gospel bible

Date of gospel

The date of the gospel is not precisely known. The majority of scholars date the gospel between the years 70 and 100.^[13][14] The writings of Ignatius show "a strong case ... for [his] knowledge of four Pauline epistles and the Gospel of Matthew"^[15], which gives a terminus ad quem of c. 110. The author of the Didache (c 100) probably knew it as well.^[10] The argument has been made that since Jesus refers to the destruction of Jerusalem (e.g. Matthew 22:7) this gospel must have been written after the siege and destruction of Jerusalem by Romans in 70 CE.^[16]

Some significant conservative scholars argue for a pre-70 date, generally considering the gospel to be written by the apostle Matthew.^[17] In December 1994, Carsten Peter Thiede redated the Magdalen papyrus, which bears a fragment in Greek of the Gospel of Matthew, to the late 1st century on palaeographical grounds,^[18] although Thiede's re-dating has generally been viewed with skepticism by established Biblical scholars ^[19] In recent times, John Wenham, one of the biggest supporters of the Augustinian hypothesis, is among the more notable defenders of an early date for the Gospel of Matthew.

Authorship

The Early Christian tradition attributes the Gospel to Matthew, one of Jesus' disciples. This tradition of authorship dates from the writings of Papias in the first half of the second century AD. ^[1][2] Beginning in the 18th century, however, critical scholars have increasingly questioned whether Matthew wrote the Gospel which bears his name.^[3].

Most contemporary scholars describe the author as an anonymous Christian writing towards the end of the first century. ^[4] According to Howard Clark Kee, it appears that Jesus' teachings and sayings were handed down orally until they were eventually written down. This theory is partly based upon "the fact that other, later Christian writings include sayings attributed to Jesus that resemble those in the gospels, but for which there is no exact equivalent." ^[20]