Who were the Four Evangelists?

The Four Evangelists were St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke and St. John, the four disciples of Jesus Christ that are credited with writing the “Four Gospels,” namely the New Testament books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. It should be noted that these books are the first four books of the New Testament. The biographies of the Four Evangelists are not fully documented in the scriptures and the details concerning their lives and works are in many respects oral tradition.

St. Matthew was a publican, namely a tax-collector, who was called by Jesus Christ to serve as his disciple when Jesus was preaching in Galilee (Matthew 9:9–13). St. Matthew may have at some point in his career as a tax-collector collected taxes on behalf of Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee that had John the Baptist beheaded.

St. Mark was born in Cyrene, North Africa, and was a disciple of Jesus Christ. He is believed to have founded the first Christian church in Alexandria, Egypt. It should be noted that the church in Alexandria is one of the original Apostolic Sees in the Eastern Orthodox Church alongside Rome, Antioch, Constantinople, and Jerusalem.

St. Luke was born in Antioch, Syria, and was a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He was a physician by trade (Colossians 4:14) before he became a disciple of St. Paul. He was a disciple of Paul in various capacities until Paul’s martyrdom at the hands of Emperor Nero in A.D. 67.

St. John was a disciple of Jesus Christ. He is believed to have been born in Jerusalem. He is believed to be “the disciple that Jesus loved” (John 19:26–27). St. John is the likely author of the book of John, the Johannine Epistles (1, 2, and 3 John,) and the book of Revelation.

The exact date that the Four Evangelists wrote the Four Gospels is difficult to know, however, it is believed that they wrote them between the years of A.D. 65 and A.D. 95.