Monday, April 12, 2010
Faith & Scriptures: The Gospel of Matthew: the most Jewish gospel
The modern scholarship about the New Testament suggests that it was not written by the apostle Matthew but only attributed to him.
Ahmadiyya Times | News Staff | Excerpts
Source & Credit: Google Knol
By Zia H. Shah | Upstate, NY
It is one of the four canonical Gospels and is perhaps the most Jewish of all the Gospels with maximum stress on following the Jewish Law. It was written around 80 AD about ten years after the Gospel of Mark. According to Encyclopedia Britannica:
"It has traditionally been attributed to Matthew, one of the 12 Apostles, described in the text as a tax collector (10:3). The Gospel was composed in Greek, probably sometime after ad 70, with evident dependence on the earlier Gospel According to Mark. There has, however, been extended discussion about the possibility of an earlier version in Aramaic. Numerous textual indications point to an author who was a Jewish Christian writing for Christians of similar background. The Gospel consequently emphasizes Christ’s fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies (5:17)."
The modern scholarship about the New Testament suggests that it was not written by the apostle Matthew but only attributed to him.
Matthew's gospel for good reason is considered to be the most 'Jewish,' of the canonical gospels. For example note this passage, which is a part of the Sermon on the Mount, from New International Version:
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. (Mathew 5:17-20)
Other verses stressing the importance of Law include but are not limited to:
Luke 4:4, Mathew 19:16-18 and John 15:10.
Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad describing the Ebionites, postulates in his book, 'Christianity: a journey from fact to fiction' that the Gospel of Matthew may have come from them:
"The Ebionites regarded Jesus as mortal and esteemed him as righteous through the growth of his character. As Jews, they observed the Sabbath; every detail of the Law, and did not accept the Pauline idea of salvation through faith alone. He also talks of another group of Ebionites who accepted the virgin birth and the Holy Spirit, but refused to accept Jesus’ pre-existence as ‘God the Word and Wisdom’. They followed a ‘Gospel of the Hebrews’ which could possibly have been St. Matthew’s Gospel. They observed the Sabbath and the Jewish system, but celebrated the resurrection."
Also see the knols about the Council of Jerusalem and Ebionites. Polar opposite to the Gospel of Mathew are the teachings of Paul condemning the Law that are tabulated in a comment below.
Continue to read more here: The Gospel of Matthew: the most Jewish gospel
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