The Bible is commonly referred to as the most read book in the entire world, which is quite a feat especially considering how old the Bible actually is. However, if you consider that the Bible is one of the key foundations of Christianity and add that to the fact that there are Christians on every continent, then the wide spread influence of the Bible makes more sense. What is interesting is that the Old Testament of the Christian Bible includes Hebrew Scriptures that make up some of Jewish law (handout, Notes on Hebrew Scriptures), however with the addition of the New Testament to the Christian Bible, Christianity has spread to be the most popular religion of the modern world. It is important to look at some major concepts in the writings
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Mark’s gospel was written specifically for people who were not Jewish, as evidenced by Mark explaining Jewish customs to his audience in passages like Mark 7: 2-4, were he describes the practice of handwashing before meals. Mark’s gospel was also specially for people that were being prosecuted for practicing their new Christian religion, a fact highlighted by his shortened gospel that skipped over Jesus’s early years and focused on the idea instead that people who believed in Jesus may have to die for that religion (Mark 10:35-45). In contrast, Matthew’s gospel was written for Christians who were also Jewish and knew much of the Hebrew Scriptures. Evidence for this can be found starting right at the beginning of Matthew 1:1-17 were Matthew goes on about Jesus’s genealogy marking him as a descendant of David. Matthew goes further to mention Jewish law at many points in his gospel, further evidencing that his audience must have been familiar with Hebrew Scriptures from the start (Matthew 5:17-20). The audience for Luke’s gospel is often seen being for women and also for the poor, as Luke speaks more of forgiving the sins of women (Luke 7:36-50) and being compassionate towards the poor than any other gospel (Luke 4:18). John’s gospel is much different than the other three and is written in a more refined and philosophical manner, suggesting that John’s audience might have been more educated or scholarly. The concept that the four gospels were written for a variety of different audience underlines the idea that New Testament was intended to not just be read, but also to be fully understood by all different types of people with many different backgrounds. This helped further influence the range of Christianity because it helped spread the message of
Mark’s gospel was written specifically for people who were not Jewish, as evidenced by Mark explaining Jewish customs to his audience in passages like Mark 7: 2-4, were he describes the practice of handwashing before meals. Mark’s gospel was also specially for people that were being prosecuted for practicing their new Christian religion, a fact highlighted by his shortened gospel that skipped over Jesus’s early years and focused on the idea instead that people who believed in Jesus may have to die for that religion (Mark 10:35-45). In contrast, Matthew’s gospel was written for Christians who were also Jewish and knew much of the Hebrew Scriptures. Evidence for this can be found starting right at the beginning of Matthew 1:1-17 were Matthew goes on about Jesus’s genealogy marking him as a descendant of David. Matthew goes further to mention Jewish law at many points in his gospel, further evidencing that his audience must have been familiar with Hebrew Scriptures from the start (Matthew 5:17-20). The audience for Luke’s gospel is often seen being for women and also for the poor, as Luke speaks more of forgiving the sins of women (Luke 7:36-50) and being compassionate towards the poor than any other gospel (Luke 4:18). John’s gospel is much different than the other three and is written in a more refined and philosophical manner, suggesting that John’s audience might have been more educated or scholarly. The concept that the four gospels were written for a variety of different audience underlines the idea that New Testament was intended to not just be read, but also to be fully understood by all different types of people with many different backgrounds. This helped further influence the range of Christianity because it helped spread the message of