HOW TO READ THE SCRIPTURES AFTER MORE THAN 2000 YEARS?

"Mark's Gospel is the oldest: written in Rome in the 60s of our common era, it was intended for Gentile converts. Matthew and Luke were inspired by the same source as Mark, in the 80s and 90s, which makes it possible to compare these three "synoptic" Gospels. 

Matthew addresses Christians from Judaism, insisting on the recognition of Jesus as the Messiah awaited by the Jews. 

Luke writes for Christians of various origins living in the Greek world, and develops the universal dimension of Jesus' message. 

Finally, the Gospel attributed to John - written by disciples of the apostle at the end of the first century - reveals Jesus to be both "true man and true God".

These writings are therefore not reports but "proclamations of faith".

To sum up, this goes from the 60s to around the year 100. 

So there was an attempt to transcribe a tradition going back to the beginning of the century, up to around the years 27 - 30.

This tradition was passed on by word of mouth for over 30 years, before being written down, and it wasn't until the Council of Laodicea in around 360 that the list of scriptures retained by the Church was fixed.

"The Council of Laodicea, held in 360, did not include the Book of Revelation among the canonical books. It was very singular that Laodicea, which was a Church to which Revelation was addressed, should reject a treasure intended for it; and that the bishop of Ephesus, who attended the council, should also reject this book of St. John buried in Ephesus."

At the 2019 Purim Session at Château de Montchat, we did an exercise commonly known as "the Broken telephone", it lasted about 30 minutes including 26 people.

Here's what I transmitted in the first person: "Kaaris and Octogone will fight at 

Booba with Hannouna, dixit le Suisse zen-attitude;"

He also had to warn whoever was receiving the message, adding at the end "Be careful what you hear!" 

After 30 minutes, the 26th person said in front of the session: "Kaaris Congo, everyone beware of what you've heard"...

If a total of 22 words were reduced to 10 words after 30 minutes in a single room with 26 transmitters, what happened over 30 years in several countries on 3 continents before Mark's first writing? And what happened in the 300 years that followed until the Council of Laodicea around 360?

Today, I understand better the verse I was given to preach for the first time in Lyon in 1995. 

It was Psalms 11:3:

When the foundations are overturned, what shall the righteous do?

Today, we confine ourselves to recounting a tradition, passed down with difficulty, of an experience that has been lived and must continue to be lived by those who pass it on. 

It's an experience that needs to be actualized by those who embrace it, to the point of becoming their own story, their testimony to the tradition received. 

Happy meditation to all!