Knowing The Word in Matthew

Continuing with introductory material:

Another issue to be considered with Markan priority is that someone other than Matthew the disciple, who personally witnessed the ministry of Jesus, took the Gospel of Mark and then expanded it to include other “traditions” and sources to form a gospel that became associated with Matthew. If this be the case, which more liberal scholars follow, then we get into an issue of the inerrancy of Scripture. Mark would seem to be an original and inspired source and Matthew a theological variation on it. It also means that the testimony of the Church Fathers is ignored. There is no evidence of Matthew’s dependency upon Mark nor of Mark’s upon Matthew’s. Farnell writes, “The assumed dependence of Matthew and Luke on Mark is totally without historical foundation, as is the assumed dependence of Mark on Matthew and Luke instead of on Peter’s preaching.”

In putting this evidence into theological perspective and my understanding of the inerrancy and divine inspiration of Scripture, I must come to the conclusion that Matthew was the first gospel written. Yes, there are still so many unanswered questions about the shared material in the synoptic gospels; however, we should not be surprised that since these gospels are all attributed to eyewitness accounts, they should be very similar. Now we can enjoy Matthew and its uniqueness among the synoptic gospels.