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asaris...yes...there are east west splits prior to Florence. But, you might date "The East/West" split to that date. basically...Florence is when Rome stops trying to recover the east...so it's a western centric date anyhow.
zen tom...the Gospels circulate far sooner than the 4th century. Cannonization of texts continues until that time period, but all the material had been circulating, along with other texts in variously authoritative collections.
I also have no idea where you understand John as the most authoritative or Rome friendly...
I also dispute that the Gnostics paint a better picture. The texts offer an independant witness, and help us understand Jesus better. But they have the own spin, their own agenda. Just because they lost doesn't mean their right, just like winning didn't make the "orthodox" church right either.
biblical criticism has an important role...it helps us weigh passages that are in tension with each other, it helps us understand the meanings and forms of communication that we're trying to interpret....but it won't be a subsitute for exegetical work.
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