The Gospels

For a complete discussion of the texts of the New Testament; their origins, authors, redactions, etc. please see the New Testament page. This page will only cover the four canonical gospels.

How many Gospels were there?
How were only four declared canonical?
Who wrote the four canonical Gospels?

  • Mark
  • Matthew
  • Luke
  • John
The Synoptic Gospels
How do we know the apostles didn't author them?
Where in the text does the author identify himself?
Gospels often refer to the apostle who allegedly wrote them in the third person
Q, the source
Why did Matthew and Luke, if eyewitnesses telling their own story, copy from Mark and from a sayings source?
The Johannine problem
Who do we think wrote them?
The Synoptic Problem
"Q"

    http://www.geocities.com/paulntobin/matthewluke.html#guess

    We have seen that the attribution of the synoptics were mere second century guesses.
    Why second century? Because the names of the supposed authors of the synoptic gospels were first mentioned only during that time:


    The first mention of Mark was by Papias in 130 CE.
    The first mention of Matthew also by Papias in 130 CE.
    The first mention of Luke was by Irenaeus in 180 CE.
    Why guesses? Prior to this we know that the gospels circulated anonymously. We know this because prior to this the gospels had been in existence but had always been alluded to without any mention of the authors. [5]

    That there was initially no need to have a names attached to it is simple: each gospel originally belonged to a certain church. We have evidence, for instance that Matthew was exclusively read in and around Palestine while John was the only gospel used in Asia Minor. Not only the gospels that became subsequently bacame canonical were used this way. We also know that the Jewish Christians in Alexandria used the Gospel of the Hebrews. [6]


    The need to have names attached to the gospels occured only in the second century when the Christian church grew to the point when churches began to acquire more than one gospels and there was a need to distinguish between them.[7] So what did the early church fathers do; they guessed. Unfortunately, as we have seen, they guessed wrong.

     

    The first mention of Mark was by Papias in 130 CE.
    The first mention of Matthew also by Papias in 130 CE.
    The first mention of Luke was by Irenaeus in 180 CE.

     

Contradictions between the Gospels
Contradictions between the Gospels and other books of the Bible
Contradictions between the Gospels and works outside the Bible
Contradictions between the Gospels and Apocryphal Gospels

 

 

http://www.fsmitha.com/h1/ch19.htm#NT
"Irenaeus denounced as heretics those who had more gospels than he said there really were. He described these other gospels as blasphemous and madness and proclaimed that there were only four gospels just as there were only four winds, four corners of the universe and four pillars holding up the sky. Irenaeus supported the authenticity of the four gospels by describing Matthew and John as Jesus's own disciples, Mark as a disciple of Peter and John and Luke as disciples of Paul. It was during the last twenty or so years of Irenaeus's life -- around the years 180 to 200 -- that the collection of books called the New Testament were formed. Other gospels were destroyed. Some were buried, to be discovered on papyrus fragments preserved by the dry climate in southern Egypt."

 

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