Gospel harmony

The oral Gospel tradition

The word «Gospel» means «good news» in Greek. It is used both in the Gospels and other books of the New Testament (see Mt 4:23; 9:35; 24:14; 26:13; Mk 1:1; 1:14—15; 8:35; 10:29; 13:10; 14:9; 16:15; compare Act 8:25; 14:21; 15:7; 20:24; 1 Pet 4:17; 1 Cor 9:14—23; 15:1; 2 Cor 9:13; 10:16; 11:7; Gal 1:11; 2:14; Eph 4:11; Php 1:27; Rev 14:6). Sometimes it is used in expressions, such as «the good news of the Kingdom», «the gospel of God», «the good news of the kingdom of God», «the gospel of the grace of God», «the gospel of Jesus Christ», «the eternal gospel».

At first, the word «gospel» meant the news about the approaching Kingdom of God. Jesus Christ used it in this sense when he was «proclaiming the gospel of the Kingdom» (Mt 4:23; 9:35; Mk 1:14). Later, Jesus commissioned his apostles to go and preach the Gospel (Mk 13:10; 16:15; Mt 24:14). Their preaching was oral. The apostles were sharing with the people what they had seen and heard from Jesus Christ himself.

When Christianity spread widely, it became necessary to record the words of Jesus and the story of His life. Later, the word «Gospels» started to be applied to the books that contained the story of the life of Jesus Christ.

The Gospel of Mark

The Gospel of Mark was written around the middle of the 1st century. According to the tradition, it was written by John Mark (see Act 12:12), the nephew of Barnabas (see Col 4:10), who was one of the seventy apostles and a co-worker of Peter (see 1 Pet 5:13). It is regarded as the earliest of the four Gospels. It is the shortest of them all, and it was used as a source for writing the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.

«These are the words of the presbyter [Papias of Hierapolis]: „Mark was the interpreter of Peter; he accurately recorded everything that the Lord had said and done, but not in order, for he himself did not hear the Lord speak, neither did he walk with Him. Later he accompanied Peter who taught as he saw fit based on the circumstances, and did not necessarily relate the words of Christ in order. In recording everything the way he remembered it, Mark did not err against the truth. His only concern was not to miss or misrepresent anything“. That is what Papias said concerning Mark» (Eusebius of Caesarea. Church History, 3.39.15—16).

«Peter and Paul preached in Rome and founded a church there. After their departure, Mark, Peter’s disciple and interpreter, passed down to us in writing everything that Peter had taught» (Irenaeus of Lyons. Against Heresies, 3.1.1; compare Eusebius of Caesarea. Church History, 5.8).

«Mark, the disciple and the interpreter of Peter, wrote a short Gospel at the request of the fellowship in Rome, having recorded everything that he had heard from Peter. Clement [of Alexandria] in the sixth book of his „Brief Explanations“, as well as Papias, the bishop of Hierapolis, both testify that Peter approved of this work and declared that this Gospel should be read in all the churches. Peter also mentions Mark in his first epistle, metaphorically calling Rome Babylon: „The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you; and so doth Marcus my son“ [1 Pet 5:13]. Availing himself of the Gospel that he himself had compiled, Mark departed to Egypt, and, preaching Christianity in Alexandria, founded a church there, which became famous through its sound teaching and godliness, and was known for instructing all its adepts to follow the example of Christ. The highly-educated Jew by the name of Philo, witnessing the first church of Alexandria which was still Jewish by status, wrote a book about their way of life, confirming, according to Luke, that they had much in common with Jerusalem. Mark died in the eighth year of Nero’s reign [61/62 NE („from the New Era“)] and was buried in Alexandria. He was replaced by Annian» (Jerome of Stridon. On Famous Men, 8).

The Gospel of Mark is based on the apostle Peter’s memories. It is indicated in several passages. When writing about Jesus calling his disciples, Mark mentions Simon-Peter first (Mk 1:16), and refers to the disciples collectively «Simon and those who were with him» (Mk 1:36; compare Mk 16:7). Also, he mentions Peter first among the Twelve (Mk 3:16). The healing of Simon’s mother-in-law was one of the miracles of Jesus (Mk 1:29—31). Mark mentions some words and acts of Jesus that were witnessed only by a small number of the apostles, including Peter. For example, Jesus raising Jairus’ daughter from the dead (Mk 5:37—43), the transfiguration (Mk 9:2—10), and Jesus prophesying about the end of the age (Mk 13). Mark also mentions that it was Peter who noticed the withered fig tree (Mk 11:21). Describing what happened in Gethsemane, Mark talks about Peter’s denial (Mk 14).

Many biblical scholars agree that in the account of Jesus’ arrest, Mark describes himself as the young man in a linen cloth: «Now a certain young man followed Him, having a linen cloth thrown around his naked body. And the young men laid hold of him, and he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked» (Mk 14:51—52).

The Gospel of Matthew

The Gospel of Matthew was written about the third quarter of the 1st century. Tradition holds that it was written by Levi Matthew, the son of Alphaeus, one of the Twelve (see Mt 9:9; Mk 2:14; Lk 5:27). Originally it was written in the old Hebrew, but later it was translated into Greek and became widely accepted.

«So, Matthew wrote the Gospel for the Jews in their own language, while Peter and Paul were preaching in Rome and founded the Church» (Irenaeus of Lyons. Against Heresies, 3.1.1; compare Eusebius of Caesarea. Church History, 5.8).

«Initially Matthew preached the Gospel to the Jews; but then he took it to other nations, though it was written in his own tongue. When summoned to go elsewhere, he left them with his Scripture» (Eusebius of Caesarea. Church History, 3.24.6).

«Matthew the Apostle, who was also called Levi, used to be a tax-collector; he complied the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the sake of spiritual cleansing of believers. At first, it was published in Judea in Hebrew, but later someone translated it into Greek [compare Eusebius of Caesarea, Church History, 3.39.16]. The Hebrew version survived to the present day [around the beginning of the 5th century] in the Library of Caesarea [Caesarea of Palestine], so arduously created and maintained by Pamphilus [of Caesarea]. I also had the opportunity to get the book described for me by the Nazarene from the Syrian town of Berea who had been using it. It must be noted that this Gospel-writer, in quoting the Old Testament testimonies, whether himself or on behalf of our Lord and Savior, always follows the Hebrew text of the Covenant, not the authority of the translators of the Septuagint. Therefore, there are the following two versions: «Out of Egypt I have called my son» [Mt 2:15; Hos 11:1] and: «He will be called a Nazorean» [Mt 2:23; Is 11:1 ; compare Num 6:21; Judg 13:5; 1 Sam 1:11; Am 2:11—12]» (Jerome of Stridon. On Famous Men, 3).

In his work, Matthew lavishly quotes from the Tanakh (the Hebrew Old Testament) making a special emphasis on the Messianic prophecies and their fulfillment in Jesus. Matthew is the only one who, in the account of his call to the apostleship, quotes the following words of Jesus: «But go and learn what this means: «I desire mercy and not sacrifice’" (Mt 9:13; compare Hos 6:6). None of the parallel accounts in Mark or Luke catch this nuance (see Mt 9:9—13; Mk 2:13—17; Lk 5:27—32). For the same reason, Matthew begins his Gospel with the genealogy of Jesus, starting with Abraham and going through David – from whom, according to the prophecies, the Messiah would come.

Matthew wrote his Gospel for the Jews – that’s why he avoids using the Hebrew word for «God», which would have been a taboo among the Jews. Besides, he uses the phrase «the Kingdom of God» instead of «the Kingdom of Heaven» unlike other evangelists. Exceptions to this rule most likely arose during the process of translating this Gospel into Greek.

The Gospel of Luke and Acts of the Apostles

The Gospel of Luke was written around the third quarter of the 1st century. According to the tradition, it was written by Luke, the doctor, one of the Seventy and a co-laborer of Paul (see Col 4:14; Phm 1:24; 2 Tim 4:10).

«So, Luke, the co-laborer of Paul, wrote down in the form a book the Gospel which he preached» (Irenaeus of Lyons. Against Heresies, 3.1.1; compare Eusebius of Caesarea. Church History, 5.8).

«As one can gather from his writings, Luke, the doctor from Antioch, was very knowledgeable in the Greek language. The author of the Gospel and Paul’s follower, he accompanied the apostle in all his journeys. Here is what Paul said of him: «And we have sent with him the brother, whose praise is in the gospel throughout all the churches (Corinthians) [2 Cor 8:18]; «Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas greet you» (Colossians) [Col 4:14], «Only Luke is with me» (Timothy) [2 Tim 4:10]. The other excellent work written by Luke, «Acts of the Apostles», covers events during Paul’s second year in Rome, which was the fourth year of Nero’s reign [57/58 NE]. On this basis we conclude that this book was written in this city… Some believe that when Paul says in his epistle: «according to my gospel, [Rom 2:16], he refers to the book of Luke [the Greek for Gospel is «Good News)], and that Luke knew the stories of the Gospel not only from Paul who didn’t see the Lord in the flesh, but also from other apostles. He mentions it in the beginning of his work: «…Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word.» [Lk 1:2]. So, he wrote the Gospel on the basis of what he had heard from others, while «Acts of the Apostles» was written out of his own experience» (Jerome of Stridon. On Famous Men, 7).

In the prologue to his Gospel (Lk 1:1—4), Luke states the purpose for writing the book – to pull together the reliable information about Jesus and to relate it in an orderly manner. Many biblical scholars consider Luke’s Gospel to be highly accurate in its chronology as well as historical and geographical detail. For example, the other evangelists refer to the Galilean body of water as the sea, whereas Luke is more precise in naming it a lake (see Lk 5:1) – its water is fresh. Luke goes as far as to name even the smallest settlements in Judea. For example, he is the only one who mentions the city of Nain (see Lk 7:11). As a physician, Luke periodically throws in medical terms (Lk 4:38; 5:12; 14:2 and other).

The Book of Acts, also written by Luke, is an important source that complements the four Gospels.

The Gospel of John

The Gospel of John was written by the end of the 1st century. Tradition holds that it was compiled by John the Theologian, the son of Zebedee (see Mt 10:2; Mk 3:17; Lk 6:14; Jn 21:2, 24).

«Then, John, the disciple of Jesus who lay on His bosom [Jn 13:23], also published his Gospel during his time in Ephesus in Asia» (Irenaeus of Lyons. Against Heresies, 3.1.1; compare Eusebius of Caesarea. Church History, 5.8).

«John, the apostle, the one especially loved by Jesus [Jn 21:20, 24], the son of Zebedee and the brother of Jacob who was beheaded by Herod after the sufferings of the Lord, last of all wrote his Gospel at the request of some bishops in Asia who contended against Cerinthus and other heretics, especially the teachings of Ebionites who taught that Christ didn’t exist before Mary. So, John was asked to speak in defense of the doctrine of Divine Birth. There was yet another reason: having read the works of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, John approved of their narratives and confirmed that they contained the truth, noting that these narratives only describe was happened during the one year after John [the Baptist] was put in prison and executed. So, he himself wrote about a period preceding John’s imprisonment, and it can be a revelation for those who diligently read the works of the Gospel-writers. In addition, this consideration removes the contradictions that seemed to exist between the text of John and others… On the fourteenth year after Nero [82 NE] Domitian began the second persecution against Christians. John was exiled to the island of Patmos and wrote there the Apocalypse, which was later commented on by Justin Martyr and Irenaeus. But after Domitian’s death [96 NE] and the abolition of his cruel decrees, John returned to the city of Ephesus and, remaining there until the arrival of the emperor Trajan, contributed in every way to the planting of churches throughout Asia. Died of old age in the 68th year after the Passion of the Lord and was buried near Ephesus» (Jerome of Stridon. On Famous Men, 7; compare Eusebius of Caesarea. Church History, 3.24.7—14).

The Gospel of John was written to emphasize the divinity of Jesus Christ and to supplement what was lacking in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. John calls himself a «disciple whom Jesus loved» (Jn 13:23; 19:26; 20:2; 21:7, 20). He belonged to the small circle of apostles whom Jesus had singled out to be with him more often. John also includes several episodes not found in the other Gospels.

The Apocryphal Gospels

In addition to the generally accepted four Gospels, there is a large corpus of gospel texts that were not included in the New Testament canon. These are usually called Apocrypha (from the Greek ἀπόκρῠφος, «hidden», «mysterious», «secret»). This name was originally given only to the heretical books that were kept in secret. Later, all the works of Jewish and Christian origin that were not part of the Bible came to be called apocryphal. More than fifty apocryphal gospels have survived to this day in varying degrees of preservation.

In the process of forming the Gospel canon, the first books to be rejected were those with heretical content that contradicted Holy Tradition. The same thing happened to the books that contained lacunae or had not been preserved in a complete form. Later, the Pseudepigrapha, attributed to some famous authors, were rejected too because of insufficient evidence for their authenticity.

The Gospel canon

Irenaeus of Lyon (c. 130 – 202) was one of the first supporters of the canonicity of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John: «The number of the Gospels cannot be more or less than what it is. For since there are four cardinal directions, the four winds, and since the Church is scattered all over the earth, and since the Gospel and the Spirit of life are the pillar and ground of the Church, the Church should have four pillars, spreading the fragrance of incorruptibility everywhere and reviving all men» (Against Heresies, 3.11.8). He criticized those who rejected the Gospel of John (the Alogi) or accepted only the Gospel of Luke (the Marcionites), as well as those who accepted or composed apocryphal hagiographies of Jesus (Gnostics for the most part).

Around the same time, a list of New Testament books, later called the Muratorian Canon, was compiled. The most probable author of the list, Hippolytus of Rome (c. 170 – c. 235), recognized only four Gospels as canonical.

This view was also shared by Origen (c. 185 – 254), Eusebius of Caesarea (c. 263 – 340), Athanasius the Great (296 – 372/373), Cyril of Jerusalem (315 – 386), Gregory the Theologian (329 – 389), Amphilochius of Iconium (c. 340 – after 394) and other early Christian writers.

The Council of Laodicea (343/363) decreed: «Rule 59. Let no psalm composed by a private person or any non-canonical book be read in the Church but only the canonical books of the New and Old Testaments». Later, after 363, the 60th rule was added to the acts of the Council with a list of the canonical books: "…these are the books of the New Testament: the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John…».

The first Council to adopt the present-day canon of New Testament books was the Council of Hippo that took place in North Africa in 393. However, the decrees of this Council have been lost. Their summary was read and adopted by the Council of Carthage in 397: «Rule 47. Apart from the canonical books, nothing else is to be read in the Church under the name of divine Scripture. The canonical books are as follows: …of the New Testament: the Gospels, four books…».

«Diatessaron» by Tatian

Tatian the Syrian was a disciple of Justin the Philosopher (circa 112/120 – circa 180/185), a Christian writer and apologist. By the end of his life he fell into heresy. He is most known for his book «Diatessaron» (Greek διὰ τεσσάρων, which literally means: «through the four»). It connects the four Gospels into one unified narrative which avoids repetitions and reconciles parallel passages. Sometimes it is referred to as «The Gospel from the Four». For several centuries this text was used as standard in some Christian communities, mainly in the churches of Syria and Antioch. Therefore, it is unlikely that Tatian could have written about irresolvable contradictions between the Gospels. Otherwise how could he have harmonized them? The original text of «Diatessaron» has not been preserved (only one fragment was unearthed during excavations at the archeological site of Dura-Europos in 1933). We can only guess at its contents from brief quotations in other ancient writers. For example, Theodoret of Cyprus points out that «Diatessaron» does not include Christ’s genealogies and other passages which show that Jesus came from the line of David according to the flesh. Theodoret found about two hundred copies of «Diatessaron» in his diocese, so he got rid of them and replaced them with the four canonical Gospels.

Other attempts to harmonize the Gospels

From time to time, other attempts have been made to combine the four canonical Gospels into one narrative.

For example, St. Jerome of Stridon mentions one such work by St. Theophilus of Antioch (died after 180): «Theophilus, the seventh bishop of Antioch after St. Peter, who left us a monument of his intelligence by bringing together into one corpus the sayings of the four evangelists» (Letter to Algasia, 6).

In the middle of the third century, a similar work called «Harmony of the Gospels or Diatessaro» was compiled by Ammonius of Alexandria. Its translation into Latin was made by Bishop Victor of Capua (d. 544) and was often reprinted.

The motivation for such an endeavor may have been the opening of Luke’s Gospel: «Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, that thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed» (Lk 1:1—4). In a sense, the Gospel of Luke can be considered a book that brings together various gospel texts and traditions.

Minh’s «Latin Patristics» (vol. CLXXVI) cites a twelfth-century Latin commentary on the Gospel harmony by Zacharias Chrysopolitanus.

The Protestant priest Andreas Osiander published «Harmonia Evangelica» in 1537.

In 1776, Johann Jakob Griesbach published a synopsis of the three Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) in parallel columns, to demonstrate their similarities. Later, the first three Gospels were called «synoptic».

Several hypotheses have been suggested to explain the similarities and differences between the Synoptic Gospels, the most famous of which is the «Q source» hypothesis.

In the 19th century, Leo Tolstoy wrote his «Gospel in Brief», a synthesis of the four Gospels. Like Tatian, Tolstoy changed the Gospel texts. He removed the texts related to the Old Testament, miracles, and the Resurrection altogether. In his pseudo-gospel, Tolstoy rejected the idea of God as the Creator and proposed the idea of the universal good.

St. Theophan the Recluse’s approach in «The Gospel Story», published in 1885, was much more precise.

Many textbooks on «the law of God» reflect the content of the four Gospels. Quite often, however, they stray too far from the original text, which results in major distortions.

United Gospel

The «United Gospel» is my attempt to create a gospel harmony that directly connects the canonical Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John into one cohesive narrative. For the content of the book, I used only the words and phrases from the four Gospels. The Russian version of the book is based on the Russian Synodal translation of the Bible, while the English translation uses the King James Version. In some places, I have added my commentary for clarity.

To align the four Gospels, the tables of synoptic parallels were used. The alignment was based on the Gospel Synopsis from the Orthodox Bible, which reproduces a related publication of the Moscow Patriarchate (Bible. Moscow: Russian Bible Society, 2000). In some cases, the comparison was made based the table borrowed from the Belgian edition of the Holy Scriptures (Bible. Brussels: Life with God, 1983). It is worth noting that, for the goals mentioned above, none of the two tables were acceptable «as is», for a number of reasons. In this respect, the interpretation of the Gospel narrative about the resurrection of Jesus Christ proved to be the most critical. To solve the apparent conflict, we have used the sequence from the Harmony of the Gospels, quoted in Seraphim Slobodsky’s «The Law of God» («The Law of God for Families and Schools». Jordanville: Holy Trinity Monastery, 1967).

The principles of the narrative and the analysis of individual chapters of the «United Gospel» will be presented below.

The principles of harmonizing the Gospels

Harmonization of the Gospels is the best way to demonstrate how the texts of the four canonical Gospels can be brought together. Before we begin, let me make a comment.

The Gospel of Matthew contains 28 chapters and 1,071 verses (the average chapter length is 38 verses). The Gospel of Mark consists of 16 chapters and 678 verses (the average chapter length is 42 verses). Luke has 24 chapters and 1,151 verses (the average chapter length is 48 verses). John’s Gospel consists of 21 chapters and 879 verses (the average chapter length is 42 verses). In total, the four Gospels contain 89 chapters and 3,779 verses (the average chapter length is 42 verses).

In the «United Gospel», similar verses are combined; that is why the resulting text is shorter than the total number of the verses in the four Gospels. In addition, I introduced a new chapter division based on the synopsis table, which takes into account the division of the episodes in the narrative. As a result, the «United Gospel» consists of 190 chapters and 3,171 verses (the average length of a chapter is 17 verses).

The texts related to one episode were harmonized based on the internal logic of the story and two foundational principles: a) retaining as much information as possible, and b) maintaining consistency throughout all Gospel narratives.

a) The principle of retaining information

When comparing the texts of the four Gospels, we can clearly distinguish between two types of episodes: unique ones (found only in one Gospel) and parallel ones (found in several Gospels). Unique episodes do not need to be modified; they just need to be arranged in the correct order. As to the parallel episodes, they are more complicated. Similar episodes are usually told in the Gospels with different terminology and varying degree of detail. We should always prefer a more detailed text to avoid the loss of meaning. If none of the four Gospels provide enough clarity on a given episode, then the resulting text should be compiled from parallel episodes taken from different Gospels. And preference should always be given to more detailed descriptions. Alternatively, we can take an episode from one of the Gospels and supplement it with qualifying words and phrases from the other Gospels.