answersLogoWhite

0

AnswerThe four New Tetament gospels were all written anonymously and only attributed to the disciples whose names they now bear later in the second century. Examining the texts, scholars say that none of them could have been written by an eyewitness to the events they portray, or even be someone close to an eyewitness to those events.

Mark's Gospel was the first gospel to be written and internal evidence dates it to approximately 70 CE. Raymond E. Brown (An Introduction to the New Testament) says that Mark seems to depend on traditions (and perhaps already shaped sources) received in Greek.

Matthew's Gospel came next and appears to have been written during the 80s of the first century, although Brown cautions to allow a few years either side of that decade. A parallel reading in the Greek language shows that Matthew was based on Mark and another, now lost document which scholars call the 'Q' document, with some material unique to Matthew.

Luke's Gospel came next and was written late in the 90s or quite early in the second century. Like Matthew, it was substantially based on Mark and Q, with some material unique to Luke.

John's Gospel was the fourth gospel, written early in the second century. It differs more from the other, 'synoptic' gospels, having limited input direct from Mark and was mainly inspired by Luke's Gospel.

The early Church Fathers preferred a sequence in which Matthew was written first, with Mark and Lukebased on Matthew. This had the advantage of a single source, which was assumed to have been written by an eye-witness, but modern scholarship demonstrates that this sequence is inconsistent with the texts themselves.

User Avatar

Wiki User

14y ago

What else can I help you with?