<P> The gospels (and Acts) are anonymous, in that none of them provide the name of the author within their text . While the Gospel of John might be considered somewhat of an exception, because the author refers to himself as "the disciple Jesus loved" and claims to be a member of Jesus' inner circle, most scholars today consider this passage to be an interpolation (see below). </P> <P> There is general agreement among scholars that the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) show a high level of cross-reference . The usual explanation, the Two - source hypothesis, is that Mark was written first and that the authors of Matthew and Luke relied on Mark and the hypothetical Q document . Scholars agree that the Gospel of John was written last, using a different tradition and body of testimony . In addition, most scholars agree that the author of Luke also wrote the Acts of the Apostles, making Luke - Acts two halves of a single work . </P> <P> According to tradition and early church fathers, the author is Mark the Evangelist, the companion of the apostle Peter . The gospel, however, appears to rely on several underlying sources, varying in form and in theology, which tells against the tradition that the gospel was based on Peter's preaching . Various elements within the gospel, including the importance of the authority of Peter and the broadness of the basic theology, suggest that the author wrote in Syria or Palestine for a non-Jewish Christian community which had earlier absorbed the influence of pre-Pauline beliefs and then developed them further independent of Paul . </P> <P> Early Christian tradition held that the Gospel of Matthew was written in "Hebrew" (Aramaic, the language of Judea) by the apostle Matthew, the tax - collector and disciple of Jesus, but according to the majority of modern scholars it is unlikely that this Gospel was written by an eyewitness . Modern scholars interpret the tradition to mean that Papias, its source, writing about 125--150 CE, believed that Matthew had made a collection of the sayings of Jesus . Papias's description does not correspond well with what is known of the gospel: it was most probably written in Greek, not Aramaic or Hebrew, it depends on the Greek Gospel of Mark and on the hypothetical Q document, and it is not a collection of sayings . Although the identity of the author is unknown, the internal evidence of the Gospel suggests that he was an ethnic Jewish male scribe from a Hellenised city, possibly Antioch in Syria, and that he wrote between 70 and 100 CE using a variety of oral traditions and written sources about Jesus . </P>

Who was the man that wrote the bible