A Comparison of the Synoptic Gospels according to the King James Bible

Seminar paper from the year 2014 in the subject Literature - Comparative Literature, grade: 2,3, University of Kassel (Institut für Sprachen), language: English, abstract: The word 'gospel' derives its origin from the Greek word 'evangelion' and can be translated as 'good news'. The four gospels are part of the New Testament and mainly tell about the Nativity, the work of Christi, his crucifixion and his resurrection. Whereas the gospel of John stands out with its narrative, the other three, Mark, Matthew and Luke, mainly coincide in the structure and array of their gospels. Therefore they are known as the Synoptic gospels. Often they are replicated side by side, which makes it easier to compare them to each other. But all four gospels superficially concentrate on the life and doing of Jesus, connected to his death and resurrection.

This paper is going to concentrate on the synoptic gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke to compare them with each other regarding not only structure and chronological order, but also regarding their content and illustrate the differences and consonances. Every analysis of a gospel starts with a main overview about the complete gospel, including the structure, the author, the recipient and the time when the gospel was written. The content review concentrates on the most important parts of the Passion narrative.