Jesus Simulacrum, Or The Gospels Vs. "The Gospel"

Abstract

The Christian New Testament begins with four gospels, each of which tells a different story of Jesus. Or rather, each gospel tells a story of a different Jesus. Each of these Jesuses has disciples named Peter, James, and John. In the synoptic gospels, Jesus preaches the 'kingdom of God', often in parables that present the kingdom as a secret. Jesus's relations to his disciples and to his family are stormy throughout Mark. In each of the gospels, Jesus speaks often about a 'son of man', a common phrase in the Jewish scriptures. Both Mark's and Matthew's Jesuses are unwilling to die in Gethsemane, and each one cries out at the moment of his death. The Christian canon of the New Testament collects the four gospels, places them in a sequence, and follows them almost immediately with a collection of Paul's letters.Keywords: Christian New Testament; gospels; Jesus Christ; Jewish scriptures