Expert: Clive Heath - 9/1/2010

Question
My question is kinda hard to answer and I understand if you unable to answer them. But do we really know who wrote the Gospel? How do we know that Matthew, a disciple of Jesus, wrote the Gospel of Matthew or John Mark wrote the Gospel of Mark or Luke, a doctor, wrote the Gospel of Luke or John, a disciple of Jesus wrote the Gospel of John? Are there any proof or evidences?

Answer
Hi Ryan,

This is an often asked question.
Eusebius an early church father states he has no doubt that the Gospels were written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

But Catholics believe the 4 Gospels were in fact written by 4 evangelists and that the four names were added after.

The 1st 3 are known as the synoptic Gospels as they cover much the same, but the Gospel of John refers to other works.

In the 2nd century AD a Christian writer named Papias wrote about John the Apostle and John the Elder, it is not sure if this is the same 2 people, but most scholars belive that they were the same man that wrote John.

Matthew was one of the first desciples, so an eye witness.
Mark was the son of Peter, thus Mark's Gospel is really Peter's account.
Luke also wrote Acts, he was a co worker of Paul, although he did not witness he wrote his Gospel on facts.
John was another of the first desciples, he was infact referred to as the most loved desciple and was an eye witness.

To my knowledge there is no proof but there is also no reason not to believe that these guys actually wrote these Gospels or at least put them together.

In reality the Bible including the Gospels was wriiten by the Lord himself as it is the Word of God, and that is all that matters.

Hope this helps

Regards and God Bless

Clive