This volume contributes to the ongoing debate about which of the Synoptic gospels was written first. Two hundred years of scholarly discussion has led to the consensus that Marks gospel was the first to be written and that Matthew and Luke wrote later, using Mark as a source of information. Dr Head has evolved a new approach to the problem, using the christological criterion in order to produce more objective results. He compares the consensus view with the Griesbach hypothesis, a view (which is undergoing a contemporary revival) that Mark used, conflated and abbreviated Matthew and Luke. Within the context of some cautious revisions, the author supports the consensus view confirming the hypothesis of Markan priority, but arguing that Matthew was a developer rather than a corrector of Mark.
