Authorship of the Gospels

[tsu05]

I dont know if this has been addressed since the last time ive been on which has been quite some time but im writing a paper on why the Gospels were written by who they were written by.  Its for my New Testament class at my lovely liberal college.  So theres a lot of doubt pressed in this issue.  I was curious to what everyone else thinks on this subject.  And if you know of any good commentaries to help.  I have Guthrie and Carson. 

Here are arguments that go against that are always brought up when this subject comes up.
-Education (Gospels were written in Greek, but the disciples were uneducated peasents werent they?)
-Taking from Mark (So much of Matthew and Luke come straight from Mark if people like Matthew were there why is there so much similarity?)
-Dating/When was it written
-Why doesnt John use his actual name but he's just assumed to be the beloved disciple.
-Contradictions in parts like when the Last Supper was and the Crufixition.
-How can you say they wrote these but the noncanonical gospels werent written by who they say there were as well.

I Just want to hear what everyone has to say about this.

[nChrist]

hello tsu05,

Piles of books have been written by people who want to reject GOD and the Bible. Much taller piles of books have been written by people who accept GOD and the Bible. Most of the stuff I've seen from those trying to discredit GOD and the Bible involves extremely poor scholarship and junk work that is of no value to anyone. So, what do I think about these folks? I think they are full of baloney!

In terms of easy and quick answers to your questions, that won't happen. You will have to dig for it, spend the time, and do the required research. OR, you could just tell them that I said they were full of baloney!   

I don't know anything about the commentaries you mentioned. You really need to visit a library with a fairly good Theological section. There are mountains of evidence and proof that the Bible is TRUTH, and the mountains get taller by the day. The reverse is true for those trying to discredit GOD and the Bible.

Some of the more commonly available commentaries are pretty good, and most libraries have them:  Matthew Henry, John Gill, Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge, Matthew Poole. There are others, but these are usually pretty easy to find. Two that I really enjoy using right now are Believer's Bible Commentary and Robertson's Word Pictures. Nobody will be able to just easily hand you what you need for your project. Regardless of what you use, you will be spending a lot of time yourself to get the documentation.

I hope this helps you some.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Philippians 1:6 NASB  For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

[tsu05]

proof that the Bible is TRUTH,

no one in that class is saying its not true...but they are just saying its written by someone different.

[Soldier4Christ]

There are many theories as to who wrote each book. Some people seem to want to argue the point as to who the writers are based on the way it was written (i.e. first person or not) as well as many other factors. I never liked getting into such discussions as they led nowhere that glorified God. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God." That is the part that matters.

[nChrist]

Hello tsu05,

I'm wondering, is there any evidence for their disagreement that they cite, or are they just guessing and supposing after almost 2,000 years of scrutiny by countless scholars?

We must remember that there were witnesses of the time, historians other than the writers of the Bible, church records, and masses of documentation to look at. Regarding ability, we must remember that GOD'S WORD is GOD breathed, and GOD is quite capable of equipping a man for whatever he wants done. This was especially true during a time when convincing Jews was a major priority, as the Jews require a sign. However, as we know, hosts of Jews are still stuck in the Old Testament. BUT, the writers of the Bible were not ignorant or unlearned men. As several quick examples from the top of my head: Matthew was a tax collector, Luke was a Doctor, and Paul was a scholar of unquestioned ability. This must be short because I am running out of energy.

If you are after some independent sources about early church history and Bible history, I might suggest some of the following:  “Didache” (Teaching of the Twelve Apostles), Justin Martyr, Clement of Alexandria, Dionysius of Corinth, Theophilus of Antioch, and Athenagoras, the Athenian. There are literally tons of other sources, some fairly good and some bad. You must also remember that many Jews of the time were doing everything in their power to discredit JESUS CHRIST and all of HIS followers. You might also take a look at the writings of Eusebius, Papias, Irenaeus, Pantaenus, Flavious Josephus, and Origen. One must note that even some famous heretics of the time accepted the authorship of the Four Gospels, just not the message. JESUS CHRIST is the most written about in the history of mankind.

It wasn't just two or three who got together and decided what is and what was not the Holy Bible and who wrote the various portions. I find it very interesting that many of the controversies we have today surfaced about 1300 years after the Bible by so-called scholars who weren't there and knew nothing about any of the people involved. Regardless of what method we use today, there will be some questions about certain areas of the New Testament with open-ended answers. One such example regards who the writer was for Hebrews.

There are many other interesting historical notes to consider while researching so-called controversies. Many of the Bible writers were shown future events by GOD, but other recorded facts about the writers can many times narrow down the possible time frames for the writing to a matter of a few years. As an example, all of the Apostles were eventually martyred. There are also many known times for various events of the time. Regarding languages, Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic were the languages of most of the people involved (Aramaic to a lesser extent). There is pretty good evidence to suggest that many portions of Scripture were written in more than one Language.

It is generally accepted that the four Gospels were written from four different perspectives, and each did achieve specific purposes. There is some disagreement about specific times for each Gospel, much more so now than almost 2,000 years ago. There's really a pretty good reason for more controversy being stirred today. These are the possible end days of this age, and the devil is desperate. John is especially despised because he addresses the divinity of JESUS CHRIST and the GODHEAD. JESUS CHRIST is the devil's worst nightmare, so literally anything will be done by the devil in an attempt to discredit the written documentation about the life and times of JESUS CHRIST made manifest in the flesh. I do find it quite interesting that many of the hottest controversies have only come into view during the last several hundred years. Other controversies are ancient and were solved to the satisfaction of the early church long ago, but the same ones are back again. There were many enemies of JESUS CHRIST then, and there are many more now

I hope his helps you some. It will at least help you get started and give you an idea about what to look for when you go to the Library.

Love In Christ,
Tom

John 11:25 NASB  Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies,

[nChrist]

There are many theories as to who wrote each book. Some people seem to want to argue the point as to who the writers are based on the way it was written (i.e. first person or not) as well as many other factors. I never liked getting into such discussions as they led nowhere that glorified God. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God." That is the part that matters.

Amen Pastor Roger,

I wish that I had said this.      BUT, I instead looked up some information that provides no proof and posted it. Isn't it interesting that the powers of darkness want to divert attention from GOD'S Message and argue about the messenger.

[Soldier4Christ]

Amen Pastor Roger,

I wish that I had said this.      BUT, I instead looked up some information that provides no proof and posted it. Isn't it interesting that the powers of darkness want to divert attention from GOD'S Message and argue about the messenger.

Yes, we have seen this tactic many times here on the forum. Bible bashing comes in many forms and styles.

Don't get me wrong, tsu05. I am not saying that you are doing this but rather those others that wish to discredit the scripture by placing different authors of the scripture other than the ones in the title and in a different time frame than what they occurred.

[tsu05]

yeah the reason why im doing this is to either show a teacher that just because 70% of theologians believe this doesnt make it right. also that if im going to be told im wrong in something i believe in i rather research it to make sure im wrong.