¶ … gospels in the Bible, each purporting to tell the true story of Jesus' time on earth. In these four books, the famous "Sermon on the Mount" is only recorded in full one time (in Matthew), though a much abridged version is recorded in Luke and supposedly told when Christ has descended from that same mountain. (Maybe he was giving a synopsis of his longer lecture) Understandably, no single short book could possible encompass all the events of any man's life, let alone the life of a wise prophet and Messiah. It seems odd that this sermon is not elsewhere recorded not because each of the gospels should be expected to tell of the same episodes ( as if there we no others), but rather because generally speaking they do stick to the same canon of stories. Matthew, Mark, and Luke are referred to as the synoptic gospels because they are all interwoven with one another and tend to portray the same events. John is the odd-gospel out, as it seems interested in different parables and stories. The inclusion of four gospels, all of which tell slightly different and inconsistent stories, has led to a great deal of speculation among scholars as to which are most accurate and where between their lines the "real" story lies. In order to thoroughly speculate on why there is only one complete telling of the Sermon on the Mount, even though there are four gospels, it is necessary to understand the many competing theories as to why there are four gospels and what the connection between them may be.
The most obvious and orthodox answer to this question can be summed up in one word: God. To be more precise: what God wants, God gets -- don't question God. This theory suggests that each author was divinely instructed as to precisely what words should be used, and hence similarities are obviously evidence that God was dictating the literal words of Jesus
, while differences may be chalked up to a metaphor or mystery, or dual truths (for example, some claim that the different lineages in Matthew and Luke come from tracing Jesus' lineage alternately through his adoptive father and through his mother). Old orthodoxy would link the number of gospels to the divine will of God. "Why were there only four? St. Irenaeus explained: 'There are four principle winds, four pillars that hold up the sky, and four corners of the universe; therefore, it is only right that there be four gospels.'"
According to this explanation, one may be sure that the Sermon on the Mount is only in the Bible once because God, in his inscrutable knowledge, willed this to be the case.
Another set of common beliefs regarding the origin of the gospels, which may or may not coincide with the belief in their divine inspiration, is that one of the gospels came into existence first, and the other two were based on those that proceeded. The general consensus currently is that Mark came first, and then Matthew and Luke, at least one of which was based on the other. "scholars reason that Matthew and Luke both use Mark for a source, and also had other sources of their own."
In this scenario, it becomes evident that the reason the Sermon on the Mount appears in Matthew (and in a much abridged version, as the Sermon on the Plain, in Luke) is because these appearances post-date Mark. Perhaps further information of some sort, be that divine inspiration, word of mouth, outside sources, or personal ingenuity, was available to Matthew and/or Luke. John, of course, was working from radically different sources and knowledge pools (apart from his connection to the Spirit), and apparently had either not heard of the Sermon on the Mount, or did not consider it to be particularly outstanding among the many teachings of Christ. Those who argue in defense of this theory point to the way that "Minor agreements" are frequently made between Luke and Matthew in instances where both are telling a story out of Mark, and yet both have some small word choice in common which they do not share with Mark.
Other supporting arguments include the non-existence of a verifiable "Q."
One theory on this outside source is that it was a collection of the "Sayings" of Christ. Most of the gospels are narrative, yet many ancient sources (including biblical passages) suggests that there were many books filled with the sayings of Christ. Many scholars postulate the existence of a proto-Gospel,...
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