Who Wrote the Gospels?

There is a common misperception concerning the origin of canonical gospel accounts. Widely taken as dogma is the misinformation that the gospels are eyewitness accounts. The gospels weren’t written by the apostles or immediate disciples. The authors are cognizant of Jerusalem’s destruction in 70 A.D., so their narratives were not written until at least 40 years or more after Jesus lived. We don’t know who the authors were, only that they attached the name of esteemed leaders to their work in order to gain respect. The gospel writers didn’t see anything they wrote about, rather they recorded stories about Jesus and set them in a scenario paralleling stories in the Jewish calendar. They put the words of the Old Testament Prophets in his mouth to confirm his calling. The writer of Mark copied down portions of the mass of arcane, esoteric wisdom, which had been transmitted for centuries orally in the mystery religions and wrapped them around Jesus. Then Matthew copied Mark and added “The sayings of Jesus” corpus found in another source called Q for Quelle, German for source. Q was discovered by subtracting the text of Mark found in Matthew and Luke. Q is the common material left in Matthew and Luke after the removal of Mark. Evidently, the Gospel of Mark was less popular than the Gospel of Peter in the second century. More copies of the Gospel of Peter have been found than of Mark.
Because of the similarities found in two other early manuscripts, it appears that the substratum for Luke came from ‘The Gospel of the Lord’ by Marcion, bishop in a pre-existing Docetic church, which worshipped a non-historical, non-incarnate Christ. This network of ecclesia known as the Therapuetia pre-dates Paul. Jews initiated in pagan mystery cults formulated the resurrection story. Horus the Christ and Mithra the Christ were prototypes for Jesus the Christ.
In fact, Paul’s letters were written before the gospels. He never mentions a virgin birth. That theme had not been applied to Jesus as yet. Mark does not mention a virgin birth either, but Matthew and Luke borrow from the treasure trove of esoteric allegory to crown Jesus with this halo. The militant church summarily destroyed the records of the myths they plagiarized. The infamous burning of the Alexandrian library plunged the western world into the dark ages. Only after the Enlightenment has the ancient knowledge of Egypt, India, and Persia that inspired the bible come to light.
Realizing that the Bible is only the word of men, albeit inspired and holy, we are freed from the dilemma of answering to the unjust God portrayed in the Old Testament. When the scripture contradicts the spirit of love, we know the scripture errs. We are not befuddled by seeming exhortations to subordinate women or discriminate against homosexuals. Our own conscience, the spark of divinity in all of us, dictates to our heart that all people are equal. God is love and we can be sure that ‘God is “not” on our side’, if we take the side of aggressor even when that oppressor is Israel. “Hallelujah’ we don’t have to be prejudice, even if the Bible prescribes it.

Good News according to Mark

A casual reading of the parallel gospels causes one to realize that there are many differences in the synoptic writings. It is now accepted by Bible scholars that Mark was the first gospel written. It is indeed the shortest and along with the lost manuscript Q forms the core of the other gospels. It is revealing to recognize the way Matthew and Luke edit Mark. A few examples reveal Matthew and Luke's intentions. For instance, Mark frequently relates how Jesus was often angry. Mark 3:5,21;10:14;11:15. Matthew and Luke omit or sanitize these verses. Why? Maybe they didn't want to portray Jesus with this all too human emotion. Mark 3:7-22 says that Jesus healed 'many'. Matthew and Luke when relating this story, say that Jesus healed 'them all'. Evidently they didn't want their readers to doubt Jesus' power. Mark says that Jesus' relatives thought him a madman. Matthew and Luke omit this incident. Did they not want people to consider that Jesus' own family doubted him? We begin to see a pattern of Matthew and Luke downplaying Jesus' humanity and playing up his divinity. Mark 6:2-3 says Jesus was a 'carpenter'. Matthew 13:55 says Jesus was a 'carpenter's son.' Being a carpenter was a lowly position, but being the son of a carpenter was less of a smear. Mark6:4-13 says Jesus was 'unable to perform a single miracle.' Later gospels say 'not many miracles.' They refuse to admit Jesus' limitations. Mark 10 has Jesus say, "Why do you call me good?" Matthew 19 quotes Jesus, "Why do you ask me about the good?" Is Matthew editing this verse to play down Jesus' humility? In Mark 10:32-45, James and John quarrel about their place in the kingdom. Matthew in 20:20, changes this episode to deflect demeaning attitude from the apostles and has their mother Salome make the request. Mark 11:1-11 quotes
Daniel but changes 'donkey' to 'colt.' He doesn't want Jesus seen riding on an animal of derision but on an animal emblematic of Roman royalty. Mark 11 tells the story of Jesus cursing the fig tree. The other gospels omit this incident showing Jesus' human frustration. Mark 14:50 tells us that 'all' the disciples abandoned Jesus. The later writers copying Mark saw fit to omit this story that paints the disciples in bad light. Mark 15 praises women for their devotion to Jesus and their important place in his ministry. The later gospels downplay or eliminate women's role. All of these redactions make obvious that each word of the Bible is not to be taken literally or as inspired verbatim. We see the human element at play. Moreover, we realize that layers were added to the original story. Mark mentions neither a virgin birth or a resurrection. His Jesus is totally human. The later gospels develop his divinity. So what is the good news of Mark? Jesus was just like us. He accessed the kingdom of God within, and so can we. The Holy Spirit is our birhtright, even it we don't realize our dividne potential We don't need to find God, we are never lost. We live and move and have our being in God.