From Mark to John: the development of the gospels
For a full explanation of the upper part of the diagram:
Go to 'Synoptic gospel sources'
For a full explanation of the lower right part of the diagram:
Go to 'The formation of the gospel of John'
Approximate dates
| year (CE) |
document |
| 40-45 |
logia |
| 70 |
Mark |
| 90 |
Matthew |
| 95 |
Luke 1st edn |
| 100 |
Acts |
| 105 |
Luke 2nd edn |
| 105 |
John 1st edn |
| 110 |
John 2nd edn |
| 115 |
John 3rd edn |
The two editions of Luke
There exists overwhelming evidence that the first edition of Luke lacked the birth narratives, i.e. Luke 1:5 - 2:52.
- The formal language of Lk 3:1ff. is more appropriate immediately following 1:4, where it would have formed part of a majestic introduction.
- In our extant text the placement of the genealogy after the birth of Jesus does not make sense, but without the birth stories its position following closely after the first mention of Jesus is quite natural.
- In Lk 3:2, John the Baptist is introduced formally as if for the first time. (Caird)
- I have discovered additional evidence, as yet unpublished, regarding the number of pages in the autograph codex (!) behind our present text of Luke. This indicates that the birth stories were not part of the gospel as originally planned.
Luke may have belatedly realized the popularity of Matthew's birth stories, so he decided to use a few of their features (such as the birth in Bethlehem and the angel saying "And you shall give him the name Jesus") as the basis for a more impressive set of stories in a second edition of his own gospel.
