Who wrote the Gospels? - A reader in Springfield
To answer this question we must first be clear on how the
Gospels were formed and what constitutes authorship. Citing
Vatican II's "Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation"
("Dei Verbum"), the Catechism has a very succinct
presentation on the formation of the Gospels (cf. No.
125-127). The foundational premise is that "Holy Mother
Church has firmly and with absolute constancy maintained and
continues to maintain, that the four Gospels [Matthew, Mark,
Luke and John], whose historicity she unhesitatingly affirms,
faithfully hand on what Jesus, the Son of God, while He lived
among men, really did and taught for their eternal salvation
until the day when He was taken up" ("Dei Verbum," No. 19).
After the ascension of Jesus, the Apostles went forth
preaching the Gospel, handing on to others what our Lord had
done and taught. Having been instructed by the Lord and then
enlightened by the Holy Spirit, they preached with a fuller
understanding. Eventually, the "sacred authors" wrote the
four Gospels. Each author, guided by the Holy Spirit,
selected from the events and teachings of our Lord which
perhaps they had witnessed or which had been handed on either
orally or in written form. Sometimes the authors may have
synthesized some of these events or teachings, or may have
underscored parts or explained parts with a view to a certain
audience. This is why the Gospels oftentimes tell the same
story, but each will have certain details not included by the
others. In a similar way, if each member of our family had to
write a family history, each member would tell basically the
same story, but each member would also highlight certain
details he considered important and would keep in mind who
would be reading the family history. Nevertheless, the sacred
authors wrote "in such a fashion that they have told us the
honest truth about Jesus" (No. 19). Therefore to suggest that
the third century Church "wrote" the Gospels in some kind of
vacuum, almost to "create" Jesus, is without foundation.
So did Sts. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John write the Gospels?
Is the sacred author also the saint? Remember only St.
Matthew and St. John were among the Twelve Apostles. We must
keep in mind that in the ancient world, authorship was
designated in several ways: First, the author was clearly the
individual who actually wrote the text with his own pen.
Second, the individual who dictated the text to a secretary
or scribe was still considered the author. Third, the
individual was still considered the author if he only
provided the ideas or if the text were written in accord with
his thought and in his spirit even though a "ghost writer"
did the actual composition. In the broadest sense, the
individual was even considered the author if the work was
written in his tradition; for example, David is given credit
for the psalms even though clearly he did not write all of
the psalms.
Whether the final version of the Gospels we have is the
word-for-word work of the saints is hard to say.
Nevertheless, tradition does link the saints to their
Gospels. St. Mark, identified with the Mark of Acts 12:12 and
the Mark of I Peter 5:13, is mentioned in a quote contained
in a letter from Papias (c. 130), Bishop of Hierapolis: "When
Mark became Peter's interpreter, he wrote down accurately,
although not in order, all that he remembered of what the
Lord had said or done." St. Irenaeus (d. 203) and Clement of
Alexandria (d. 215) support this identification. The Gospel
of Mark is commonly dated about the year 65-70 in conjunction
with the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem.
St. Matthew is identified with the tax collector called as
an Apostle (Mt 9:9-13). Papias again attests to the saint's
authorship and indicates that he was the first to compile a
collection of Jesus' sayings in the Aramaic language. For
this reason, the Gospel of Matthew, at least in a very basic
form in Aramaic, is considered the first Gospel and placed
first in the New Testament, although the Gospel of Mark is
probably the first in a completed form. St. Irenaeus and
Origin (d. 253) again support this authorship. Nevertheless,
some scholars doubt the saint's direct authorship because we
only have the Greek version, not the Aramaic, and no
citations are made from the Aramaic version in Church
literature. The version of the Gospel we have was probably
written between 70-80.
St. Luke, the beloved physician and disciple of St. Paul
(Col 4:14), has consistently been recognized in Christian
tradition as the author of the third Gospel, beginning with
St. Irenaeus, Tertullian (d. 220) and Clement of Alexandria.
The Gospel was written about 70-80.
St. Irenaeus identified the author of the fourth Gospel as
St. John the Apostle. He does so based on the instruction of
his teacher, St. Polycarp (d. 155), who himself was a
disciple of St. John. Throughout this Gospel, the numerous
details indicate the author was an eyewitness. Also scholars
generally agree that "the beloved disciple" mentioned in the
Gospel is St. John. This Gospel was written probably about
80-90.
Whether the actual saint wrote word-for word, whether a
student did some later editing, or whether a student actually
wrote what had been taught by the saint, we must remember the
texts - whole and entire - are inspired by the Holy Spirit.
Yes, the human authors used their skills and language with a
view to an audience; however, they wrote what God wanted
written. The "Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation"
clearly asserted, "Since, therefore, all that the inspired
authors, or sacred writers, affirm should be regarded as
affirmed by the Holy Spirit, we must acknowledge that the
books of Sacred Scripture firmly, faithfully, and without
error, teach that truth, which God, for the sake of our
salvation, wished to see confided to the Sacred Scriptures"
(No. 11). So no matter who actually put the finishing touches
on the sacred Scriptures, each is inspired.
Interestingly, with the recent scholarship on the Dead Sea
Scrolls, new evidence points to the authorship of the
traditional authors. Rev. Reginald Fuller, an Episcopalian
and Professor Emeritus at Virginia Theological Seminary, with
Dr. Carsten Thiede, have analyzed three papyrus fragments
from the 26th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew; the fragments
date to the year 40, which would indicate that the author was
an eyewitness to our Lord's public ministry. Father Jose
O'Callaghan, S.J., studying fragments of the Gospel of Mark
and using paleographic means, dated them at 50, again
indicating an eyewitness author. Finally, Episcopalian Bishop
John Robinson also posited from his research that all four
Gospels were written between 40 and 65, with John's being
possibly the earliest. This new research is not only
questioning some of the modern scholarship but also
supporting the traditional authorship.
Perhaps some mystery surrounds these texts and the identity
of the authors. Nevertheless, we hold them as sacred, as
inspired and as truly the Word of God.
One last point: Given the blasphemous book, The Da Vinci
Code, and its promotion of the gnostic gospels, why were the
Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John included in the canon
of the New Testament and no other supposed gospels? The
simple reasons for their inclusion is as follows: First, the
Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are rooted in the
apostolic tradition and can be attributed to apostolic
authorship, as noted above. Second, these Gospels are
orthodox in their teaching, particularly about the identity
and person of Jesus. Third, they were used in the Mass and
other liturgical functions. Fourth, they were accepted by the
whole Church, not just by some sect. The gnostic gospels do
not fit any of these criteria, and therefore were rejected
and condemned by the Church. We will discuss this topic more
next week.
Fr. Saunders is pastor of Our Lady of Hope Parish in Potomac
Falls and a professor of catechetics and theology at
Christendom's Notre Dame Graduate School in Alexandria.
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