and “Part 1. Integral Gospel”
Nowadays it's
quite unlikely to find a person who has not heard at least anything about the
Gospel[1]. Nevertheless, only Christians are mainly aware of the fact that the Gospel
consists of four Gospels written by four different authors Matthew, Mark, Luke
and John. These four Gospels that are mainly published in a single book one
after another, comprise, in fact, a Common Gospel, i. e. Quadruple Gospel.
All the four
Gospels tell about the same — about the life and sermon of Jesus Christ. The Gospels
partly repeat each other, and that primarily concerns the first three of them,
"based mainly on a common historical material, therefore it would be
possible to state them at desire in three columns of one page of the text.
Books of a similar kind are called synopses[2] that is why the first three Gospels could also be referred to as
synoptic".[3]
Unfortunately,
such a fourfold duplication of the annunciation makes it quite difficult to
read. On having successfully coped with the first part, Matthew, the reader
straight away gets stuck on the second part, Mark, since the second part seems
to predominantly repeat what has already been said in the first part. As
regards Luke or John, the third and the fourth parts, their turn hardly ever
comes because they seem unlikely to add anything new. Though conventional
printing on the margins the references to similar fragments from three other
Gospels makes the search of those places easier, it still cannot provide the
wholeness of the reader's perception because of constant there-and-back jumping
to other pages.
And thus, we get
a paradoxical situation: in spite of the all Christians' worship to the Gospel
as a Holy scripture, in fact, very few of them — except the priests and the
clergymen — read it whole in succession: overwhelming majority of the
Christians, the ordinary, so to say, congregation, read in succession at best
only a quarter, at the very most — half of the text. Such situation is quite
suitable for the conservative part of the Christian clerics who pursue their
own interests: not honorable service to the God, but reservation of their
personal monopoly to interpret the Sacred Book — the worse educated flock, the
easier to manipulate them. For this very reason such clerics always resisted to
bringing the four Gospels together — precisely the same way as the conservative
part of the Judaism clergymen has always resisted to translating Torah from
Hebrew to other languages.
In general, as
Joel Carmichael wrote, " the information in the Gospels is not only poor,
it is also amazingly inconsistent. To understand what has actually taken place,
it is necessary to reconstitute the sequence of events. As a matter of fact
nobody has ever ventured to make this reconstruction based on the material
available, but by no means subordinated to it, though this opportunity has existed
for a long time ".[4] Finally I felt that it's me who has to venture on that — first of all
because my professional experience includes both traditional hand-written editing (Odessa branch of the
largest Publishing House "Vyscha shkola", former USSR, in the 80-s)
as well as modern computer editing (in
my own New York microcopies publishing house "Lifebelt", USA, at
present time).
So, to make
integrate reading of the Gospel easier for the broad masses of Christians and
for inquisitive non-Christians, I have united all the four Gospels into one —
Integral Gospel (using the text of "New American Bible" — National
Conference of Catholic Bishops / United States Catholic Conference). I have
selected the most detailed fragments among all the versions and supplemented
them with particulars from other versions. I only formulated the headlines and
sub-headlines — to facilitate orientation in the text; there are no such
headlines in the old Greek original.
The
Integral Gospel includes the whole text of "New American Bible" with
the same numbering of verses. I have neither changed nor removed a single word
— my editing only implied very complex and laborious arrangement of the text. Thus, quoting with
the references to Integral Gospel (e. g. Mark8,I3) is 100 per cent identical to
quotations from the standard Quadruple Gospel.
The Integral
Gospel is convenient first and foremost for those who reveal interest to this
Sacred Book as to a literary monument, that is, not from religious but from
secular positions — including for school-children at the lessons on the history
of religions, for college students and for scientists. It will also be useful
for the wide circles of Christians — those who are guided not by FAITH only (I
would say by implicit faith) but by KNOWLEDGE as well.
Background
“In the beginning
was the Word”
John In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. 1,1
He was in the
beginning with God. 1,2 All things came to be through him, and
without him nothing came to be. What came to be 1,3 through him was
life, and this life was the light of the human race; 1,4 the light shines
in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 1,5
Mark 1,1 The
beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ (the Son of God).
Luke Since many have undertaken to compile a
narrative of the events that have been fulfilled among us, 1,1 just
as those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning and ministers of the word
have handed them down to us, 1,2 I too have decided, after
investigating everything accurately anew, to write it down in an orderly
sequence for you, most excellent Theophilus, 1,3 so that you may realize
the certainty of the teachings you havev received. 1,4
Genealogy
Matthew The book of the genealogy of Jesus
Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 1,1
Abraham became the
father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of
Luke When Jesus began his ministry he was about
thirty years of age. He was the son, as was thought, of Joseph, the son of
Heli, the son of Matthat, the son of
Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the
son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the
son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda, the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son
of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son
of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er,
the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of
Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of
Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of
Eliakim, the son of Melea, the son of
Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, the son of
Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Sala, the son of
Nahshon, the son of Amminadab, the son
of Admin, the son of Arni, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of
Judah, the son of Jacob, the son of
Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of
Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah,
the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of
Noah, the son of Lamech, the son of
Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son
of Cainan, the son of Enos, the son of
Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
The Angel comes
to the priest Zacharias
Luke 1,5-25 In the days of Herod, King of
Judea, there was a priest named
Zechariah of the priestly division of Abijah; his wife was from the daughters
of Aaron, and her name was
Once when he was
serving as priest in his division's turn before God, 1,8 according
to the practice of the priestly service, he was chosen by lot to enter the
sanctuary of the Lord to burn incense. 1,9 Then, when the whole
assembly of the people was praying outside at the hour of the incense offering,
1,10 the angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right of
the altar of incense. 1,11
Zechariah was
troubled by what he saw, and fear came upon him. 1,12
But the angel
said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer
has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall name him
John. 1,13 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice
at his birth, 1,14 for he will be great in the sight of (the) Lord.
He will drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will be filled with the holy
Spirit even from his mother's womb, 1,15 and he will turn many of
the children of
Then Zechariah
said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is
advanced in years.” 1,18
And the angel
said to him in reply, “I am Gabriel, who stand before God. I was sent
to speak to you and to announce to you this good news. 1,19 But now
you will be speechless and unable to talk until the day these things take
place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled at their
proper time.” 1,20
Meanwhile the people
were waiting for Zechariah and were amazed that he stayed so long in the
sanctuary. 1,21 But when he came out, he was unable to speak to
them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. He was
gesturing to them but remained mute. 1,22 Then, when his days of
ministry were completed, he went home. 1,23
After this time
his wife Elizabeth conceived, and she went into seclusion for five months,
saying, 1,24 “So has the Lord done for me at a time when he has seen
fit to take away my disgrace before others.” 1,25
Mary is visiting
Elizabeth
Luke 1,39-56 During those days Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste
to a town of
When Elizabeth
heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled
with the holy Spirit, 1,41 cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most
blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 1,42
And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 1,43
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my
womb leaped for joy. 1,44 Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by
the Lord would be fulfilled.” 1,45
And Mary said: “My soul proclaims the greatness
of the Lord; 1,46 my spirit rejoices in God my savior. 1,47
For he has looked upon his handmaid's lowliness; behold, from now on will all
ages call me blessed. 1,48 The Mighty One has done great things for
me, and holy is his name. 1,49 His mercy is from age to age to those
who fear him. 1,50 He has shown might with his arm, dispersed the
arrogant of mind and heart. 1,51 He has thrown down the rulers from
their thrones but lifted up the lowly. 1,52 The hungry he has filled with good things;
the rich he has sent away empty. 1,53 He has helped
Mary remained
with her about three months and then returned to her home. 1,56
Birth of John
Luke 1,57-80 When the time arrived for
When they came on the eighth day
to circumcise the child, they were going to call him Zechariah after his
father, 1,59 but his mother said in reply, “No. He will be called
John.” 1,60
But they answered
her, “There is no one among your relatives who has this name.” 1,61
So they made
signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called. 1,62 He
asked for a tablet and wrote, “John is his name,” and all were amazed. 1,63
Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke blessing God. 1,64
Then fear came upon all their neighbors, and all these matters were discussed
throughout the hill country of
All who heard
these things took them to heart, saying, “What, then, will this child be?”
For surely the
hand of the Lord was with him. 1,66
Then Zechariah
his father, filled with the holy Spirit, prophesied, saying: 1,67 68 “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has visited and brought
redemption to his people. 1,68 He has raised up a horn for our salvation within the house of David his
servant, 1,69 even as he promised through the mouth of his holy
prophets from of old: 1,70 salvation from our enemies and from the
hand of all who hate us, 1,71 to show mercy to our fathers and to be
mindful of his holy covenant 1,72 and of the oath he swore to
Abraham our father, and to grant us that, 1,73 rescued from the hand
of enemies, without fear we might worship him 1,74 in holiness and
righteousness before him all our days. 1,75 And you, child, will be
called prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, 1,76 to give his people knowledge of
salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, 1,77 because of the
tender mercy of our God by which the daybreak from on high will visit us 1,78 to
shine on those who sit in darkness and death's shadow, to guide our feet into
the path of peace.” 1,79
The child grew
and became strong in spirit, and he was in the desert until the day of his
manifestation to
The Angel comes
to Mary
Luke 1,26-38 In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of
And coming to
her, he said, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 1,28
But she was
greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might
be. 1,29
Then the angel
said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 1,30
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him
Jesus. 1,31 He will be great and will be called Son of the Most
High, and the Lord God will give him
the throne of David his father, 1,32 and he will rule over the house
of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 1,33
But Mary said to
the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” 1,34
And the angel
said to her in reply, “The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the
Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called
holy, the Son of God. 1,35 And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has
also conceived a son in her old age, and this is
the sixth month for her who was called barren; 1,36 for nothing will
be impossible for God.” 1,37
Mary said,
“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your
word.”
Then the angel
departed from her. 1,38
Mary’s marriage
Matthew 1,18-25 Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother
Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together,
she was found with child through the holy Spirit. 1,18 Joseph her
husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to
shame, decided to divorce her quietly. 1,19
Such was his
intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and
said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your
home. For it is through the holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in
her. 1,20 She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people
from their sins.” 1,21 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord
had said through the prophet: 1,22 «Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall
name him Emmanuel», which means: God is with us»[5].” 1,23
When Joseph
awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into
his home. 1,24 He had no relations with her until she bore a son, and he named him Jesus. 1,25
Birth of Jesus
Luke 2,1-20 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be
enrolled. 2,1 This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was
governor of
So all went to be
enrolled, each to his own town. 2,3 And Joseph too went up from
Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called
Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, 2,4 to
be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 2,5
While they were
there, the time came for her to have her child, 2,6 and she gave
birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling
clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the
inn. 2,7 Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping
the night watch over their flock. 2,8 The angel of the Lord appeared
to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with
great fear. 2,9
The angel said to
them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy
that will be for all the people. 2,10 For today in the city of
And suddenly
there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and
saying: 2,13 “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his
favor rests.” 2,14
When the angels
went away from them to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go,
then, to
So they went in
haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. 2,16
When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about
this child. 2,17 All who heard it were amazed by what had been told
them by the shepherds. 2,18 And Mary kept all these things,
reflecting on them in her heart. 2,19
Then the
shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and
seen, just as it had been told to them. 2,20
Worship of magis
Matthew 2,1-12 When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the east
arrived in Jerusalem, 2,1 saying, “Where is the newborn king of the
Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do
him homage.” 2,2
When King Herod
heard this, he was greatly troubled, and all
They said to him,
“In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written through the prophet: 2,5
«And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers
of Judah; since from you shall come a ruler, who is to shepherd my people
Israel.»[6]“ 2,6
Then Herod called
the magi secretly and ascertained from them the time of the star's appearance. 2,7
He sent them to
After their
audience with the king they set out. And behold, the star that they had seen at
its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the
child was. 2,9
They were
overjoyed at seeing the star, 2,10 and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They
prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and
offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 2,11
And having been
warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another
way. 2,12
Simeon’s and Anna’s benediction
Luke When eight days were completed for his
circumcision, he was named Jesus, the name
given him by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. 2,21 When the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses,
they took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, 2,22 just
as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male that opens the womb shall
be consecrated to the Lord,” 2,23 and to offer the sacrifice of “a
pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons,” in accordance with the dictate in
the law of the Lord. 2,24
Now there was a
man in
He came in the
Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to
perform the custom of the law in regard to him, 2,27 he took him
into his arms and blessed God, saying: 2,28 “Now, Master, you may
let your servant go in peace, according to your word, 2,29 for my
eyes have seen your salvation, 2,30 which you prepared in sight of
all the peoples, 2,31 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and
glory for your people Israel.” 2,32
The child's
father and mother were amazed at what was said about him; 2,33 and
Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is
destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be
contradicted 2,34 (and you yourself a sword will pierce) so that the thoughts of many
hearts may be revealed.” 2,35
There was also a
prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced
in years, having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage, 2,36
and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple,
but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer. 2,37 And coming
forward at that very time, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to
all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem. 2,38
When they had
fulfilled all the prescriptions of the law of the Lord, they returned to
Escape to
Matthew When they had departed, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the
child and his mother, flee to
Joseph rose and
took the child and his mother by night and departed for
When Herod
realized that he had been deceived by the magi, he became furious. He ordered
the massacre of all the boys in
When Herod had
died, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in
He rose, took the child and his
mother, and went to the
But when he heard
that Archelaus was ruling over
Twelve-years-old
Luke 2,40-52 The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of
God was upon him. 2,40
Each year his parents went to
After three days
they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening
to them and asking them questions, 2,46 and all who heard him were
astounded at his understanding and his answers. 2,47
When his parents
saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you
done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great
anxiety.” 2,48
And he said to
them, “Why were you looking for me? Did
you not know that I must be in my Father's house?” 2,49
But they did not
understand what he said to them. 2,50
He went down with
them and came to
And Jesus
advanced (in) wisdom and age and favor before God and man. 2,52
John’s activity
Baptism of the
people
Luke In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius
Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his
brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was
tetrarch of Abilene, 3,1 during the high priesthood of Annas and
Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the
son of Zechariah in the desert. 3,2
Matthew In those days John the Baptist
appeared, preaching in the
Mark People of the whole Judean countryside and
all the inhabitants of
EXTRA: Matthew 4 John wore clothing made of camel's hair and had a leather belt around
his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 3,4
At that time
Mark John (the)
Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the
forgiveness of sins. 1,4
John’s witness
John A man named John was sent from God. 1,6 He came for
testimony, to testify to the light, so that
all might believe through him. 1,7 He was not the light, but came to
testify to the light. 1,8
The true light, which
enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. 1,9 He was in the
world, and the world came to be through him, but the world did not know him. 1,10
He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him. 1,11
But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to
those who believe in his name, 1,12 who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by a
man's decision but of God. 1,13
And the Word
became flesh and made his dwelling among us,
and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father's only Son, full of grace and
truth. 1,14
John testified to him and cried
out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, «The one who is coming after me ranks ahead of me because he existed
before me».” 1,15
From his fullness
we have all received, grace in place of grace, 1,16 because while
the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 1,17
No one has ever seen God. The only Son, God, who is at the Father's side, has
revealed him. 1,18
Luke 3,15-18
Now the people
were filled with expectation, and all were asking in their hearts whether John
might be the Messiah. 3,15 John answered them all, saying, “I am baptizing you with water, but one
mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals.
He will baptize you with the holy Spirit and fire. 3,16 His
winnowing fan is in his hand to clear his
threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will
burn with unquenchable fire.” 3,17
Exhorting them in
many other ways, he preached good news to the people. 3,18
EXTRA: Mark And this is
what he proclaimed: “One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to
stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals. 1,7 I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the holy
Spirit.” 1,8
“What should we
do?”
Luke And the crowds asked him, “What then should
we do?” 3,10
He said to them
in reply, “Whoever has two cloaks should share with the person who has none.
And whoever has food should do likewise.” 3,11
Even tax
collectors came to be baptized and they said to him, “Teacher, what should we
do?” 3,12
He answered them,
“Stop collecting more than what is prescribed.” 3,13
Soldiers also
asked him, “And what is it that we should do?”
He told them, “Do
not practice extortion, do not falsely accuse anyone, and be satisfied with
your wages.” 3,14
“The voice of one
crying out in the desert”
John And this is the testimony of John.
When the Jews
from
So they asked
him, “What are you then? Are you Elijah?”
And he said, “I
am not.”
“Are you the
Prophet?”
He answered,
“No.” 1,21
So they said to
him, “Who are you, so we can give an answer to those who sent us? What do you
have to say for yourself?” 1,22
He said: “I am
'the voice of one crying out in the desert, «Make straight the way of the Lord,”' as Isaiah the prophet said»[9].” 1,23
Some Pharisees were also sent. 1,24
They asked him,
“Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah or Elijah or the Prophet?” 1,25
John answered
them, “I baptize with water; but there is one among you whom
you do not recognize, 1,26
the one who is
coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.” 1,27
This happened in
Mark As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: «Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way»[10]. 1,2
EXTRA: Luke He went throughout (the) whole region of the Jordan, proclaiming a
baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 3,3 as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah: «A voice of one crying out in the desert: Prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight his paths. 3,4 Every valley shall be filled and every
mountain and hill shall be made low. The winding roads shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth, 3,5 and all flesh shall see the
salvation of God.»[11]“ 3,6