at prayer

St. Matthew the Apostle
Saint Matthew.
Feast Day 21 Sept: Bunyola

Did Matthew the Disciple, one of the Twelve, write the Gospel of St Matthew? Are they one and the same person? Christian tradition says they are. Scholars are not so sure, pointing to the style of the Greek and description of events that indicate the writer was not a contemporary of Jesus.

The Gospel of Matthew names the tax collector called by Jesus as Matthew. In the other Gospels the tax collector is known as Levi. The Church’s position is that he had both names. Modern Biblical scholars hold this as unlikely.

If we accept the latter position, that the stories in Mark about Levi are dealing with a different person, then we know nothing about Matthew except that he was one of the Twelve.