ys placed at the beginning of the New Testament. While the order of the books in the New Testament changes in early lists and texts, Matthew is always placed first. One reason for this was that this was the gospel believed to have been written first, though scholars today dispute this finding. Another reason was that early Christians were more aware that their religion had its roots in Judaism, so the issue of the relationship between the two groups remained an important one. In any case, Matthew was the most quoted of the books of the New Testament and was considered "particularly suitable for use in the growing churches, both for the instruction of converts and for the training of church leaders" (France 16).
Matthew remained one of the four accepted gospels. Many others were written in the early years of the church, but Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were the only four accepted (France 16). Calling these four books "gospels" is a convention. "The" Gospel is the proclamation in the ministry of Jesus and through him the reign of God: "It is the good news of man's incorporation into this reign, this kingdom, through the remission of sin" (Albright and Mann xix). Each of the four gospels is thus designated "The Gospel according to."
Matthew's name does not appear in the Old Testament or the Apocrypha, and it is not found in the Greek papyri of the New Testament period. One scholar speculates that it might be a late form of the name Amittai, the father of Jonah. The apostle Matthew is considered to b
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