Ante-Nicene Fathers/Volume IX/Origen on Matthew/Origen's Commentary on Matthew/From Book I

From the First Book of the Commentary on Matthew.

the four Gospels which alone are uncontroverted in the Church of God under heaven, I have learned by tradition that the Gospel according to Matthew, who was at one time a publican and afterwards an Apostle of Jesus Christ, was written first; and that he composed it in the Hebrew tongue and published it for the converts from Judaism.&#160; The second written was that according to Mark, who wrote it according to the instruction of Peter, who, in his General Epistle, acknowledged him as a son, saying, &#8220;The church that is in Babylon, elect together with you, saluteth you; and so doth Mark my son.&#8221; &#160; And third, was that according to Luke, the Gospel commended by Paul, which he composed for the converts from the Gentiles.&#160; Last of all, that according to John.

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