Evidence for the Authenticity of Matthew

(Borrowed from multiple online sources)

EXTERNAL:

· The earliest evidence concerning the authorship of the Gospels comes from the writings of Papias, a bishop in Asia Minor during the early part of the second century. Fragments of his work entitled Exposition of Oracles of the Lord, written between 130 and 140, have been preserved by later writers

· According to the historian Eusebius (4th century), Papias said, "Now Matthew collected the oracles in the Hebrew language, and each one interpreted them as he was able" In other words, Matthew gathered Jesus' sayings into a single compilation written in either Hebrew or Aramaic.

· Irenaeus – who claimed to know Polycarp, a student of the apostle John -(130-200) (Adv. Haer. 3.1.1): "Now Matthew brought forth among the Hebrews a written gospel in their language, while Peter and Paul were preaching in Rome and founding the church."

· Origen (185-254) (as quoted by Eusebius, H.E. 6. 25.3-4) asserts, “…I have learned by tradition that the first was written by Matthew, who was once a tax collector, but afterwards an apostle of Jesus Christ, and it was prepared for the converts from Judaism, and published in the Hebrew [or Aramaic] language.”

· Jerome (342-420) more than once asserts that Matthew wrote his gospel in Hebrew, and says that it is not known with certainty who translated it into Greek. He even claims that the original Hebrew gospel can be found in the library at Caesarea (De vir. ill. 3; see Ad Damas. 20; Ad Hedib. 4).

INTERNAL:

· Until recently, most scholars tacitly assumed that the four gospels first circulated anonymously and that the present titles were first attached to them about A.D. 125. There is little evidence to support this date as the decisive turning point…this consensus has been vigorously challenged by Martin Hengel. Hengel argue, “the unanimity of the attributions in the second century cannot be explained by anything other than the assumption that the titles were part of the works from the beginning. It is inconceivable, he argues, that the Gospels could circulate anonymously for up to sixty years, and then in the second century suddenly display unanimous attribution to certain authors.” Hengel, in his book, The Four Gospels and the One Gospel of Jesus Christ, concludes that the four canonical gospels were never even formally anonymous

· There is no internal, direct evidence for the date of the composition of the Gospel of Matthew. There is, however, a piece of internal, indirect evidence to consider. The Gospel of Matthew transmits several sayings of Jesus that concern the role of the Temple in the life of the Jewish people (Matt 5:23-24; 12:5-7; 17:24-27; 23:16-22). On the assumption that the author would not include sayings of Jesus that were no longer relevant to his readers, the Gospel of Matthew was written before the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE.