Religion and Theology

The initial three books of the New Testament are the Synoptic Gospels, that cover of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. These three books have structure, content, and language correspondences that have led philosophers to deem them all at once. The "Synoptic Gospels" refers to this group of books that share a common outlook on the life and education of Jesus Christ[1]. This paper will investigate two main topics that are connected with the Synoptic Gospels. Firstly, it defines and justify the idea of Synoptic Gospels and suggest that the three were written first. This will include an all-encompassing examination of the correspondences and dissimilarities between the three books and an analysis of academic opinions on the order in which they were composed. Secondly, an explanation of the specific journey in all three Synoptic Gospels. This review will equate and contrast the accounts considering identified correspondences and differences and also consider plausible reasons why the author confirms changes to the accounts and specify supporting evidence for these reasons. The use of different sources is also included to complete this task, including a harmony of the Gospels and various explanatory commentaries.

[1] Jan Grobbelaar, “Doing Theology with Children: A Childist Reading of the Childhood Metaphor in 1 Corinthians and the Synoptic Gospels,” HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies 76, no. 4 (2020), https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v76i4.5637.