Four Evangelists

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The symbols of the four Evangelists are here depicted in the Book of Kells. The four are, clockwise from top left, Matthew, Mark, John, and Luke.

The four Evangelists appear on the ceiling of the choir in the 15th-c. Church of St. Moritz in Rottenburg am Neckar, Germany. Clockwise from top right are Matthew (man), Mark (lion), Luke (ox), and John (eagle).

The Four Evangelists refers to the authors of the four Gospel accounts in the New Testament that bear the following ancient titles:

Gospel according to Matthew (Greek: Ευαγγέλιον κατά Μαθθαίον),
Gospel according to Mark (Greek: Ευαγγέλιον κατά Μάρκον),
Gospel according to Luke (Greek: Ευαγγέλιον κατά Λουκάν),
Gospel according to John (Greek: Ευαγγέλιον κατά Ιωάννην).

However, the evangelists do not introduce themselves by name; and there is no evidence that the ancient titles stating these names were already in, or appended to, the autographs of the four Gospel accounts. Most modern scholars therefore consider it safer to assume the authors to have been anonymous, and the names to have been attributed to the accounts by later generation Christians for reasons other than actual authorship. Traditionally, though, the four evangelists have been held to be two of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus of Nazareth, John and Matthew, and two "apostolic men", Mark and Luke, and this is still the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church today:

Matthew – a former tax collector who was called by Jesus of Nazareth to be one of the Twelve Apostles,
Mark – a follower of Peter and so an "apostolic man",
Luke – a doctor who wrote what is now the book of Luke to a friend Theophilus. Also believed to have written the book of Acts (or Acts of the Apostles) and a close friend of Paul of Tarsus,
John – a disciple of Jesus of Nazareth and possibly the youngest of his Twelve Apostles.

In iconography the evangelists often appear in Evangelist portraits derived from classical tradition, and are also often represented by the following symbols:

Matthew the Evangelist, the author of the first gospel, symbolized by a man, to represent the human nature of Christ, and also because the Gospel starts with Jesus' genealogy from Abraham (Albeit paternally, which in some way conflicts with his divine patronage).
Mark the Evangelist, the author of the second gospel, symbolized by a lion, to represent Christ as king. Mark has John the Baptist preaching "like a lion roaring" at the beginning of his Gospel.
Luke the Evangelist, the author of the third gospel and the Acts of the Apostles, symbolized by a bull or a calf, to represent Christ as sacrifice and as priest, or to symbolize God's power. This also represents Mary as obedient, like an ox, as this is the only Gospel where she says something. Also, the gospel starts on the temple duties of Zacharias in the temple.
John the Evangelist, the author of the fourth gospel, symbolized by an eagle, to represent the Christ as God, or to represent God's "all-seeing eye", and also due to the fact that John has some things recorded in his Gospel which the other three synoptic do not contain. Having a "higher" level of theology and also to separate it from the other "terrestrial" animals are more reasons as to why an eagle was chosen. This replaced the scorpion as a sign early on (see Tetramorph).

The attribution of the four animals comes from the four living creatures described in the Book of Revelation, although which animal represents which apostle has sometimes been disputed. Another possibility of this is based on a vision revealed to the prophet Ezekiel. The symbol of Matthew, the man, for example, is sometimes mistaken for an angel, but this is due to the fact that wings are given to all four symbols.

Note that while Matthew is often cited as the "first Gospel" – not only owing to its place in the canon but also in view of the patristic witness to this effect – nowadays most scholars see the Gospel of Mark as written first (arguing for a date for Mark around the year 65, and for Matthew around 80), also see Gospel.

It has become customary to speak of "the Gospel of Matthew" … "the Gospel of John", not least because it is shorter and rolls much smoother off the tongue; but it needs to be noted that the ancient titles do not use the genitive of possession, but the preposition "according to", signifying that each evangelist sets forth the one "Gospel of God" according to his own capacity, but not in the sense of creating his own story.