What do the Gospels of Matthew Mark Luke and John have in common?

Answer 1

A:The Gospels of Matthew and Luke were originally anonymous, and were not attributed by the Church Fathers to the apostles whose names they now bear until later in the second century. Scholars have concluded that these attributions are unlikely to have been correct, partly because the two gospels were only written late in the first century and partly because neither gospel could really have been written by an eyewitness to the events described.

Both gospels were originally written in Greek and both contain many verses which, when compared in the Greek language, are common to Mark's Gospel. For example, Matthew contains some 600 of the 666 verses in Mark. Scholars have demonstrated that this can only be explained by the two evangelists copying everything they knew about the life and mission of Jesus from Mark. Thus, much of the material in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke is derived from the same original source, although each evangelist frequently elaborated Mark's material.

Additional sayngs material common to Matthew and Luke, but not found in Mark, is attributed to the hypothetical 'Q' document. Because Q did not provide any information about the context in which Jesus would have spoken these sayings, Matthew and Luke provide them mainly in the form of parables.

Matthew and Luke are the only two New Testament gospels to contain accounts of the birth and early childhood of Jesus, although the teo accounts are contradictory. Scholars do not know where this material could have come from, but John Shelby Spong (Born of a Woman: A Bishop Rethinks the Birth of Jesus) says that neither birth story contains any historical truth.

Answer 2

A:
New Testament scholars have established that the Gospels of Matthew and Luke were substantially based on the Gospel of Mark, so they have this gospel as a common source. Scholars say that Matthew and Luke also share another common source, now known as the hypothetical 'Q' document, for sayings attributed to Jesus. John's Gospel is further removed, and therefore rather different in content, as it was loosely based on Luke's Gospel, although it has been shown that some material was taken direct from Mark. The author of John must have had access to copies of both Luke and Mark.

Matthew contains some 90 per cent of the verses in Mark, often in exactly the same words in the Greek language. Lukecontains a rather lower proportion, largely because of the 'Missing Block', a sequential set of passages missing from Luke's Gospel, apparently because of the loss of several pages from the author's copy of Mark.

While John contains much of the material in Luke, although often altered or elaborated, the author frequently changed the chronological sequence. Thus, the Cleansing of the Temple is moved from the end of Jesus' mission to the very beginning, and the miraculous catch of fishes from before the crucifixion to the time of his resurrection. While the synoptic gospels say that Jesus was crucified at 9:00 AM on the day after the Passover feast, John's Gospel has him (for theological reasons) crucified at 12:00 noon on the day before the Passover feast.

Answer 3

The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are all part of the New Testament and tell the story of the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. They are considered canonical texts by Christians and offer unique perspectives on Jesus' ministry and significance. Each Gospel was written to a specific audience and emphasizes different aspects of Jesus' life and teachings.