Anyways, papiass writings are lost but some of what he wrote has survived in quotations from the early church fathers mostly irenaeus and eusebius. Papias and his writings are referred to at greater length in the church history of eusebius from the early part of the fourth century. It tells how israels messiah, rejected and executed in israel, pronounces judgement on israel and its leaders and becomes the salvation of the gentiles. Eusebius says that papias also made use of testimonies from the first letter of john and likewise from that of peter hist. Papias, who was a 2ndcentury bishop of hierapolis, mentions i john and quotes it several times, but he distinguishes between john, the apostle, and john, the presbyter. But papias himself in the preface to his discourses by no means declares that he was himself a hearer and eyewitness of the holy apostles, but he shows by the words which he uses that he received the doctrines of the. Therefore, to papias elder meant more than advanced age or church leader, evidently apostle as in 1 peter 5. Papias was bishop of hierapolis in phrygia pacatiana, a town a few m. Papias, bishop of hierapolis a dictionary of early. Little is known about the life and death of papias c. How do we know who wrote the gospels in the new testament.
While these five books have not survived, we have fragments preserved by irenaeus, eusebius and others, with citations here taken from eusebius. If this is true it would mean papias was in a position to learn about who wrote the gospels from eyewitnesses like john the apostle and polycarp who was a companion of the apostles. Originally, there were five books compiled by him irenaeus, against heresies, 5. The historical literary evidence demonstrates that the early church understood matthew the apostle to have been the author of an original hebrew aramaic gospel of matthew. Rather than being about the church father papias, this is simply an amateur work that uses a few quotes from papias to advance the authors view regarding the authorship and dating of the gospel of matthew and revelation. Who wrote the gospels, and how do we know for zondervan. In the first half of the second century, papias, an obscure bishop of hierapolis, wrote a five volume treatise called an exposition of the lords oracles. The testimony of papias concerning matthew is more problematic. Eusebius had an axe to grind with regard to the book of revelation, but this does not. Papias is the earliest writer to tell us about the authorship of some of the gospels. If you havent read those posts and are personally inclined to think that his testimony about matthew and mark are accurate, i suggest you read them the posts before reading this one.
This work, which is lost apart from brief excerpts in the works of irenaeus of lyons c. In addition to what i cite in that other post just linked, the antimarcionite prologue to john tells us that papias attributed the fourth gospel to john see section r here. Polycarp, papias, and internal evidence point to the region of asia minor as the probable sources of the. His papias and matthew, papias and his elder john is wellreasoned and thorough, using papias to convince readers of the apostolic authorship and early dates of the gospel of matthew and all the works of john. Like the other canonical gospels, the authorship of matthew is unknown. So if eusebius chose to make expressly clear that papias was not as close to the apostles as irenaeus said, he. Papias, irenaeus, pantaenus, and origen all report matthew as the. After origen, eusebius, jerome, augustine and others echoed the opinion of matthean authorship. Does church father papias prove the gospels existed in the. These things are attested by papias, an ancient man who was. Matthew put together the oracles of the lord in the hebrew language, and each one interpreted them as best he could. The early church is unanimous in their acceptance of matthew as the writer of the first gospel. However, origen adds nothing to what papias has said, and may well have assumed that papias was speaking about the gospel rather than a sayings source.
The only source for the apostolic authorship of the. May 25, 2012 papias was an early christian bishop from hierapolis, in the phrygian part of the roman province of asia. Papias wrote an extensive collection of books most scholars would say sometime well before 150 ce which have subsequently been lost to history. The greek version of matthew that has survived to us may have constituted one of the translations described by papias. Papias, flourished 2nd century, bishop of hierapolis, phrygia now in turkey, whose work explanation of the sayings of the lord, although extant only in fragments, provides important apostolic oral source accounts of the history of primitive christianity and of the origins of the gospels according to the 2ndcentury theologian irenaeus, papias had known the apostle john.
Testimony for matthew s authorship of a hebrew gospel the historical literary evidence demonstrates that the early church understood matthew the apostle to have been the author of an original hebrew aramaic gospel of matthew. Papias again attests to the saints authorship and indicates that he was the first to compile a collection of jesus sayings in the aramaic language. Jul 28, 2016 papias himself preferred the living voice to what could be found in books. But, what evidence do we find about the author of the first book in the new. The earliest known reference for the tradition of an author, matthew, comes from papias of hierapolis, 120140 ce. The gospel according to matthew was thus rightly received by christians as authoritative based on the apostolic authority of matthew, because the distinct content of the gospel was traced back to matthew. Although this work is now lost, isolated fragments have been preserved in quotations and references by irenaeus c.
Assuming papias included the written gospels among his books see hill, the johannine corpus. Matthew needed to be organized in order to do his job, and the author of the book of matthew appears to. Even the title according to matthew kata maqqaion is found in the earliest manuscripts, and was the most highly regarded and quoted of the gospels by the church fathers. It is the view of the author that papias is most likely describing a hebrew. Papias on matthew and mark in my previous two posts i showed why papias is not a reliable source when it comes to the authorship of matthew and mark. According to irenaeus and eusebius, papias wrote his exposition of the logia of the lord in five books. Jesus evidences the historical literary evidence for jesus. In particular, this is what eusebius tells us church history 3. The earliest external evidence that matthew wrote the gospel comes from a fourthcentury historian eusebius quoting papias, a secondcentury church father.
In my response to richard bauckham cited earlier, i also argue that papias refers to the authorship of matthew and john. Papias, ehrman and the gospels faithful philosophy and. Apr 04, 2016 a few sentences later, papias describes the words of the elders as what andrew or peter said, or philip, or thomas or james, or john or matthew or any of the lords disciples, and whatever aristion and the elder john, the disciples of the lord, were saying hist. Jan 04, 2016 in my response to richard bauckham cited earlier, i also argue that papias refers to the authorship of matthew and john. Ad 60 other than he was the bishop of hierapolis in asia minor now modern turkey, and he recorded details regarding jesus and the apostles in five books entitled exposition of the sayings of the lord. The apparent claim that matthew wrote in hebrewwhich in greek could refer to either. A few sentences later, papias describes the words of the elders as what andrew or peter said, or philip, or thomas or james, or john or matthew or any of the lords disciples, and whatever aristion and the elder john, the disciples of the lord, were saying hist. However, short excerpts of his work are quoted by church fathers in subsequent centuries, namely eusebius of caesarea and apollinaris of laodicea, both writing in the fourth century.
The same person uses proofs from the first epistle of john, and from the epistle of peter in like manner. He wrote the exposition of the sayings of the lord greek. The reason hebrew matthew was translated into greek by matthew. He speaks of an original aramaic version of the gospel of matthew, which existed before the greek one.
Ad 60 writes, matthew put together the oracles of the lord in the hebrew language, and each one interpreted them as best he could. Why scholars doubt the traditional authors of the gospels. So if eusebius chose to make expressly clear that papias was not as close to the apostles as irenaeus said, he likely had good reason to believe this. Sep 03, 2017 anyways, papiass writings are lost but some of what he wrote has survived in quotations from the early church fathers mostly irenaeus and eusebius. He said, matthew put together the oracles of the lord in the hebrew language, and each one interpreted them as best he could. The early external testimony is universal on two points. Papias, the hearer of john, and a companion of polycarp irenaeus, against heresies, v. This week, we continue our series as we consider the authorship of the gospel of mark. Eusebius, ecclesiastical history 3 on the gospel authorship. We will consider the internal and external evidences, as well as the date of the composition, and the area where mark was located. If you havent read those posts and are personally inclined to think that his testimony about matthew and mark are accurate, i suggest you.
Regarding papiass purported discussion of an original gospel of matthew, a collection of jesuss sayings in hebrew or, rather, aramaic, professor of theological studies and dean of the graduate school of theology at wheaton college. Papias of hierapolis resources american bible society. But now we must add to the words of his, which we have already quoted, the tradition which he gives in regard to mark, the author of the gospel. On the composition of mark and matthew, citing papias bishop of hierapolis in.
The gospel of matthew, john the elder and the papias tradition. Papias was an early christian bishop from hierapolis, in the. The traditional authors of the canonical gospelsmatthew the tax collector, mark the attendant of peter, luke the attendant of paul, and john the son of zebedeeare doubted among the majority of mainstream new testament scholars. Papias was one of the earliest patristic writers of the early church. Papias, ehrman and the gospels faithful philosophy and the past. A possible reply is that eusebius would have realized the closer papias is to the apostles, the stronger witness for gospel authorship papias expositions becomes. There are extant five books of papias, which bear the title expositions of oracles of the lord. Gospel authorship catholic education resource center.
Last week, we began a series on the authorship of the new testament documents as we discussed the gospel of matthew. Nevertheless, papias seems to have known the gospels, and he provides the earliest tradition concerning the authorship of the gospel of mark. Still later sources also mention papias, say clearly legendary things about him, and allegedly quote from his book. Eusebius tells us in the same passage that irenaeus makes mention of these books as the only works written by him, in the following words. The gospel according to matthew is the first book of the new testament and one of the three synoptic gospels. Unfortunately, papiass books are now lost except for some excerpts found in the. Assuming papias included the written gospels among his books. Apr 01, 2018 papias wrote an extensive collection of books most scholars would say sometime well before 150 ce which have subsequently been lost to history. Papias, irenaeus, pantaenus, and origen all report matthew as the writer of the first gospel. These things are attested by papias, an ancient man who was a hearer of john and a companion of polycarp, in his fourth book. The identity of papias elder john had said were still. He tells us that the apostle matthew put together the discourses of jesus in the aramaic language. In other words, it seems that papias uses the word.
Matthew is identified with the tax collector called as an apostle mt 9. The gospel reflects the struggles and conflicts between the evangelists community and the other jews, particularly with its sharp. The first section on the gospel of matthew is interesting. And he wrote at the beginning, the book of the generation of jesus christ, the son. Donaldson and coxe write, later writers affirm that he suffered martyrdom about ad 163. The quote is ambiguous, and scholars cant definitively say what it means, but according to eusebius, papias said this about matthew. Testimony for matthews authorship of a hebrew gospel. Authorship since the times of the early church fathers, the apostle matthew has always been accredited with the authorship of the first gospel canonically. Papias was not referring here to the gospel of matthew.
Papias was the bishop of hierapolis in southern asia minor, living at the beginning of the second century at the same time as ignatius ecclesiastical history, 3. Oct 28, 2016 2 second, papias, irenaeus, clement of alexandria, eusebius, and origen all affirm matthean authorship. Why scholars doubt the traditional authors of the gospels 2017 matthew wade ferguson. Full text of the oracles ascribed to matthew by papias of. Full text of the oracles ascribed to matthew by papias of hierapolis. Rochford papias was the bishop of hierapolis in southern asia minor, living at the beginning of the second century at the same time as ignatius ecclesiastical history, 3. Introduction to the gospel of matthew study resources. Papias early christian writer and bishop britannica. Papias was an early christian bishop from hierapolis, in the phrygian part of the roman province of asia. Eusebius refers to papias only in his third book, and thus seems to date him before the opening of his. In my previous two posts i showed why papias is not a reliable source when it comes to the authorship of matthew and mark. All three synoptic gospels and the book of acts list matthew among. But papias is also interesting because of what he has to say concerning the origin and authorship of the gospels. May 02, 2019 in my previous two posts i showed why papias is not a reliable source when it comes to the authorship of matthew and mark.
William watson, professor of history, colorado christian university. For papias seems to have been a man of very small intelligence, to judge from his books. His writings are thought to date ad, however more recently, scholars have been moving towards a date of 95110 ad. He also mentions peter as the main source for marks information regarding the gospel of mark. Papias himself preferred the living voice to what could be found in books. Quickly, the matthew mentioned by hierapolis came to be associated with matthew the tax collector.