|
The Earliest Christian
Traditions |
|
by Jared L. Olar |
According to ancient tradition, the four canonical Gospels were written
by the Apostle Levi Matthew, the evangelist John Mark, the physician Luke, and
the Apostle John. However, the authors of the four Gospels never explicitly
identify themselves. For that and other reasons, in the field of biblical
scholarship and textual criticism the traditions regarding the authorship of
the Gospels are now usually held to be merely fables and legends.
1 In their place, modern scholars have
substituted a range of wild and conflicting speculations about how and why the
Gospels came to be written. In the context of this cacophony of opinion, it may
be edifying to become familiar with the earliest known traditions of the
authorship of the four Gospels. These traditions were recorded by such early
Church Fathers as Papias of Hierapolis (c.80-c.160 A.D.), Irenaeus of
``. . . But I shall not hesitate to furnish you, along with my explanations, with all that in days gone by I carefully learned from the Presbyters and have carefully recalled, for I can guarantee its truth. Unlike most people, I felt at home not with those who appeal to commandments from other sources, but with those who appeal to commandments given by the Lord unto faith, and coming to us from Truth itself. Whenever anyone came who had been a follower of the Presbyters, I inquired into the words of the Presbyters: what Andrew or Peter said, or Philip or Thomas or James or John or Matthew, or any other disciple of the Lord; and what Aristion and the Presbyter John, disciples of the Lord, say. For I did not imagine that things out of books would help me as much as the utterances of a living and abiding voice.''
Eusebius was the first to insist that Papias was referring to two separate Johns, both Jewish disciples of Jesus Christ, one an Apostle and the other merely a Presbyter. However, except for the name ``Aristion,'' Papias here classifies every one of the names that he lists-and the first seven names are obviously those of Apostles-as Presbyters. Also, the author of the three epistles attributed to John the Apostle (and there can be little doubt that the same individual who wrote the epistles of John also wrote the Gospel of John) identifies himself as ``the Presbyter.'' There is simply no clear and undisputed evidence that Presbyter John, as a distinct individual from the Apostle John, ever existed. The most likely interpretation of Papias' words is that of Irenaeus, who referred to Papias as someone
``. . . who had listened to John and was later a companion of Polycarp, . . . .''
Polycarp of Smyrna was himself said by Irenaeus and other early Christian writers to have been a disciple of the Apostle John, and only with great difficulty can these statements be explained away or reinterpreted. Considering all the available evidence, there can be no reasonable doubt that Papias and Polycarp both spoke face-to-face with the Apostle John. In fact, Papias' language can be interpreted to mean that the Apostle John was still alive at the time that Papias wrote his volume. At any rate John was certainly alive when Papias began to collect his fascinating oral traditions. (And as for Papias' other living witness, Aristion, a rare Armenian manuscript of the Gospels copied in the year 986 A.D. attributes the Longer Ending of the Gospel of Mark, chapter 16, verses 9-20, to ``Presbyter Aristion.'' That could well mean that the information found in those verses of Mark had been collected by Papias, who said that he interviewed Aristion, a man who was taught by Jesus Himself.)
The weight of the evidence indicates that the traditions regarding the authorship and composition of the four Gospels are traceable right back to the very eyewitnesses of Jesus and the Apostles. Consequently, these traditions are the necessary starting point for the development of hypotheses regarding the composition of the four canonical Gospels. Whenever the fields of biblical scholarship and textual criticism slight these traditions, they also forsake sound, balanced historical principles.
With these things in mind, here are the earliest avaliable traditions about the authorship of the four canonical Gospels:
MATTHEW: Probably relying on Papias, Irenaeus writes: ``Matthew
published a written Gospel for the Hebrews in their own language, while Peter
and Paul were preaching the Gospel in
MARK: Again, Irenaeus writes: ``After their passing [presumably the
deaths of Peter, Paul, and Matthew], Mark also, the disciple and interpreter of
Peter, transmitted to us in writing the things preached by Peter.''
2 Eusebius quotes Papias as writing,
``This, too, the Presbyter [John] says: `Mark, who had been Peter's
interpreter, wrote down carefully, but not in order, all that he remembered of
the Lord's sayings and doings. For he had not heard the Lord or been one of his
followers, but later, as I said, one of Peter's. Peter would adapt his
teachings to the occasion, without making a systematic arrangement of the Lord's
sayings, so Mark was quite justified in writing down some things just as he
remembered them. For he had one purpose only-to leave out nothing that he had
heard, and to make no misstatement about it.''' Eusebius also writes
(admittedly depending in part upon Papias), ``So brightly shone the light of
true religion on the minds of Peter's hearers that, not satisfied with a single
hearing or with the oral teaching of the divine message, they resorted to
appeals of every kind to induce Mark (whose Gospel we have), as he was a
follower of Peter, to leave them in writing a summary of the instruction they
had received by word of mouth, nor did they let him go til they had persuaded
him, and thus became responsible for the writing of what is known as the Gospel
according to Mark. It is said that, on learning by revelation of the Spirit
what had happened, the Apostle [Peter] was delighted at their enthusiasm and
authorised the reading of the book in the churches. Clement quoted this story
in Outlines Book VI, and his statement is confirmed by Bishop Papias of
Hierapolis, who also points out that Mark is mentioned by Peter in his first
epistle, which he is said to have composed in Rome itself, as he himself
indicates when he speaks of the city figuratively as Babylon (I Peter 5:13).''
LUKE: Irenaeus, who may well have been relying in part on Papias,
writes: ``Luke, the follower of Paul, set down in a book the Gospel preached by
him [i.e., Paul].'' In the Canon Muratorianus, circa 170 A.D., we find the
following (possibly derived from Papias): ``The third book of the Gospel, that
according to Luke: the physician Luke after Christ's arising, since Paul had
taken him with him as an expert in the Way, composed it in his own name
according to [Paul's] thinking. Yet neither did he himself see the Lord in the
flesh; and therefore, as he was able to determine it, so he begins to tell the
story from the birth of John.''
JOHN: Irenaeus writes: ``Lastly John, the disciple of the Lord, who had
leaned back on His breast, once more set forth the Gospel, while residing at
Ephesus in Asia.'' Eusebius writes: ``When Mark and Luke had published their
Gospels, John, we are told, who hitherto had relied entirely on the spoken
word, finally took to writing for the following reason. The three Gospels
already written were in general circulation and copies had come into John's
hands. He welcomed them, we are told, and confirmed their accuracy, but
remarked that the narrative only lacked the story of what Christ had done first
of all at the beginning of His mission.'' To that we may compare the story in
the Canon Muratorianus, circa 170 A.D. (possibly taken from Papias): ``The
fourth of the Gospels, that of John, one of the disciples: When his
fellow-disciples and bishops urged him, he said, `Fast with me from today for
three days, and what will be revealed to each one let us relate to one another.
In the same night [i.e., after the fast] it was revealed to Andrew, one of the
apostles, that, while all were to go over it, John in his own name should write
everything down. . . .'' (cf. John 14:26)
|
SOURCES: |
1. Eusebius-The
History of the Church From Christ to
2. The History of Primitive Christianity, Hans Conzelmann, 1973.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jared Olar lives in
1 A convenient
example of this attitude-casually denying the traditional authorship of the
four Gospels-may be encountered in the introductory essays and editorial
footnotes of the New American Bible (Catholic Edition). The statements
found there display a remarkable contradiction, because published in the very
same edition of the Bible is the complete text of the ``Dogmatic Constitution
on Divine Revelation,'' the decree Dei Verbum (``The Word of God'') from
the Second Vatican Council (
2 Papias and Irenaeus agree that the Gospel of Matthew was written prior to the Gospel of Mark, but it is an article of faith in modern scholarly circles that Mark is the earliest Gospel. In light of the aboveshown facts, any hypothesis that posits Mark as the earliest Gospel is historically untenable. Of course it is always possible that the Greek text of Mark antedates the Greek text of Matthew, since Papias and Irenaeus both mention that Levi Matthew's original Gospel was written in Hebrew. (Again, modern scholarship generally assumes that what Papias and Irenaeus meant by `Hebrew' was `Aramaic' or `Syriac,' but there is little to support that assumption.) Indeed, it is likely that the Hebrew text of Matthew is actually the suppositious `Q' of modern Gospel hypotheses.
File translated from TE
X by T TH ,
version 2.79.
On
