Who Wrote the
Gospels?

"Nobody knows who the four evangelists were, but they almost certainly never met Jesus personally." (Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion, p. 122).

So they say. The thinking reader may wonder, since nobody knows who they were, how can anyone be certain whom they did or did not meet? There is no lack of early testimony to the authorship of the New Testament, not only as to divine inspiration but the human identify of the authors through whom God worked:


  Papias  
  Justin Martyr  
  Irenaeus  
  Tertullian  
  Eusebius  
  Jerome  
 Internal Evidence 
  Forgery  


Papias

Although no complete works by this early author survive, his testimony touching on this topic is preserved in fragmentary form by other writers. Papias, the bishop of Hierapolis, was roughly contemporary with Polycarp. His magnum opus, the five-volume 'Expositions of the Sayings of the Lord,' does not survive; posterity's verdict seconds Eusebius' perception that Papias was not the brightest bulb in the chandelier. Nevertheless, on the conceptually very simple question of who wrote the gospels and when, Papias delivers clear and compelling testimony:


  • "'And the Elder used to say this: "Mark, having become Peter's interpreter, wrote down accurately everything he remembered, though not in order, of the things either said or done by Christ. For he neither heard the Lord nor followed him, but afterward, as I said, followed Peter, who adapted his teachings as needed but had no intention of giving an ordered account of the Lord's sayings. Consequently Mark did nothing wrong in writing down some things as he remembered them, for he made it his one concern not to omit anything which he heard or to make any false statement in them. . .
  • "'So Matthew composed the oracles in the Hebrew language and each person interpreted them as best he could.'" (Fragments of Papias, quoted p. 316, The Apostolic Fathers, Second Edition, J.B. Lightfoot, J. R. Harmer, Michael W. Holmes.)
  • "The Gospel of John was made known and given to the churches by John while he was still in the flesh, as a man of Hierapolis by the name of Paias, a beloved disciple of John, has related in the exoteric — that is, the last — part of his five books." (Fragments of Papias, quoted p. 316, The Apostolic Fathers, Second Edition, J.B. Lightfoot, J. R. Harmer, Michael W. Holmes.)

'Interpreter' can mean no more than 'translator.' The first step in discrediting this testimony is mystification; it is pretended there is hopeless obscurity in deciphering the meaning of the terms used. This testimony must be discounted by the contemporary 'Jesus' publishing industry, because, if it is true, the ball-game's over. Discarding the earliest available testimony, in preference, not to any countervailing contemporary testimony but to sheer conjecture, is neither prudent nor empirical.

Justin Martyr

Justin, a Christian philosopher martyred in the mid-second century, describes the gospels as the memoirs of the apostles:

“For the apostles, in the memoirs composed by them, which are called Gospels, have thus delivered unto us what was enjoined upon them; that Jesus took bread, and when He had given thanks, said, 'This do ye in remembrance of Me, this is My body;' and that, after the same manner, having taken the cup and given thanks, He said, 'This is My blood;' and gave it to them alone.”
(Justin Martyr, First Apology, Chapter 66.)
"And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things."
(Justin Martyr, First Apology, Chapter 67.)
"For in the memoirs which I say were drawn up by His apostles and those who followed them, [it is recorded] that His sweat fell down like drops of blood while He was praying and saying, 'If it be possible, let this cup pass'. . ."
(Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, Chapter CIII.)

Irenaeus

Irenaeus, a second century bishop of Lyons, adds his testimony:



  • "We have learned from none others the plan of our salvation, than from those through whom the Gospel has come down to us, which they did at one time proclaim in public, and, at a later period, by the will of God, handed down to us in the Scriptures, to be the ground and pillar of our faith...For, after our Lord rose from the dead, [the apostles] were invested with power from on high when the Holy Spirit came down [upon them], were filled from all [His gifts], and had perfect knowledge: they departed to the ends of the earth, preaching the glad tidings of the good things [sent] from God to us, and proclaiming the peace of heaven to men, who indeed do all equally and individually possess the Gospel of God. Matthew also issued a written Gospel among the Hebrews in their own dialect, while Peter and Paul were preaching at Rome, and laying the foundations of the Church. After their departure, Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, did also hand down to us in writing what had been preached by Peter. Luke also, the companion of Paul, recorded in a book the Gospel preached by him. Afterwards, John, the disciple of the Lord, who also had leaned upon His breast, did himself publish a Gospel during his residence at Ephesus in Asia."
  • (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book 3, Chapter 1.1)


Tertullian

Tertullian, the great third century African apologist, joins the chorus:


  • "We lay it down as our first position, that the evangelical Testament has apostles for its authors, to whom was assigned by the Lord Himself this office of publishing the gospel. Since, however, there are apostolic men also, they are yet not alone, but appear with apostles and after apostles; because the preaching of disciples might be open to the suspicion of an affectation of glory, if there did not accompany it the authority of the masters, which means that of Christ, for it was that which made the apostles their masters. Of the apostles, therefore, John and Matthew first instill faith into us; whilst of apostolic men, Luke and Mark renew it afterwards."
    (Tertullian, 'Five Books Against Marcion,' Book IV, Chapter 2)

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Eusebius

The fourth century church historian Eusebius investigated the matter:

"Nevertheless, of all the disciples of the Lord, only Matthew and John have left us written memorials, and they, tradition says, were led to write only under the pressure of necessity. For Matthew, who had at first preached to the Hebrews, when he was about to go to other peoples, committed his Gospel to writing in his native tongue, and thus compensated those whom he was obliged to leave for the loss of his presence. And when Mark and Luke had already published their Gospels, they say that John, who had employed all his time in proclaiming the Gospel orally, finally proceeded to write for the following reason. The three Gospels already mentioned having come into the hands of all and into his own too, they say that he accepted them and bore witness to their truthfulness; but that there was lacking in them an account of the deeds done by Christ at the beginning of his ministry." (Eusebius, Church History, Book III, Chapter 24.).

Jerome

Our departure from the early church age comes with this late author, who sifted through such early manuscripts as still survived:

"MATTHEW, also called Levi, apostle and aforetimes publican, composed a gospel of Christ at first published in Judea in Hebrew for the sake of those of the circumcision who believed, but this was afterwards translated into Greek though by what author is uncertain. The Hebrew itself has been preserved until the present day in the library at Caesarea which Pamphilus so diligently gathered." (Jerome, Lives of Illustrious Men, Chapter 3).
"LUKE a physician of Antioch as his writings indicate was not unskilled in the Greek language. An adherent of the apostle Paul, and companion of all his journeying, he wrote a Gospel, concerning which the same Paul says, “We send with him a brother whose praise in the gospel is among all the churches” and to the Colossians “Luke the beloved physician salutes you,” and to Timothy “Luke only is with me.” He also wrote another excellent volume to which he prefixed the title Acts of the Apostles, a history which extends to the second year of Paul’s sojourn at Rome, that is to the fourth year of Nero, from which we learn that the book was composed in that same city."
(Jerome, Lives of Illustrious Men, Chapter 7).
"MARK the disciple and interpreter of Peter wrote a short gospel at the request of the brethren at Rome embodying what he had heard Peter tell. When Peter had heard this, he approved it and published it to the churches to be read by his authority as Clemens in the sixth book of his Hypotyposes and Papias, bishop of Hierapolis, record."
(Jerome, Lives of Illustrious Men, Chapter 8).
"JOHN, the apostle whom Jesus most loved, the son of Zebedee and brother of James, the apostle whom Herod, after our Lord’s passion, beheaded, most recently of all the evangelists wrote a Gospel, at the request of the bishops of Asia, against Cerinthus and other heretics and especially against the then growing dogma of the Ebionites, who assert that Christ did not exist before Mary."
(Jerome, Lives of Illustrious Men, Chapter 9).

The conventional attributions of authorship are not imaginary nor made up long after the fact; those who credit them are going by the best available early evidence.

Internal Evidence

The gospels themselves are not silent as to authorship. Luke turns up in Acts, when the voice of the narrator shifts to 'we'. He makes no claim to have witnessed anything prior to that, but knows those who did: "Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed." (Luke 1:1-4).

The author of John's gospel claims to have seen what he records: "And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe." (John 19:35). A postscript testifies that this truthful narrator is the beloved disciple: "This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true." (John 21:24).

John Mark, Peter's interpreter, turns up in Acts, along with his mother: "And when he had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together praying.  And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel came to hearken, named Rhoda." (Acts 12:12-13). His gospel reports the odd incident of a young man who drops his drawers in his haste to escape: "And there followed him a certain young man, having a linen cloth cast about his naked body; and the young men laid hold on him: And he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked." (Mark 14:51-52). Is this comedic relief, or a 'signature'? — was that young man Mark himself?

It is natural for 'hero worship' to set in once a movement matures. Members look back on their founders with unbridled admiration. The gospel writers could have given the apostles all manner of opportunities to strike a heroic pose. . .except they are too busy recording Peter's defection, the whole group's general incomprehension, Judas' treason, etc. This is understandable if the authors are of the apostolic generation, not otherwise.

The unknown author of the letter to Hebrews reports that the early gospel preachers included hearers of the Lord:

"How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with diverse miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?" (Hebrews 2:3-4).

It strains credulity to imagine that no one at any time had sufficient interest in the testimony of these early eye-witnesses to bother interviewing them and writing down their reminiscences. Though they travelled about preaching the gospel, confirming to the author of Hebrews what they had heard from the Lord's lips, they finished the course and departed this life without anyone ever troubling to make a note of anything they said. How could these things be? Why, because it was an 'oral culture,' if you please. There is no 'fact' known to modern 'scholarship' which is more demonstrably false than this; literacy was a common possession in this literate and indeed literary culture:




Forgery

It is often alleged that false attribution of authorship was an accepted convention in the ancient world; that the titles 'According to Matthew, According to Luke,' etc., which were prefixed to the gospels, were not understood to imply anything as to who had written the works. But when false attribution was discovered, the penalty could be severe:

"But if the writings which wrongly go under Paul’s name, claim Thecla’s example as a license for women’s teaching and baptizing, let them know that, in Asia, the presbyter who composed that writing, as if he were augmenting Paul’s fame from his own store, after being convicted, and confessing that he had done it from love of Paul, was removed from his office." (Tertullian, 'On Baptism,' Chapter 17).

Why was this presbyter "convicted" if he were understood to have done nothing wrong, or "removed from office"? Forgery was no more accepted in that day than when 'Ossian' got away with it.


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Fact-Checking Seth Speaks



Supply and Demand

The testimony of the Book of Acts is that the number of professing Christians exploded in the years immediately after the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. Luke's account ends, abruptly, at a critical turning point: Paul is in Nero's custody at Rome, awaiting trial. What happens after that would winnow the ranks of the faithful: Nero blamed the great fire at Rome on the Christians, and several years after that the Jewish rebellion was squelched with massive loss of life. What followed was several centuries of stubborn growth and survival in the teeth of official persecution. A graph of membership in the infant Christian church should show a big uptick, then a big downtown, then a slow recovery. Examining supply and demand, when would be the likely time to expect the production of literature for the Christian market: after the membership crash or before? After, say the 'scholars.'

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The Synoptic Problem

What is the inter-relationship amongst the synoptic gospels?


The Canon of Scripture

God-authored scriptures are just that, God-authored, whether any reader recognizes them as such or not. But how were certain works recognized as God-breathed? The Holy Spirit in the churches recognized the Holy Spirit's authorship of these works of literature. As Tertullian explains, church meetings were held for this purpose. The conclusions they arrived at present very large areas of overlap, and very small points of disagreement.

The reader who will accept no substitute for the Roman Catholic canon of scripture, with its Old Testament apocrypha, must wait a long time for even a local council which will be acceptable. Demanding an ecumenical council requires him to wait until the seventeenth century of the Christian era. But the reader willing to accept the Protestant canon will be happy to discover that the early church agrees with him, nor is this a happy coincidence:


  • “Shepherd,' which is the only one which favors adulterers, had deserved to find a place in the Divine canon; if it had not been habitually judged by every council of Churches (even of your own) among apocryphal and false (writings); itself adulterous, and hence a patroness of its comrades; from which in other respects, too, you derive initiation; to which, perchance, that 'Shepherd' will play the patron whom you depict upon your (sacramental) chalice, (depict, I say, as) himself withal a prostitutor of the Christian sacrament, (and hence) worthily both the idol of drunkenness, and the prize of adultery by which the chalice will quickly be followed, (a chalice) from which you sip nothing more readily than (the flavor of) the “ewe” of (your) second repentance!”
  • (Tertullian, 'On Modesty,' Chapter 10, p. 172 ECF)