The Christian Gospels are considered by Christians to be the Word of God; however, this idea breaks down spectacularly once anyone investigates deeply about who wrote them. A lot of Christians believe that the Gospels were written by the authors Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. But the truth is there were all anonymously written, and it’s uncertain that any were written by the four authors adscripted to them. Let’s see why this is the case.
The Gospel of Mark
The Gospel of Mark is the earliest written Gospel, and is attributed to John Mark, a disciple of the Apostle Peter. The Gospel according to Mark, as with all four Gospels, are written in competent Greek prose by highly educated authors. This powerful theme covering all four Gospel authors strongly suggests they were not written by their traditional attributions. The Apostles and disciples of Jesus spoke Aramaic, were from the lower class, and like all lower-class peasants of the time were most likely illiterate. While it is possible that Peter was associated with a highly literate Greek, it is highly uncertain and there are better reasons to doubt the claim than to believe it.
Additionally, the Gospel never claims to be written by Mark, never claims to be an eye-witness account, and is written in the third person that reads more like a collection of oral traditions rather than a memoir.
Could the Gospel of Mark been written by Mark? It’s possible but we have no way of knowing for sure one way or another.
The Gospel of Luke
The Gospel of Luke is attributed to Luke, a traveling companion of Paul. It is the most likely to be written by the author attributed to it, however by saying it is the most likely is not the same as saying that it is likely. As with the other four gospels it’s still anonymous, does not claim to be an eye-witness account, and was written in highly educated Greek prose. It uses earlier sources such as the Gospel of Mark, many passages which were copied word for word.
There is a striking curiosity with the Gospel of Luke. Paul’s letters contain very little portrayal of Jesus’s life. Lukes Gospel is the opposite. If they were both close companions, why such the stark difference in Information? One should expect a lot of overlap from two people working closely together.
The Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel of Matthew is attributed to the Apostle Matthew, a former tax collector called upon to be a disciple of Jesus. This Gospel is certainly not written by Matthew. Around 90% of Matthew is copied from Mark, many times word for word. Why would Matthew, an eyewitness to the life of Jesus, copy word for word the account of Mark, who was not an eyewitness? Why not rely on your own memories and experiences?
It is also noteworthy that this Gospel refers to Matthew in the third-person.
“Jesus saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth” – Matthew 9:9
This Gospel reflects an older church structure, which is why scholars date its writing around 80-90 CE. If Matthew was in his 20s or 30s during Christs ministry that would put his age around 80 of the writing. Again, this is not entirely impossible, but unlikely.
Applying Occum’s Razor, it requires a remarkable series of special explanations to believe that Matthew was the author of this Gospel. Someone throughout the course of his life he would have had to learn Greek prose, a rarity for the lower class in the ancient world. He would have had to live well into his 80s while maintaining sufficient cognition to write elegant Greek prose, while referring to himself in the third person. Yet this begs the questions, why did he have to rely word for word on a non-eyewitness account for much of his Gospel?
The Gospel of John
The Gospel of John is attributed to the Apostle John. The Gospel of John is the latest written Gospel, likely around 90-100 CE. This alone would put John at such an advanced age as to disqualify him as the author. Could he have written this Gospel at 90 to 100 years of age? Not impossible. Could I hit the Powerball 5 times in a row? This is also not a mathematical impossibility, but it’s also not the same thing as saying it’s probable.
The Acts of the Apostles describes John as “unlettered” meaning illiterate. The Gospel of John is written in sophisticated Greek prose. This is a glaring mismatch that would require us to assume, in the absence of evidence or good precedent, that John received a strong Greek education over the course of his adult life.
The Gospel also appears to have been written by a community, as it states, “we know that his testimony is true”. Who is “we”? It is the Johannine community that endorses this writing. The Gospel itself contains passages awkwardly connected and seems to have undergone multiple revisions.
Conclusion
In the end, the traditional claim that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John personally authored the four Gospels rests more on church tradition than on historical evidence. The texts themselves are anonymous, written decades after Jesus’s death, composed in educated Greek, and often rely on earlier written sources rather than firsthand testimony. While it is impossible to rule out the traditional attributions with absolute certainty, the evidence points in a different direction. The most reasonable conclusion is that the Gospels emerged from early Christian communities, preserving beliefs and traditions about Jesus rather than serving as direct eyewitness memoirs from the men whose names they later received.
Further Reading: Misquoting Jesus by Bart Ehrman, The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels