When, where, and who wrote the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke? What literary process made these books so alike and yet different? The "Synoptic problem" has kept New Testament scholars busy and battling for nearly 200 years. Many of their theories have seemed to threaten the view of inspiration held by conservative evangelical denominations.
Wenham's book gives linguistic, historical, and exegetical evidence supporting an early date for the Synoptic Gospels. Following in the tradition of the iconoclastic Redating the New Testament, by J.A.T. Robinson, this book asserts that Christians may have known the Gospels more or less in their present form since the mid first century A.D. Wenham dates Luke in the early A.D. 50s, Mark about A.D. 45, and Matthew as early as A.D. 40.
To show his conclusions as credible, which I believe he succeeds in doing, Wenham provides extensive details. The average reader will probably not have the background or the interest to follow all of these details. For this reason the author begins each chapter with a summary of its arguments and conclusions.
Wenham outlines the various Synoptic theories that have held sway through the years, making this a worthwhile reference book. Unfortunately accompanying diagrams are so complex they offer little help in understanding the problems. But the author uses the bulk of the book to build his own theory. He proposes that each evangelist received information by oral transmission, with Mark having some dependence on Matthew, and Luke having some dependence on Mark and Matthew. The author finds no place for the Q source.
But the conclusions of Redating Matthew, Mark, and Luke, derived from years of research, must be hailed with excitement and recognized for their significance. Wenham presents his views on how the Gospels were written, the oral transmission of the Jesus tradition, and when the Gospels were written. Summarizing his research, he concludes: "These [Gospels] were written at dates when many were alive who could confirm or contradict what was written."
Placing the written Gospels in the second decade of Christianity is a radical proposal. Early response from the academic community is cautious but respectful. Attacks will come, but conservative scholars, teachers, and ministers now have available the results, of a lifetime of research that give credibility to a very early date for the Synoptic Gospels. This work goes a great way toward establishing the dependability of the Gospels as history and thus makes them credible founding documents of Christian faith.
