What is Gospel of Matthew?
{{Books of the New Testament}} [[File:ModenaBiblEstenseCodGr1Fol11vMatt.jpg|thumb|250px|right|St Matthew writing his gospel. Picture from a Medieval [[Bible]].]] The '''Gospel of Matthew''' is a book of the [[Bible]]. (Its full name is the '''Gospel According to Matthew''', but it is often called the '''Gospel of Matthew''' or just '''Matthew'''). It is one of the four [[gospel]]s of the [[New Testament]] that tell the story of [[Jesus]]' life and teachings. It is ''not'' thought to have been written by the apostle [[Matthew the Evangelist|Matthew]], who was one of Jesus' [[Twelve Apostles|twelve apostles]] (see below). The Gospel of Matthew is called one of the [[synoptic gospels]] because it has some of the same stories and language as the [[Gospel of Mark|Gospels of Mark]] and [[Gospel of Luke|Luke]]. Matthew wrote the gospel mainly for the [[Jew]]ish people, to show them that Jesus is really the [[Messiah]]. Like the Gospels of Mark and Luke, Matthew tells many stories about Jesus' life. Matthew's gospel also talks about [[Hebrew Bible|Jewish scripture]]. == Date and author == Early Christian tradition attributes the gospel to the apostle [[Matthew the Evangelist|Matthew]]. This is now rejected by modern scholars.<ref>Burkett, Delbert 2002. ''An introduction to the New Testament and the origins of Christianity''. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-00720-7</ref><ref>This view is based on three arguments: (a) the setting reflects the final separation of Church and Synagogue, about 85 AD; (b) it reflects the capture of Jerusalem and destruction of the Temple by the Romans in 70 AD; (c) it uses Mark, usually dated around 70 AD, as a source: see R.T. France 2007. ''The Gospel of Matthew'', p. 18. [https://books.google.com/books?id=0ruP6J_XPCEC&pg=PA18]</ref> The name of the author is not known. Likely it was written in Syria, in the last quarter of the first century AD. Because it spread rapildly, it was likely written in a city. A city commonly cited is [[Antioch|Antioch on the Orontes]]. the mdern