Synoptic Problem Paper



Abstract

The synoptic Gospels are Matthew, Mark and Luke. They contain the history about the life of Jesus. Each of them is explaining the life of Jesus with certain trimmings and exceptions, but their context and material is same on a broader level. The the synoptic Gospels contain much information and sayings of Jesus. These gospels vary in different areas; some are prominent while others are not. The history of investigation into the relationship between the the synoptic Gospels is divided into two periods; the ancient church period and the modern period. Although the synoptic problem was raised in the ancient times, many scholars studied the mutual relationship between the the synoptic Gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke in the previous couple of centuries. There are several solutions suggested for the synoptic problem which include Four source Hypothesis, The Augustinian Hypothesis, Griesbach Hypothesis and the Farrer Hypothesis. Farrer hypothesis is the most aceeptable one.

Thesis statement1

Introduction1

Discussion2

The Synoptic problem2

History of Investigation3

The Ancient Church3

The Modern Church5

Similarities5

Differences6

Suggested Solutions7

Two source Hypothesis8

Four source Hypothesis9

The Augustinian Hypothesis9

Griesbach Hypothesis10

Farrer Hypothesis10

Support of Farrer Hypothesis10

Conclusion12

Synoptic Problem Paper

Thesis statement

The following paper outlines a history of relationship of the synoptic Gospels and the Synoptic problem. Several solutions of the problems are discussed and defended in the paper

Introduction

The word synoptic is originated by a pair of Greek words which means to look collectively. The synoptic Gospels are Matthew, Mark and Luke. They contain the history about the life of Jesus. Each of them is explaining the life of Jesus with certain trimmings and exceptions, but their context and material is same on a broader level. According to the past study, scholar's state that Gospels provided an innovative and different form of literature. They compared Gospels with Hellenistic biography and evaluated the Gospels with equal to sermons. New research shows that the Gospels are an outline of Hellenistic biography. Basically the Gospels are a blend of Hellenistic biography and sermons. The Gospels announce the significance of a cross and rebirth of Jesus. They also explain the proceedings of his life. Gospels are not present in their original form, therefore, they cannot be judged properly, and the later copies are followed. Scholars focus on the proofs and signs that are mentioned in the text to find out the writer of the gospel and time of writing. According to past studies in 70CE the Gospel of mark was in black and white. Matthew became available in 80s and Luke was in early 90s. It was very important to know the order of the writings so that it can be easy to understand the relationship in them. Matthew and Luke contain most of the same writings as Mark, and this shows clearly that Mark was written first. There are certain tales who are present in Matthew and Luke but not in Mark. This indicates that these two writers had the resource which was not available to Mark. It is supposed that there are certain statements of Jesus which were in knowledge of early Christian communities, ...