Contradictions surround the authorship of this first Gospel of the New Testament. Although it is generally upheld as being anonymous, early church fathers thought that Matthew, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ, was its author. Whoever the author might be, its similarity to the Gospel according to Mark is striking. Divisions also persist concerning the actual date and place of writing. Some believe it was written in the early part of 50 CE, when the church was largely Jewish. Others contend it was written in the late 50s or 60s. Those who maintain that Matthew’s Gospel was drawn from Mark’s place Matthew in the 70s or even later.