| − | The Gospel of Matthew does not name its author, but the ancient church fathers were unanimous that the author was Jesus' disciple Matthew. Mark and Luke both use the name [[Levi]], Matthew's other name, but the book of Matthew does not. | + | The Gospel of Matthew does not name its author, but the ancient church fathers were unanimous that the author was Jesus' disciple Matthew. In their own [[Gospels]], Mark and Luke also refer to Matthew as "[[Levi]]", but the book of Matthew does not. |
| | In the second century, the Church Father Saint [[Irenaeus]] records that St. Matthew wrote the First Gospel and that the Four Gospels were already universally accepted by the Christian Church as Inspired Scriptures: "We have learned from none others the plan of our salvation, than from those through whom the Gospel has come down to us, which they did at one time proclaim in public, and, at a later period, by the will of God, handed down to us in the Scriptures, to be the ground and pillar of our faith ... Matthew also issued a written Gospel among the Hebrews in their own dialect, while Peter and Paul were preaching at Rome, and laying the foundations of the Church. After their departure, Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, did also hand down to us in writing what had been preached by Peter. Luke also, the companion of Paul, recorded in a book the Gospel preached by him. Afterwards, John, the disciple of the Lord, who also had leaned upon His breast, did himself publish a Gospel during his residence at Ephesus in Asia."<ref>Against Heresies, Book III, Chapter 1, Saint Irenaeus. http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103301.htm</ref> Saint Matthew the Apostle therefore wrote in the lifetime of Sts. Peter and Paul, and St. Mark shortly thereafter wrote his own Gospel based on the preaching of St. Peter. | | In the second century, the Church Father Saint [[Irenaeus]] records that St. Matthew wrote the First Gospel and that the Four Gospels were already universally accepted by the Christian Church as Inspired Scriptures: "We have learned from none others the plan of our salvation, than from those through whom the Gospel has come down to us, which they did at one time proclaim in public, and, at a later period, by the will of God, handed down to us in the Scriptures, to be the ground and pillar of our faith ... Matthew also issued a written Gospel among the Hebrews in their own dialect, while Peter and Paul were preaching at Rome, and laying the foundations of the Church. After their departure, Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, did also hand down to us in writing what had been preached by Peter. Luke also, the companion of Paul, recorded in a book the Gospel preached by him. Afterwards, John, the disciple of the Lord, who also had leaned upon His breast, did himself publish a Gospel during his residence at Ephesus in Asia."<ref>Against Heresies, Book III, Chapter 1, Saint Irenaeus. http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103301.htm</ref> Saint Matthew the Apostle therefore wrote in the lifetime of Sts. Peter and Paul, and St. Mark shortly thereafter wrote his own Gospel based on the preaching of St. Peter. |