BIBLE QUESTIONS

Merciful Father, as you have sent the Holy Spirit on Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, to write all that You wished and wanted, we pray You, send the same Holy Spirit on us, so that we may understand, appreciate Your Word, and make it our plan of life. This we ask for the merits of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.”

62 …. Which are the Synoptics, and why are they so called ?

The Synoptic Gospels are the first three versions of the Gospel; according to St,Matthew, St. Mark and St. Luke. The adjective ‘synoptic’ comes from the Greek word, ‘sinopsis’, made up of ‘opsis’ and ‘sin’.

‘Opsis’ means ‘to view’, or ‘to look at’, and ‘sin’ means ‘together’ or ‘at the same time’.

So if we had to view the three versions of the Gospel, those of Matthew, of Mark and of Luke, on one page, in three columns, next to each other, we find that most of the text is almost the same in the three of them or in two of them.

John’s version was written at a later date and deals with different aspects about the Life of jesus, so it is different from the first three.

Another important Question comes up: “How is it that the first three versions sometimes agree and at times there’s a marked difference between them ?’

The Biblical Scholars term this Question as “The Synoptic Problem”, and much has been written about it, in books and voiced opinions. But, one of the  reasons, though not perfect or exhaustive, can be the following:

They agree when one of the Evangelists copied directly from another Evangelist, sometimes even the same words and vocabulary is used. We might refer to Matthew’s (Greek), which is almost a copy of Mark’s.

When they do not agree, that might be one of two reasons; either the Evangelist depended completely on his personal experience in recounting the occasion, the happening, or because he took all the information from the ‘oral tradition’ which abounded much in those days, amongst the Christian Communities.

A clear example of this is found in the words used during the Consecration in Luke and Matthew. The essence, the substance, the spirit is still there but the difference is accidental.

“Why are these Books called Gospels ?

Originally, when these Books were written, they were not known as Gospels. They were referre to by the Authors name; “According to Matthew”, “According to Mark’, “According to Luke’,  “According to John”.

Round about the year 150 AD they started to be called ‘Gospels’. When St. Justin (150 – 155 AD), wrote his ‘Apologia’, he referred to these Books as ‘Gospels’. Some even contend that the word Gospel was used round about the year 100 AD, when the Didache was written (89– 90 AD)

The  word ‘Gospel is derived from the Greek , and the pagans, who spoke greek, used the word ‘Gospel’ when they wanted to convey some ‘good news’, for example the birth of a prince, the marriage feast of a king, a victory over the enemy…

Now, because, our Gospel speaks about the Kingdom of God, announced  by Jesus Christ, and this IS the Good News, the Christian started calling these Apostolic Books “Gospel”.     / 63