Why We Have Four Gospels

When I was an atheist, it seemed ridiculous to me for there to be four accounts of the same story. Why not have one good account instead of four shoddy ones? The answer to why we have four gospels did not come to me for many years.

The old explanation that four different witnesses reported different things did not hold up well. Having one complete account made more sense to me. I finally came to see why we have four Gospels is because of the readers, not the writers. One of the problems that many Americans have with the Bible is that they assume it was written for Americans. The Bible is not an American book, and it is not about Americans.

We have three synoptic gospel accounts written by different authors, specifically designed for different groups of readers. In spite of that, there is an amazing accord between them. The synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke give a general view, or synopsis, of the events of Christ’s ministry.

The scholars who study the gospels tell us that 606 of the 661 verses of Mark appear in Matthew and that 380 of the verses of Mark are found in Luke. Mark is the oldest and shortest of the synoptic gospels. Matthew is very Jewish and contains much material that would be of interest to the Jewish culture, as well as covering the material in Mark. Luke was a well-educated Greek and a physician. His writing does not contain the Jewish slant of Matthew, and his approach would appeal to the Gentile, or Greek, population.

The Gospel of John is not synoptic but evangelistic. John’s purpose is to convince his readers that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God. The very nature of Jesus as the logos in John 1:1 is expanded and carried throughout the gospel. Much of the information in John is not in the other Gospels, because it has a different purpose and intent. It is an apologetic gospel to address the skeptic and the uninformed.

Suggesting that the reason why we have four gospels is to prevent details from being left out is a vast oversimplification. The four gospels together give us a logical, reasonable, and essential understanding of what and who Jesus was and what He came to do. The Bible gives us an accurate record of the gospel.

This article was adapted from Frequently Asked Questions by John N. Clayton ©2007