<P> Most historians view the gospels not as an objective account of Jesus, but as the product of men writing at a particular period, and grappling with particular theological as well as political issues . Specifically, they assume that after Jesus' death his sayings and stories about him circulated among his followers until, at some point in the mid-1st century someone (or group of people) wrote down his sayings in Greek (see Q source) and someone edited and organized stories about his life into a historical narrative, the Gospel of Mark . As these two documents circulated among Christians, other historical narratives were edited and organized . The four gospels ascribed to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were regionally authoritative by proto - orthodoxy by the 2nd century . Some historians have suggested that between Nero's persecution of Christians in 64 CE, and the Jewish revolt in 66 CE, Gentile Christians saw more sense in assigning Jews, rather than Romans, responsibility for Jesus' death . </P> <P> Moreover, just as Rabbinic Judaism was in part the Pharisaic response to their acknowledgment that the Temple would not be rebuilt in their lifetimes, Christianity reflected the acknowledgment of early Christians that the Second Coming of Christ and the establishment of God's kingdom on earth was not to happen in their lifetimes . The critical analysis of the Gospels involves, at least in part, a consideration of how these concerns affected the Gospels' accounts of Jesus . </P> <P> According to historian Paula Fredriksen (1988: 5), critical scholars rely on four basic criteria for extrapolating an "authentic" historical account of Jesus out of the New Testament sources: </P> <Ol> <Li> Dissimilarity: "if the earliest form of a saying or story differs in emphasis from a characteristic teaching or concern both of contemporary Judaism and of the early church, then it may be authentic ." </Li> <Li> Coherence: "if material from the earlier strata of tradition is consonant with other material already established as probably authentic, then it too is probably authentic ." </Li> <Li> Multiple attestation: "if material appears in a number of different sources and literary contexts, then it may be authentic ." </Li> <Li> Linguistic suitability: "material with a claim to authenticity should be susceptible of Aramaic rendering, since Jesus did not teach in Greek, the language of the documents ." </Li> </Ol>

Core facts that form the basis of the new testament story