Synoptic Gospels
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The Synoptic Gospels is a term used by modern New Testament scholars for the Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, and Luke of the New Testament in the Bible. They often recount the same stories about Jesus of Nazareth, though not always with all the same details and at the same length, but mostly following the same sequence and to a remarkable extent using the same words.
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 dependance of Mark and Luke on Matthew, a hypothesis that, while going back to the earliest traditions of the Church, 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 no supporting manuscript evidence has come to light.
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 CE until the end of the first century.
See also
cs:synoptická evangelia de:Synoptische Evangelien fr:Évangiles synoptiques it:Vangeli sinottici ja:共観福音書 pl:Ewangelie synoptyczne pt:Evangelhos sinópticos ru:Синоптики