Origin of the Synoptics

The best essay to date from the Da Vinci Dialogue went up a couple of days ago. "Why Matthew, Mark, Luke and John — and Not the Gnostic Gospels?" is written by Bryan Litfin, Assistant Professor of Theology at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. The essay addresses Da Vinci Code villain Leigh Teabing's claims that Constantine plucked the synoptic gospels out of thin air at Nicea. Litfin does a nice job of presenting the actual history of that development (doing us a big favor, because Teabing never does—naturally: he's the villain.) Litfin concludes:

After Leigh Teabing offers his theories on early Christianity, Sophie says to him, “I assume devout Christians send you hate mail on a daily basis?”

“Why would they?” Teabing countered. “The vast majority of educated Christians know the history of their faith.”

Teabing implies all “educated” people buy into his scenario. But as we have seen, it just doesn’t match historical reality. The Da Vinci Code is correct when it says educated people should understand the history of Christianity. Yet it does a poor job of representing the facts.

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The Da Vinci Dialogue, 16.03.06