This video course consists of a 208-page course book, a 90-minute video, a group guide and notes for teachers.
Community and Gospel are closely related even though many of us may no longer be aware of this mutual dependence. The proclamation of the Gospel makes us a community. But in its turn the community gives new meaning to the Gospel.
The early Christians carefully studied Jesus' teachings and even learned them by heart. On the other hand, they were not afraid to extract new meanings from Jesus' words. For they knew his words are`Spirit and life' (John 6,63).
Have we lost this DYNAMIC interpretation of the Gospel?
We belong to Christ's family
The course book begins by providing much biblical information about Antioch. It was in this city that the first non-Jewish Church arose. Paul and Barnabas taught the community for a whole year. It was in Antioch that the followers of Jesus were first called `Christians' (Acts 11,26).
Also, Antioch was probably the birthplace of Matthew's Gospel.
After having a good look at all the available historical data on Antioch, on its inhabitants and the life they led, we consider the new marvel of the mixed Christian community.
Syrians, Romans and Hellenists, Jews and Gentiles, had become one family for the first time. Their common belief welded them into a family that transcended all the social barriers of the time.
We consider the implications of this for our own time. We look at parishes and basic Christian communities. We discover the ideals of being `local Church' and `belonging' expressed in contemporary documents.
The Video helps us reflect on what is involved through a modern parable.
Sheila, who has run away from her parents in Liverpool, is trying to survive in London.
Gospel formation has not finished
The words and actions of Jesus went through a long process of refinement in the early Christian communities. This process of 'Gospel formation' is the theme of this part of the course.
At the origin stands Jesus himself. We get to know him as an extraordinary teacher. His words were characterised by rythmic expression, sharp wit, powerful image, Jewish poetic form. Jesus preached as occasion demanded, but he made his disciples learn key texts by heart.
After Jesus' death, these texts became the core of strings of memorised material passed on in 'oral tradition'. We study the traces which memorisation has left on the shape and sequence of Gospel passages.
We pay special attention to the element of interpretation. The catechists of the early Church did not simply pass on Jesus' teachings. They also applied them to specific circumstances and even re-formulated them to show how they applied.
But this raises questions.
On the video, we see the process of dynamic interpretation exemplified in a moving story about Brasilian ragpickers. Can an ancient Gospel passage acquire a new meaning when Vanessa loses her wayward grandchild?
Jesus' word can be brought to life today
The three Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke are curiously similar and yet strikingly different in crucial respects. With the help of modern scholarship we reconstruct the origin and purpose of each Gospel.
Mark wrote for grass-roots Christian communities. Mark took the existing `strings' of oral and written texts that recorded what Jesus had said and done, and re-shaped them into a simple `heroic' account of Jesus.
Matthew composed his Gospel probably in Antioch. He addressed the problems of converts from the Jewish tradition. He structured his Gospel around five `sermons' of Jesus, echoing the five books of the Tora, the Law, so central to Jewish belief and practice.
Luke, on the other hand, wrote for another audience: the Greek speaking, multi-cultural residents of the cities of the Graeco-Roman empire. He highlights Jesus' concern for the underdogs: the pagans, the poor, women, the sick. He stresses forgiveness, kindness, Christian joy.
All three Gospels teach that Jesus' message should transform actual living. This is also the theme of the story presented on the video.
A small Christian community in Nairobi grapples with almost insurmountable problems: poverty, alcoholism, youth crimes, Aids. In the midst of their dramatic and extreme circumstances, they affirm the centrality of God's word.
For a review of TOGETHER IN MY NAME, click here.
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