The Synoptic Problem in the New Testament is not a “problem” in the ordinary sense of the word.
Rather, it refers to the relationship between the first three canonical Gospels: Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
There is a clear literary relationship among these three Gospels that is not shared with the fourth Gospel, the Gospel of John.
The scholarly consensus, across the spectrum of conservative and non-conservative scholars, believers and non-believers, is that Mark was most likely the first Gospel written. It is important to stress that this consensus is nearly universal. This is not a “liberal” theory, in case that sort of label might give you pause.
This position is called Markan Priority. As noted above, it emphasizes that Mark wrote his Gospel first, and that both Matthew and Luke used Mark when composing their own Gospels.
Sometimes Matthew and Luke carry over sections of Mark word for word. Other times, they make redactions, that is, changes to Mark’s narrative in order to suit their own goals.
Roughly 90 percent of Mark appears somewhere in Matthew, sometimes word for word. In other cases, Matthew smooths out Mark’s grammar or expands with his own emphases.
In Luke, about 65 percent of Mark is carried over. Again, sometimes word for word, but often Luke polishes Mark’s Greek, condenses stories, or reorders events.
The remaining material in Matthew and Luke is believed to come from other sources. While the goal of this post is not to provide an exhaustive analysis, it is enough to note that these sources are thought to include Q (a hypothetical written source), M (material unique to Matthew), and L (material unique to Luke).
This position is called the Q Hypothesis. It suggests that the material shared by Matthew and Luke, but absent in Mark, comes from the hypothetical Q source, named from the German word Quelle, meaning “source.”
There is, however, another position, one that I personally find more convincing. This is the Farrer Hypothesis, named after Austin Farrer, an English biblical scholar from the early twentieth century. Like the Q Hypothesis, it holds that Mark wrote first. Matthew then used Mark to write his Gospel, but Luke, instead of relying on Q, had access to both Mark and Matthew when writing his Gospel.
The beauty of this solution is its simplicity. It does not rely on a hypothetical source like Q that we have never found and may never find. If you are a fan of Occam’s Razor, this hypothesis has its appeal.
If you have ever thought that the critical study of the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures was dry or boring, the Synoptic Problem shows otherwise. In my opinion, it is one of the most exciting, engaging, and enjoyable topics of discussion related to what is, without doubt, the most influential written document in the history of humanity: the New Testament.
