TEd: So why the division of the four gospels into John and non-John?

Father Steve: One has to wonder why the Gospels according to Matthew, Mark and Luke are so similar and the Gospel according to John so different from these three. An answer to this question is The Synoptic Theory.

The theory goes like this.

Once upon a time, there were only two documents: one was the Gospel According to Saint Mark (Mk) and the other was a collection of the sayings of Jesus (Q). Then, independently, Matthew (Mt) and Luke (L) each decided to write an account of the Gospel. Each of them checked out Mk and Q from the library and placed those documents alongside their computers before composing their versions. Each had his own peculiar sources, as well. Some suggest that Luke drew on materials provided by the Blessed Virgin Mary while Matthew drew on his own experiences as an apostle. Matthew combined Mk with Q and "Special Mt" to produce Mt. Luke combined Mk with Q and "Special Lk" to produce Lk. John, on the other hand, relied upon neither Mk nor Q, neither Mt nor Lk, and produced his own thing which, while it bears many similarities to the Synoptic Gospels, differs from them in major respects.

And that, dear friends, is the Synoptic Theory in a nutshell.