Reading the Gospels Together Points of Contact among the storylines – Part 1 We have now established the storyline of each of the four gospels. A few observations from this exercise are these: Each of the four gospel writers has created a unique storyline for their gospel. No two gospel writers tell us exactly the same story. Yet, as we read the story in each gospel it seems evident that all four writers are reflecting upon exactly the same historical events. There are enough similarities to indicate that this is the case. That leads to some interesting questions and possibilities. One question we might ask is whether one storyline is more reliable than the others. We have noted that Mark, Matthew, and Luke are very much alike and in fact that Matthew and Luke have almost certainly used Mark’s gospel in writing their own. We have also noted that John’s storyline is significantly different from that of the others. Is Mark’s basic storyline which is followed for the most part by Matthew and Luke more reliable than John’s? Or is John’s the more reliable storyline, especially since the gospel of John claims that it is based upon the eyewitness participation of one called the “beloved disciple” who was present at least at some of the events? A better conclusion is to suggest that all of the storylines are the creation of their authors and none of them reflect fully what actually happened. So Mark created his storyline which was taken over and modified by Matthew and Luke. And John, independently, created his own storyline. It is very likely that none of the gospel writers actually knew the exact order of events – or that they cared much about that. They are proclaimers of the gospel first and foremost and so their storyline exists to assist them in that proclamation.