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The term ''synoptic'' is derived from a combination of the Greek words συν (''syn'' = together) and οψις (''opsis'' = seeing) to indicate that the contents of these three Gospels can be viewed side-by-side, whether in a vertical parallel column ''synopsis'', or a horizontal synoptic alignment. Already the early Church historian Eusebius Of Caesarea (4th century) had devised a scheme that enabled scholars to find parallel texts; but a ''synopsis'' in the modern understanding did not come into existence until the 18th century through the labours of Johann Jakob Griesbach . Griesbach used it to study and demonstrate a dependence of Mark and Luke on Matthew, a hypothesis that, while going back on the earliest traditions of the Church which held to the Augustinian Hypothesis , in refined forms has been gaining supporters among scholars since the beginning of the 20th century. The majority of their colleagues, however, on internal evidence are proponents of the modern hypothesis of the priority of Mark. Furthermore, one source hypothesis argues that all three Synoptic gospels used a common source referred to as the Q Manuscript , although as yet this hypothetical document has not been found or mentioned in early Christian texts. The Gospel According To John has a number of points of contact with the three synoptic Gospels, but differs considerably from them in content; and therefore not all Gospel Synopses display it. Views about the dating of all four Gospels vary greatly, from about 60 – 70 AD until the end of the first century. SEE ALSO |
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