Who was the author of Matthew?
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Who was the author of Matthew?
Post #1Who was the author of Matthew? There is almost no information on him.
jd
Author of Salt & Light; The Complete Jesus www.saltandlight.ca
Author of Salt & Light; The Complete Jesus www.saltandlight.ca
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neverknewyou
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Re: Who was the author of Matthew?
Post #2[Replying to jd01 in post #1]
Apparently, none of the Bible story writers were known and that was intentional so as not to distract from the stories being told.
Apparently, none of the Bible story writers were known and that was intentional so as not to distract from the stories being told.
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brunumb
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Re: Who was the author of Matthew?
Post #3How do you know it was intentional? How would knowing the author distract from the stories being told?neverknewyou wrote: ↑Sat Jul 30, 2022 2:55 pm [Replying to jd01 in post #1]
Apparently, none of the Bible story writers were known and that was intentional so as not to distract from the stories being told.
George Orwell:: “The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those who speak it.”
Voltaire: "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."
Gender ideology is anti-science, anti truth.
Voltaire: "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."
Gender ideology is anti-science, anti truth.
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Miles
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Re: Who was the author of Matthew?
Post #4I've heard this explanation before, and have also heard it pooh poohed. What is your source of this explanation?neverknewyou wrote: ↑Sat Jul 30, 2022 2:55 pm [Replying to jd01 in post #1]
Apparently, none of the Bible story writers were known and that was intentional so as not to distract from the stories being told.
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TRANSPONDER
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Re: Who was the author of Matthew?
Post #5There is no evidence at all that Matthew or any other gospel writer was kept anonymous so as not to detract from the story. That obviously wan't a problem when names were assigned, later on. Rather the Authority for the story is a benefit and that's why some Christian apologists argue that John is really the John of the Gospels, and so on.
I have already argued that Matthew can be identified as a writer rather than an individual. He is not a Jew as he cannot read Hebrew (he has to use the Septuagint) and doesn't understand the OT, or he wouldn't see the Rachel's children' passage as a prophecy of a massacre that he has to invent. Not to mention misconstruing the two donkeys and the 'Virgin' passage in Isaiah. His interest in the OT has lead some to suppose that he was Jewish. He wasn't.
He obviously thought the OT (Pentateuch ) material was important and useful, of only as a quarry for prophecies, but his intent was well summed up in the passage he puts into Jesus' mouth 'I have not come to destroy the law but to fulfil it'. I am sure about this - he is not saying that the old law is wrong or not Godly, but it is superseded by Jesus; it is now not needed.
I have already argued that Matthew can be identified as a writer rather than an individual. He is not a Jew as he cannot read Hebrew (he has to use the Septuagint) and doesn't understand the OT, or he wouldn't see the Rachel's children' passage as a prophecy of a massacre that he has to invent. Not to mention misconstruing the two donkeys and the 'Virgin' passage in Isaiah. His interest in the OT has lead some to suppose that he was Jewish. He wasn't.
He obviously thought the OT (Pentateuch ) material was important and useful, of only as a quarry for prophecies, but his intent was well summed up in the passage he puts into Jesus' mouth 'I have not come to destroy the law but to fulfil it'. I am sure about this - he is not saying that the old law is wrong or not Godly, but it is superseded by Jesus; it is now not needed.
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neverknewyou
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Re: Who was the author of Matthew?
Post #6[Replying to brunumb in post #3]
I don't know that it was intentional, I simply acknowledge that it is a possibility considering that all The Bible stories were written anonymously.
I don't know that it was intentional, I simply acknowledge that it is a possibility considering that all The Bible stories were written anonymously.
Last edited by neverknewyou on Sat Jul 30, 2022 11:05 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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neverknewyou
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Re: Who was the author of Matthew?
Post #7[Replying to TRANSPONDER in post #5]
The gospels were non the less written anonymously, the names assigned to them were chosen by those that came later with their own agendas.
The gospels were non the less written anonymously, the names assigned to them were chosen by those that came later with their own agendas.
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neverknewyou
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Tcg
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Re: Who was the author of Matthew?
Post #9This is not true of Paul's epistles, 7 of which are generally agreed upon to have been written by Paul. Most of the Psalms are not anonymous. The author of Revelation identifies himself as John although we aren't quite sure which John it is. There may be others as well, but this list reveals that it is not true that absolutely all the Bible stories are anonymous.neverknewyou wrote: ↑Sat Jul 30, 2022 10:47 pm [Replying to brunumb in post #3]
I don't know that it was intentional, I simply acknowledge that it is a possibility considering that all The Bible stories were written anonymously.
Tcg
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neverknewyou
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Re: Who was the author of Matthew?
Post #10[Replying to Tcg in post #9]
True, but the epistle writers wrote letters, not storied narratives. I was referring to actual story writers, not epistles or psalms.
True, but the epistle writers wrote letters, not storied narratives. I was referring to actual story writers, not epistles or psalms.
