mazaje:

No problelm at all. . . . .I shouldn't be asking you this because you werent the one that brought it up (davidylan brought it up). . . but I will still go ahead and ask you. . .

You accept that matthew wrote the gospel based on. . . . . . . . . . . ?

The tradition for authorship which began with papis or some other evidence you have to point to authorship outside of papias? I just want to know your position on that. . .

^^ Certainly it's a brilliant question to ask, mazaje. Although I do not force any assertions about Matthew's authorship of the Gospel that bears his name, I simply accept it as being so. On what grounds? Partly on textual criticism, and partly on general consensus. Of course, people may disagree one way or another (and I've tried to understand some of these disagreements, like the ones you raised against davidylan); but be that as it may, I don't think that the particular identity of its author is critical to my faith and commitment to Christ.

viaro:

^^ Certainly it's a brilliant question to ask, mazaje. Although I do not force any assertions about Matthew's authorship of the Gospel that bears his name, I simply accept it as being so. On what grounds? Partly on textual criticism, and partly on general consensus. Of course, people may disagree one way or another (and I've tried to understand some of these disagreements, like the ones you raised against davidylan); but be that as it may, I don't think that the particular identity of its author is critical to my faith and commitment to Christ.

OK, fair enough. . . . .