It should be noted that not all gospels were written at the same time, and that they were written by independent authors. Experts agree that Mark was written first and that John was last…Matthew and Luke both were influenced by Mark’s writing as well as other sources…It is Mark who is most likely to contain the gospel message in its least embellished form.

There are four official gospels called Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the New Testament portion of the Bible. They are considered gospels because they present the actual words of Jesus Christ during his time on Earth. Jesus’ words are usually depicted in red ink in the King James Bible, and all other words are black. No one really knows how accurate these renderings of Jesus’ actual words are, since all teachings can be distorted by the listener later. The very fact that no recording devices existed in the times of Jesus proves that these references to his words can only be conceptual, and not actual. Because all words are written from the memory of the listener rather than transcribed from an actual recording device, this alone leaves room for ponderance of its accuracy. If one were to compare the gospels, none of them records Jesus’ words exactly the same way, although they are close. One must also take into account that the gospels were written long after the event of Jesus’ death. Much clarity could have been lost during the time between the actual sermons and the time they were inscribed.

Some scholars wonder if these are actual versions of the original manuscripts. It was known that the Essenes created decoy manuscripts so that raiding authorities who came to destroy Christian documents were duped into thinking they had destroyed the only copy of the manuscript. Some manuscripts were created purposely for confiscation, and many of them did not reveal the true, or the secret, teachings that were given to Jesus’ followers. As we can easily conclude, the Bible in its entirety is an issue of debate as to its accuracy in translations, including the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John because there is the unique translating style of the person translating the Bible, particularly St. Jerome who translated the Bible from Greek into Latin, and highly influenced the Bible as we know it today. As far as translations go, most translations are done from the actual Greek documents or the Latin documents of St. Jerome, rather than from translations after those. The error in translation would most likely be only that of the actual translator and his or her take on the Greek or Latin language itself, not in the “pass it down the line” syndrome. The “pass it down the line” syndrome would only be in effect with the original writers of the manuscripts, which later became the Bible.

Gospel of Matthew

It is believed by scholars that this gospel was written for the church at Antioch around 100 A.D., and perhaps as late as 200 A.D. It was originally thought to be the earliest gospel, but now it is believed to have been written after the Gospel of Mark, as it seems to draw material from Mark. Matthew differs from the other gospels on the topics of Jesus’ birth, some facts about the Sermon on the Mount, and the ideas about the end of the world. It is believed that this gospel was written for Jewish Christians because it makes more references to the Old Testament than any of the other gospels. It clearly details that Jesus is the messiah that the Jews have been waiting for, although many to this day still do not believe that the messiah has come yet.

Gospel of Mark

The Gospel of Mark is the shortest of the four Gospels, and it is now believed to be the earliest of the four. It was most likely written around 70 A.D. Mark was the writer and St. Peter supplied the information, having been an eyewitness of the events. Perhaps he was too old in age to write, and his words were written by Mark for posterity. It is believed that not only the book of Matthew was influenced by Mark, but also the book of Luke, the third gospel. A large portion of this gospel is focused on the events during the week before Christ’s death.

Gospel of Luke

This gospel was written around 150 A.D. It is also considered the prequel to the book of Acts. This gospel used the material of Mark for inspiration and facts. However, the narrative is simple, unpolished, and most likely not done by a professional writer, as far as professional writing goes in that day and age. Luke emphasizes that salvation is available to all because of the establishment of the church, Jews and Gentiles alike.

Gospel of St. John

Some scholars believe that this gospel was written around 95-115 A.D. after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. This gospel is distinctly different from the other gospels, and does not seem to be plagiarizing the material in Mark the way the other two gospels, Matthew and Luke, do. This gospel focuses on the dualism of darkness and light, a theme also found in the Dead Sea Scrolls. This gospel expounds on Jesus’ insistence that he is the only way to salvation, and also has long accounts of the last supper and other events before Jesus’ death.

John was the witness and guardian of the Lord’s revelation. In Revelation 21:24, he says “This is the disciple which beareth witness of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his witness is true.” Some consider this gospel to be the one great revelation, the soul’s guide from the false lower world into the true upper one. The Fourth Gospel is believed by many to be the best instance of this kind of literature. The truth depends not on the factual accuracy of the work but on the truth of the ideas. The gospel of John has had great influence on Christianity.

Maria Roschl-Lehrs writes in her book entitled The Second Man In Us (1977), “St. John’s Gospel holds a special place among the four gospels. Its symbol is the Eagle, which rises up into the luminous heights of divine wisdom.” She writes that the goal of the Gospel of St. John is to beckon the soul forward. Forward into the development of a “second man,” the higher aspect of humans, a birth of what the Gospels call the Son of Man. This birth takes place when our ego has been purified, its sheaths radiant as it unites with Christ. St John was loved by Jesus and the Gospel of John reflects this love. The modern human being is looking for one’s own higher being, longing to act out of the fully conscious power of his or her higher ego. Humans innately have the desire to disentangle from the use of petty, mistaken individualism, and to join with the eternal laws, to endeavor towards the higher goals of humanity.

Roschl-Lehrs leads us through the construction of St. John’s Gospel. The first words speak of the Logos, the power of the divine cosmos. It is the light, the life of the world, and to the law of Moses it added love. She goes on to say that this gospel gives earthly humans the insight and power to become as Sun Gods. The whole of St. John’s Gospel is concentrated in these few introductory sentences which embrace our entire cosmic and human evolution:

“John the Baptist has a vision of the Logos-power entering the body of Jesus of Nazareth. ‘I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him…the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost’ (John 1:32, 33). The first chapter of John’s gospel closes with the words: ‘Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? Thou shalt see greater things than these. And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the Angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.’” It is this “second man” in us, the Son of Man, who is also a son of the heavens. “The messengers of God, ‘the second man,’ can descend upon us and the hierarchies will enjoin company with us, descending upon us from the heavens and ascended from us back to the spirit.” The human being is established as the lowest of the hierarchies yet is at the highest stage of development here on earth. It is believed that the human being will expand towards the higher stages of evolution as we become more fully aware of what we are called to be in the divine cosmic order.

In The Second Man In Us (1977), Maria Roschl-Lehrs writes: “If this goal is to be reached, the human ego will first have to cast off the bonds which confine it within blood-- determined family connections, within a group soul that holds it back from individual development. And so we see Christ first turning to Galilee, whose people are despised as a mongrel community by the Jews. Just because of this, however, because they are less hampered by a bodily descent, their egos are readier for the spirit and more receptive for the Christ impulse than the Jews themselves.”