A Muslim Convert Once More

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   The following thread, on The Sharing Group, developed from a posting from my blog: A Muslim Convert Once More: The Synoptic Problem & the Collapse of Consensus , and is from the 23 rd August 2015.   Brother Terence Helikaon Nunis : This is a very technical article concerning the synoptic gospels.   The summary of it is that in recent years, despite the proliferation of theories, there has been a collapse of consensus on the synoptic problem. Rev. John Wenham in his book “Redating Matthew, Mark, & Luke”, wrote, “I found myself in the Synoptic Problem Seminar of the Society for New Testament Studies, whose members were in disagreement over every aspect of the subject.   When this international group disbanded in 1982, they had sadly to confess that after twelve years’ work .they had not reached a common mind on a single issue.”   To reiterate, we do not know for certain, the order in which the various canonica...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, and Luke are referred to as the Synoptic Gospels.   This is because they have many of the same stories, often in a similar sequence and in similar wording.   In contrast, the Gospel according to John is distinct.   The term “synoptic” comes via the Latin “ synopticus ”, from the Greek “ synoptikos ”, generally meaning “all together”.   Specifically applied to these three Gospels, it refers to an account of the events from the same point of view or under the same general aspect.   This is known as the Synoptic Problem.   Relying on eyewitness evidence and oral tradition, it would be conceivable that the authors of the Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, and Luke could have written independently of each other.   This view is known as the Independence hypothesis, and it was the position that most people held until they started looking closely at the issue.   The Indepen...