Several years ago, a Hollywood film director, Martin Scorsese, produced a movie, "The Last Temptation of Christ," that provoked an outrage and protest from various Christian spokesmen. It depicted Jesus, not as the Son of God, but as a mere man who invented his own divinity and became distraught and overburdened by the self-revelation. The central issue in the furor was that the movie was based on a fictionalized novel produced by a Greek writer, Nikos Kazantzakis - and not on the New Testament historical records.1

More recently, a group of 77 biblical scholars - the Jesus Seminar - called into question the authenticity of Jesus' statements in the New Testament. They concluded that only 18 percent of its statements are authentic, and most, if not all, the miracles of Jesus were questionable.2Just how reliable is the New Testament record? In point of fact, it has more historic reliability as an ancient text than many other ancient literary documents. For example, Plato's writings are unquestioned by most, yet the earliest documents of his writings are many centuries removed from his lifetime. By comparison, the earliest documentation of parchment relating to the four gospels is about A.D. 140 or within 80-90 years of the events.

The Book of Mormon, as "Another Testament of Jesus Christ" and His ministry, makes a significant contribution to the question of the reliability of the New Testament record in that it adds corroborating testimony to the gospel authors. The Book of Mormon testifies that Christ appeared on the American continent following His resurrection; He displayed the marks in His hands that verified His crucifixion and literal bodily resurrection; He gave the same doctrine to the people on this continent as in Palestine; and He proclaimed Himself as the God of Israel. The Book of Mormon therefore verifies the testimony of the four gospel writers and provides additional evidence to corroborate their record. But since the four gospels are the only historical record of the mortal ministry of Christ, it is this record that commends our attention.

Did the gospel writers have an additional source for their writing?

The New Testament gospels were authored by four different men, each of whom wrote for a different purpose and from a differing perspective. Three (Matthew, Mark and Luke) told essentially the same story. For that reason, their testimonies are called the synoptic gospels, meaning the same (syn) view (optic). Their versions parallel each other in many episodes. As will be shown, John wrote from a different perspective.

As noted by Elder Bruce R. McConkie, the four accounts were not intended as biographies of Jesus' life and teachings.3 These men were either personal witnesses to the events or, as in the cases of Mark and Luke, they recorded the testimonies of Simon Peter and the Apostle Paul. Each wrote for a different purpose and for a different audience. (See chart.) But for each, the ultimate purpose was the same: "These

testimoniesT are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name." (John 20:31.)

It is commonplace, for example, for New Testament scholars to speak of the oral tradition of the early apostles. The oral tradition was a process of the disciple committing to his memory the sayings and teachings of his master. For centuries, this was a traditional practice among the scribes. But there was more than just an oral tradition for each of the authors of the four gospels. More likely, each of them had other written sources for their writing.4 Indeed, scholars have hypothesized that there was an additional source that has not survived.5 But Latter-day Saints have a more substantial reason for believing that more than just fallible memory was involved in preserving records.

In Third Nephi an episode is documented from Jesus' ministry to the Nephites that demonstrates the importance of a written record of His teachings. The Nephites were commanded to "write the things which I have told you." (3 Ne. 23:4, emphasis added.) Then after He had expounded the scriptures to these disciples, He said, "Behold, other scriptures I would that ye should write, that you have not." He then said to Nephi: "Bring forth the record ye have kept." This done, the Savior examined them and found that the testimony of Samuel the Lamanite was missing.

"How be it," inquired Jesus, "that ye have not written . . . that many saints did arise and appear unto many and did minister unto them?" (3 Ne. 23:10-11, emphasis added.)

The prophecy had not been recorded. The Book of Mormon record then informs us, "Jesus commanded that it should be written; therefore it was written according as he commanded." (See 3 Ne. 23:6-13.)

The Nephite record demonstrates the importance that Jesus placed on written records in order that the apostles could teach from His words.

Additionally, in this dispensation He commanded the Prophet Joseph Smith to keep a written record. (See D&C 21:1; 47:1.)

Given this emphasis by our Savior on His brief ministry to the Nephites and His instructions to His modern Church, would He have been less insistent on keeping a written record of His three-year ministry among the Jews? I cannot conceive He would. It is therefore reasonable that He would appoint one of the Twelve to keep a record of His teachings and doctrine. This record may have been the "source" that many scholars are agreed that Matthew, Mark and Luke used for their writing, in addition to recording the testimonies of the eyewitnesses. It would also account for the harmony of the teachings of Matthew, Mark and Luke, and would be strong presumptive evidence for a record that is dated at the time of Christ's ministry and not one written on the basis of recollections or just an oral tradition by His disciples of events that transpired many decades before recording the episode or teaching. Let us now look at the perspective from which each of the writers prepared his record.

Four Different Perspectives

1. THE TESTIMONY OF MATTHEW

Matthew (Levi) was called by Jesus as an original member of the Twelve Apostles. Before his call, he was probably employed by the Romans as a publican or a collector of taxes in Galilee. Publicans were particularly despised by the Jews because they collected taxes for Rome, a foreign power, and many were dishonest.

Matthew's record first appeared to the Jews in fulfillment of the commandment by the Savior to witness of Him in Jerusalem and then Judea. (See Acts 1:8.) He wrote as a Jew to the Jews to show that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, the long-awaited "Consolation of Israel." Matthew cites the Old Testament nearly 100 times.6 He painstakingly established Jesus' genealogy back to Abraham thereby demonstrating His Jewish pedigree.7 Eight times he calls Jesus the "Son of David," a title rarely used by other gospel writers.8 He bears witness that Jesus of Nazareth is Immanuel, meaning He is God with us.9

A peculiar feature of Matthew's presentation of Jesus' Messianic calling is the recording of five great discourses or sermons by Jesus. These were: the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7); the instructions to the Twelve Apostles (Matthew 10); the parables of the kingdom (Matthew 13); the requirements for discipleship (Matthew 18); and prophecies about the future (Matthew 24-25). His account of the Sermon on the Mount is the most complete account of gospel writers.

Since the Jews were expecting a Messiah who would deliver them from Roman domination, Matthew carefully records Jesus' teachings about the kingdom of heaven and He details the requirements of discipleship (Matthew 18). More than any other gospel writer, Matthew records the accounts of denunciation of the Pharisees' hypocrisy and specifically records Jesus' words of rebuke to them because of their rejection of new revelation and adherence to a dead law. (See chapters 12, 15, 16, and 23; also JST Matthew 7:6, 14, 15.)

It is altogether probable that Matthew was the historian or recorder of Jesus' teachings to the Twelve. Ancient tradition has it that "Matthew composed the Logia (teachings) in the Hebrew tongue and everyone interpreted them as he was able."10

The burden of Matthew's testimony is that Jesus fulfilled all the requirements and the conditions of the ancient prophecies. Wording such as this was his unique methodology for demonstrating the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies: "Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet." (See Matt. 1:22 as an example.) Jesus alone had the credentials as Israel's Messiah, as traced by His royal descent to David and Abraham.

The book of Matthew was the most reworked and revised text of the four gospels by the Prophet Joseph Smith in "translating" the inspired version of the Bible. Matthew 24, for example, is now Joseph Smith-Matthew in the Pearl of Great Price.

2. THE TESTIMONY OF MARK

Imagine yourself in a nation where the major metropolis has been consumed by fire leaving the populace homeless and devastated. A rumor has circulated that the fire was started on orders from the executive officer of the government. Demands are made for an investigation and thousands are in a state of near riot and panic. The government deflects the blame to an obscure group of people who believe in Jesus Christ. Thousands of them are rounded up and imprisoned. Subsequently, the presiding officer of this group is arraigned and he, along with other officers, are charged with incendiarism. An intense animosity is then stirred up against this heretofore ignored group of believers.

If that scenario sounds improbable, it is an item of historical fact. It occurred when Rome was devastated by a great fire and the notorious Emperor Nero was suspected of ordering the fire. He looked for a scapegoat and found it in a group of believers who called themselves "Christians" after their founder Jesus Christ. Nero subsequently had the leaders and followers arrested and imprisoned. As is well documented, the animosity of the citizens of Rome toward this group was so intense that they tolerated these strange people with peculiar beliefs being sacrificed as sport and spectacle to the gladiators and the lions. The events took place in the years A.D. 64-65.11

Against this backdrop of what one scholar cites as a "reign of terror," there appeared in the environs of the Roman Empire a small tract called the Testimony of Mark.12 The tract was a justification for the Christian's belief in Jesus Christ, a Judean, who wrought mighty miracles, was crucified by the Romans in Judea, but who appeared alive three days after His crucifixion. The group of followers after Christ were individuals who revered this Man as a God. The tract was an appeal to the Roman mind accustomed to mortal monarchs who claimed deification. This Man Jesus, however, not only claimed to be God's Son; He performed documented miracles that only God could perform. No Caesar had done that!

John Mark no doubt prepared his testimony in the context of the persecution of the Christians in Rome under Nero. Strong early tradition has it that his gospel was written in Rome at the direction and urging of the chief apostle, Peter.

Papias, who knew the apostle John, wrote:

"Mark indeed, since he was the interpreter of Peter, wrote accurately, but not in order, the things either said or done by the Lord as much as he remembered. For he had neither heard the Lord nor followed Him. . . ."13

The testimony was therefore Peter's since he was the eyewitness to the events. Peter looked on the younger disciple as "his son." (See 1 Pet. 5:13). The tract was particularly written for a Roman or Gentile audience. The author bears witness that Christ is the Son of God who was the ultimate conqueror of death.

In contrast to Matthew's emphasis on the discourses of Jesus, Mark's testimony focuses on the actions of Jesus. Immediately, he commences his story with the declaration to his Roman audience that Jesus is the Son of God. (Mark 1:1.) He then proceeds directly to the beginning of Jesus' ministry with His baptism in Judea. Mark then moves to Galilee where he emphasizes the miracles of Jesus that would impress his Gentile readers. Mark's gospel is not only the shortest (only 16 chapters); of the four, it is the most vivid. One third of the writing is on the "suffering" of Jesus during the last week of His mortal life. (See JST Acts 1:3.) A perceptive reader soon realizes that Mark is quickly taking us to the passion week and that Jesus, as God's Son, accomplished the atoning sacrifice and then came alive again!

3. THE TESTIMONY OF LUKE

Luke provides his readers with the most complete account of the life of Christ and the early Church. His record is the first of a two-part history: the gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. The gospel of Luke would therefore be dated about A.D. 60-62 and the Acts of the Apostles shortly after Paul's first imprisonment in Rome, about A.D. 62 or 63.

By profession Luke was a physician. (Col. 4:14.) He may have been one of the two disciples who walked on the road to Emmaus and subsequently recognized the risen Lord after He ate with the two. Luke accompanied Paul on two missionary journeys and continued with him through his second imprisonment.

Luke's method of writing was to gather the oral testimony of eyewitness accounts and create a narrative "of all things . . . accurately from the first." He would have had Matthew's account as well as other written accounts including interviews with the mother of Jesus and others. Luke followed the method of the ancient historians of dedicating this treatise to a high-ranking official in the government named Theophilus. His purpose was to present Jesus as the Son of God to an educated Gentile audience as "a messanger of Jesus Christ." (JST Luke 1:1-3.)

Instead of tracing Jesus' lineage back to Abraham, making Him distinctly Hebrew, Luke traced Jesus' genealogy back to Adam thereby showing that He is the Savior to all mankind. Luke's point of recording the account of Jesus' birth was to demonstrate that He descended from the royal line of David through His mother, but that He was sired by "the Highest." (See Luke 1:32-35.) Thus Jesus is both the son of David and the literal Son of God. Luke then proceeded in orderly fashion to relate narratives about Jesus' infancy, His preparation for this ministry, the Galilean ministry, His final excursion to Jerusalem and then the incidents in Jerusalem that culminated in His suffering, crucifixion, death, resurrection and ascension.

Throughout his narrative Luke showed the love of Jesus for all mankind. It is a universal message. Only in Luke does one find the story of the prodigal son and the good Samaritan. Luke's unique focus is on people. In his narrative we meet people: Zacharias, father of John the Baptist; Elisabeth, John the Baptist's mother; Jesus' mother Mary; Mary and Martha; Zacchaeus; and the Samaritan, a despised race to Jews. A physician's tenderness and concern are apparent as we see portrayed Jesus' compassion for women, for children, the downtrodden and social outcasts.

4. THE TESTIMONY OF JOHN

The "beloved disciple" had a different purpose than the other gospel witnesses. John had been banished to the Isle of Patmos during the reign of the Roman Emperor Domitian. Following Domitian's death, John returned to Ephesus, one of the centers of the Church in Asia. The Church was threatened by persecution and internal apostasy. False teachings had entered the Church. One of the chief heresies was the Gnostic idea that evil is associated with the body or flesh. Therefore the Gnostics reasoned, Jesus could not have had a physical body either during His ministry or after His resurrection. John, who was then the chief apostle and who held the keys of apostolic authority, prepared his gospel to correct the false ideas so rampant in the first century. Thus he testified Jesus is the Word made flesh who came among us. (John 1:14.)

John testified that Jesus is the Lord, the Creator of heaven and earth. He is the Light of the World, the Way, the Truth and the Life. Where the other gospel writers told the narrative, John interpreted the meaning of the event to the believing members of the Church. For example, the other gospel writers related the episode of the feeding of 5,000; John gets behind the story and gives the deeper meaning - that Jesus is the Bread of Life, the spiritual sustenance to mankind. Or another example, Pilate examines Jesus and asks Him, "Art thou the king of the Jews?" Jesus answered: "My kingdom is not of this world." In other words, Pilate had nothing to fear because Jesus did not make any secular claim to kingship. Only John provided this insight.

John's effort to omit what the other gospels narrate seems deliberate. His intent was to supplement the other testimonies with the conversations and discourses that he witnessed and heard Jesus say. Thus we have the conversation with Nicodemus, the woman at the well, the discourse in the synagogue at Capernaum, and the bold "I am"discourses, which declared His divinity: "I am the Bread of Life," "I am the Light of the World," "I am the Good Shepherd," and the Savior's testimony of His pre-mortal existence, "Before Abraham was, I am." (John 8:58.)

Only John gives us the Intercessory Prayer of Jesus. John tells us particularly about the several appearances of Jesus after His resurrection. For example, the appearance when Thomas was not present and when he was present. John's testimony is that Jesus is clearly the Messianic fulfillment.

Like Peter, John is an eyewitness. "We beheld his glory," he declared. (John 1:14.) His testimony is credible because of the specificity of detail in his narrative: there were six waterpots at Cana; Peter's net drew in 153 fish; the disciples rowed 25 or 30 furlongs to cross the Sea of Galilee. If his testimony is credible in details so minor, it is equally credible to members of the Church to believe that Jesus was flesh and blood. Thus, John who witnessed the Roman soldier who thrust his spear in Jesus' side, declares: "forthwith came there out blood and water. And he that saw it bore record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe." (19:34-35.)

The Common Testimony of the Four Witnesses

All four writers shared a common testimony at the conclusion of their declarations. Two things occurred on the first day of the week following the Friday of Jesus' death. First, the tomb of Jesus was found empty. Second, Jesus appeared physically, in His body, to numbers of individuals. They saw Him! They touched Him. They saw Him eat. Then they saw Him physically ascend into heaven.

The only reliable source we have of the mortal ministry of Jesus is the four gospel writers in the New Testament. Ignore or discard this testimony - as Scorsese did and some maverick scholars are doing - then whatever one writes or depicts as the life and ministry of our Lord is myth and fiction.

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Endnotes

1"A Holy Furor," Time Magazine, Aug. 15, 1988, pp. 34-42.

2"What Did Jesus Really Say?" Bible Review, October 1989, pp. 18-25; "Cutting Loose the Holy Canon," U.S. News and World Report, Nov. 8, 1993, p. 75; and "Who was Jesus?" Salt Lake Tribune, Oct. 22, 1994.

3Bruce R. McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary 1:64-65.

4Doctrine and Covenants 93 is a restoration of John the Beloved's testimony regarding Jesus Christ. This record implies that John the Beloved may have had the record of John the Baptist.

5It is sometimes referred to as "Q" - the first letter of the German Qualle, meaning source. The scholarly term is Logia, which means discourses. The Q source is the source of written teachings and sayings of Jesus which are common to Matthew and Luke.

6See for example Matt. 2:5, 6, 15, 17, 23.

7Matt. 1:1-17.

8Matt. 1:1; 9:27; 12:23; 15:22; 20:30, 31; 21:9, 15.

9Matt, 1:23.

10Quoted in Donald Guthrie, The Gospels and Acts: New Testament Introduction (Chicago; Inter-Varsity Press) p. 31. The quotation is from Papias, Bishop of Hieropolis, who wrote about A.D. 120. Papias had sought out the testimony of the apostles and recorded them in five books on Explanations of the Sayings of the Lord. The five books have not survived.

11Tacitus, a Roman historian, substantiated this account in his history, Annals xv 44; See Documents of the Early Christian Church (Oxford University Press, 1963), pp. 1-2.

12C. H. Dodd, About the Gospels,

London: Cambridge at the University Press, 1950T.

13Donald Guthrie, op.cit., pp. 57, 66.

Dates in this article are approximations. There is a wide disparity among New Testament scholars regarding the dating of the Gospels. This article favors the use of early dates, which acknowledges Jesus' ability to prophesy. See, for example, Matt. 24.

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The witnesses and their records

WITNESS: Matthew

DOMINANT CHARACTERISTIC: A witness that Jesus of Nazareth is the promised Messiah. Jesus' lineage as the son of David is emphasized. Matthew, alone, records teaching about the Church of Jesus Christ.

PROBABLE PURPOSE: To show that Jesus is the Messiah - the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies.

PROBABLE AUDIENCE: Written by a Jew for a Jewish audience.

PROBABLE TIME/PLACE: Written as the first witness of Jesus' ministry since the gospel was to go first to the Jews in Palestine. c. A.D. 34-50*

MAJOR SUBJECT MATTER: Five great discourses of Jesus: The Sermon on the Mount; charge to the Twelve; parables of the Kingdom; requirements for discipleship, and prophecies fo the destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Coming.

WITNESS: Mark

DOMINANT CHARACTERISTIC: One-third of Mark's gospel concerns the sufferings of Jesus - the last week of His mortal life and the resurrection.

PROBABLE PURPOSE: Using the Apostle Peter as his source, Mark testifies of Jesus' miracles and resurrection.

PROBABLE AUDIENCE: Written for a gentile audience, most likely Roman.

PROBABLE TIME/PLACE: May have appeared shortly after the emperor Nero's persecution of the Church in Rome. A.D. 65*

MAJOR SUBJECT MATTER: Great emphasis on the miracles of Jesus. Focus on the last week of Jesus' mortal life and His resurrection.

WITNESS: Luke

DOMINANT CHARACTERISTIC: Luke's record is the longest in the New Testament. Focus is on Jesus' interaction with individuals: disciples, women, social outcasts and children.

PROBABLE PURPOSE: To present Jesus as the Son of God to an educated Greek audience and to provide an accurate history.

PROBABLE AUDIENCE: Written to Theophilus, a Gentile Christian, in order to preserve a careful record of Jesus' ministry for the gentiles.

PROBABLE TIME/PLACE: c. A.D. 60-62*, while Paul was first imprisoned in Caesarea.

MAJOR SUBJECT MATTER: Luke's subject is the life of Christ. Emphasis is on Jesus' personality and interaction with people. Shows the love of Jesus for all mankind.

WITNESS: John

DOMINANT CHARACTERISTIC: Presents Jesus as universal Savior to all mankind; He is the Messiah; the Bread of Life; Light of the World; the Good Shepherd; the Way, the Truth and the Light.

PROBABLE PURPOSE: To testify that Jesus is the Only Begotten Son of God in the flesh.

PROBABLE AUDIENCE: Written to believing members of the Church to declare Jesus as the Messiah and refute heresy.

PROBABLE TIME/PLACE: c. A.D. 90-100*. Ephesus.

MAJOR SUBJECT MATTER: Records information not in the other Gospels, such as the conversations and discourses of Jesus.

*Dates are approximate