Bible (New Testament): English Standard Version

The 27 books of the New Testament were written by several different authors. According to traditional attributions, nine authors are likely represented: (1) the disciple Matthew, author of the first gospel; (2) Mark, a younger member of the disciples’ wider circle, author of the second gospel; (3) Luke, a doctor who served with Paul’s missionary teams, author of the third gospel and the Book of Acts; (4) the disciple John, author of the fourth gospel, the epistles 1, 2, and 3 John, and the Book of Revelation; (5) the apostle Paul, author of all the epistles from Romans to Philemon; (6) the anonymous author of the epistle to the Hebrews; (7) James, a member of Jesus’s family, author of the epistle by that name; (8) the disciple Peter, author of the epistles 1 and 2 Peter; and (9) Jude, another member of Jesus’s family, author of the epistle by that name.

It is important to note, however, that some scholars dispute these traditional attributions. While all the New Testament’s books fall within the earliest corpus of Christian literature, the exact authorship of some of the books is a matter of dispute, and some scholarly literature argues that at least a few of the New Testament books are pseudonymous (that is, written by someone other than the person to whom it is traditionally attributed), while other scholars defend the traditional attributions. This study guide will refer to the New Testament authors by their traditional attributions but will also make note of those places where such attributions are disputed. Estimates for the date of the New Testament texts vary, depending on whether a particular scholar finds the traditional attributions compelling or takes a more revisionist perspective. Most of the texts are agreed to hail from the first century CE, and only in the case of pseudonymous works (if any are present) would a dating to the second century CE be proposed.

The text of the gospels makes no internal claims as to their authors (their titles were added later), so scholars will sometimes refer to the gospels as the product of a hypothetical “Matthean community” or “Johannine community” rather than of Matthew or John themselves. The gospels are further complicated by the fact that they appear to have a complicated textual interdependence. The first three gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) are collectively called the synoptic gospels, a reference to the fact that they share much of their material in common. So much material is shared between the synoptic gospels that most scholars acknowledge a relationship of literary dependence between them. Several different theories exist as to how this literary dependence operates, but one of the leading theories is called the “Markan Priority Hypothesis.” In this view, the Gospel of Mark was written first, and Mark’s material was one of several sources used in the writing of both Matthew and Luke. These latter two gospels also share further content with each other that is not included in Mark, so some scholars posit the existence of yet another shared source (either a literary text or an oral tradition) called Q, which Matthew and Luke both use. Beyond their shared sources, however, each of the synoptic writers have material unique to their own text, and all three arrange and present the totality of their content in ways that are somewhat different from each other. For all their similarities, each of the synoptic gospels has its own stylistic pattern and theological emphasis that sets it apart from the others.

The Johannine literature has drawn widespread interest among scholars. The Gospel of John has often been dated later than the synoptic gospels because of its highly developed theological content, but some scholars dispute a late dating by pointing to the historical accuracy of certain details of the text, which fit better as the product of eyewitness testimony. The stylistic ties between the Gospel of John and the epistles of 1, 2, and 3 John are clear, but the Book of Revelation, also traditionally attributed to John, has been questioned because of its widely differing usage of grammar and style. Such variations can be explained, however, by the possibility that a scribe might have been employed to help write the gospel and the epistles (as would have been common in the ancient world), but not in the case of Revelation.

Paul is generally accepted as the author of the epistles attributed to his name, though with a few exceptions in the view of some critical scholars. Questions have been raised about particular books, such as Ephesians, Colossians, and the pastoral epistles to Timothy and Titus, mostly because of the developments in Christian theology and church structure that they display. Such cases tend to be circumstantial, though, so while one may find reference to the “Pauline circle” as a pool of potential authors, all the epistles attributed to Paul are usually simply called “Pauline.”

Of the remaining epistles, traditional attributions for authorship are often accepted in scholarly literature, but with a major exception in the case of 2 Peter. Of all the books suspected of pseudonymous authorship in the New Testament, 2 Peter is the leading candidate for reasons both of grammatical style and literary content (which appears to borrow heavily from the epistle of Jude). Even where Petrine authorship is disputed, however, the text is often regarded as having come from early Christians within Peter’s circle. The major remaining question mark is the epistle to the Hebrews, which makes no internal authorship claim and has a grammatical style unique among the New Testament books. Some earlier generations of scholars argued that Paul may have been the author, but that opinion has fallen out of favor because the style of Hebrews contrasts with the style of Pauline literature. Other candidates from early Christianity have been suggested as possible candidates, but no definitive attribution can be made. Nonetheless, it is generally regarded as having come from the earliest generation of Christian leadership.

As is also the case with the Old Testament, it is necessary to remember that the New Testament is not only a literary text but also a religious one, used as sacred scripture by every denomination of Christians. This bears on the question of authorship, because one of the doctrines of Christianity is a belief that God inspired the texts of the New Testament. This doctrine is attested to in the New Testament itself, in places such as 2 Timothy 3:16, where Paul writes (in reference to the Old Testament), “All Scripture is breathed out by God.” This sense of the inspiration of scripture does not deny human authorship but rather suggests that each author was guided by the Holy Spirit and protected from error (2 Peter 1:20-21). One may occasionally hear a claim in Christian circles that God is the author of the biblical text, and it is important to understand that such claims do not imply a denial of human authorship but rather a belief in the divine guidance of that process.