John 1:1; 1:18; 20:28; Romans 9:5; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 1:8-9; 2 Peter 1:1; 1 John 5:20).
“Others point in this direction, implying much the same conclusion, though not explicitly (such as Matthew 1:23; John 17:3; Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 5:5; Colossians 2:2; 2 Thessalonians 1:12; and 1 Timothy 3:16)”
(See Alister McGrath, Theology: The Basics. Chichester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012, p. 65).
More in part 3 next week…