Thank you for the question on the human authorship of the Bible, “Which apostles wrote the Bible?”
The Apostle Paul writes that it is the Holy Spirit who inspired the writers of Scripture, being under his influence and direction. The Apostle Peter affirms in his letter that no prophesy came about by the writer’s themselves. As one reads the Old Testament, God commands at times his words be recorded as in Jeremiah and by John.
The question asks which apostles wrote the Bible. There were 12 apostles that Jesus chose to be with him, to be his witnesses and to fulfill the mission of declaring the love of God for his creation.
The Apostles who wrote part of the New Testament are as follows:
1. Matthew, the tax collector, wrote the Gospel of Matthew.
2. John, the fisherman, wrote the Gospel of John, the three epistles of John and the Book of Revelation.
3. Peter, the fisherman, wrote the Epistles of I-II Peter.
The men who wrote
Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts was associated with Paul.
- James, the half brother of Jesus and early church leader wrote the Epistle of James was associated with the Apostles.
- John Mark, the cousin of Barnabas, wrote the Gospel of Mark was associated with Peter, Paul, and Barnabas.
- Luke, the physician, wrote the Gospel of Luke and Acts was associated with Paul and the Apostles.
- Paul, the Pharisee, wrote Romans, I-II Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, I-II Thessalonians, Philemon, I-II Timothy and Titus was associate with the Apostles and called to be an apostle to the Gentiles by Jesus himself.
- Jude wrote the Epistle of John most likely associated with the Apostles. He may have been the brother of James, the half brother of Judas or Judas, one of the apostles (Lk. 6:16, Acts 1:13).
- The authorship of the Epistle to the Hebrews is unknown or unclear as scholars think it may have been Barnabas, Apollo or even Paul himself. The person’s knowledge of the Tabernacle/Temple could have associated himself with Paul who was a Pharisee who knew the Torah.
There are other references of other letters written by the Apostles. God in his providence has preserved those letters to be part of the New Testament.
SUMMARY: Three apostles and six associates with the apostles wrote the New Testament letters.