How many writers were there for the New Testament?

Answer 1

Because of the number of pseudepigraphical (written anonymously, but in the name of a famous forerunner) books, we can not be entirely sure how many authors were involved in writing the New Testament. Certain books apear to have had more than oner author over time, while others might have been written as a team effort.

Paul is the only New Testament author whose identity can be established with certainty. Even then ony five or perhaps seven of the epistles attributed to Paul are considered to be genuine. Those epistles considered to have really been written by Paul are Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Philemon, Galatians, Philippians and 1 Thessalonians. Of these, A.Q. Morton believes that Philippians and 1 Thessalonians are not genuine, based on computer analysis. Those regarded by the majority of scholars as definitely pseudo-Pauline are Colossians, Ephesians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus, and for these the authors are unknown.

Scholars regard all the epistles attributed to James, John, Jude and Peter as pseudepigraphical. 1 Peter and 2 Peterdo seem to have had different writers.

The four gospels are now attributed to the apostles Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, but were originally written anonymously and only attributed to the apostles whose names they now bear, later in the second century. Modern scholarship shows that none of the gospels could have been written by a witness to the events they portray, nor by an author associated with a first-hand witness. We know there were four different authors, but do not know who they were. Whoever wrote Luke also wrote Acts of the Apsotles.

The Book of Revelation is signed by a person called John, who stated that he was writing from the island of Patmos, but we do not know who this John was. Conservative theologians insist that the author was the apostle John, while liberal theologians accept that the different style and theology preclude him from being the person who wrote John's Gospel, and simply refer to him as John of Patmos.

Answer 2

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