How old were the disciples of Jesus, and how do we know this?

by ironheart777
QuickSpore

It is unknown, and likely unknowable.

Tradition names the authors of the four gospels. But they weren't assigned those names until well after they were written. Odds are they likely weren't written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. And most academics place the first (Mark) as having been written in the late 70s, so 40 years at least after Christ's death.

And as "Mark" makes some basic errors in geography, writes in Greek not Aramaic, and makes mistakes about Jewish scriptures, he is likely not a firsthand witness of any of the events he is describing. And both "Matthew" and "Luke" use "Mark" as a source, so they aren't direct witnesses either. "John" might have been. But as he is writing at least 70 years after the events, that seems unlikely as well.

Bart Ehrman does a good intro into the issues surrounding the four gospels in his book Misquoting Jesus.