For the first generations of Christians the faith was conveyed by one person talking with another. They doubtless used anecdotes about the life of Jesus to illustrate some lesson. We see this in St. Paul’s letters where he does not talk so much about the life of Jesus but instead uses an example from the life of Jesus to drive home whatever point he was trying to make. It was the genius of St. Mark to create the genre of “gospel” — a narrative of the life of Jesus. As those who had a living memory of Jesus were passing it was important to capture the story. The method of story — even my story of faith — is still the most effective way of spreading the faith