Leithart addresses three questions which arise because of the similarities and differences between Matthew, Mark, and Luke: "Where do the Gospels come from? Which Gospel comes first? Do any of the evangelists [Gospel authors] use the writings of other evangelists?"
The most popular modern hypothesis for explaining the publication order of the Synoptic Gospel is that Mark was published first, followed by Matthew and Luke, each having used Mark and other sources without having consulted each other. Variations exist on this hypothesis; but consistently, Mark is claimed to have been…