Mark & Luke were NOT Apostles
So why were their books included in the Bible while others like the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Mary (Magdalene), and others were not? Thomas was one of the Apostles and Mary was a known follower of Jesus and was the first witness of his resurrection. She is mentioned as accompanying Jesus on his journeys (Luke 8:2) and is listed in the Gospel of Matthew as being present at his crucifixion (Matthew 27:56). In the Gospel of John, she is recorded as the first witness of Jesus' resurrection (John 20:14–16); (Mark 16:9 later manuscripts).
Mark
Mark was the son of a woman named Mary (Acts 12:12) and the cousin of the evangelist Barnabas (Colossians 4:10). Mark was much younger than the other writers. His mother was a prominent follower of Jesus Christ. Acts 12:12 tells us that her house in Jerusalem was used as a meeting place for other disciples. From this verse we also learn that her son’s full name is John Mark. Mark was also a follower of Jesus Christ but would likely have been in his teens when the Lord was in Jerusalem. He may have seen and listened to the Savior on occasion. After the Resurrection, as the Savior’s message was beginning to be spread, Mark traveled with the Apostle Paul. He then accompanied the Apostle Peter to Rome and stayed by him while he was in prison. Mark is known as Peter’s interpreter, both in speech and in writing. As a fisherman from Galilee, Peter may not have spoken Greek fluently, so Mark interpreted for him.
In his book, Mark wrote down the observations and memories of Peter, one of the original Apostles. Mark’s book reflects Peter’s interest in spreading the gospel among the Gentiles.
Luke
Luke is an interesting writer because he did not know Jesus Christ personally. He became a follower after the Lord’s death, when Paul taught him the gospel. Luke had been a physician, but he left that profession to travel with Paul. He had the opportunity to talk with many of the Apostles as well as others who were eyewitnesses to special events or moments in the Lord’s life. In the first few verses of his book, Luke says that he is going to write the things that eyewitnesses and other teachers of the gospel had to say about the Savior. Apparently he had the opportunity to talk to many who were present when the Savior taught or performed miracles.
One of the most amazing stories Luke wrote about was the birth of the Savior. Bruce R. McConkie (1915–85) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles says that Luke probably got his information about Jesus’s birth from Mary herself.
Who were the other people Luke interviewed about Jesus Christ? The list would have been long. Many of the people who knew the Savior would still have been alive and would have remembered such important times in their lives. Paul mentions that about 500 people saw the Savior after His Resurrection and that most of them were still alive when he was writing to the Corinthians (see 1 Corinthians 15:6).
Mark was written for the Romans and this book reveals that it is for a non-Jewish audience. The writer has to explain Hebrew traditions (7:2-4) and Palestinean conditions (11:13). His narrative was likely written to encourage Christians in Rome who were feeling the effects of tribulation for the cause of Christ. He mentions persecution as the cost of discipleship at a point where both Matthew and Luke, in parallel contexts, refrained from using that term (10:30).
Luke was designed to address the Greeks. It is clear that Luke is writing for non-Hebrew recipients. He explains, for example, that Capernaum is “a city of Galilee” (4:31), that the country of the Gerasenes is “over against Galilee” (8:26), and that the town of Emmaus is seven miles from Jerusalem (24:13)—circumstances quite familiar already to Palestineans. He is the solitary Gentile writer of the Bible, yet his dual books of the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts constitute about one-fourth of the New Testament. He alone mentions God’s interest in Gentiles during the Old Testament era—the cases of the widow of Zarephath and Naaman (4:25-27).
To answer the question asked above
Christians had been reading writings known as the Apocrypha and Didache, along with the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament and Torah), for several centuries. However, most of the gospels and early Christian writings were expunged at the command of Constantine in 325 AD in order to protect his political position. Books like the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Mary contained teachings that Constantine didn't like and that he felt would be detrimental to his political goals, so he refused to include them in the Bible.
Then, in 382 A.D., the Emperor Theodosius I banned and ordered destroyed all Christian writings other than what Constantine had approved for the Roman Bible and anyone within the Roman empire who was caught with one of these books was persecuted and often killed specifically to set an example for other Christians.
Mark
Mark was the son of a woman named Mary (Acts 12:12) and the cousin of the evangelist Barnabas (Colossians 4:10). Mark was much younger than the other writers. His mother was a prominent follower of Jesus Christ. Acts 12:12 tells us that her house in Jerusalem was used as a meeting place for other disciples. From this verse we also learn that her son’s full name is John Mark. Mark was also a follower of Jesus Christ but would likely have been in his teens when the Lord was in Jerusalem. He may have seen and listened to the Savior on occasion. After the Resurrection, as the Savior’s message was beginning to be spread, Mark traveled with the Apostle Paul. He then accompanied the Apostle Peter to Rome and stayed by him while he was in prison. Mark is known as Peter’s interpreter, both in speech and in writing. As a fisherman from Galilee, Peter may not have spoken Greek fluently, so Mark interpreted for him.
In his book, Mark wrote down the observations and memories of Peter, one of the original Apostles. Mark’s book reflects Peter’s interest in spreading the gospel among the Gentiles.
Luke
Luke is an interesting writer because he did not know Jesus Christ personally. He became a follower after the Lord’s death, when Paul taught him the gospel. Luke had been a physician, but he left that profession to travel with Paul. He had the opportunity to talk with many of the Apostles as well as others who were eyewitnesses to special events or moments in the Lord’s life. In the first few verses of his book, Luke says that he is going to write the things that eyewitnesses and other teachers of the gospel had to say about the Savior. Apparently he had the opportunity to talk to many who were present when the Savior taught or performed miracles.
One of the most amazing stories Luke wrote about was the birth of the Savior. Bruce R. McConkie (1915–85) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles says that Luke probably got his information about Jesus’s birth from Mary herself.
Who were the other people Luke interviewed about Jesus Christ? The list would have been long. Many of the people who knew the Savior would still have been alive and would have remembered such important times in their lives. Paul mentions that about 500 people saw the Savior after His Resurrection and that most of them were still alive when he was writing to the Corinthians (see 1 Corinthians 15:6).
Mark was written for the Romans and this book reveals that it is for a non-Jewish audience. The writer has to explain Hebrew traditions (7:2-4) and Palestinean conditions (11:13). His narrative was likely written to encourage Christians in Rome who were feeling the effects of tribulation for the cause of Christ. He mentions persecution as the cost of discipleship at a point where both Matthew and Luke, in parallel contexts, refrained from using that term (10:30).
Luke was designed to address the Greeks. It is clear that Luke is writing for non-Hebrew recipients. He explains, for example, that Capernaum is “a city of Galilee” (4:31), that the country of the Gerasenes is “over against Galilee” (8:26), and that the town of Emmaus is seven miles from Jerusalem (24:13)—circumstances quite familiar already to Palestineans. He is the solitary Gentile writer of the Bible, yet his dual books of the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts constitute about one-fourth of the New Testament. He alone mentions God’s interest in Gentiles during the Old Testament era—the cases of the widow of Zarephath and Naaman (4:25-27).
To answer the question asked above
Christians had been reading writings known as the Apocrypha and Didache, along with the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament and Torah), for several centuries. However, most of the gospels and early Christian writings were expunged at the command of Constantine in 325 AD in order to protect his political position. Books like the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Mary contained teachings that Constantine didn't like and that he felt would be detrimental to his political goals, so he refused to include them in the Bible.
Then, in 382 A.D., the Emperor Theodosius I banned and ordered destroyed all Christian writings other than what Constantine had approved for the Roman Bible and anyone within the Roman empire who was caught with one of these books was persecuted and often killed specifically to set an example for other Christians.