The Traditional View of Matthew As Author – Arguments in Favor – Arguments Against

Traditional Supporting View of Matthew

• Placed first in the range of Gospels despite the fact that it was not the first to be written.
• Contains stories not found in any other Gospel
• Systematic way of arrangement
  • It allows the better understanding of the content
  • Quite advanced for its time
  • 5 distinct passages
  • Introductory Section as well
  • Concluding Section as well
  • Common end for each section
• Most sayings are from older documents
  • Making them authentic for most Christians
  • Sequence is the same as Mark
    • Gives chronological validity
  • Has supported the text with sayings of Jesus
  • Better management than Luke
    • For example the Sermon on the Mount is all at one place in Matthew but in Luke it is spread all around
• For historical Jews
  • Matthew gives more regard to the Old Testament than MOST gospels
  • He uses Old Testament to interpret the life of jesus
  • In a way, Jews think Matthew was in support of the Christianity being a sub-sect of Judaism and not a separate sect.
  • So more acceptable to the Jews than most other Gospels
• He even writes a few events from Jesus’s life to prove that he fulfilled the Jewish Prophecy
  • Tries to create a bridge between Jewish and Christianity
• Matthew connects Christian ancestry to Abraham
  • That makes Christianity an inherent Abrahamaic religion
• Matthew combines teachings and narrative in a single form
  • He narrates events as in  Mark
  • Then takes pauses in between and tells Jesus’s words
  • This way, the teachings become more in line and more understandbale
• Matthew does NOT agree with the individualistic attitude supported by Saint Paul
  • He even indirectly accuses Paul and his followers to be broken from the Kingdom of Heaven based on Jesus’s teachings.
• Matthew was focused on ALL people, not specifically the Jews
  • It is more encompassing than most other Gospels
  • For example, different parables about common life.
• He asks for more than formal obedience
  • He asks for the implementation of the ideas of religion in common life.
  • Formal obedience alone is not the correct motive according to him when it comes to living life according to someone’s teachings.
• He does not polarization regarding the establishment of the Church
  • He supports both the views
    • 1. Church will be established in the future
    • 2. Already present in the hearts of people
• It is based on temporary sources that were existent
  • Not a personal narrative
  • More authority
  • Like Logia, mark and Q source
• Represents different point of views to avoid polarization.

Against Arguments For Matthew

• The fact that it contains stories not found elsewhere
  • Raised questions about the authenticity of the Gospel
  • Some writers consider it to be the personal opinion of the author more than a text of historical evidence and sancticity
  • A few analysts have gone as far as to declare it a traditional work of fiction.
• The arrangement
  • The highly systematic arrangement shows that the Gospel is a work of writing significantly than quoting reality.
  • It could very well be a work a historical dilemma one way or another.
  • The fact that it contains introductions and conclusions place it in more a formal writing contemporary than a religious text.
• Most sayings are from TEMPORARY SOURCES
  • Some of these sources are no longer available.
    • No one has the original copy of the Logia or Q source,
    • No one knows if they REALLY existed
    • The sayings in the Gospel can be fabricated as well.
      • Jesus never said them
      • OR Jesus said different versions of the them
  • The key question here is
    • If Jesus actually said them, why didn’t the other three canonical Gospels quoted some of these sayings?
    • If they were from sources already present, they would have been quoted.
• A rearrangement of other Gospels with fabrication
  • Most of the data in Gospel of Matthew has been taken from Mark, Luke and others and rearranged.
  • The sayings are fabricated to support the same text in a unique way.
  • It could be a thoughtful attempt to write a better version of Luke.
• Matthew remained too neutral or too inclined to gain Jewish support
  • The views of Matthew DO NOT polarize the difference between Christianity and Judaism
  • In essence, he could have taken the optimistic approach to gain support from the majority Jews.
• The text of Matthew focuses on sub-sect philosophy
  • The writer places Christianity as a sub-sect of Judaism and deliberately inserts stories to show the Jesus fulfilled the prophecy in Old Testament.
  • His views may have been personally biased being a Jewish Christian himself
  • No objectivity in the material: subjectivity takes over.
• Matthew’s version places a close relation with Christian movement and Herod
  • He links the physical movement from one location to another based on Herod
    • It places Judaism as a more important and crucial determinant of Christianity
    • Takes away religious solidarity from Christianity
• He disagrees with the notion set by Paul
  • In Christian theology, Paul’s interpretation has not been as criticized as Matthew to quote a Jesus’s reference to declare them infidel to the religion indirectly.
• Formal obedience vs non formal obedience is a crucial determinant between Christians and different sects.
  • His ideas align with Jewish ideas of whole-hearted following
• His views of Christian Church are vague
  • Supports both ideas.

AYLOTITeam

The core team of AYLOTI Study including the CEO, Hunain Zia, the current World Record Holder in O and A Level Education (154 A, 11 World Records and 7 Distinctions).