Solving the Synoptic Problem

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are the four narrators for the Gospels. The Gospel “offers distinctive information about Jesus, his public ministry, death, Resurrection, and significance” (Mueller 80). Each of the four Gospels were written at different times, and without collaboration. Due to the differences of chronological order, the order in which events took place, vocabulary, the overall contents, and similarities the Synoptic Problem was created. The Synoptic problem refers to the discussion and the relationship between the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The main question that the Synoptic problem posses is what is the nature of the relationship between the three Gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke, which was written first, and what sources were used in each of them? With the exception of John, the Gospels have many different similarities in the text, passages, and the specific arrangements of those passages. The reason for the Gospel written by John not being included in the synoptic problem is that there are very few agreements in the text compared to those of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. “The synoptic gospels are synoptic in that they share a majority of their information. Mark contains 93% shared information, Matthew 58% and Luke contains 41%. The Gospel of John in the only gospel that is not considered part of the synoptic gospels because it is 92% peculiar, or dissimilar in its structure and makeup” (Linderer 2). Although each of the Gospels written by Matthew, Mark, and Luke have similar text when it comes to the life of Jesus, his ministry, and his death, there are still distinctive differences and at times contradictory details. This proposes many questions, and many theories on the synoptic problem. There are several different widely known theories, or solutions, on how to solve the synoptic problem. One of the most acknowledged solutions to the synoptic problem is the theory of the Markan Priority. This is the hypotheses that the Gospel of Mark was the first gospel to be written, and was used as a source by the authors of Matthew and Luke. One of the primary reasons why scholars believe that Mark was written first is because of the use of his language, and story telling. Some of his text is hard to understand with first reading, later in Matthew and Luke when the story is retold it is more understandable. Some believe that this is because Matthew and Luke had seen his writings and changed the wording to sound more like them.
There are various scriptures that are first seen in the Gospel of Mark, and then are reiterated in both Matthew and Luke, but with minor twists to suit the lesson in those books. For example, in Mark 13:30 “Truly I tell you, this generation with not pass away until all these things have taken place” (Mueller 86). Luke 21:32 “Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place” (Mueller 86). Both texts are exactly the same, with the exception of one word, these. This one word can make a huge difference in the meaning of the text to the readers. This is also a prime example of similarities, and differences in the text. One could argue that the odds of the text being almost verbatim are quite small, which is why many scholars believe in the theory of Markan Priority.
In addition to many scriptures present in all three Gospels, there are scriptures written in Mark that are not mentioned in Matthew and Luke. There are eighteen in number, which total forty versus (Farmer). This helps to prove the hypothesis that gospel of Mark was written first. There are accounts in this Gospel that are not present anywhere else, yet there are many scriptures that are similar in Matthew and Luke that are believed to be derived from Mark. Another widely believed theory is the Two-Source Hypothesis. In this theory it is believed that Matthew and Luke both used an unaccounted for source, referred to as Q. Q is derived from a German word, meaning source. This hypothesis states that Matthew and Luke each wrote from two sources, a copy of Marks gospel, and an unknown writer, referred to as Q. One of the main advocates for the Q theory is Harry T. Fledderman. Fledderman believes that “there are three classical arguments for the existence of Q: the verbal agreement, the agreement in order, and the doublets “ (Adamczewski 26).
According the Fledderman there is a large amount of large passages in both Matthew and Luke that are almost written the same word for word. In addition to the similarities in words, there are also times where unusual words and phrases are both used verbatim. This strange choice of words used in both Gospels supports the theory that they would have been using the same source. The odds of two different people, from two different decades writing the exact same verbiage is slim to none, although it would also be considered a strange coincidence. Fleddermans second argument is that many of the passages take place in the exact same order. “The phenomenon of common order of several blocks of gospel material is difficult to explain by the hypothesis of its origin solely in the oral tradition, and consequently it indicates either literary dependence of one of these Gospels on the other one, or the existence of their common written source” (Adamczewski 27). The third argument that Fledderman supports is the repetition of doublets, doublets meaning sayings. Primarily these sayings were all adapted from the Gospel of Mark.
In an article written by David Peabody he states that the same people could have influenced Matthew and Luke in their lifetimes, either in writing, or orally. “This influence might have been Q, or an ongoing oral tradition, or some other unknown prophetic sayings source to which Matthew and Luke had mutual but independent access” (Peabody 405). There is always the possibility that two people from two different walks of life could have had the same type of upbringing and surrounded themselves with the same types of people. Perhaps this could explain the similarities in the two gospels.
The question still remains; How do you solved the Synoptic Problem? Scholars have been researching this very topic for many centuries. The answer to this question is going to be different for each individual person. It all depends on how you view and see things. It does not really matter your religious beliefs, it is more about the research and how you interpret it.

Works Cited

Mueller, J.J. Theological Foundations: Concepts and Methods for Understanding

Christian Faith. Winona: Anselm Academic, 2007. Print.

Linderer, Andrew. "The Literature of the New Testament." Www.arizonachristian.edu.

N.p.,n.d.Web.http://arizonachristian.edu/.

Adamczewski, Bartosz. “Q or not Q?: The so-called triple, double, and single traditions

in the synoptic gospels”. Frankfurt am Main [u.a.: Lang, 2010.

Peabody, David. "A Pre-Markan Prophetic Sayings Tradition and the Synoptic Problem."
Journal of Biblical Literature 97 (1978): 391-409. ATLA Religion Database. 06
Sept. 2013.