In his first book on Matthew\u2019s Gospel, maintaining the Canon of the Church, [Origen] testifies that he knows only four Gospels, writing as follows: \u201cAmong the four Gospels, which are the only indisputable ones in the Church of God under heaven, I have learned by tradition that the first was written by Matthew, who was once a publican, but afterwards an apostle of Jesus Christ, and it was prepared for the converts from Judaism, and published in the Hebrew language. The second is by Mark, who composed it according to the instructions of Peter, who in his Catholic epistle acknowledges him as a son, saying, \u2018The church that is at Babylon elected together with you, saluteth you, and so doth Marcus, my son.\u2019 And the third by Luke, the Gospel commended by Paul, and composed for Gentile converts. Last of all that by John.”<\/p>\n
In the fifth book of his Expositions of John\u2019s Gospel, he speaks thus concerning the epistles of the apostles: \u201cBut he who was \u2018made sufficient to be a minister of the New Testament, not of the letter, but of the Spirit,\u2019 that is, Paul, who \u2018fully preached the Gospel from Jerusalem and round about even unto Illyricum,\u2019 did not write to all the churches which he had instructed and to those to which he wrote he sent but few lines. And Peter, on whom the Church of Christ is built, \u2018against which the gates of hell shall not prevail,\u2019 has left one acknowledged epistle; perhaps also a second, but this is doubtful. Why need we speak of him who reclined upon the bosom of Jesus, John, who has left us one Gospel, though he confessed that he might write so many that the world could not contain them? And he wrote also the Apocalypse, but was commanded to keep silence and not to write the words of the seven thunders. He has left also an epistle of very few lines; perhaps also a second and third; but not all consider them genuine, and together they do not contain hundred lines.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition [Origen] makes the following statements in regard to the Epistle to the Hebrews in his Homilies upon it: \u201cThat the verbal style of the epistle entitled \u2018To the Hebrews,\u2019 is not rude like the language of the apostle, who acknowledged himself \u2018rude in speech\u2019 that is, in expression; but that its diction is purer Greek, any one who has the power to discern differences of phraseology will acknowledge. Moreover, that the thoughts of the epistle are admirable, and not inferior to the acknowledged apostolic writings, any one who carefully examines the apostolic text will admit. … If I gave my opinion, I should say that the thoughts are those of the apostle, but the diction and phraseology are those of some one who remembered the apostolic teachings, and wrote down at his leisure what had been said by his teacher. Therefore if any church holds that this epistle is by Paul, let it be commended for this. For not without reason have the ancients handed it down as Paul\u2019s. But who wrote the epistle, in truth, God knows. The statement of some who have gone before us is that Clement, bishop of the Romans, wrote the epistle, and of others that Luke, the author of the Gospel and the Acts, wrote it.\u201d But let this suffice on these matters.\u201d
\n— Eusebius Pamphilius. Church History VI.XXV. NPNF201.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In his first book on Matthew\u2019s Gospel, maintaining the Canon of the Church, [Origen] testifies that he knows only four Gospels, writing as follows: \u201cAmong the four Gospels, which are the only indisputable ones in the Church of God under heaven, I have learned by tradition that the first was written by Matthew, who was once a publican, but afterwards an apostle of Jesus Christ, and it was prepared for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11,23],"tags":[35],"class_list":["post-21868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-eusebius","category-origen","tag-authorship-of-the-new-testament"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":755,"url":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/on-the-authorship-of-the-new-testament\/","url_meta":{"origin":21868,"position":0},"title":"On the Authorship of the New Testament","author":"Nemo","date":"January 10, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Mark, the follower of Peter, while Peter publicly preached the Gospel at Rome before some of C\u00e6sar\u2019s equites, and adduced many testimonies to Christ, in order that thereby they might be able to commit to memory what was spoken, of what was spoken by Peter, wrote entirely what is called\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Church Fathers"","block_context":{"text":"Church Fathers","link":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/category\/church-fathers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21843,"url":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/eusebius-on-the-authorship-of-new-testament-books\/","url_meta":{"origin":21868,"position":1},"title":"Eusebius on the Authorship of New Testament Books","author":"Nemo","date":"January 2, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"On the Authorship of the Epistles One epistle of Peter, that called the first, is acknowledged as genuine. And this the ancient elders used freely in their own writings as an undisputed work. But his extant second Epistle does not belong to the canon; yet, as it has appeared profitable\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Eusebius of Caesarea"","block_context":{"text":"Eusebius of Caesarea","link":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/category\/eusebius\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1383,"url":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/origen-on-the-character-of-the-scripture\/","url_meta":{"origin":21868,"position":2},"title":"Origen on the Character of the Scripture","author":"Nemo","date":"September 25, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Harmony of the Scripture For as the different chords of the psalter or the lyre, each of which gives forth a certain sound of its own which seems unlike the sound of another chord, are thought by a man who is not musical and ignorant of the principle of musical\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Origen"","block_context":{"text":"Origen","link":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/category\/origen\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Origen teaching the saints","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/origen-teaching-the-saints.png?fit=728%2C961&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/origen-teaching-the-saints.png?fit=728%2C961&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/origen-teaching-the-saints.png?fit=728%2C961&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/origen-teaching-the-saints.png?fit=728%2C961&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1209,"url":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/dionysius-on-the-authorship-of-the-revelation\/","url_meta":{"origin":21868,"position":3},"title":"Dionysius of Alexandria on the Authorship of the Revelation","author":"Nemo","date":"May 9, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"That this person was called John, therefore, and that this was the writing of a John, I do not deny. And I admit further, that it was also the work of some holy and inspired man. But I could not so easily admit that this was the apostle, the son\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Dionysius of Alexandria"","block_context":{"text":"Dionysius of Alexandria","link":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/category\/dionysius-of-alexandria\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":507,"url":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/origen-threefold-meaning-of-the-scripture\/","url_meta":{"origin":21868,"position":4},"title":"Origen: Threefold Meaning of The Scripture","author":"Nemo","date":"January 2, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Threefold Scripture For Tripartite Man The way, then, as it appears to us, in which we ought to deal with the Scrip\u00adtures, and extract from them their mean\u00ading, is the following, which has been ascer\u00adtained from the Scriptures themselves. 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