Gospel Harmony
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A gospel harmony is an attempt to compile the
canonical gospels Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the second century AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message was reported. In this sen ...
of the
Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...
into a single account. This may take the form either of a single, merged
narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether non-fictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travel literature, travelogue, etc.) or fictional (fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller ...
, or a tabular format with one column for each gospel, technically known as a synopsis, although the word ''harmony'' is often used for both. Harmonies are constructed for a variety of purposes: to create a readable and accessible piece of
literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...
for the general public, to establish a scholarly chronology of events in the life of Jesus as depicted in the canonical gospels, or to better understand how the accounts relate to each other. Among academics, the construction of harmonies has been favoured by conservative scholars, though one scholar, B. S. Childs, opposes this. Students of higher criticism see the divergences between the gospel accounts as reflecting the construction of traditions by the early Christian communities. Among modern academics, attempts to construct a single story have largely been abandoned in favour of laying out the accounts in parallel columns for comparison, to allow critical study of the differences between them.. The earliest known harmony is the '' Diatessaron'' by
Tatian Tatian of Adiabene, or Tatian the Syrian or Tatian the Assyrian, (; ; ; ; – ) was an Assyrian Christian writer and theologian of the 2nd century. Tatian's most influential work is the Diatessaron, a Biblical paraphrase, or "harmony", of the ...
in the 2nd century and variations based on the ''Diatessaron'' continued to appear in the Middle Ages.. The 16th century witnessed a major increase in the introduction of gospel harmonies and the parallel column structure became widespread. At this time visual representations also started appearing, depicting the life of Christ in terms of a "pictorial gospel harmony", and the trend continued into the 19th–20th centuries.


Overview

A gospel harmony is an attempt to collate the Christian canonical gospels into a single account. Harmonies are constructed by some writers in order to make the gospel story available to a wider audience, both religious and secular. Harmonies can be studied by scholars to establish a coherent chronology of the events depicted in the four canonical gospels in the life of Jesus, to better understand how the accounts relate to each other, and to critically evaluate their differences. The terms ''harmony'' and ''synopsis'' have been used to refer to several different approaches to consolidating the canonical gospels. Technically, a "harmony" weaves together sections of scripture into a single narrative, merging the four gospels. There are four main types of harmony: ''radical'', ''synthetic'', ''sequential'' and ''parallel''. By contrast, a "synopsis", much like a parallel harmony, juxtaposes similar texts or accounts in parallel format, synchronized by time, while preserving their individual identity, usually in columns.Steven L. Cox, 2007 ''Harmony of the Gospels'' B&H Publishing pp. 3–4 Harmonies may also take a visual form and be undertaken to create narratives for artistic purposes, as in the creation of picture compositions depicting the life of Christ. The oldest approach to harmonizing consists of merging the stories into a single narrative, producing a text longer than any individual gospel.Steven L. Cox, 2007 ''Harmony of the Gospels'' B&H Publishing p. 18 This creates the most straightforward and detailed account, and one that is likely to be most accessible to non-academic users, such as lay churchgoers or people who are reading the gospels as a work of literature or philosophy. There are, however, difficulties in the creation of a consolidated narrative. As John Barton points out, it is impossible to construct a single account from the four gospels without changing at least some parts of the individual accounts.John Barton, ''The Old Testament: Canon Literature and Theology Collected Essays of John Barton'' (Ashgate Publishing, 2013) p. 59. One challenge with any form of harmonizing is that events are sometimes described in a different order in different accounts – the
Synoptic Gospels The gospels of Gospel of Matthew, Matthew, Gospel of Mark, Mark, and Gospel of Luke, Luke are referred to as the synoptic Gospels because they include many of the same stories, often in a similar sequence and in similar or sometimes identical ...
, for instance, describe Jesus overturning tables in the Temple at Jerusalem in the last week of his life, whereas the Gospel of John records a counterpart event only towards the beginning of Jesus's ministry. Harmonists must either choose which time they think is correct, or conclude that separate events are described. Lutheran theologian Andreas Osiander, for instance, proposed in ''Harmonia evangelica'' (1537) that Jesus must have been crowned with thorns twice, and that there were three separate episodes of cleansing of the Temple. On the other hand, commentators have long noted that the individual gospels are not written in a rigorously chronological format. This means that an event can be described as falling at two different times and still be the same event, so that the substantive details can be properly brought together in a harmony, although the harmonist will still have the task of deciding which of the two times is more probable. A less common but more serious difficulty arises if the gospels diverge in their substantive description of an event. An example is the incident involving the centurion whose servant is healed at a distance. In the Gospel of Matthew the centurion comes to Jesus in person; in the Luke version he sends Jewish elders. Since these accounts are probably describing the same event, the harmonist must decide which is the more accurate description or else devise a composite account. The modern academic view, based on the broadly accepted principle that Matthew and Luke were written using Mark as a source, seeks to explain the differences between the texts in terms of this process of composition. For example, Mark describes John the Baptist as preaching the forgiveness of sins, a detail which is dropped by Matthew, perhaps in the belief that the forgiveness of sins was exclusive to Jesus. The modern popularizing view, on the other hand, while acknowledging these difficulties, deemphasizes their importance. This view suggests that the divergences in the gospels are a relatively small part of the whole, and that the accounts show a great deal of overall similarity. The divergences can therefore be sufficiently discussed in footnote in the course of a consolidated narrative, and need not stand in the way of conveying a better overall view of the life of Jesus or of making this material more accessible to a wider readership. To illustrate the concept of parallel harmony, a simple example of a "synopsis fragment" is shown here, consisting of just four episodes from the Passion. A more comprehensive parallel harmony appears in a section below.


Early Church and Middle Ages

Tatian Tatian of Adiabene, or Tatian the Syrian or Tatian the Assyrian, (; ; ; ; – ) was an Assyrian Christian writer and theologian of the 2nd century. Tatian's most influential work is the Diatessaron, a Biblical paraphrase, or "harmony", of the ...
's influential '' Diatessaron'', which dates to about AD 160, was perhaps the first harmony. The ''Diatessaron'' reduced the number of verses in the four gospels from 3,780 to 2,769 without missing any event of teaching in the life of Jesus from any of the gospels. Some scholars believe Tatian may have drawn on one or more noncanonical gospels. The Gospel of the Ebionites, composed about the same time, is believed to have been a gospel harmony. Variations based on the ''Diatessaron'' continued to appear in the Middle Ages. For example, the Codex Sangallensis (based on the 6th century Codex Fuldensis) dates to 830 and has a Latin column based on the
Vulgate The Vulgate () is a late-4th-century Bible translations into Latin, Latin translation of the Bible. It is largely the work of Saint Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels used by the Diocese of ...
and an
Old High German Old High German (OHG; ) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally identified as the period from around 500/750 to 1050. Rather than representing a single supra-regional form of German, Old High German encompasses the numerous ...
column that often resembles the ''Diatessaron'', although errors frequently appear within it. The Liege harmony in the Limburg dialect (Liege University library item 437) is a key Western source of the ''Diatessaron'' and dates to 1280, although it was published much later. The two extant recensions of the Diatessaron in Medieval Italian are the single manuscript Venetian from the 13th or 14th century and the 26 manuscript Tuscan from the 14th–15th century.''Tatian and the Jewish Scriptures'' by Robert F. Shedinger (2002) pp. 28–32''Patristic and Text-Critical Studies'' by Jan Krans and Joseph Verheyden (2011) pp. 188–190 In the 3rd century Ammonius of Alexandria developed the forerunner of modern synopsis (perhaps based on the ''Diatessaron'') as the Ammonian Sections in which he started with the text of Matthew and copied along parallel events.''Encyclopedia Christianity: v. 4'' by Erwin Fahlbusch (2004) p. 41 There are no extant copies of the harmony of Ammonius and it is only known from a single reference in the letter from Eusebius to Carpianus. In the letter Eusebius also discusses his own approach, i.e. the
Eusebian Canons Eusebian canons, Eusebian sections or Eusebian apparatus, also known as Ammonian sections, are the system of dividing the four Gospels used between late antiquity and the Middle Ages. The divisions into Chapters and verses of the Bible, chapters ...
in which the texts of the gospels are shown in parallel to help comparison among the four gospels. In the 5th century,
Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...
wrote extensively on the subject in his book '' Harmony of the Gospels''.''Augustine through the ages: an encyclopedia'' by John C. Cavadini 1999 p. 132 Augustine viewed the variations in the gospel accounts in terms of the different focuses of the authors on Jesus: Matthew on royalty, Mark on humanity, Luke on priesthood and John on divinity.''Christology, Controversy and Community'' by David G. Horell and Christopher M. Tuckett (2000) pp. 37–40 Clement of Llanthony's '' Unum ex Quatuor'' (''One from Four'') was considered an improvement on previous gospel harmonies, although modern scholars sometimes opine that no major advances beyond Augustine emerged on the topic until the 15th century. Throughout the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
harmonies based on the principles of the ''Diatessaron'' continued to appear, e.g., the Liege harmony by Plooij in
Middle Dutch Middle Dutch is a collective name for a number of closely related West Germanic dialects whose ancestor was Old Dutch. It was spoken and written between 1150 and 1500. Until the advent of Modern Dutch after 1500 or , there was no overarching sta ...
, and the Pepysian harmony in
Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman Conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English pe ...
. The Pepysian harmony (Magdalene college, Cambridge, item Pepys 2498) dates to about 1400 and its name derives from having been owned by
Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys ( ; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English writer and Tories (British political party), Tory politician. He served as an official in the Navy Board and Member of Parliament (England), Member of Parliament, but is most r ...
.


15th–20th centuries

In the 15th and the 16th centuries some new approaches to harmony began to appear. For example, Jean Gerson produced a harmony in 1420 which gave priority to the
Gospel of John The Gospel of John () is the fourth of the New Testament's four canonical Gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "Book of Signs, signs" culminating in the raising of Lazarus (foreshadowing the ...
. Cornelius Jansen also published his harmony in 1549, focusing on the four gospels and even referring to the Acts of the Apostles. On the other hand
John Calvin John Calvin (; ; ; 10 July 150927 May 1564) was a French Christian theology, theologian, pastor and Protestant Reformers, reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of C ...
's approach focused on the three synoptic Gospels, and excluded the Gospel of John. By this time visual representations had also started appearing, for instance, the 15th-century artist Lieven de Witte produced a set of about 200 woodcut images that depicted the '' Life of Christ'' in terms of a "pictorial gospel harmony" which then appeared in Willem van Branteghem's harmony published in
Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...
in 1537.
Seeing Beyond the Word: Visual Arts and the Calvinist Tradition
' by Paul Corby Finney 1999 p. 398
The importance of imagery is reflected in the title of Branteghem's well known work: ''The Life of Jesus Christ Skillfully Portrayed in Elegant Pictures Drawn from the Narratives of the Four Evangelists''''The Authority of the Word: Reflecting on Image and Text in Northern Europe, 1400–1700'' by Celeste Brusati, Karl A. E. Enenkel and Walter S. Melion (2011) pp. 2–6 The 16th century witnessed a major increase in the introduction of gospel harmonies. In this period the ''parallel column structure'' became widespread, partly in response to the rise of
biblical criticism Modern Biblical criticism (as opposed to pre-Modern criticism) is the use of critical analysis to understand and explain the Bible without appealing to the supernatural. During the eighteenth century, when it began as ''historical-biblical c ...
. This new format was used to emphasize the trustworthiness of the gospels. It is not clear who produced the first parallel harmony, but
Gerardus Mercator Gerardus Mercator (; 5 March 1512 – 2 December 1594) was a Flemish people, Flemish geographer, cosmographer and Cartography, cartographer. He is most renowned for creating the Mercator 1569 world map, 1569 world map based on a new Mercator pr ...
's 1569 system is a well-known example.''What Have They Done to the Bible?: A History of Modern Biblical Interpretation'' by John Sandys-Wunsch (2005) p. 35 In terms of content and quality, Johann Jakob Griesbach's 1776 synopsis was a notable case. At the same time, the rise of modern biblical criticism was instrumental in the decline of the traditional apologetic gospel harmony. The Enlightenment writer,
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (; ; 22 January 1729 – 15 February 1781) was a German philosopher, dramatist, publicist and art critic, and a representative of the Enlightenment era. His plays and theoretical writings substantially influenced the dev ...
, observed: W. G. Rushbrooke's 1880 ''Synopticon'' is at times considered a turning point in the history of the synopsis, as it was based on Marcan priority, i.e. the assumption that the Gospel of Mark was the first to be written. Thirteen years later, John Albert Broadus used historical accounts to assign priorities in his harmony, while previous approaches had used feasts as the major milestones for dividing the life of Christ. Towards the end of the 19th century, after extensive travels and study in the Middle East,
James Tissot Jacques Joseph Tissot (; 15 October 1836 – 8 August 1902), better known as James Tissot ( , ), was a French painter, illustrator, and caricaturist. He was born to a drapery merchant and a milliner and decided to pursue a career in art at a y ...
produced a set of 350 watercolors which depicted the life of Christ as a visual gospel harmony. Tissot synthesized the four gospels into a singular narrative with five chapters: "the Holy Childhood, the Ministry, Holy Week, the Passion, and the Resurrection". He also made portraits of each of the
Four Evangelists In Christian tradition, the Four Evangelists are Matthew the Apostle, Matthew, Mark the Evangelist, Mark, Luke the Evangelist, Luke, and John the Evangelist, John, the authors attributed with the creation of the four canonical Gospel accounts ...
to honor them. In the 20th century, the ''Synopsis of the Four Gospels'' by
Kurt Aland Kurt Aland (28 March 1915 – 13 April 1994) was a German theologian and Biblical studies, biblical scholar who specialized in New Testament textual criticism. He founded the ''Institute for New Testament Textual Research, Institut für neutest ...
came to be seen by some as "perhaps the standard for an in-depth study of the Gospels."Steven L. Cox, Kendell H Easley, 2007 ''Harmony of the Gospels'' pp. 6–8 A key feature of Aland's work is the incorporation of the full text of the Gospel of John. Bernard Orchard's synopsis (which has the same title) was of note in that it took the unusual approach of abandoning Marcan priority and assuming the synoptic gospels were written with Matthean priority and Markan posteriority.


An example parallel harmony

The following table is an example of a parallel harmony. The order of events, especially during the ministry period, has been the subject of speculation and scholarly debate. The order below is based on those of Anglican William Newcome in 1778 and Baptists Steven L. Cox and Kendell H. Easley in 2006.


See also

* Little Gidding harmonies * Jefferson Bible, created by Thomas Jefferson * The Gospel in Brief, created by Leo Tolstoy * Palmarian Bible *
Ministry of Jesus The ministry of Jesus, in the canonical gospels, begins with Baptism of Jesus, his baptism near the River Jordan by John the Baptist, and ends in Jerusalem in Christianity, Jerusalem in Judea, following the Last Supper with his Disciple (Chri ...
*
Chronology of the Bible The chronology of the Bible is an elaborate system of lifespans, " generations", and other means by which the Masoretic Hebrew Bible (the text of the Bible most commonly in use today) measures the passage of events from the creation to around 16 ...


References


Citations


Bibliography

* * * * * ''This article incorporates work from ''A Harmony of the Gospels in Greek'' by Edward Robinson, a publication now in the public domain.''


Further reading

* Thomson, Charles, ''A Synopsis of the Four Evangelists'' (1815) * Robinson, Edward, ''Greek Harmony of the Gospels'' (1845; second edition, 1851) * Robinson, Edward, ''English Harmony of the Gospels'' (1846) * Orville Daniel, ''A Harmony of the Four Gospels'', 2nd Ed, Baker Books Pub, 1996. * R. Thomas & S. Gundry, ''The NIV Harmony of the Gospels'', HarperCollins Pub, 1988.


External links

* Augustine's ''Harmony of the Gospels''
Parallel Gospels in Harmony
Online version of ''Parallel Gospels in Harmony: with Study Guide'', by David A. Reed, a public domain book {{DEFAULTSORT:Gospel Harmony 1st-century Christianity Chronology Gospels * Canonical Gospels Christian terminology