Do we know who wrote the gospels at all?
Discussion
51 comments
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God did!!
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The Four Gospels of the Bible (from the Greek for “good news”) are the first four books of the New Testament. Two of the gospel accounts of Jesus are attributed to eyewitness accounts of two of His Apostles (Matthew and John) and two gospel accounts are attributed to disciples who did not know Jesus personally (Mark and Luke). There was no ambiguity among the early church fathers as to the authorship of the gospels, with their earliest writings attesting to our current titles. For additional information on each Gospel, see their individual entries.
The Gospels were originally written in Greek, the common lingua franca (common or commercial language among diverse peoples) of the Roman Orient. No original Gospels have been found in Aramaic; the only known Aramaic Gospels are translations from Greek versions. The general consensus is that the Gospel according to Matthew was written particularly for Jews; the Gospel according to Mark was written particularly for Romans; the Gospel according to Luke was written particularly for Greeks; and the Gospel according to John was written for everyone.
“Gospel” is derived from the Middle English word “godspel,” in which “god” means “good” and “spel” means “news.” Thus “Gospel” literally means “good news,” and some denominations like to use the phrase “good news” because they feel it conveys the nature of the Gospel clearly. It is a translation of the Greek word εὐαγγέλιον (euangelion), which is also the root of the word “evangelist;” an evangelist is someone who spreads the good news. The “good news” here is, specifically, the news of Christ’s redemption. The four Gospels offer different, yet complementary, accounts of the story of Jesus’s life and teachings, and lay the foundation for the doctrine of Christ’s redemption.
Although Matthew comes first in Biblical order, since the nineteenth century the Gospel of Mark is widely agreed to be the oldest of the Gospels (see Bible: The Gospels). However, this view has more recently been disputed. The hypothesis of Marcan Priority holds that Matthew and Luke were probably compiled slightly later, drawing both from Mark, eyewitness accounts, and oral testimony. It is also possible that Matthew or Luke each used the other as a source as well, although which one would have come first is unknown. John is the last of the Gospels, the most theologically mature, and the strongest in its emphasis on God’s loving sacrifice of his only son, Jesus, and the ways in which this sacrifice redeemed all mankind. The first three canonical Gospels are often called the “synoptic” (sighted with another) Gospels, as they tell slightly different versions of the same underlying story of Christ’s life and ministry on earth.
Luke was said to have been a Greek physician (see Col 4:14) who accompanied Paul and also wrote the Acts of the Apostles describing the arrival of the Holy Spirit. Unlike the Gospels of Matthew and John, written as firsthand accounts, the Gospel of Luke records eyewitness accounts of others, much as a doctor asks a patient for his medical history and then writes it down in the medical file. Due to Luke’s professional nature, his Gospel is very comprehensive about Jesus’ life and resurrection, and it also conveys the great sense of joy that Jesus’ family, friends and followers felt.
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No we don’t. The names given to the gospels were given to them by the Roman Catholic Church. When the manuscripts were originally found there was no signature identifying who wrote them. The authors did not identify themselves.
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Traditionally, it was the self-stated authors, each writing independently. More modern scholarship has put out the idea of a q text, where a core library of Jesus’s sayings are drawn upon by various authors in the way their memory best serves them to create a roughly chronological narrative. This idea accounts for apparent discrepancies between the gospels, like the hour of the crucifixion and such.
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The mere fact that the early church DIDN’T ascribe apostles’ names to the books of mark and luke, attests to their honesty.
The book of Mark heavily favors Peter. It would have carried much more weight with the outside world to label it Peter, but they didn’t.
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We do not know who wrote the gospels. The gospels were written 70 or more years after the crucifixion of Jesus and they were changed even up to the third century.
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Matthew, Mark, Luke,John, Peter, Paul and James.
Revelation 10:3
[3]And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, >>seven thunders uttered their voices.<< -
No real evidence I’m aware of to verify who wrote them. Moreover the texts are in Greek and most scholars believe that Jesus and his earliest disciples were not fluent in Greek. The Gospels are more than likely later accounts written by anonymous authors based on oral traditions handed down during the first century
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Matthew, Mark, Luke and John…
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Who’s we?
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Yes, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
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Those whose names are assigned to the Gospels are the authors as they were inspired by the Holy Spirit.
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What we have is based on tradition. The scriptures are inspired either way.
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Well Matthew who was a tax collector wrote Matthew, a companion of Paul named John Mark, wrote the gospel of Mark, Luke who was not a Jew, wrote both the gospel of Luke, and the book of Acts as well, and then there is John who wrote the gospel of John, who was the apostles whom Jesus loved, and who also wrote the book of Revelation
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Yes
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Every manuscript in existence have their names on them.
All the early church fathers were in unanimous agreement on who wrote each one.
There is no time in church history when anyone called them “annonymous.”
There is no disagreement on who the authors were.In short, there is no evidence of any kind that the authors we have attached today are not accurate.
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Read this. It will help tremendously.
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Some bibles give you that information.
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Yes, Tradition is key. If everyone believed it without question since they were written, it was likely that they were written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. However, I do think it is possible that the Gospel of Matthew was not written by Matthew entirely. Matthew wrote the Gospel of the Hebrews, and whoever compiled the Gospel of Matthew borrowed from that text extensively, therefore he named it after Matthew.
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2 Peter 1:20-21
“20knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” -
Not only known sources, have we! We have multiple first person witnesses, and all but one went to their deaths with their witnessing(s) in their <3s & intact.
Ps; how many gospels are there? -
Apostolic authorship was the primary factor in whether or not the early church considered a book inspired and canonical or not. Had they been anonymous, they’d never have been included. That’s why for example, the Gospel of Thomas isn’t included in the Scriptures–it’s apostolic authorship couldn’t be established. Questioning the authorship of the Gospels is a relatively modern invention, emerging as part of the higher critism attacks from German schools of thought in the early 1800’s.
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Matthew was written by a Hebrew. Most likely Levi, also called Matthew.
Mark was likely written by John Mark based on first hand reports from the Apostles themselves.
Luke and Acts were written by Luke, the doctor friend of Paul.
John was written by the Apostle John much later than the 3 synoptic Gospels.
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There’s no good reason to doubt that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John wrote the gospels attributed to them. That’s what the historical record within the church has generally asserted for 2000 years and the internal evidence is consistent with that.
The claim that the gospels were written 70 years after Christ is not consistent with historical testimony either. Paul died around 65AD. It’s generally accepted that he wrote his first letter to Timothy around 60AD or so. He quotes Luke 10:7 in 1Tim 5:18 and calls it Scripture. So Luke’s gospel must’ve been written before then and before Luke wrote Acts so sometime in the mid 50s or so for that. It seems clear that Luke probably had access to Mark’s gospel as one of his sources. Most biblical scholars would agree that Luke used Mark’s gospel. So that had to be written and have circulated before 55AD. Maybe Mark finished it around 50 or so. David Allan Black has a little book called “Why four gospels?” that goes into the evidence for Matthew being written around that time as well. The earliest fragment we have of John is dated between 100-125AD which means that John was likely written in first century as well. The date is disputed but is somewhere between 60-95AD.
You should check out Gary Habermas’ work on the resurrection. -
God by His Spirit speaking through men of faith in Yeshua. You’re welcome… ? Also, if I speak by the same Spirit of Truth what I say carries the same weight. Same Spirit speaking.
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Matthew,Mark, Luke, John.
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The Holy Spirit through Spirit filled believers
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Read 1 Peter 1:20-21.
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Nope.
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2 Peter 1:20-21 King James Version (KJV)
20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. -
I do.
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Mathew wrote his book Mark wrote his ect. What kind a question is that?
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Matthew and John wrote their own Gospels. Mark more than likely was speaking for Peter, and Luke was a historian extraordinaire. He compiled his Gospel from primary sources and Acts from personal experience as he travelled with Paul.
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Yes
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You can write your own gospel if you let the Holy Spirit to lead you , for instance your own experience with God
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Are you trying to convince me with your doubts?
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It is alleged that the apostle Matthew Levi (1 – 90) wrote the Gospel of Matthew between 40 and 90, the Seventy assistant John Mark (5 – 68) wrote the Gospel of Mark between 40 and 70, the good Doctor named Luke (1 – 84) wrote the Gospel of Luke and the Book of the Acts of the Apostles between 50 and 90, and the apostle John Bar Zebedee Judah (1 – 100) wrote the Gospel of John between 80 and 95!
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Umm the Church was already in full swing before the Bible was compiled. Fulton Sheen said the Bible did not start a religion – it was a recording of what the church already believed.
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We do know it wasn’t me.
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Yes, Matthew, Luke, Mark and John .
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Interestingly, we’re sure about two (Luke and John), and reasonably sure about the other two. It is suggested that Mark presented Peter’s narrative, and (possibly) Matthew was either not the author or shared authorship with someone who was very well versed in the scriptures and rabbinic teachings.
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Does it matter who wrote the gospels? Glory belongs to God not man. Where they state who wrote them I have no reason to believe otherwise.
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No.
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Yes
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I am not sure. I think it was Matthew, Mark, Lukas and John….Matthew and John were members of twelve. Mark I don’t know anything about him and Lukas was a doctor or I heard. Personally I think it’s not important at all who wrote the gospels, important is what is written in them.. my point is this “if William Shakespeare was named william Bird, you think his dramas and poetry would never be known ?”
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We believe we do, yes.
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I think the names give it away that are on top of gospels. Known and verified by the apostles and so many others.
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