Who Wrote the Gospels and When? The names Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are probably the most famous quartet of authors in history.
The fact that they were the authentic authors of these biographies of Jesus has been accepted since the very beginning of the Christian faith. However, during the past few centuries, skeptics have questioned the traditionally assigned authorship as a strategy to dismiss the authority of their content. Skeptics instead argue that the true authors did not have access to eyewitnesses, so their accounts are unreliable. However, the evidence for the traditional authorship is still very compelling.
So many people, Christian Catholics included, think each Gospel was written by ghost writers. They attribute the stories to others many years later who filled in details or simply made up the stories and words. They wonder the authenticity because of differences between the Gospels or whatever other things the new world says.
The strongest evidence for the traditional view supporting these men as authors of the Gospels comes from the testimony of early church leaders themselves. This is nearly unanimous as to who wrote each book.
For instance, St. Irenaeus, a prominent second-century bishop quoted several details about the gospel authors from an early-second-century source, a bishop named Papias, who actually studied under the apostle John:
“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.”
The Gospels are true eyewitness testimonies written by two men who saw and heard everything Jesus did and two who, like a true historian, brought together the words and stories to document and catalog the life of the man Jesus. Matthew and John walked with Jesus and saw all they write of, Mark wrote what Peter told him and Luke brought together many stories.
We need to stop looking at the Gospels as simply faith-inspiring or uplifting stories and neat quotations (like a book of Hallmark cards). Yes, the stories of the life of Jesus and His parables are inspiring and life changing, but this is so much more. When we change our mindset to read the Gospels as first hand historical writings that capture the life of God as man, we cannot but see things in a more solid and material manner.
The parables and quotations take a new life and the miracles become real and even bigger. The Gospels, words in red and the whole Bible become a true foundation of our life.
Spend time each day studying the Bible and New Testament from a new viewpoint, or maybe that is, another angle in addition. Study as a history book as well as Faith inspiration. Understand the writing on a more real level. Read the Lord’s words as you would George Washington or Abe Lincoln. Solidify the Gospels in your heart, mind and life.