Objection:
The Gospel of Christ According to Matthew was written in Hebrew; but it was lost,owing to corruption at the hands of Christian sectarians. The present copy is a translation and the name of the translator is unknown.
Response:
This gospel record was originally written in Greek, the predominant language during the time of Christ. Since it was God's intention to proclaim His will and purpose to mankind, it is unreasonable that the Bible would have been written in an uncommon language, lest its intended usefulness should be diminished.
Matthew was a tax collector before he was called to apostleship. Being employed in this profession, it was necessary for him to know Greek, the most common language of the day. All the apostles and disciples of Christ wrote their letters in Greek for their readers, regardless of whether they were of Jewish or Gentile background.
Many of the expressions found in this Gospel account are harmonious with those found in the other three Gospel records. The idea that Matthew wrote this Gospel account in Hebrew most likely stemmed from a statement in a letter which Papias, bishop of Hierapolis, wrote to Eusebius in AD 116: "Matthew wrote his gospel in the Hebrew tongue."
Papias did not mention that he personally saw Matthew's account of the Gospel in Hebrew but rather that the Greek version circulated among the people before his time. Thus, the statement that the Gospel of Christ according to Matthew was written in Hebrew is mere conjecture, as opposed to the proof that shows it was written in Greek. Moreover, the passage in this Gospel account, quoted from the Old Testament, were taken from the Greek Septuagint edition. Had the Gospel According to Matthew been written in Hebrew, as alleged by the objector, the quoted passages from the Old Testament would also have been taken from the Hebrew.
Though Matthew's account of the Gospel was written in Greek, we could allow the possibility of its being written in Hebrew as well. The sacred, inspired books do not lose their meaning and beauty when translated into other languages. The historian Josephus wrote his Wars of the Jews both in Hebrew and Greek to widen its appeal. In any case, this Gospel record was in circulation among Christians not too long after Christ's ascension into heaven.
In AD 178, Irenaeus stated that Matthew also published a Gospel account in Hebrew, for the convenience of the Jews; thus, there was a Greek copy, too.
In AD 230, Origen said: "Regardless the four Gospels which the whole Church under heaven clings to vigorously, I have learned from reliable authority that the first one was given by inspiration to Matthew who was a tax collector before he became a follower of Jesus Christ. He published it for the believers in Judea in Hebrew. Those words indicate that his account of the Gospel of Christ was available in Greek for the benefit of all Christians. Then it was made available to the Jews in Hebrew.
