Comparing Matthew, Mark, And Luke

Upon close examination of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, it quickly becomes evident that there are many similarities. The similarity is more that the order of the material presented but also the exact wording of long stretches of text, which is not sufficient to be explained on the basis of oral tradition. This forces scholars to presume that there is some type of literary dependence. This would mean that someone copied from someone else’s written work. Luke does mention that there have been several other written materials which could give an indication that the authors/editors might have had one or more of early Gospel sources. However, it is not straightforward as some material is present in all three Synoptics, other material found in only two. Also, the common material is not always
However, the one that is widely accepted by scholars is The Four Source Theory/ Two-Document Hypothesis that was developed by B. H. Streeter. This hypothesis argues for a Markan priority, it holds that Mark was the first to write, Mathew was second and used both Mark and a second source, Q, and Luke was last and used both Mark and Q. However, the hypothesis adds that both Matthew and Luke each had access to another source, M, and L respectively. Hence, the argument for four sources: Mark, Q, M, L. M refers to the sayings and events peculiar to Matthew and L refers to those peculiar to Luke. As a result, some scholars prefer the name Two-Source over Four Source since Mark and Q are the fundamental