69. Why was no contemporaneous record made of the public ministry of Jesus?

Doubtless the thought has occurred to many that it is somewhat re­markable that no contemporaneous record was made of the public min­istry of Jesus.

It has been suggested by certain writers that such a purpose does not seem to have occurred to any of his immediate fol­lowers at the beginning of his ministry, although as it developed, and more especially toward the close, it is reasonable to assume that some of his disciples may have kept records of a more or less fragmentary character.

John, in the close of his Gospel (21:24, 25), says distinctly "this is the disciple which testifieth of these things and wrote these things."

All four evangelists made records, although at what time can­not be learned, and Jerome states that Theorhilus arranged these rec­ords into one harmonious work.

The Gospels, as we now have them, are to be traced chiefly to the oral teachings of the apostles as their original source; that is, they were proclaimed orally before being committed to writing.

It was an age of oral traditions rather than writing. In Luke 1:1-4 there is a very clear intimation that an early effort had been made---probably shortly after the ascension---to set forth a formal state­ment of Christ's ministry, and that the facts had been related by eye­witnesses and ministers (disciples), who were familiar with the events from the beginning of the public career of Jesus.

Westcott writes: "So long as the first witnesses survived, so long the (Gospel) tradition was confirmed within the bounds of their testimony: when they passed away it was already fixed in writing."