Which gospels are synoptic gospels?

Answer 1

A:The first three gospels are often referred to as the synoptic gospels. This is because the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke have many of the same stories, often in same sequence (although not always). There are even ocasions where they use the exact same wording. A:The Synoptic Gospels are Matthew, Mark and Luke. They are called synoptic because they are intriguingly similar and intriguingly different.

The most common theory is that Mark is the oldest of these, and Matthew and Luke in various ways used Mark along with other material to create their individual narratives.

Scholars believe that this other material consisted of material unique to each of Matthew and Luke (ie material they wrote themselves - called 'M' and 'L') and further material that is common to both Matthew and Luke but not found in Mark. This material consists mostly of the sayings of Jesus and scholars now believe that this came from a now lost source called 'Q' (from the German 'Quelle' meaning 'source').

Other theories - for example, that Matthew (or Luke) is the oldest Gospel and Mark wrote his account later leaving outchunks of material was once a common belief, but modern textual criticism suggests that Mark was the first gospel to have been written with additions made by Luke and Matthew.

Answer 2

A:The four New Testament gospels have certainly been attributed to the apostles Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, but they were written anonymously and those attributions were only made later in the second century, long after anyone could have known who really did write them. Modern scholars say that the gospels could not have been written by eyewitnesses to the events they portray, so that would certainly rule out Matthew and John. Luke

1:1-2 says that this gospel is based on information handed down from predecessors and believed among the Christians of his time, so the apostle Luke was not the author of this gospel. The very earliest gospel was thhe one now attributed to Mark, but Raymond E. Brown (An Introduction to the New Testament) says that Mark seems to depend on traditions (and perhaps already shaped sources) received in Greek, again ruling out an apostle steeped in the early church.

As the first gospels, that attributed to Mark, was not written until approximately 70 CE and the last, John, not until the second century, it is quite improbable that any of the nominated apostles was involved in writing the gospels.

We simply do not know who the gospel authors were.

Answer 3

Another answer from our community:

'Synoptic' means "presenting or taking the same point of view". However, this description goes only part way to describing these three gospels. It is widely accepted by scholars that Mark's gospel is most likely the earliest. In addition, Luke's gospel and Matthew's gospel contain almost the whole of Mark's account, and must therefore, scholars believe, have been written later than Mark's gospel and based on Mark's gospel. In addition to Mark's account, both Luke and Matthew contain another group of verses that are similar, but not present in Mark, which are believed to have been obtained from a now lost source called 'Q' ('Quelle' = who?). Where Luke and Matthew differ is therefore likely to be a significant amount of original material added by Luke and Matthew themselves. However, despite these differences, there is sufficient material in these three gospels that is similar, or identical, to warrant the theory that they were all based, at least in part, on a single document, the gospel of Mark. Hence the term 'synoptic' Note the contrast with the gospel of John where there is very little material common with the other three, and the style is very personal, suggesting strongly that this gospel was written totally independently of the others.

Answer 4

A:

The Gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke are known as synoptic gospels because, when laid in parallel and viewed 'synoptically', they can be seen to contain many verses that are in the same order and often in exactly the same words in the original Greek language. A literary dependency is thus established, with Markhaving been the original for the other two.

Answer 5

The term synoptic means 'seen with the same eye'. The Gospels of Matthew Mark and Luke are known as synoptic gospels because when laid in parallel and seen synoptically ('with the same eye') in the original Greek language, it is obvious that there is a literary dependency among the three gospels. New Testament scholars have established that Mark was the first New Testament gospel to be written, and the Gospels of Matthew and Luke were based on Mark. Consequently, the three gospels are moderately similar in content.

Scholars now know that there is also a literary dependency involving John's Gospel, which is based in both Luke and Mark, but to see this requires careful study, not a mere reading in parallel, so John is not called a synoptic gospel.

Answer 6

Matthew, Mark and Luke are the synoptic gospels.

Answer 7

No; the synoptic gospels are Matthew, Mark, and Luke.