5. Who Wrote the Gospels?

Were Matthew, Mark, Luke and John eyewitnesses to Jesus' ministry? We're told "Yes," but the truth will surprise you...
Chapters:
00:00-00:45 - Eyewitness authors?
00:46-03:48 - Gospel scrolls were anonymous
03:49-04:53 - Is Mark history?
04:54-07:43 - Mark copied Homer
07:44-10:01 - Mark copied the OT
10:02-14:00 - Luke copied pagan myths verbatim
14:01-15:07 - Why would eyewitnesses copy?
15:08-16:59- Who was "Mark?"
17:00-17:53 - Who was "Matthew?"
17:54-18:48 - Who was "Luke?"
18:49-20:17 - Who was "John?"
20:18-20:52 - Conclusion
Series Bibliography:
Barker, Dan - God: The Most Unpleasant Character in All Fiction
Barker, Dan - Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America’s Leading Atheists
Buckser, Andrew and Glazier, Stephen D. - The Anthropology of Religious Conversion
Callahan, Tim - Secret Origins of the Bible
Carrier, Richard - “How We Know Daniel Is a Forgery”
Carrier, Richard - “Josephus on Jesus? Why You Can’t Cite Opinions Before 2014”
Carrier, Richard - Not the Impossible Faith
Carrier, Richard - On the Historicity of Jesus
Carrier, Richard - Sense and Goodness Without God
Conway, Flo and Siegelman, Jim - Snapping: America’s Epidemic of Sudden Personality Change
Coogan, Michael D. - The Oxford History of the Biblical World
Copan, Paul - Is God a Moral Monster?
Craig, William Lane - Reasonable Faith
Currid, John D. And Chapman, David W. - The ESV Archaeology Study Bible
Dever, William G. - Did God Have a Wife?
Dever, William G. - Has Archaeology Buried the Bible?
Durkheim, Emile - The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life
Ehrman, Bart D. - Forged: Writing in the Name of God
Ehrman, Bart D. - Forgery and Counterforgery
Ehrman, Bart D. - God’s Problem
Ehrman, Bart D. - Heaven and Hell
Ehrman, Bart D. - How Jesus Became God
Ehrman, Bart D. - Jesus Before the Gospels
Ehrman, Bart D. - Jesus Interrupted
Ehrman, Bart D. - Lost Christianities
Ehrman, Bart D. - Misquoting Jesus
Ehrman, Bart D. - The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture
Ehrman, Bart D. - The Triumph of Christianity
Finkelstein, Israel and Silberman, Neil Asher - The Bible Unearthed
Geisler, Norman L. And Howe, Thomas - The Big Book of Bible Difficulties
Geisler, Norman L. And Turek, Frank - I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist
Hagglund, Martin - This Life
Ham, Ken, Ed. - Demolishing Supposed Bible Contradictions: Volume 1
Ham, Ken and Hodge, Bodie and Chaffey, Tim, Eds. - Demolishing Supposed Bible Contradictions: Volume 2
Harwood, William - Mythology’s Last Gods
Helms, Randel - Gospel Fictions
Helms, Randel - Who Wrote the Gospels?
Holden, Joseph M. and Geisler, Norman - The Popular Handbook of Archaeology and the Bible
Kennedy, Titus M. - Unearthing the Bible
Koukl, Gregory - Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions
Lewis, C.S. - A Grief Observed
Loftus, John W. - The Christian Delusion
Loftus, John W. - Christianity Is Not Great
Loftus, John W. - The End of Christianity
Loftus, John W. - Why I Became an Atheist
Loftus, John W. and Rauser, Randal - God or Godless?
MacDonald, Dennis - Does the New Testament Imitate Homer?
MacDonald, Dennis - The Homeric Epics and the Gospel of Mark
MacDonald, Dennis - Mythologizing Jesus
Matthews, Victor H. And Benjamin, Don C. - Old Testament Parallels
Mazar, Amihai - Archaeology of the Land of the Bible 10,000-586 BCE
McDowell, Josh and McDowell, Sean - Evidence That Demands a Verdict
McLaughlin, Rebecca - Confronting Christianity
Newberg, Andrew and Waldman, Mark Robert - Why We Believe What We Believe
Nicolaou, Corinna - A None’s Story
Nongbri, Brent - Before Religion
Shanks, Hershel - Ancient Israel
Stavrakopoulou, Francesca - God: An Anatomy
Strobel, Lee - The Case for Christ
Strobel, Lee - The Case for a Creator
Strobel, Lee - The Case for Faith
Wallace, J. Warner - Cold-Case Christianity
Wolff, Catherine - Beyond: How Humankind Thinks About Heaven
ChristianAnswers.net - “Is the Bible Accurate Concerning the Existence and Destruction of the Walls of Jericho?”

[@jameschapman6559]

Really appreciate these videos. As a former Conservative Evangelical Christian, Bible College student and Bible teacher, these videos are just what I need as I deconstruct my faith. My life has started to feel freer and more enjoyable since living life in the here and now, instead of waiting to die for heaven. Thank you!

[@join.arethion]

I'm so glad these videos helped on your journey. I really built this video series thinking, "What would I have wanted while I was deconstructing." But even then, you never know if what would have helped you would help others. So I'm deeply appreciative of comments like yours. :-) By the way, Arethion is more than just this channel. We're building an online and in-person community of people who are doubting, deconstructing, or who are non-religious. That's the other thing I was lacking on my journey - friends and support. If you're interested, we've got lots more information on our website: arethion.com. I hope you'll consider joining the community!

[@gtavtheavengergunnerlegend3340]

great info

[@Teejaye1100]

OMG, I’ve always wondered why more people aren’t talking about the Saul story being a rip of 2nd Maccabees 3. You hit it on the head, I’m loving this series and will share it. Thank you so much for the work you’ve done. You are a jewel to humanity!!

[@join.arethion]

Wow, thanks so much for your comment! I'm glad you're enjoying it, and seriously, thanks for sharing! As a Christian, I was unaware of this information for so long, I just hope other people encounter it and engage with it.

[@druidriley3163]

Good video.

[@join.arethion]

Thanks so much! :-)

[@thomasbernhart8595]

Sources please

[@join.arethion]

Check the video description for a bibliography! :-) And thanks for watching!

[@alligatarz2304]

Where are the strict parallels between mark and homer written about? Is there really evidence of word for word copying from Homer? I poked around on the Academic Bible subreddit and it seems Homeric influenced is highly debated in critical scholarship. How confident are you in this claim considering it’s ( as far as I can tell and I could be wrong ) lack of widespread acceptance in more mainstream scholarship?

[@join.arethion]

Thanks for your comment! The description of the video contains a bibliography, where you can find sources and more information. I'd characterize the topic this way - How OFTEN Homer was used is what's debated, and rightly so. Basically, there are cases where it's pretty much a lock (like the one I cover in depth in this video). There are other cases where a Homeric source is more dubious. Based on the research I encountered in building this video series, I would make the following claim: Were pagan and Old Testament literary sources used to create stories about Jesus? Yes, this is factually undeniable. Which *particular* story can be traced to which particular source VS being a wholly original story? Widely debated (and rightly so). Does that answer your question?

[@kflsh7709]

I would change your profile picture. It looks a lot like a triple parenthesis, a very offensive antisemitic symbol.

[@join.arethion]

Thanks for the comment. I can state unequivocally that the logo is NOT antisemitic. Rather it's a symbolic representation of ripples moving outward, like when you drop a stone in a pond. Arethion is an organization dedicated to purpose, community, and service, and the idea is that our good actions ripple out from us and help others. I definitely appreciate the feedback, but also wanted to clarify that it's not an antisemitic dog whistle. Nothing could be further from the truth!

[@kflsh7709]

@@join.arethion of course it’s not intentional but the internet might not take so kindly to it either way.

[@join.arethion]

Just wanted to let you know I modified the logo to include a fourth circle in an attempt to differentiate it from the "triple parentheses" hate symbol. There are a few instances where the logo is "baked" unfortunately or where it appears in the background of a video, but anywhere I can change it, I am. Thanks again for the tip off! A number of people helped get this project off the ground, but I wasn't aware of this possible interpretation until your comment, so I really appreciate it!

[@kflsh7709]

@@join.arethion no problem, i’m glad you’ve changed the logo it looks just as good now. Good luck with the channel.

[@shanetlogan]

If anyone wants to challenge what this guy is claiming I would read Brant Pitre’s “The Case for Jesus”…. He shows that the theory of anonymous gospels is completely not true and quite frankly, a ridiculous fantasy to hold.

[@join.arethion]

Thanks! I'll take a look at that source. However, I want to emphasize a few points. In Lee Strobel's "Case for Christ," he interviews one of the leading Christian NT scholars, Craig Blomberg, who states explicitly on page 23 that the gospels were anonymous. Second, you are correct that many of the gospels were *assigned* to the same authors, but that's a separate issue from whether or not those authors WROTE the books. As demonstrated in the case of Mark, he was not Peter's secretary and had likely not been to Palestine. Similarly, Matthew's named was assigned incorrectly because Papias tells us it was a book of Jesus' sayings written in Hebrew, which is factually incorrect. Third, many of the ancient texts we have were assigned those names because of what I'd call "librarian efforts" over the centuries. It is a historical fact that the names assigned to the gospels stuck, and as people collected scrolls, held them in libraries, copied them, etc. they followed that naming schema. But again, this is a separate topic from whether or not those people WROTE the texts. I am 100% open to changing my view if the evidence points toward genuine authorship by those individuals, which is why I plan to review the source you shared. But I just wanted to be clear that (1) even conservative Christian scholars agree the scrolls were anonymous, (2) we have strong evidence those people did not write the gospels, and (3) the fact later scrolls bear their names simply reflects a Christian consensus developed among the people who were directly responsible for keeping, copying, and labeling scrolls. Thanks for the discussion! :-)

[@equalizerperiloustimes4840]

you are a liar it wasn't Elijah who told the woman but rather the woman told Elijah what i have to do with thee.. 1Kings 17:18 And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?

[@Retog]

Who?

[@join.arethion]

I think the term "liar" is a bit harsh. :-) You're correct to point out I accidentally reversed the subject and object of the story in the video. Nevertheless, the point is still relevant - John was copying a story about Elijah from 1 Kings. This was a common technique used by Christian authors when creating stories about Jesus, as covered in this video and the one on Jesus: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oHaWl6aPZtmAna8

[@atheistcomments]

Who is the third person recording the story?