What were the two phases by which the gospels came to be written?

Answer 1

The Gospels were not developed in stages, they are the writings of the Apostles of Christ assembled together. I think you are most likely looking for the council of Trent, where it was discussed what should be offered in biblical text as official and what was offered as writings which could not be officiated (i.e. The Apocrypha).

Answer 2

Almost all scholars agree that the New Testament , almost word-for-word as we know it today, can be traced at least as far back in history as 400 AD, to the work of St. Jerome. His work was not lost to history. It can be found in many libraries and bookstores, and perhaps even on-line. Jerome's version came to be called the "Vulgate" because it was a translation into Latin, then the "vulgar" (common) tongue of the Christian World. Jerome's translation was from Greek.

Before the time of St. Jerome, however, the history of the Gospels is a topic upon which even angels need fear to tread. Most scholars agree that the matter is heatedly controvertial and has been the basis of arguments which have divided Christians since the early generations of the church. Almost any answer to question posed is likely to offend or even infuriate somebody. For this reason, I offer my answer only as a single scholar's viewpoint, based on readings and prayer, without footnotes to make it seem authoritative, which it is not. I pray that the Lord--and ya'll--may forgive me my errors, and also for unnecessary offense I give where I am right.

Most scholars agree that the New Testament "canon" (list of books) was established at or by the time of the Council of Nicea in 325 AD, at which representatives of all Christian Churches in the world who endorsed the Trinity participated. However, many scholars doubt that the contents of the books was standardized. Before Nicea, every diocese, sometimes every congregation or even every individual had a favored version of the New Testament, and most of them both included whole books which are now mostly forgotten and versions of the books we know today which often differed in exact wording. Even after the time of St. Jerome, there was some controversy over whether the Saint had done the best job of selecting from available versions. The biggest controversy is over the Revelation of St. John. Some scholars claim that Nicea's approval of that one book was qualified, and that various common versions of The Bible in 325 AD had entirely different books called "Revelation." Even if that's true, however, St. Jerome is likely to have chosen as typical an example as he could find.

I believe that the Saint was guided both by prayer and by skill. There is an Islamic tradition that the Prophet himself was illiterate, but that the Lord directly guided his hand to write the Koran. Some Christians append a parallel tradition to St Jerome or to others who labored on the Bible, but I've seen no evidence for such a view in Chrisianity from before the time of the Crusades, when Christians picked up a great deal from Islam--for better or for worse.

Before Nicea, the matter is even murkier. Very few copies of the Bible that old have survived, and those that do survive are often contradictory or mere scraps. Tradition holds that each of the four gospels (and the epistles) were written during the First Century AD by the authors whose names we know today, but literary experts tend to reckon that the language used couldn't be that old and that the alleged authors didn't have the level of scholarship needed to write them. These views aren't necessarily in conflict if we recall that books were rarely written in ancient times by a single author alone with a quill and a parchment. They were written, as bible translations are today, by whole committees led by presitigious individuals who often dictated the text. Long after such single individuals passed on, such committees could have continued to work. Books first jotted down in the First Century might not have completed until the time of Nicea or even later. What would be the authentic text, even if we had them all to choose from? The first draft, or the final product made by people not yet born when the process began but possessed of skills and insights that earlier workers did not have? I have sufficient humility to confess that I do not. I also have sufficient audacity to doubt that anybody else knows better.

Before anaylsing the history of the Gospels, it is important to realise that much of the belief surrounding the divinity and sacrifice of Jesus of Nazareth - as God the Son, crucified, resurrected and ascended - was well established long before the Gospels appeared in their complete forms. Most Biblical scholars strongly believe that Paul's letters were written during a period of a couple of decades starting with 1 Thessalonians written around 55-58 AD, less than 25 years after the events surrounding the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. As the church at Thessalonika, Greece was already well established by then, this gives a measure of the speed in which the gospel spread across the Roman Empire, gospels or not.

As to the first gospel written, as the answer states above this was probably Mark, written possibly around 70 AD. Mark is the only gospel that records two strange, (and irrelevant), events - one at Jesus' arrest - a young naked man flees (14: 51-52) and allso, unique to Mark's gospel, another irrelevant event of a young man in a robe also appearing (16:5-7) suggests to scholars that this young man was Mark himself, adding a line here and there to say 'I was there' when these events happened, that are irrelevant to the story but of great importance to Mark himself

As for Matthew and Luke, Matthew was almost certainly written either by Matthew himself (the tax-collector disciple) or (less likely) one of his own followers. Matthew contains most of what appear to be the verbatim sayings of Jesus, and a great deal of rhetoric (including prophesies) to persuade the readers (mainly Jews) that Jesus is the Messiah. This is in accordance with Matthew's Jewishness, and his porbable ability to use a form of shorthand taught by the Roman Empire to all tax collectors.

Luke, on the other hand, was a Gentile and a doctor and was also a companion of Paul on his missionary journeys in the late 30s and 40s AD. He makes it clear that he never met Jesus, but instead was commissioned by his sponsor Theophilus to write a full, accurate systematic account of what happened by interview and by gathering and assessing the evidence. Scholars believe that he knew Peter (through Paul) and Mary, Jesus' mother (through Peter, and then through John) plus other disciples. Luke's account includes many healings (in accordance with his interest in medicine) and in the doctrine of forgiveness. Both Luke and Matthew use a great deal of Mark's gospel, plus other extracts from a lost document called 'Q', but their additions show clearly their individual interests. Luke's gospel probably dates from around 85AD but some scholars believe, again, that it could be much earlier, as certain historical events that would have almost certainly been included either in Luke's gospel, or in his second book - the Acts of the Apostles - (such as the siege of Jerusalem in 70AD) are not even mentioned suggesting that the books were written before they occurred. The dating of Matthew's gospel is again possibly around 80 AD, but there are many scholars who disagree, again for historical reasons. For instance, Matthew records the prophesy of the destruction of Jerusalem (22:7) but does not record, surprisingly, the fulfilment of that prophesy (especially as he seems obsessed with prophesy fulfilments in the rest of the document). This suggests that the gospel predates the siege of Jerusalem in 70AD.

John's gospel, however, is unique. Some bible scholars refute a theory by a very few that John is somehow based on Luke's account, as, in John's gospel hardly any of Luke's material can be seen. In John we have no birth stories, few miracles, little theological discourse on forgiveness - in fact little resemblance to Luke at all. Instead, John launches into his account with a parallel of Genesis 1 placing Jesus firmly as God incarnate. He regards Jesus' miracles as 'signs' of just who Jesus is, and he devotes more pages to the last, and most important week of Jesus' life, than any other gospel writer. John's gospel probably dates from 90AD - 110 AD and is almost certainly written by John the apostle. Fragments of this gospel have been discovered that go back to the early first century. The author takes great pain to insist that he was an eyewitness to events. Also, he refers to himnself throughout, modestly as 'the disciple whom Jesus loved'. Cross-checking with the other gospels in the same events, confirms this 'special' disciple as being John. John also makes it very clear why he wrote the gospel - 'so that you too may believe'.

Finally, the gospels are the few historic documents to have been subjected to more anaylsis, more scrutiny, more textual criticism and more study than any other. They exist in more copies (some 24,000 predating 200 AD) than any other ancient document, and are regarded as the most reliable ancient documents that exist today.

Answer/

The Gospel according to Matthew was written first, originally in the Hebrew language and was published in Judea for the converts of Judaism.

The Gospel according to Mark was published second in Italy.

The Gospel according to Luke was published third in Achaia.

The Gospel according to John was published last, written in Ephesus late in the first century.

Historical Primary Sources:

1. Origen:

His words relating to canon Scriptures: 'The Gospel of Matthew which he wrote in Hebrew on a roll, when he was at Caesarea... then the Gospel of Mark...Gospel of Luke...Gospel of John.'

Ref: History of the Patriarchs of the Coptic Church at Alexandria, of Demetrius the Twelfth Patriarch.

2. Hillel III:

Hillel writes that the Gospel according to Matthew was written first, 'by one of those who were with him from the beginning', followed by Mark and Luke's memoirs,' who were the constant companions of the Apostles', and then the testimony of John, 'who saw the transfiguration'.

Ref:The Archko Volume, Hillel Letters.

3. Irenaeus:

' Matthew issued a written gospel among the Hebrews in their own dialect.' Irenaeus then cites the other gospels in the order of Mark, Luke and John.

Ref: Against Heresies Book 3 Ch. 1.

4. Mahboub:

'Matthew wrote in Hebrew to the Hebrews', where follows in listed order, Mark, Luke and John.

Ref: Agapius, Universal History; the Second part of the History of Mahboub.

5. Matthew:

Cites the gospels to be read to the congregation as 'both those which I Matthew and John have delivered you, and those which the fellow workers of Paul received and left to you, Luke and Mark.

Ref :Apostolic Constitutions book 2 Section 7.

6.Eusebius:

Writes that Origen in his accounts records that 'the first book was Matthew's gospel prepared for the converts from Judaism and was published in Hebrew, second was Mark', leaving Luke's and then John's memoirs.

Ref :Eusebius Church History, Book 6.

Answer 3

An understanding of the real history of the New Testament gospels requires a knowledge that they were originally anonymous. This means that we do not know who really wrote them and must establish just how they were compiled by a study of the texts themselves. It is true that the second-century Church Fathers attributed them to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, but modern New Testament scholars say there is no good reason to accept those attributions, and that none of the gospels could have been written by an eyewitness to the events portrayed.

Scholars have established that Mark's Gospel was written first and that Matthew and Luke were substantially based on that original gospel. In fact, the term 'synoptic' comes about because when the three gospels are laid in parallel and read synoptically ('with the same eye') in the original Greek language, it can be seen that there is a literary dependency among them, and further analysis shows that Mark was indeed the first of the synoptic gospels. Scholars have also established that John's Gospel was loosely based on Luke, with some material taken direct from Mark.

We can therefore say with certainty that the two most important phases by which the gospels came to be written were: 1) the original compilation of Mark's Gospel; and 2) copying, elaborating and adding to material from Mark.
Phase 1:

The compilation of Mark's Gospel The author of Mark was a gifted writer who used Greek rhetorical techniques to compile an outstanding gospel. He did not merely list a series of events and discourses in some sort of chronological order, but developed a well planned narrative, as can be seen by examining the framework parallel structure of Mark. This is a literary sequence in which an opening set of events is contrasted with a second, parallel set of events that mirrors the first:

A . John explains the coming of Jesus (Mark 1:1-8)

B .The baptism of Jesus (1:9)

C . The voice of God from heaven, "Thou art my beloved son" (1:11)

D . The forty days in the wilderness as an allusion to Elijah and Moses (1:13)

E . The people were astonished at what Jesus taught (1:22)

F . Jesus casts out an unclean spirit (1:23-26)

G . Pharisees took counsel with the Herodians how they might destroy Jesus (3:6)

H . Demons, whenever they see Jesus, fall down and say that he is the Son of God.

-- Jesus commands that they tell no one of this (3:11-12)

I .. Jesus calls the 12 disciples (3:13-19)

J .. Jesus rejects his own family: he has a new family, his followers (3:31-35)

K . Jesus rebukes the wind (4:36-41)

L . The demoniac, wearing no clothes (5:15), cries out that Jesus not torment him and Jesus sends out the demons (5:1-20)

M . Jesus comes into his own country (6:1)
-- Where he was brought up

N . The people misunderstand Jesus and he can do no mighty work (6:2-6)

O . Jesus sends out the disciples and curses those who will not receive them (6:7-11)
-- in sending the disciples with authority and expecting all to receive them, Jesus is asserting his own authority

P . Herod thinks that Jesus is John the Baptist risen from the dead (6:14)

Q . Herodias and her daughter conspire to kill John the Baptist (6:16-29)

R . Feeding the thousands, and related miracles and discourses (6:33-8:21)

S . Who do people say that I am (8:27)

T . Peter affirms faith in Jesus as the Christ (8:29)

U . Whosoever shall be ashamed of me: of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed (8:38)

V . The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and scribes (8:31a)

W . Be killed and after three days rise again (8:31b)

X . Prophecy of second coming (9:1)- Jesus tells the disciples that some of them would not taste death until they saw the kingdom of God coming with power.

B' .The Transfiguration of Jesus (9:2-3)

C' .The voice of God from heaven, "This is my beloved son" (9:7)

D' . Jesus talks to Elijah and Moses then to the disciples about Elijah (9:4-13)

E' .A great multitude was amazed at Jesus (9:15)

F' .Jesus cast out a dumb spirit (9:17-27)

G' .They shall kill the Son of man and he shall rise on the third day (9:31)

H' .Jesus clarifies his divine status, saying that he is not God: "Why call me good? There is none good but God" (10:18)

I' . Peter says the disciples have left all and followed Jesus (10:28)

J' . Those who have left their family for Jesus have a new family: all Jesus' followers (10:29-30)

K'. Jesus rebukes the 'sons of thunder', James and John (10:35-45 - cf 3:17)

L' .Blind Bartimaeus cries out for mercy and casts off his clothes, then Jesus heals him (10:46-52)

M' .Jesus comes into Jerusalem (11:1-10)
-- Where he will die

N' .Jesus misunderstands the fig tree that can provide no fruit (11:13-14)

O' .Jesus casts out them that sold and bought in the Temple and curses them for making the Temple a den of thieves (11:15-17)
-- Jesus is asserting his authority

P' .Jesus asks whether the baptism of John is from heaven or of men, and the priests, scribes and elders can not answer (11:30-33)

Q' .Parable of husbandmen who conspire to kill the vineyard owner's son (12:1-9)

X' .Prophecy of second coming (chapter 13)

-- on clouds of glory, within the lifetimes of some of those to whom he was speaking

R' .The Last Supper (14:17-25)

S' .Art thou the Christ, Son of God (14:61)

T' .Peter denies Jesus three times (14:66-72a)

U' .And when he thought thereon, Peter wept (14:72b)

V' .The chief priests, elders and scribes delivered Jesus to Pontius Pilate (15:1)

-- Delivering Jesus is a similar concept to rejecting him.
-- Both parts of the pair involve chief priests, elders and scribes

W' .Jesus dies and on the third day rises again (15:37, 16:6)

A' .The young man explains the departure of Jesus(16:6-8)

Phase 2:

Copying, elaborating and adding to material from Mark.Matthew and Luke elaborated and improved on Mark, noticeably when their authors believed there to be geographic errors in Mark. There is one substantial section of Mark that is missing from Luke, and for that reason is known as the 'Missing Block'. This comprises a total of 74.5 verses from Mark 6:47 to Mark 8:27a, that are omitted from Luke, resulting in the curious conjunction found in Luke 9:18 "And it came to pass as he was alone praying, his disciples were with him: and he asked them ..." These clauses are more meaningful when found in Mark at the start and end of the material missing from Luke.

Both Matthew and Luke incorporate further sayings material attributed to Jesus, and this material is almost identical and recorded in the same order, often written in the same words in the Greek language, but not necessarily in the same context in each gospel. The source for this material is believed to have been the hypothetical 'Q' document.

Matthew and Luke each contains further material unique to that gospel, for which the source is unknown. When describing the same events, such as the events surrounding the birth of Jesus or the appearances of the risen Jesus, they contradict each other irreconcilably.

Until the early part of the twentieth century, scholars accepted that John's Gospel was independent of the synoptic gospels. Further study has shown that John is loosely based on Luke, with further material taken direct from Mark.

At some stage in phase 2, the 'Long Ending' (verses 16:9-20) was added to Mark's Gospel, to provide evidence of a physical resurrection more or less in harmony with Luke's Gospel and, to a lesser extent, Matthew's Gospel.

Answer 4

The New Testament gospels are called the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. To understand the development of the gospels, it is necessary to recognise that they were originally written anonymously and were only attributed to the disciples whose names they now bear, later in the second century. Modern scholars believe that none of the gospels was really written by the disciples. Mark's Gospel was the earliest gospel to be written and is considered to have been the main source used by the authors of the subsequent gospels. In some ways, Mark can therefore be considered the first stage in the writing of the gospels.

Arguably, the first stage in the development of the gospels could also be considered the collation of information on the life of Jesus, necessary before a gospel could even be written. As noted earlier,Matthew, Luke and John relied directly or indirectly on Mark for this information, so this stage was carried out by the author of Mark's Gospel. Even conservative Christians acknowledge that Mark was not written by an eyewitness, so this stage was, in some way, a process of collecting information from various sources. 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.

Answer 5

This answer deals with the history of the development of the gospels, based on a substantial consensus of New Testament scholars.

Mark's Gospel was written in Greek Koine by an anonymous author approximately 68-73 CE (1). Matthew's Gospel is believed to have been written during the eighties, although Raymond E. Brown says that a margin of plus or minus a decade should be allowed. Luke's Gospel came next - in the nineties, or early in the first decade of the second century. The last New Testament gospel to be written was John's Gospel - early in the second century.
Scholars have shown that Matthew and Luke were largely based on Mark's Gospel, with additional sayings material taken from a hypothetical 'Q' Document (2). In the case of Luke, the evidence of this is so clear that scholars have even identified a "missing block" of material in Mark that Luke did not, for some reason, copy. The preceding and following verses in Mark have been concatenated into a single passage in Luke (3). John's Gospel was drawn mainly from Luke, with a small amount of material derived direct from Mark's Gospel.
The origin of the material in Mark's Gospel is unclear. There are some interesting parallels to passages in Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians and his Epistle to the Romans, suggesting that key names and a story outline may have been derived there (4). Some scholars believe that many pericopes in Mark were actually copied from Homer's Iliad and Odyssey (5). Others say that some of the pronouncement sayings of Jesus have parallels in the sayings of the Greek Cynics (6).

All the New Testament gospels were written by anonymous authors and, in the late second century, attributed by the Church Fathers to the disciple believed most likely to have written that account. Of course, a century after the gospels were written, the Church Fathers could not have really known who wrote them, but their reasoning was sound, based on limited knowledge. Selected_references

Example of the use of 'Q' by Matthew and Luke.

Luke's use of 'Q' is generally considered to be closer to the original than Matthew. Notice that, even in English translation, the wording is almost identical. The similarities can only be explained by both evangelists copying from a common source document of sayings. Matthew has moved the reference to "the Queen of the South" to the end of the saying and has slightly altered the sentence comparing Jonah with Jesus. The 'Q' document consisted of sayings with little to explain the context, and the evangelists filled this in as they felt appropriate. It will be seen that Matthew has Jesus replying to the Pharisees and teachers of the law, while Luke has Jesus addressing a large crowd.

Matthew 12:38-42 Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, "Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you."

He answered, "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgement with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here. The Queen of the South will rise at the judgement with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here.
Luke 11:29-32
As the crowds increased, Jesus said, "This is a wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation. The Queen of the South will rise at the judgement with the men of this generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgement with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here.

Selected references

Only one citation has been selected for each reference, although in each case other scholarly citations are available.

1. Raymond E. Brown, An Introduction to the New Testament
2. John Shelby Spong, Born of a Woman: A Bishop Rethinks the birth of Jesus
3. Luke 9:18: 'And it came to pass as he was alone praying,|[missing block]| his disciples were with him: and he asked them, saying, "Whom say the people that I am?"'
4. Burton L. Mack, Who Wrote the New Testament
5. John Carroll, The Existential Jesus
6. Burton L. Mack, Who Wrote the New Testament