Bible Question: I'M SURE THIS IS A VERY DUMB QUESTION, BUT I AM NEW AT ALL THIS. I HAVE HEARD SOME FRIENDS ARGUING ABOUT WHO WROTE THE GOSPLES OF MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE AND JOHN. SOME SAY IT WAS THE APOSLES, AND SOME SAY IT WAS MEN WHO MAYBE KNEW ONE OF THE APOSLES, BUT WROTE 50 OR 100 YEARS LATER. I'D APPRECIATE A REFERENCE OR SOEMTHING. |
Bible Answer: Greetings SHURI! Matthew, a tax collector who left his work to follow Jesus (9:9-13), wrote the Gospel of Matthew. In Mark and Luke, he is called by his other name: "Levi." John Mark is considered as the author of the Gospel of Mark since the outline of his Gospel is very similar to the outline of Peter's sermon that begins in Acts 10:37, and Mark was a close associate of Peter. Luke wrote both the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts. Both books are addressed to the same individual, Theophilus, and certain sections in Acts use the pronoun "we" (Acts 16:10-17; 20:5-15; 21:1-18; 27:1-28:16), indicating that the author was with Paul when the events took place. By the process of elimination, "Luke, the beloved physician" (Col. 4:14), and Paul's "fellow worker" (Philemon 24) becomes the most likely candidate. The author of the Gospel of John is John the apostle, the disciple "whom Jesus loved" (13:23; 19:26; 20:2; 21:7,20,24). Only an eyewitness would recollect certain details- such as the house at Bethany being filled with the fragrance of the broken perfume jar (12:3), and the authorship of John the apostle is undisputed. [paraphrased from the book introductions of Zondervan's NASB Study Bible] Blessings to you, Nolan |