This monograph provides a "comprehensive history of the various arguments focusing on the order of pericopes in the Gospels to ascertain their original sequence of composition." - Editor's Foreward.

A lively, readable and up-to-date guide to the Synoptic Problem, ideal for undergraduate students, and the general reader.

The similarities and difference of arrangement and order of episodes in the gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke have always been one of the major critera for resolving the Synoptic Problem. How important, and how reliable are arguments based on such considerations, and where might they lead? Here Neville reviews these issues in detail, explaining the significance of his conclusions for understanding the literary relationships among the three Synoptics gospels, and particularly for the competing theories of Markan priority (the standard two-source hypothesis) and Markan posteriority (the Griesbach hypothesis).

Following Evangelica I (1982) and Evangelica II (1991), this third volume covers 32 essays published in the years 1992-2000, indexed and updated with supplementary notes up to 2001. It includes five parts. I. Colloquium Biblicum Lovaniense: 1. John and the Synoptics: 1975-1990. 2. Literary Criticism, Old and New. 3. The Sayings of Jesus in 1 Corinthians. 4. Q 6,20b-21; 7,22 and Isaiah 61. 5. Luke 4,16-30 and the Unity of Luke-Acts. II. The Minor Agreements: 6. The First Synoptic Pericope. 7. The Minor Agreements and Q. 8. Luke 10:25-28: A Foreign Body in Luke? 9. The Minor Agreements and Lk 10,25-28. 10. Luke 9,22 and 10,25-28: R.H. Gundry. 11. Goulder and the Minor Agreements. 12. Gospel Issues in the Passion Narratives: R.E. Brown. 13. A Symposium on the Minor Agreements. III. The Synoptic Problem: 14. The Two-Source Hypothesis: Introduction. 15. The Argument(s) from Order: D.J. Neville. 16. The Sources of Matthew: U. Luz. 17. Urmarcus revise: M.-E. Boismard. IV. The Sayings Source Q: 18. Q: From Source to Gospel. 19. Documenta Q: Q 11,2b-4. 20. Note on Q 4,1-2. 21. Nazara in Q: Pro and Con. 22. The Divorce Saying in Q 16,18. 23. Saving/Losing One's Life: Luke 17,33 (Q?) and Mark 8,35. 24. Mark and Q: Assessment: H. Fleddermann. V. John and the Synoptics Revisited: 25. Once More Luke 24,12: A. Dauer. 26. A Supplementary Note on Lk 24,12. 27. Note on Mt 28,9-10. 28. Short Note on John 19,26-27. 29. Jean 4,46-54: Une lecon de methode: S. Landis. 30. John and the Synoptics in Recent Commentaries: U. Wilckens, U. Schnelle. 31. The Question of John and the Synoptics: D.M. Smith. VI. The Gospels and Jesus: J.D. Crossan.

For a long time mainstream gospel scholarship has assumed that the so-called Q material (the "double tradition") in Matthew and Luke represents a document or tradition that was almost exclusively orientated towards the sayings of Jesus of Nazareth, with little interest in a narrative about him. This book argues, on the contrary, that the narrative material in the double tradition existed from the very beginning within a coherent Jesus narrative that ran from his baptism to his passion. Far from being inserted by Matthew and Luke into the framework of Mark, the double tradition is structured on the very same narrative framework as the Gospel of Mark (a framework that predates Mark). Conventional dichotomies in gospel origins, the historical Jesus, and the history of early Christianity are thus drawn into question.

Offers a fresh reading of the much-debated Synoptic Problem.

A comprehensive guide to the literary relationship among the first three Gospels.