UNDERSTANDING THE BIBLE - Who Wrote the Gospels and the New Testament?

Who wrote the Gospels and the New Testament?

The foundation of any discussion of Christianity must stand on the figure of Jesus.  He is the central character of the four gospels, and the primary subject of most of the other letters and writings found in Christianity’s New Testament.  It was his teachings and ministry that caused a small group of first century Jewish followers to radically reinterpret centuries-old Jewish teachings and, over time, helped found a new movement completely separate from traditional Judaism and whose adherents eventually became known as “Christians”.   After centuries of internal struggles and external (and sometimes internal) persecutions, this new faith – or at least the ultimately dominant sect of this faith – was to become the official religion of the once-hated Roman empire and its teachings and methods spread around the globe.  Today, Christianity in its huge variety of forms is considered the largest religious group in the world.

What do we know about Jesus?  Aside from a few very brief comments made by Jewish historian Josephus and small handful of others, nearly all of our traditional information about this world-changing figure comes from the letters and writings that compose the Bible, as well as others that didn’t quite make it into that tome, having been excluded for a variety of reasons when the final 66 books (73 if you are Catholic – you get bonus books!) were chosen.  Of these, only 27 directly reference Jesus.  These writings and letters comprise the Christian – both Catholic and Protestant – New Testament. 

Since this collection known as “The Bible” contains the vast majority of information we have on Jesus of Nazareth, it is paramount that those who wish to learn about Jesus, as well as those who proclaim to follow him, seek to have a reasonable, if not thorough understanding of exactly what the Bible says and is.  The myriads of questions that should be studied and investigated include, but are not limited to:

·       Who wrote the letters and stories that are included?

·       How reliable are these writings and stories?

·       What are the authors trying to convey?

·       How were the books that are included selected?

·       Are the stories historically factual, or should they be read metaphorically?

And, for those investigating the Bible with spiritual or religious intent – particularly those who consider themselves Christians or followers of Jesus (there is often a difference) – there are even more questions, including this highly charged and critically important query:  Is the Bible divinely inspired and/or the actual word of God?  The answer to that question will certainly change your view of Jesus, the Bible and, indeed, the world.  But is it truly answerable?

Let us begin our examination with the origins of the letters and writings that were to become the Christian Bible.  Jesus of Nazareth preached and led his ministry from 1 – 3 years, being crucified approximately 30 – 33 A.D.  The first writings we have about him and his ministry are from Paul and were written approximately between the years of 50 – 65 A.D.  This is 20 – 35 years AFTER Jesus’ death at the hands of the Roman empire.  It is important to note that Paul was NOT a disciple of Jesus and never, ever met him in person.   Paul’s only connection with Jesus was the vision he experienced on the road to Damascus, which is estimated to have occurred 4 – 7 years after Jesus’ death.  His first recorded writing is believed to have been 1Thessalonians, which wasn’t put to ink and papyrus until nearly 20 years after this visionary experience.  13 other letters in the New Testament are attributable to Paul, although most scholars today believe that he actually authored only 7 of those.  Six letters – Ephesians, Colossians, 2 Thessalonians, 1st & 2nd Timothy and Titus – are believed to have been written by others, perhaps followers of Paul, but not Paul himself. 

The next to appear was the gospel of Mark, believed to have been written somewhere around 65 – 70 AD.  Note this is a full 35 – 40 years AFTER the death of Jesus.  Matthew and Luke didn’t appear until 10 – 15 years later, while John, the final gospel, wasn’t penned until around 90AD, a full 60 years after Jesus was crucified. 

These large gaps in time between Jesus’ ministry and death and the first recordings of his life and ministry are by historical and literary critiques problematic at best.  The stories of Jesus were by necessity transmitted orally for decades and decades, in some cases over a half century, before being committed to papyrus.  This is largely due to the fact that it is estimated that 97% of the population in Israel, Palestine and the surrounding areas during that time period were illiterate.  Any intelligent and thinking person knows what happens to stories over time; they change…and usually change dramatically.  Just think of the childhood telephone game, wherein a group of children are organized into a line.  A phrase or short story is verbally told to one child, who tells the story to the next child in line, who then tells it to the next child in line, and so on. This telling of the phrase or story continues until the final child in the line is reached.  That child is then instructed to verbalize the phrase or story he heard.  Inevitably, the story is different, usually vastly so, than the original phrase or story.  The lesson is that stories change over time, usually being altered due to misunderstandings, forgetfulness, embellishments and even biases.  Remember the cliché of the fisherman’s story of how big the fish was that he caught?  The fish grows larger with each telling.  This is not only a common occurrence with oral traditions, but it is the historically expected outcome.  I will be discussing more about the problems with oral traditions and history in a subsequent entry.

While the authors of seven of the Pauline letters are not really in doubt – nearly all scholars believe Saul of Tarsus, aka Paul, was responsible – the authors of the four gospels are historically unknown.  These four books bear the names of Mark, Matthew, Luke and John, and Christian tradition directly links the authorship of two of these – Matthew and John – to Jesus’ apostles.  Mark and Luke are believed by many scholars to have been companions of the apostles.  It is important to note that early writings by church leaders mention these four books but never call them by the names we use today.  The first written record we have of the gospels being called by the names we are now familiar with was by Irenaeus, a church leader who was writing in 185 AD.  So, for over 100 years, the books’ authors remained anonymous.  
(NOTE: Some scholars claim the first reference we have to Matthew and Mark date back to the church father Papias, who referenced these two in 130AD.  However, nothing Papias mentioned about the books matches the two books we have today.  It is likely he was referencing different writings.)

This linkage of the books to the apostles and their close companions has been a critically important factor in establishing the authority of these writings, as they trace them back to the actual disciples of Jesus.  In Catholic tradition – and, indeed, much of Protestant tradition – the earlier a source is to Jesus’ time, the more authentic and authoritative it is considered.  So, attributing these writings to the apostles has been and continues to be vitally important to the faith.  Biblical scholar Award-winning University of North Carolina professor Bart D. Ehrman states, “The attribution of the gospels to certain disciples and companions of the apostles was meant to give these books authority.  Many gospels were circulating, and it would have been difficult to know which ones to trust.  Some Christians thought that these particular books were trustworthy, and in order to enhance that sense of reliability, they connected the gospels with the apostles.”

But were Mark, Matthew and John really the authors of these books?  For numerous reasons, scholarship over the past century – and particularly in the past 30 – 40 years – has cast significant doubt on this long-held tradition.  As mentioned earlier, scholars believe that 97% of the Palestine / Israeli population were illiterate, meaning they could not read or write.  From the accounts we have, Jesus’ apostles were poor, working-class men, and in that society, it is highly unlikely that any of them had a formal education or could read or write.  Since it was mentioned that Matthew was a tax collector, many believe that he must have been educated.  However, most tax collectors of that era were lower-class laborers whose main job was to chase down debtors and collect money.  Not exactly a job that required formal education or the ability to read and write.  Further, the vast majority of the population in ancient Palestine and Israel spoke Aramaic, while the earliest writings of the New Testament were in Greek.  Only the tiniest percentage of the upper echelon of Israeli autocracy may have been familiar with Greek, and certainly not lowly peasants such as Jesus’ apostles and disciples.  So, there is virtually no chance that any of the apostles wrote any of the four gospels.

What about companions of the apostles?  Could they have been literate and fluent in Greek, the language of the original gospels?  For reasons similar to those explained above, this is highly unlikely.  Those fluent in Greek were almost non-existent in Palestine and Israel during that era.  There is no evidence to suggest that Jesus had followers who were fluent in Greek.  The most plausible explanation is that the four gospels were written anonymously by Greek-speaking and educated followers of Jesus decades and decades after his death. 

So, the claims and tradition that at least two of the gospels were written by eyewitnesses who were extremely close to Jesus, while the other two were written by close companions of Jesus, are highly suspect and, indeed, quite unlikely.  Please note that this is not meant to shake anyone’s faith, but rather provide a greater understanding of, at the very least, who didn’t write those books.  Frankly, we simply do not know who actually did write them.

More on Understanding the Bible in my next entry.  The story continues…