Authorship of Gospels and Clement's Letter 

This article will examine external/objective witness in regards to the authorship of the gospels and their time of composition.

A comparison will line up both the traditional conservative view of the authors of the gospels and the liberal view of the gospels and evaluate evidence based on objective/external data to arrive at a conclusion

External/objective data in regards to the time of composition for the gospels is remarkably consistent. An Issue wouldn't arrive with one outlier but what do the multiplicity of witnesses say in regards to when the gospels were written. This examination will look at the apostles, associates of the apostles and the collective mass of followers from several continents.

Liberal View vs Conservative View

Liberal View essentially believes that the gospels were composed in the between 80CE-120 CE by some anonymous people. 

Conservative/traditional historical view maintains that the gospels were written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John from as early as the 30s CE to the 60s CE. (John Wenham, A.T. Robinson) 

Comparison of liberal and conservative view on the authorship of the gospels based on external/objective testimony. 

 Independent verification was important in Old Testament era (Deuteronomy 17) New Testatment era (2 Corinthians 13) and even today. When a person lines up both the liberal and conservative view side by side and evaluate on the basis on external evidence the liberal view loses every time. The result is clear that the view is exposed as having no objective evidence it is nothing more than subjective conjecture. Liberal view is conjecture disproven by external evidence. The historically traditional/conservative view is corroborated and established on the basis of objective data.

Its important to remember that there is a history underlying the authorship and time of composition of the gospels. History is not silent on the matter. 


Clement's Letter - Written in the 60s CE

Clement of Rome wrote a letter which was commonly thought to have been written in 96 CE but the internal evidence demonstrates that this letter was written pre-70 CE. 

The pre-70CE date is beneficial as it demonstrates the existence and authority of various gospels and epistles of the apostles within the lifetime of the writers, their associates, various church communities around the world to whom the writers traveled.