This is one of those very interesting topics that worth sharing. Our early church fathers had quite a bit to say about our four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). Of the four Gospels alone, there are 19,368 citations by the church fathers from the late first century on. The following are quotes from those early church fathers on the gospels themselves:


Papias lived from 70AD to 163AD, was a disciple of the Apostle John, and was a Bishop of Hierapolis (which is located in modern Turkey). Here’s what he wrote down (as quoted by Eusebius in his book Ecclesiastical History (340AD)):



Ireneaus lived from 130AD to 202AD. He was a disciple of Polycarp, who was a disciple of the Apostle John. And he became a Bishop in Gaul (modern France). In the 3rd book of his 5 volume set, Against Heresies, he writes this:


Later in the same book, he talks about the comparison of the cherubim angels that had four faces, and compares them to the 4 gospels, and then further compares them to the 4 covenants that God has given man (Noah, Abrahamm, Moses, Christ). He says “It is not possible that the Gospels can be either more or fewer in number than they are.” And then he starts section 9 of chapter 11 with “These things being so, all who destroy the form of the Gospel are vain, unlearned, and also audacious; those, [I mean, ] who represent the aspects of the Gospel as being either more in number than as aforesaid, or, on the other hand, fewer.” Here is the quote in full context:


Clement of Alexandria

Clement of Alexandria lived from 150AD to 215AD, and was a disciple of Justus, who was a disciple of Mark, who was a disciple of Peter. Here is what he wrote about the gospels (as quoted by Eusebius in his book Ecclesiastical History (340AD)):




Also interesting is that around the year 180, Tertullian mentioned that several of the original documents were still around in his time. Corinth, Philippi, Thessalonica, Ephesus, and Rome. And in the early 4th century, Peter, Bishop of Alexandria, speaks of the original document of the Gospel of John still existing in his day.