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: The majority of your question has already been answered with the other posts. Two of the Gospels: Matthew and John, are written by eyewitnesses. One of the gospels: Luke, was written based upon careful research and study. In fact, Dr. Luke has been examined, tested, criticized, and etc so many times, and has been proven accurate and true every single time, that both Luke and Acts are concidered two of the most historically reliable documents of that age. The final gospel: Mark, is actually that accounts as Peter taught Mark. Mark recorded them down. When you look at the four gospels, each one has a different focus to it. Matthew presents Jesus as the Promised messiah, the ture King, and the Son of God as prophecied by the Old Testaments prophets. Luke presents the historical Jesus. Dr. luke wrote about the Jesus that history, and people in general, can relate to. Mark reads like a comic book or action novel. Mark gives the active perspective to Jesus' ministry. John simply talks about his best friend, Jesus Christ. After all, Jesus and John were best friends. As for the dating of these gospels, Mark is believed to have been written between 40 - 60 AD. Placing it about 10 - 30 years after the death of Jesus, thus omitting the possibility of legend and myth setting in. Luke and Matthew come next in the dating between 55 - 70 AD. It is theorized that Matthew and Luke used Mark's gospel as a template for writing their gospels. John's gospel was possibly written around 80 - 95 AD, shortly before his death. As for how we know who wrote them, Matthew and Mark are largely through tradition. Also, Matthew refers to himself as "Levi", his hebrew name. With that, and his focus upon Hebrew traditions and a hebrew audience, it is logical to place Matthew as the author of the first gospel. As for Mark, Peter confirms that Mark was his disciple in his epistle, thus confirming the traditional view of Mark's authorship of the second gospel. Luke's gospel has a dedication at the beginning to a man named "Theophilus". Acts is also dedicated to "Theophilus". However, Luke changes the perspective in Acts from third person plural to first person plural right smack in the middle of the book. These two factors provide proof that Luke is the author of Not only Acts, but the third gospel as well. As for the final gospel, John's name is never written in the gospel. He is always called "the disciple whom Jesus loved". This, and the similar writing style of the epistles and Revelation, all point to John as the author. I hope this helps. Jesusman |