The lecture by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III addresses the emergence of the Early Church in the apostolic age and the nature of the sources that have handed down to us the history of Christ and His teachings.

The purpose of the Gospels
His Holiness clarifies that the Gospels are not detailed historical books of events, but salvific books aiming to show the theology of Christ and the works of salvation, therefore the Gospels mentioned limited examples of miracles and teachings.

Miracles and their purpose
The miracles mentioned in the Gospels are indications of Christ’s divinity and proof that He is the Son of God, and are not a comprehensive narration of all that Christ did, as the Gospel of John explicitly affirms that much of what He did was not written.

The particularity of the Gospel of John
The Pope discusses the features of the Gospel of John (written later around 95–97 AD) and that it contained reports, miracles, and narratives not found in the other Gospels, and it has two purposes: to prove the divinity of Christ and to give life by faith in His name.

The role of oral tradition and the Church
He emphasizes that many of Christ’s teachings and the talks concerning the kingdom of God were transmitted orally and not recorded, and that the life of the Church, its traditions, and the lives of the fathers were passed from generation to generation through tradition.

Sacraments and rites
He notes that rites and sacraments (such as how to celebrate the Eucharist and the rites of ordaining priests) were not detailed in the Gospels and the epistles but were decided and delivered through the life and traditions of the Church.

The textual and temporal roles
The lecture distinguishes that the four Gospels have different perspectives: the Synoptic Gospels share many events, while the Gospel of John has a special direction and supplements points that were not previously mentioned.

Conclusion and a call to understanding
He concludes by affirming the importance of understanding traditions as the living life of the Church and not merely texts, and that the value of tradition helps us understand how Christ’s teachings reached us fully despite the scarcity of direct writing.

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