Interdependence
Evidence of Copying
There are passages that share extensive copying between the gospels, demonstrating direct literary interdependence rather than independent eyewitness recollection.
Identical: 65 Words
| Matthew 3:7b-10 |
Luke 3:7b-9 |
| "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father,' for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." |
"You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." |
Identical: 32 Words
| Matthew 10:21-22 |
Mark 13:12-13 |
| "Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved." |
"Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved." |
Copied Editorial Comments
| Mark 13:14 |
Matthew 24:15 |
| "But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains." |
"So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains." |
| Mark 2:10 |
Matthew 9:6 |
| "But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (he said to the paralytic) |
"But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (he then said to the paralytic) |
Anonymity
No gospel originally has an author's name attached to it. The only attributions are from the early church fathers, decades after the gospels were written.
Earliest Attributions
Matthew (
"Matthew also issued a written Gospel among the Hebrews in their own dialect, while Peter and Paul were preaching at Rome, and laying the foundations of the Church."
"Matthew put together the oracles [logia] in the Hebrew language, and each one interpreted them as best he could."
Why this can't be our Matthew: Irenaeus and other early sources say Matthew wrote a "logia (sayings)" in the Hebrew language (i.e., Hebrew or Aramaic). Firstly, A "logia" is a collection of sayings or teachings, and the Gospel of Matthew we have today is certaintly not a sayings gospel. It includes detailed narratives. Secondly, our Matthew shows no signs of being written in Hebrew or Aramaic. There is no manuscript evidence of a Hebrew or Aramaic version predating the Greek text.
Mark
"Mark, having become the interpreter of Peter, wrote down accurately, though not in order, whatsoever he remembered of the things said or done by Christ. For he neither heard the Lord nor followed him, but afterward, as I said, he followed Peter, who adapted his teaching to the needs of his hearers, but with no intention of giving a connected account of the Lord's discourses, so that Mark committed no error while he thus wrote some things as he remembered them. For he was careful of one thing, not to omit any of the things which he had heard, and not to state any of them falsely."
"Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, did also hand down to us in writing what had been preached by Peter."
"...they besought Mark, a follower of Peter, and the one whose Gospel is extant, that he would leave them a written monument of the doctrine which had been orally communicated to them. Nor did they cease until they had prevailed with the man, and had thus become the occasion of the written Gospel which bears the name of Mark."
"As Peter had preached the Word publicly at Rome, and declared the Gospel by the Spirit, many who were present requested that Mark, who had followed him for a long time and remembered his sayings, should write them out. And having composed the Gospel he gave it to those who had requested it."
Luke
"Luke also, the companion of Paul, recorded in a book the Gospel preached by him."
"The third book of the Gospels is that 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 the general 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."
John
"Afterwards, John, the disciple of the Lord, who also had leaned upon His breast, did himself publish a Gospel during his residence at Ephesus in Asia."
"The fourth of the Gospels is that of John, one of the disciples. ... At which nevertheless he was present, and so he set them down."
Secondhand Accounts
The gospels themselves indicate they are not firsthand eyewitness accounts.
| Gospel |
Evidence |
Reference |
| Matthew |
Refers to "Matthew" in the third person: "he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth" |
Matthew 9:9 |
| Mark |
Uses third-person narration. Never claims to be an eyewitness. |
N/A |
| Luke |
"...just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us..." |
Luke 1:1-3 |
| John |
"This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true." (third-person reference) |
John 21:24 |
Composition
The sophisticated Greek prose is incompatible with the Galilean fishermen authors.
"Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated (lit., 'illiterate'), common men, they were astonished.
Education and Language in 1st Century Palestine
| Criteria |
Historical Reality |
In the Gospels |
| Literacy Rate |
About 3% or less overall, especially low in rural villages(source) |
Composed in advanced literary Greek |
| Language |
Aramaic was the dominant spoken language; Greek was limited to urban elites |
Written in sophisticated Greek prose |
| Education |
Fishermen and most villagers likely lacked formal Greek education |
Authors show knowledge of Greek literary forms |
| Scripture Access |
Scripture was read publicly; private scrolls, especially in Greek, were rare |
Frequent quotations from the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint) |
Dating
The following verses and historical evidence indicate the gospels were written during or after the events they describe:
Matthew
- Date: c. 80–95 CE
-
Evidence:
- Heavy literary dependence on Mark
- Reference to the destruction of Jerusalem: Matthew 22:7 — "The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city."
- More developed theology than Mark about practices like following Torah, baptism, and the Lord's Supper
- Papias’ ambiguous testimony
- Most scholars date after 70 CE due to references to post-70 events (source)
Luke
- Date: c. 80–100 CE
-
Evidence:
- More specific references to the siege of Jerusalem, indicating past knowledge of the event: Luke 19:43-44 — "Your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you"
- Luke 21:20 — "When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies"
- Scholarly consensus places it in the late 1st century
John
- Date: c. 90–110 CE
-
Evidence:
-
Displays a highly developed Christology:
- Jesus as pre-existent, divine Logos (John 1:1-14)
- Jesus explicitly identified as "God" (John 20:28)
- Use of "I am" statements echoing the divine name (John 8:58)
- Contains long, extended monologues and discourses by Jesus (e.g., John 13–17), which are absent from the Synoptic Gospels
- Portrays Jesus as the exclusive source of salvation (John 14:6)
- Less emphasis on apocalyptic themes, more on eternal life as a present reality
-
Reflects knowledge of the Birkat haMinim (synagogue ban, c. 85 CE)
- John 9:22 — "Anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue"
- John 12:42 — "They did not confess it, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue"
- Universally dated as the latest gospel