let's see not, the crucifixation has taken place and the apostles decide to fulfill their command to go forth and teach all nations. They have a copy of the Torah and a pile of various letters, documents, notes, submitted by followers up to date. As they try to decipher the various submissions, more keep coming in from apostles and other followers who have gone about their tasks. They recieve a gospel from James, Barrabas, Thomas, and letters and documents from all over the area. They decide to make a "book" compiling all the things that they recieve from their followers, but they must first edit it and decide what to use and what they will not put in their book.
They (the early Catholic church) take a look at Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and THEY decide that these will be the gospels, the good news of Christianity. They also include a bunch of letters from Paul, James, and many various and sundry writings which THEY considered relevant. They did, however, eliminate many which simply did not pass THEIR muster. They formulated the book and had someone HAND WRITE IT. As years went by, the monks and other clergy of the Catholic church copied the new bible many thousands of times. Only royalty and the wealthy could afford to purchase a copy hence the lack of distribution among the common people. Along came Gutenberg and his printing press.
from that point on, virtually anyone who could read (few at the time) could afford a bible, and soon one was available in many different languages (of course converted from language to language by Catholics. (there was no one else).The Catholics even left that pesky book of Matthew in...since they were the only ones around, they certainly could have eliminated it!!!
So, sit back, relax, read your Catholic protected bible, and let the true Christian church decide on how to handle St Matthew. I'm sure he will be impressed by their efforts!!
>> “They recieve a gospel from James, Barrabas, Thomas” <<
.
Absolute falsehood!
Thank God my Bible was secure 300 years before the Pharisees founded the pagan catholic church. The real church had the four real gospels and all of the epistles centuries before the catholic church existed.
It must feel good to belong to a ‘church’ that deliberately defies the commandments of Christ, and makes a seance mockery of his communion remembrance.