Jesus in History
The Gospels are anonymous. We don't know who wrote them.
Short answer
The authors' names aren't in the Gospels' own text, but that doesn't mean nobody knew who wrote them. Every surviving manuscript with a title names the same four authors, with no rival names, and early writers like Papias (early 100s) and Irenaeus (about AD 180) name them too. If the church had made up names, it would hardly have chosen Mark and Luke, who weren't apostles.
In simple words: The Gospel writers didn't sign their names inside the books, but the early Christians knew who wrote them and always named the same four people.
Response
It's true that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John don't name themselves inside the text. But many ancient works were like that, and readers knew the author from the title, from the person who delivered the book, or from tradition.
Luke wasn't anonymous to his first reader. He wrote to a named person, "most excellent Theophilus," in the first person: "it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you" (Luke 1:3). Theophilus knew exactly who was writing.
The titles are remarkably consistent. Every surviving manuscript of the Gospels that has a title names the same author for each book. No Gospel was ever attributed to anyone else. If the names had been added later by guesswork, we'd expect competing names in different regions. We don't find any.
Early writers name the authors too. Papias, a church leader writing in the early 100s and quoted by the historian Eusebius, said Mark wrote down Peter's preaching and that Matthew compiled Jesus' sayings. Around AD 180, Irenaeus named all four (Against Heresies 3.1.1).
And the names chosen are not the ones people would invent. Mark and Luke weren't apostles, and Matthew was a despised tax collector. If early Christians were attaching famous names to boost a book's authority, they'd have picked Peter or James. Scholars like Simon Gathercole of Cambridge have argued that the Gospels aren't truly anonymous at all.
Key evidence
- Luke addresses a named reader in the first person (Luke 1:1-4).
- Surviving Gospel manuscripts with titles attribute each Gospel to the same author, with no rival attributions.
- Papias (early 100s, quoted in Eusebius, Church History 3.39) connects Mark with Peter and names Matthew.
- Irenaeus (about AD 180) names all four Gospel authors (Against Heresies 3.1.1).
- Mark and Luke weren't apostles, an unlikely choice for invented authorship.
Bible passages
- Luke 1:1-4 Luke's careful investigation, written to Theophilus.
- John 21:24 The disciple who testifies and wrote these things.
- Colossians 4:14 Luke the beloved physician.
- 1 Peter 5:13 Peter mentions Mark, "my son."
Discussion questions
- Why would it matter that no rival names appear in the manuscripts?
- Why are Mark and Luke unlikely names for someone inventing authors?
- How does Luke's introduction change the way you read his Gospel?
Sources & further reading
- Simon Gathercole, "The Alleged Anonymity of the Canonical Gospels," Journal of Theological Studies 69 (2018)