Saturday, August 25, 2012

Order in which the Gospels Were Written (Origen)

Quote from Origen's Commentary on Matthew (Book 1, Fragment)

Concerning the four Gospels which alone are uncontroverted in the Church of God under heaven, I have learned by tradition that the Gospel according to Matthew, who was at one time a publican and afterwards an Apostle of Jesus Christ, was written first; and that he composed it in the Hebrew tongue and published it for the converts from Judaism. The second written was that according to Mark, who wrote it according to the instruction of Peter, who, in his General Epistle, acknowledged him as a son, saying, "The church that is in Babylon, elect together with you, salutes you; and so does Mark my son." [1 Peter 5:13] And third, was that according to Luke, the Gospel commended by Paul, which he composed for the converts from the Gentiles. Last of all, that according to John.
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5 comments:

  1. Kyp11:38 AM

    Dear Edgar,

    thanks for the very interesting posting. May I ask whre you read Origen's Commentary?

    Thanks a lot

    Kyp

    ReplyDelete
  2. Edgar Foster8:31 PM

    Dear Kyp,

    You're welcome. Please see http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1016.htm

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous11:30 PM

    So Mathew was originally written in Hebrew?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Edgar Foster10:49 AM

    Dear Anonymous, that is what Origen seemed to claim and another church writer made a similar remark. We can't say for sure whether Matthew originally wrote his Gospel in Hebrew, but it's possible he did.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Edgar Foster10:58 AM

    See https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200002939

    Use search term, "Hebrew"

    ReplyDelete