The Muslim Challenge:
“If only we knew who wrote them [the four Gospels] then it would be more believable.”
My response:
You claim, “you are like the only person in the world to claim it is clearly written by the author, whos name you have not mentioned yet? Please tell us who are the authors of the gospels according to Mathew, Mark, luke, and john are.”
And what is the basis of your claim?
The internal evidences within the documents themselves demonstrate that Matthew wrote Matthew; Mark wrote the Gospel of Mark; Luke wrote both the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts; John wrote the Gospel of John.
Muslim answer:
If Mathew wrote Mathew would he label it according to Mathew doesn’t make sense
The fact its labelled according to means a third person wrote it.. who is that third person??
My response:
It is not up to you or me to dictate how writers at the time of Jesus and immediately after choose to identify themselves as the authors of the books they wrote.
We receive the writings found in the New Testament as reliable historical records about the life, words, and deeds of our Lord Jesus Christ. We receive these New Testament writings as a reliable historical record of the formation of the original New Testament church as recorded in the book of Acts. You are well aware, I’m sure, that the book of Acts was written by Luke. The writings of Paul also reflect the development of the New Testament church. There are many “undesigned coincidences” between the book of Acts and the letters of Paul which demonstrate that these are accurate historical records about people, places, and events. See the book by William Paley, Horae Paulinae.
That Matthew wrote the Gospel of Matthew is confirmed by the fact that he includes material that only he was in a position to know first hand. This is especially true of what Matthew records about how the guards of the tomb of Christ went to their authorities to report that on the third day the tomb was empty. They were told to report that the disciples came and stole the body while they slept. Matthew would have access to that information because as a former tax collector (called “publican” in the KJV), he had inside contacts who would know of these things.
That Mark wrote the Gospel of Mark is evidenced by the fact that Mark includes a brief mention of himself when as a young man he was present at the arrest of our Lord Jesus Christ in the garden and he escaped capture under rather embarrassing circumstances.
Luke identifies himself in both of his writings (Luke and Acts) by the formal prefaces he wrote for both works. Luke tells us he most carefully secured information from actual eye witnesses who were there when the events Luke records happened. Certainly one of the sources Luke used was the mother of Jesus herself, for only Mary could tell of the things Mary said she “kept in her heart.” Luke is a much more accurate historian than his contemporary critics.
John includes in his Gospel a sworn statement as to its accuracy and authenticity. John reports things he heard and saw that no other person was in the same position to hear and see.
All these things and much more can be verified by anyone who would take the time to read these historically accurate accounts preserved as primary source documents in the New Testament.