Regarding this passage in Matthew, Professor Newman, of University
College, London, says: "There is no other man known in history to
whom this verse can allude. If so, it shows how late, how ignorant,
how rash, is the composer of a text passed off on us as sacred truth"
(Religion Not History, p. 46).
"Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the
gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee
the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on
earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on
earth shall be loosed in heaven" (xvi, 18, 19).
This passage was written at the beginning of the establishment of the
Roman Catholic hierarchy, for the purpose of securing the recognition
of the Church of Rome (the founding of which tradition assigned to
Peter) as the church of Christ.
Bishop Marsh, in his Michaelis, says: "If the arguments in favor of
a late date for the composition of St. Matthew's Gospel be compared
with those in favor of an early date, it will be found that the former
greatly outweigh the latter."
Dr. Davidson admits that Matthew is an anonymous work. He says:
"The author, indeed, must ever remain unknown" (Introduction to the
New Testament, p. 72).
Mark.
As to where the Gospel of Mark was written, whether in Asia, in Africa,
or in Europe, is unknown. Some believe that it was written at Antioch;
Chrysostom states that it was written at Alexandria; Irenæus says
that it was written at Rome. If it was written at Rome it was probably
written in Latin instead of Greek. Smith's "Bible Dictionary" concedes
that "it abounds in Latin words." The following is an example:
"And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name
is Legion: for we are many" (v. 9).
Commenting on this passage, the Rev. Dr. Giles says: "The Four Gospels
are written in Greek, and the word 'legion' is Latin; but in Galilee
and Perea the people spoke neither Latin nor Greek, but Hebrew, or
a dialect of it. The word 'legion' would be perfectly unintelligible
to the disciples of Christ, and to almost everybody in the country"
(Christian Records, p. 197).
If it was written in Latin, then our Greek Mark, like Matthew, instead
of being an original Gospel, is simply an unauthenticated translation.
Mark has generally been considered a Petrine Gospel; orthodox
Christians claiming that Peter dictated the Gospel to Mark. Discussing
this claim, the author of "Supernatural Religion" says: "Throughout
the Gospel there is the total absence of anything which is specially
characteristic of Petrine influence and teaching" (Vol. I.,
p. 362). Volkmar and others declare it to be Pauline. One thing can
be affirmed with certainty; it was not written by John Mark, neither
was it dictated by Peter.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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