What is the shortest of the 4 Gospels?

Answer 1

Another answer from our community:

This is probably an unanswerable question and all sorts of possibilities could be proposed but they would only be speculations. Even if we could speak to all the four authors of the Gospels and know all their circumstances and constraints upon writing, the answer may still remain unsolved. The following however, are some of the possibilities.

Mark certainly has a simple and straightforward approach to writing, which may tend to make him briefer. Writing for a Roman audience, who would not have been interested in prophecy (and which would have required detailed explanations) meant that he left out all mention of fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. In any case, Mark wrote what he considered important. It must also be remembered that there is no specific requirement anywhere that any particular detail or teaching be either included or excluded from the Gospels. Each author wrote from what they knew, as they were guided by the Holy Spirit, and included the essentials - especially about who Jesus was, and His death and resurrection.

Answer 2

Another answer from our community:

Mark's Gospel is believed to be Peter's record and was written to Roman believers, especially Gentiles:

-translating of Aramaic terms

-using Latin instead of Greek terms

-using Roman time

-explaining Jewish customs

Another answer

The reason the Gospel of Mark was not written right after Jesus' death is all the believers thought he was about to return immediately. At A.D.70 it became apparent that he was not going to return right away. The message was afraid of being lost so Mark made his account of Jesus life. Then Matthew, and Luke were written. Matthew was written with a Hebrew slant and Luke with a Gentile slant. John was later written to fill in any gaps and questions that still remained.

Answer 3

In the King James version

4:14 The sower soweth the word. (21 letters, 1 punctuation, 4 spaces)

This is followed by

3:16 And Simon he surnamed Peter; (23 letters, 1 punctuation, 4 spaces) Which is followed by 14:50 And they all forsook him, and fled. (27 letters, 2 punctuation, 6 spaces)

Answer 4

The Gospel According to St Mark is the oldest and shortest of the New Testament gospels. In its earliest form, it was even shorter, since verses 16:9-20 (the appearances of the risen Jesus) are considered by New Testament scholars to be later interpolations. However, they are included in The Bible because they appear in the majority of ancient manuscripts, and the verses are quoted in writings by early church fathers which predate the earliest manuscripts.

The latest revision of the United Bible Societies' The Greek New Testament (4th Edition, 1993), regarded as the consensus of Bible scholars, omits these verses, commenting that they had been assimilated from sources in Matthew, Luke, John and Acts. The Roman Catholic New American Bible includes the "longer ending" verses, but with a footnote that says that this ending has traditionally been accepted as a canonical part of the Gospel since the Council of Trent, although vocabulary and style indicate that it was not written by Mark. Whether included or not, Mark's is the shortest gospel.

Answer 5

Since we now know that Mark's Gospel was the first New Testament gospel to be written, a simple reason could be that it seemed necessary to write down a record of the events in the mission of Jesus before they were forgotten. The main problem with this notion is that whoever wrote Mark waited until approximately 70 CE before writing the gospel.

The date Mark's Gospel was written coincides with the end of the First Roman-Jewish War, so it is also plausible that the War was the reason for writing this gospel. It could be that the traumatic events leading up to the time of writing really did seem as if the world was about to end, just as Mark says in chapter 13. It could be that the Christians, who were still regarded very much as Jews, wanted to show the Romans that Christians bore them no ill-will and would be no threat to the Roman peace. Or it could be that the disarray in which Judaism now found itself created a potential for converting some of the Jews.

Answer 6

Scholars of ancient literature almost always find that the earliest version of a story is the shortest, since the writers who come after are more likely to elaborate on the original narratives rather than leave much material out. We now know that Mark's Gospel was the original on which the others were based, so it follows this pattern by being the shortest New Testament gospel.

Answer 7

Offhand I believe it is Luke because Luke's story was documented a long time after Christ's death.

Answer 8

The Gospel of Mark is the shortest. It is often considered the first Gospel to be written.

Answer 9

The shortest gospel is the gospel of Mark.

Answer 10

Yes. Mark has only 16 chapters.