How do we tell which gospel accounts are valid and which are not?

According to the Gospel of Luke there were many people who wrote about Jesus:

Luke 1:1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things which have been fulfilled among us…

So how do we tell which gospel accounts are valid and which are not?

One way of course is through the church that Jesus created for us. Jesus didn’t leave a book - he left a church that he entrusted to the apostles and their successors to assist us. Many of the earliest Christian church leaders such as Papias (AD 125) and Irenaeus (AD 180) wrote about the gospels and their authorship. They not only tell us about the gospels that are valid but also those that are not. The writings of both Papias [Fragments 3:15, 16, 6:1, 19:1, 20:1]¹ and Irenaeus [Against Heresies Book III.1.1, 10.5, 11.8, 16.3]² name Matthew, Mark, Luke and John as valid gospels. Furthermore, Irenaeus lists a variety of gospels that aren’t valid and tells us about their authorship and the agendas of those who created spurious accounts.

Do we have any other way to tell which gospel accounts are valid? Potentially we do. The Old Testament foreshadows the New Testament. So where in the Old Testament are the four gospels foreshadowed? According to one of the early church leaders, St. Augustine, the four gospels are foreshadowed in the story of the garden of Eden³. Foreshadowing is merely where the outline of a story in the Old Testament parallels the outline of events in the New Testament. The allegorical parallels between the four rives and the four gospels are:

The first river, Pishon, which compasses the whole land of Havilah symbolizes the gospel of Matthew. Traditionally, Matthew left Judea for the area of Havilah (Arabia) where he preached until he died. According to some of the early church leaders, Matthew’s gospel was written first. It is also interesting to note that the first river in Genesis is noted for having gold and the Gospel of Matthew is the only gospel with the story of the visit of the wise men bringing gifts including gold.

The second river, Gihon, flows from Ethiopia to the Nile in Egypt and symbolizes the gospel of Mark. Traditionally, Mark eventually reached Egypt and became the first bishop of Alexandria, Egypt and lived there until he died. According to some of the early church leaders, Mark’s gospel was written second.

The third river, Tigris, symbolizes the gospel of Luke. The Tigris formed the central portion of the Assyrian Empire. Luke the Evangelist is believed by many to have been from Antioch, Syria which had once been part of the Assyrian Empire. According to some of the early church leaders, Luke’s gospel was written third.

The fourth river, Euphrates, symbolizes the gospel of John. The Euphrates originates in Asia Minor (Turkey) which was the area where the apostle John lived after leaving Judea until he died. According to some of the early church leaders, John’s gospel was written fourth.

The foreshadowing of the four gospels by the four rivers coming from Eden match the traditional chronological order of authorship of the four gospels based on the writings of the early church fathers. Also, the geographic regions associated with each of the four rivers match the geographic regions traditionally associated with each of the authors of the four gospels. Furthermore, information unique to the first river includes information unique to the first gospel, Matthew.

Now I’m going to point something out to skeptics. Why do you think that the author of Genesis listed the rivers in a specific order of one through four? It serves no literary purpose. The author of Genesis could have numbered the four rivers in any order or more appropriately not numbered them at all. It is also odd that he numbers them in the order that he did. Geographically, Gihon is the furthest west and the furthest south while Tigris is the furthest north and east. So if he were to number the rivers in a geographic direction either Gihon or Tigris should have been first or fourth but they aren’t. Also if he were ordering from proximity to the center of Eden, then Tigris should have been fourth since it is the furthest from the center of Eden, but it is third. Since there is no literary or geographic reason to give the first to fourth order for the four rivers, then there must have been another reason. That reason was prophetic. It is not a coincidence that the four rivers listed in their specific order of one to four matches the traditional chronological order of authorship of the four gospels and the associated geographic regions for their authors.

References

1. The Comprehensive New Testament pp. 436, 567, 684

2. Ibid p. 567, 604, 684

3. Augustine civ 13.21 “The Garden is the church itself, as we can see from the Canticle of Canticles [4:12]; the four rivers are the four gospels; the fruit bearing trees are the saints.”

Dr. J. Clontz, Aidan University