Who actually wrote the gospels?

Who Wrote Matthew, Mark, Luke and John?

Different Opinions on Jesus - who to believe?

Many people today have an opinion about who Jesus really was and what he taught. Muslims say that Jesus was a prophet, a miracle worker, but not the Son of God. They even deny he was crucified. The Qu'ran makes various claims about what Jesus said and did. But the author of the Qu'ran did not see any of these things as an eyewitness.

New Agers and cult leaders also have a great deal to say about Jesus. There is even a writing entitled, "The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus Christ". Again, this is channelled literature. It was not penned by an eyewitness. It also makes claims about Jesus - his message and ministry - casting Christ as a new age teacher.

It seems that many want to get up and make claims about Jesus. Even the Church of Scientology, well known for its mind bending techniques, has a place in its system for Jesus. According to them, Jesus Christ comes at about two thirds up their chart of psychic attainments. Was this assessment based on eyewitness information about Christ? Of course it wasn't.

The Importance of Eyewitnesses

If we want to know who Jesus really was, we would do well to find eyewitness accounts of his life and ministry. The evidence of eyewitnesses always counts for more in a court of law than hearsay evidence. So, in your decision about Jesus Christ, who He is or isn't, you would do well to consider the accounts of the eyewitnesses.

Christians claim that we have preserved the accounts of eyewitnesses, or, in the case of Mark and Luke, the reports of those who had access to the lives of the eyewitnesses and were able to record these stories accurately and faithfully. This is a very important claim. The accounts of these eyewitnesses are also known as the four gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Who were Matthew, Mark, Luke and John?

But who were these people, and did they really pen the books which bear their name?

Matthew (who was also known as Levi) was a Jewish tax collector who became a disciple of Jesus. He was actually chosen as one of the twelve apostles. We don't know a whole lot more about Matthew from the Bible. He didn't talk a lot about himself in his gospel. That in itself is interesting. Usually when people write a story in which they were personally involved, they draw attention to themselves. But not Matthew. He was focusing almost entirely in his gospel on who Jesus was, and what Jesus did. Matthew sought to demonstrate to Jewish readers that Jesus was the long promised Messiah, the King of Israel, the Son of David.

Irenaeus wrote in about 180 A.D., "Matthew published his own Gospel among the Hebrews in their own tongue, when Peter and Paul were preaching the gospel in Rome and founding the church there. After their departure, Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, himself handed down to us in writing the substance of Peter's preaching."

Mark was a young man at the time of the events he recorded in his gospel. Papias, an early Christian, wrote in about A.D. 125, specifically affirming that Mark had carefully and accurately recorded Peter's eyewitness observations concerning the life and ministry of Jesus.

So Mark's gospel was a recording of an eyewitness account. We know a few other things about Mar

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