From: Jim West (jwest@highland.net)
Date: Mon Mar 23 1998 - 19:29:18 EST
At 08:00 AM 3/24/98 +0800, you wrote:
> Nichael, Eric
> This doesn't sound like a b-greek subject (I may be
> wrong) but as it is here I'll ask a question:
>
> What relevance does the OT requirement for valid
> testimony of "two or three witnesses" have to the
> 2 (or 3) synoptic gospels? Has anyone explored this
> in the light of 1st Century Jewish expectations?
> Steven
I am neither of these two esteemed folk- but if I may say....
The question of canon has nothing to do with the necessity of several
witnesses. The four gospels were chosen from a myriad of possibilities by
the church centuries after they were written. The choice was, quite
frankly, arbitrary. That we have four is merely a stroke of fate. Later
on, of course, Jerome makes much of the 4, casting them in the light of all
manner of symbolism; but again, this is very much after the fact.
Best,
Jim
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Jim West, ThD
Petros TN
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