Which Gospel Was Written First? | The Jimmy Akin Podcast

The Jimmy Akin Podcast | Episode 061 (November 24, 2025) Was Mark just a cliff-notes version of Matthew? Jimmy Akin looks at the evidence concerning St. Augustine’s ancient theory: reversible arguments, eyewitness claims, and why Mark’s “epitome” would have failed. Discover why the 90% overlap between the two Gospels points to Mark being written first—making it unpolished, raw, and based on Peter’s preaching. Timecodes 00:00 – Coming Up 00:43 – Intro 01:07 – 1 Augustine’s Arguments 02:12 – 2 The Argument from Parallels 03:37 – 3 The Argument from Language 04:05 – 4 Matthew the Eyewitness 05:03 – 5 It’s Weak 07:12 – 6 My Own Experience 10:04 – Was Mark Hupomnemata? 12:14 – 8 Mark the Epitomizer? 13:38 – 9 A New Opportunity 14:43 – 10 Ancient Epitomes 16:15 – 11 Mark vs. the Epitomes 17:35 – 12 Mark’s Pericopes 19:20 – 13 Important Material Cut Out? 21:04 – 14 Unimportant Material Added? 22:49 – 15 An Unsuccessful Epitome? 26:04 – 16 The Case Against the Augustinian Hypothesis 28:01 – 17 Augustine’s Later Doubts? 31:15 – 18 Conclusion 33:39 – Closing/Outro 34:38 – End