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4 unusual facts about Synoptic Gospels


Jewish-Christian gospels

It is thought to have been a gospel harmony based on the Synoptic Gospels composed in Greek in the first half of the 2nd century, and it possibly originated in the Transjordan region (the home of the Ebionites).

Passion Sunday

In the Roman Rite the name "Passion Sunday" has never been officially applied to the sixth Sunday of Lent in spite of the reading at the Mass of that day of an account in one of the Synoptic Gospels of the Passion of Christ.

Synoptic Gospels

Griesbach, noticing the special place of Mark in the synopsis, hypothesized Marcan posteriority and advanced (as Owen had a few years earlier) the Griesbach (Matthew-Luke) hypothesis.

Furthermore, some theories try to explain the relation of the synoptic gospels to John; to non-canonical gospels such as Thomas, Peter, and Egerton; to the Didache; and to lost documents such as the Hebrew logia mentioned by Papias, the Jewish-Christian gospels, and the Gospel of Marcion.


The Secret Gospel of Mark and the Synoptic Problem

The Secret Gospel of Mark and the Synoptic Problem examines how the Secret Gospel of Mark, said to have been discovered by Morton Smith, relates to the Synoptic Gospels.


see also

Gospel of Peter

Raymond E. Brown and others find that the author may have been acquainted with the synoptic gospels and even with the Gospel of John; Brown (The Death of the Messiah) even suggests that the author's source in the canonical gospels was transmitted orally, through readings in the churches, i.e. that the text is based on what the author remembers about the other gospels, together with his own embellishments.

Source hypothesis

Two-source hypothesis, for the Synoptic Gospels of the Greek New Testament

Four-document hypothesis, for the Synoptic Gospels of the Greek New Testament

Three-source hypothesis, for the Synoptic Gospels of the Greek New Testament