Knowra Synoptic problem Synoptic problem The scholarly question of how the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke relate to one another and to their sources, prompted by their substantial similarities and differences.
Two-source hypothesis : A theory that Matthew and Luke independently used Mark and a lost sayings source called Q. It is the most influential account of the Gospels’ shared material and their differing arrangements.
Synoptic Gospels : Matthew, Mark, and Luke, whose overlapping content and arrangement permit comparison in parallel. The Synoptic problem concerns the relationships among these three Gospels specifically.
Literary dependence : A relationship in which one text draws on another through copying, adaptation, or other literary use. Most proposed solutions explain Gospel similarities through some form of textual dependence.
Johann Jakob Griesbach : An eighteenth-century German biblical scholar who argued that Matthew preceded Luke and Mark. His name is attached to a major solution that places Mark after the other two Gospels.
Synoptic Problem: A Way Through the Maze : A book by Mark Goodacre examining evidence and competing explanations of the Synoptic Gospels’ relationships. It presents a sustained modern case for the Farrer hypothesis and evaluates objections to Q.
Markan priority : The hypothesis that Mark was written before, and used as a source by, Matthew and Luke. It explains why Mark’s shorter wording often appears within Matthew and Luke.
Synoptic parallels : Passages in Matthew, Mark, and Luke that recount similar events or teachings in comparable language. Their wording and sequence provide the raw evidence for literary relationships.
Redaction criticism : The study of how authors shape inherited sources through selection, arrangement, and editorial changes. Comparing each evangelist’s changes can reveal how one text may have used another.
Christian Hermann Weisse : A nineteenth-century German theologian who helped formulate Markan priority and the Q hypothesis. His work helped establish the source model that became influential in modern scholarship.
Four-source hypothesis : A theory that Matthew and Luke used Mark, Q, and separate sources called M and L. It shows how a basic source model can be expanded to account for material unique to each Gospel.
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