Which Gospel is traditionally regarded as the earliest of the four canonical Gospels?

The Gospel of Mark is traditionally regarded by most modern scholars as the earliest of the four canonical Gospels.

Mark is commonly dated to around 65–75 CE, although proposed dates differ. Matthew and Luke are often dated later, commonly around 80–90 CE, while John is usually placed near the end of the first century. These dates are scholarly estimates rather than explicit dates supplied by the texts themselves.

Mark begins with John the Baptist and Jesus’ baptism, rather than an account of Jesus’ birth. Its narrative moves quickly through Jesus’ preaching, healings, parables, conflicts, death, and the discovery of the empty tomb. The Gospel is also the shortest canonical Gospel by word count in its original Greek.

A major scholarly view, known as Markan priority, holds that Matthew and Luke used Mark as one of their sources. This theory helps explain similarities in wording and sequence, though the relationship among the Synoptic Gospels remains a subject of historical debate. “Earliest” means earliest written, not earliest in the order found in the New Testament.