Why Is The Gospel of John So Different From The Others?

By Garrett Best

If you’ve been following my latest series of posts, you know I’ve been exploring possible solutions to the Synoptic Problem. The Synoptic Problem can be summarized like this: Why are Matthew, Mark, and Luke so similar and yet different at the same time. Scholars theorize that the reason those three Gospels are so similar is because they are using the same written sources to write their Gospels. The most convincing solution to the Synoptic Problem is called the two-source hypothesis. Mark was the first Gospel to be written and was used by Matthew and Luke. In addition, Matthew and Luke used another source, termed Q. The similarities among these three Gospels is attributed to their common use of the same two sources, Mark and Q.

But, what about the Gospel of John? The Gospel of John is certainly one of the most beloved of the four Gospels…