Year: 2018
Type: article
Abstract: The apparent anonymity of the Gospels is a neglected topic in New Testament studies. The present article offers an investigation of the theme. Initially, there is a survey of the work that has been done specifically on the subject, as well as how it is treated in Gospels scholarship more broadly. The main body of the argument is in two parts. First, anonymity cannot be inferred from an absence of authorial self-reference in the body of the work, and therefore the argument that the Gospels are anonymous because they do not contain the authors’ names is invalid. Secondly, and more positively, while the titles contained in the earliest Gospel manuscripts may well in their present form be secondary, this does not exclude earlier attributions of authorship made in some other way. Practical considerations make the presence of author’s names very likely. Second-century Christian literature is replete with references to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John as authors of Gospels, and there is never any sense that the Gospels were anonymous or written by others. The most likely conclusion to be drawn is that the attributions of authorship are original.
DOI: 10.1093/jts/fly113
Author: Simon Gathercole
Institution: University of Cambridge
Language: English
Subfield: Religious studies
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4247171688