Resemblance and Relation: Comparing the Gospels of Mark, John and Thomas

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to compare the Gospels of Mark, John and Thomas, and in so doing to discuss two distinct kinds of comparison. These two kinds of comparison have different goals, namely the identification of ‘resemblance’ and the identification of ‘relation’. This chapter is a fragment of a larger argument to be published in monograph form, which will be a broader comparison of early Christian Gospels including all the canonical Gospels and seven of the most important non-canonical works. There is value in comparing Mark, John and Thomas, however, because a number of scholars have sought to argue for commonalities between Thomas and John, often with the claim that they have more in common with each other than they do with the Synoptics. Hence Mark is included here in this chapter as an example of a Synoptic Gospel.