HydroMan: Why does the New Testament have four Gospels – why four, why not one, or five (why did the Church specifically recognize four Gospels to be Scripture)?
There are four Gospels because all other Gospels are false “Then of the New Testament there are the four Gospels only, for the rest have false titles and are mischievous.” (Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures, iv. 36)
There are four Gospels because there are four parts of the world in which the Good News (Gospel) is to preached to “It is not possible that the Gospels can be either more or fewer in number than they are. For, since there are four zones of the world in which we live, and four principal winds, while the Church is scattered throughout all the world, and the pillar and ground 1 Timothy 3:15 of the Church is the Gospel and the spirit of life; it is fitting that she should have four pillars, breathing out immortality on every side, and vivifying men afresh”. (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 3.11.8)
There are four Gospels because they were written by an Apostle or someone who had a close connection to an Apostle “Matthew also issued a written Gospel among the Hebrews in their own dialect, while Peter and Paul were preaching at Rome, and laying the foundations of the Church. After their departure, Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, did also hand down to us in writing what had been preached by Peter. Luke also, the companion of Paul, recorded in a book the Gospel preached by him. Afterwards, John, the disciple of the Lord, who also had leaned upon His breast, did himself publish a Gospel during his residence at Ephesus in Asia.” (Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.1.1)
TheDoctor394: I remember that right at the beginning of my New Testament studies at BCQ, one of the first questions the students were asked by our lecturer was this one. Why four Gospels? Why more than one? Why no more than four?
To be honest, I can't remember exactly what the ultimate answers were to those questions, but I think it was something along the lines of focusing on Christ's work through different angles so to cover everything possible. I can't recall these different historical views you've posted, although we might have read them. But I think it was God's will to give us as broad a coverage of Jesus' work as possible, without going overboard, and I would suggest it's more likely to be believable if we have a few accounts from different people, rather than just one.
HydroMan: Also, no matter how many we had, we would always have the same questions asked. If there was only 2, the we would ask, why 2 and not 4. If there was 5 we would ask, why 5 and not 4 etc
There are four Gospels because all other Gospels are false “Then of the New Testament there are the four Gospels only, for the rest have false titles and are mischievous.” (Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures, iv. 36)
There are four Gospels because there are four parts of the world in which the Good News (Gospel) is to preached to “It is not possible that the Gospels can be either more or fewer in number than they are. For, since there are four zones of the world in which we live, and four principal winds, while the Church is scattered throughout all the world, and the pillar and ground 1 Timothy 3:15 of the Church is the Gospel and the spirit of life; it is fitting that she should have four pillars, breathing out immortality on every side, and vivifying men afresh”. (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 3.11.8)
There are four Gospels because they were written by an Apostle or someone who had a close connection to an Apostle “Matthew also issued a written Gospel among the Hebrews in their own dialect, while Peter and Paul were preaching at Rome, and laying the foundations of the Church. After their departure, Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, did also hand down to us in writing what had been preached by Peter. Luke also, the companion of Paul, recorded in a book the Gospel preached by him. Afterwards, John, the disciple of the Lord, who also had leaned upon His breast, did himself publish a Gospel during his residence at Ephesus in Asia.” (Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.1.1)
cant think of any other reasons
To be honest, I can't remember exactly what the ultimate answers were to those questions, but I think it was something along the lines of focusing on Christ's work through different angles so to cover everything possible. I can't recall these different historical views you've posted, although we might have read them. But I think it was God's will to give us as broad a coverage of Jesus' work as possible, without going overboard, and I would suggest it's more likely to be believable if we have a few accounts from different people, rather than just one.