Don't Know Much About the Bible - Kenneth C. Davis [136]
Are the four Gospels “gospel” truth?
Nearly everything known about Jesus comes from the four separate Gospel accounts. Once “canonized,” their literal authority and divine stature went unquestioned throughout most of Christian history—just as the Books of Moses were unquestioned by the authorities. Since the nineteenth century, many scholars and researchers have begun to raise questions of Gospel authorship. The precise identity of these writers and when the books were written remain subjects of speculation.
•Mark
Although it is placed second in the New Testament order after Matthew, the Gospel of Mark, the shortest of the Gospels, is widely viewed by modern scholars as the oldest of the Gospels. Skipping over Jesus’ birth, Mark tells the story of the adult Jesus from the time of his baptism to his Crucifixion and an angel’s report of his resurrection. The authors of Matthew and Luke, many scholars believe, relied on Mark’s account when they wrote theirs.
But who was Mark? No Mark was listed among the original twelve disciples of Jesus. A person named John Mark is mentioned several times in the New Testament and, according to early Christian tradition, he was a companion of Paul on his missionary travels until they quarreled. Many scholars now believe that the Gospel was written by an unknown early Christian named Mark who drew on a large number of traditions in order to compose his tightly organized narrative. Mark refers to the destruction of Jerusalem by a Roman army in 70 CE, either as an event that may happen soon or as one that has recently happened. Although scholars do not know whether to date the Gospel shortly before or shortly after 70 CE, it must have been written sometime around that significant date.
•Matthew
The author of this book was long presumed to be the Matthew who was one of Jesus’ disciples. That Matthew was identified as a tax collector, as unpopular a profession then as it is now. In Mark and Luke, however, the tax collector is also named Levi. The widely accepted modern view is that Matthew was written by a later Jewish-Christian who believed Jesus was the promised Messiah of Hebrew scriptures. There are many references in Matthew to Hebrew prophecies that Jesus fulfills. Matthew opens with an extensive genealogy, tracing Jesus’ ancestry back to David—a slight glitch in that the line goes through Joseph, who isn’t really Jesus’ father, if you accept the Gospel version. Matthew also includes frequent quotations from Hebrew scriptures, meant to convince other Jews of the fulfillment of their prophecies in Jesus. Unique to this Gospel are the Nativity stories of the famous visit of the Magi, inaccurately called the “Three Kings,” King Herod’s massacre of infant children in Bethlehem, and the “Flight into Egypt,” in which Joseph took Mary and Jesus to Egypt to escape Herod’s massacre.
Early Christians believed Matthew was written first and placed it first, but modern scholars now consider Mark the earlier book. Relying on literary and chronological clues, they believe the author of Matthew had read Mark, as well as the theoretical collection of Jesus’ sayings called “Q.” Some scholars believe Matthew was written in Palestine; others favor another early Christian center, such as Antioch in Syria sometime between 70 and 85 CE.
•Luke
The author of Luke, a highly polished narrative that uses the conventions of classical Greek writings, was presumably a well-educated man who spoke and wrote Greek. The same person is credited with writing the book of Acts. Together, Luke and Acts account for nearly one quarter of the New Testament and provide a history of the early Christian faith; Luke tells the story of Jesus, while Acts traces the missionary movement and early growth of Christianity after his death. “Luke’s” works were intended to be read together, but when the New Testament