The Gospels: Copying or Independence?
In the study of the Synoptic Gospels, modern scholarship often finds itself trapped in charts and percentages, attempting to explain why Matthew, Mark, and Luke appear so similar. Is it a matter of literary copying or are these independent accounts? The Statistics of Truth: Linnemann’s Experiment Researcher Eta Linnemann, using statistical analysis, sought to prove that the similarities between the Gospels do not necessarily stem from one copying the other. Her argument is based on a simple and vivid experiment. Linnemann writes: "To be convinced of this, one can conduct a simple experiment. Ask three people who do not know each other to describe an event they all witnessed—for example, a car accident. Have them write down their accounts and then compare the three texts. Undoubtedly, there will be many differences, as each will narrate the incident in their own way. However, there will also be many commonalities: a similar plot, identical terms (road, car, driver, collision,...