Who Wrote the Four Gospels?

by RYAN LEASURE · Published December 11, 2020 · Updated December 30, 2020

It’s common to hear scholars suggest that we don’t know who wrote the four gospels. They say that the gospels are anonymous, and that the church didn’t add titles till the end of the second century. It is true that none of the gospels tell us the author’s name in the body of the text. The closest is John’s Gospel where the writer states, “This (the one whom Jesus loves) is the disciple who testifies to these things, and who wrote them down” (Jn 21:24).

We also learn from Luke 1:1-4 that the author was not an eye-witness himself, but that he carefully investigated credible sources. In doing so, he compiled a gospel account for an official named Theophilus. Other than these two hints, the texts themselves don’t give us many clues with respect to authorship. So why do we attribute the four gospels to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John? We need to look to some ancient church fathers for the answer.

EARLY CHURCH TESTIMONY

A few ancient church fathers wrote about the gospels’ authorship, and what they wrote sheds light on this discussion.

PAPIAS

Papias was a bishop in Hieropolis — a city in Asia Minor near Laodicea and Colossae. He completed five major works early in the second century, but sadly, most of his works are lost. Fortunately, Eusebius — an early Christian historian writing in the fourth century — quotes Papias’ work on gospel authorship. Notice what Papias says about the Gospel of Mark:

The Elder used to say: Mark, in his capacity as Peter’s interpreter, wrote down accurately as many things as he recalled from memory — though not in an ordered form — of the things either said or done by the Lord. For he (Mark) neither heard the Lord nor accompanied him, but later, as I said, Peter, who used to give his teachings… had no intention of providing an ordered arrangement of the words of the Lord. Consequently, Mark did nothing wrong when he wrote down some individual items just as he (Peter) related them from memory. For he made it his one concern not to omit anything he had heard or to falsify anything.

Writing sometime around the year A.D. 125, Papias is the first known writer to attribute authorship to any gospel. He indicates in this quote that the Gospel we know as Mark, is more or less Peter’s account. Papias says that Mark didn’t compile a chronological history of Jesus per se; yet, he still reported Peter’s words with precision.

The Mark Papias refers to is the John Mark who accompanied Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey. He’s also the Mark that Peter references in 1 Peter 5:13 indicating that the two were close companions.

In addition to Mark, Papias also comments on Matthew. He writes:

Therefore Matthew put the words in an ordered arrangement in the Hebrew language, but each person interpreted them as best he could.

This reference is admittedly more difficult to interpret. The reason is that the Matthew we have today is written in Greek not Hebrew. This has led some to suggest that Matthew wrote in his native tongue — Aramaic not Hebrew — and that someone else wrote the Matthew in the New Testament.

Others suggest that Matthew originally wrote his Gospel in Aramaic and then later someone translated his work into Greek while using Mark’s Gospel as a rough outline. If this is the case, Matthew didn’t pen the words himself. Yet, his writings stand behind the Greek Gospel that we have today.

Most likely, Papias didn’t mean that Matthew wrote in the Hebrew language, but that his gospel contains more of a Jewish flair than the other gospels. His gospel mentions, more than the others, several Hebrew customs from the Old Testament that Jesus fulfilled through his life and death. In other words, Matthew wrote for a Jewish audience.

Interestingly, Papias claims that “the elder” conveyed this information to him. Who is this elder? Earlier in his work, Papias refers an “elder John” who had close connections with Jesus’ disciples. In fact, several make the argument that Papias is referring to the apostle John, but it’s difficult to know for certain from his quote. Either way, Papias claims he received this information from a credible source who had close connections with Jesus’ disciples.

IRENAEUS

Irenaeus of Lyons was a disciple of the church father Polycarp who was himself a disciple of the apostle John. This means that Irenaeus is only one generation removed from the apostles which adds credibility to his words. Irenaeus writes about the gospel authors around the year A.D. 180.

Matthew issued a written Gospel among the Hebrews in their own language, while Peter and Paul were preaching at Rome, and laying the foundations of the Church. After their departure, Mark, Peter’s follower and translator, handed down to us in writing what had been preached by Peter. Luke also, the companion of Paul, recorded in a book the Gospel preached by him. Afterwards, John, the disciple of the Lord, who also had leaned on his chest, published a Gospel during his residence at Ephesus in Asia.

Irenaeus confirms Papias’ claims — Mark recorded Peter’s account, and Matthew originally wrote for a Hebrew audience. Additionally, Irenaeus states that Luke, the companion of Paul, wrote the Gospel of Luke. He also asserts that John, the disciple, wrote his gospel while living in Ephesus.

MURATORIAN FRAGMENT

The Muratorian Fragment also dates to the end of the second century and probably originated in Rome. It refers to the Gospels Luke and John.

The third book of the Gospel is according to Luke. Luke, the well-known physician, after the ascension of Christ, when Paul had taken with him as one zealous for the law, composed it in his own name, according to widespread belief. Yet he himself had not seen the Lord in the flesh; and therefore, as he was able to ascertain events, so indeed he begins to tell the story from the birth of John. The fourth of the Gospels is that of John, one of the disciples.

This document, along with Irenaeus, confirms that Luke, the physician and companion of Paul, penned the gospel that bears his name. Additionally, the fragment asserts that Jesus’ disciple John penned the fourth gospel.

JUSTIN MARTYR

Justin Martyr was one of the earliest Christian apologists — someone who defended the faith against non-Christians. The following quotes by him don’t mention any of the gospels by name, but they do give us a clue about the four authors. He writes in his 1st Apology around A.D. 150:

For the apostles, in the memoirs composed by them, which are called Gospels, have thus delivered unto us what was enjoined upon them.

And then in his Dialogue with Trypho:

in the memoirs which I say were drawn up by the apostles and those who followed them.

In this final quote, Justin gives two clues about the gospel authors. First, at least two (plural) apostles penned a gospel. Second, at least two (plural) apostolic followers penned a gospel. These clues coincide with our findings thus far. The two apostolic authors were Matthew and John — disciples of Jesus. Likewise, the two non-apostolic authors who were close followers of the apostles were Mark and Luke — followers of Peter and Paul.

NO COMPETING THEORIES IN THE EARLY CHURCH

If the gospels were truly anonymous, you would expect to find alternative titles proposed throughout the early church. For example, you would expect some to title Mark as Peter, or Matthew as James. Yet, we don’t find anything like this. The unanimity of the titles provides a strong argument for the traditional authorship.

With that being said, the earliest church fathers don’t mention the titles of the gospels even though they quote from them liberally. And it’s also true that titles don’t appear in any manuscript until the end of the second century, but that is because all the oldest surviving manuscripts are fragmented. In other words, the title sections are missing from the earliest manuscripts. Once we have complete Gospel manuscripts with title sections included, we find the exact titles that we know them by today.

WHY MAKE UP THE TITLES?

When you think about it, three of the four gospel authors are somewhat obscure. Mark and Luke weren’t even disciples of Jesus, and Matthew was a former tax-collector who wasn’t even part of Jesus’ inner circle. John alone is a prominent apostle. Yet ironically, his authorship is usually questioned the most.

If the early church wanted to add authoritative value to these early gospels, they would have most likely titled them Peter, Paul, James, and John — leaders of the early church. I can’t think of any false motivation to title them the way they did.