Is there indication that the gospels were written by eyewitnesses?

Many who stand in opposition to the Christian faith continuously quote scholars and historians of the biblical text to show that the story of Jesus as told within the 4 gospels was actually not written by eyewitnesses. Although such things are true when it comes to Luke and Mark (even though Luke examined these things by examining the eye witnesses and their stories) can such things be said about John and Matthew?

One of the main arguments that is brought forth is that nowhere in the gospels themselves does it provide authorship to the text. Rather, the early Christians, out of their own guesswork, came to a common conclusion on who wrote the gospels and hence placed their names on the titles of each book.

Bart Ehrman, in his debate with Craig Evans said the following:

“As I studied more and more using my intelligence as an evangelical and also praying about it, I became convinced that the New testament gospels were not written by eye witnesses or by people who knew eye witnesses. The first point to make which is a rather obvious one is that the gospels don’t claim to be written by eyewitnesses. They are all anonymous.”

Another common argument brought forth, mainly by those within the Islamic religion, is that the gospels are written in the 3rd person rather than in the 1st. For example, within the gospel of Matthew, when Jesus finds him sitting at the tax collectors booth, it says that he saw a man named MATTHEW rather than he saw ME. 

Here is a video of the late Islamic debater Ahmad Deedat bringing forth this same argument. It starts at 1:20:

As usual, God’s word provides answers to both these arguments which are brought forth in an attempt to disprove the credibility of the gospels and the truthfulness of the story of Christ as told within the biblical text. The response to these is found within the gospel of saint John.

Let us begin by addressing Bart Ehrman's argument.

Within the 19th chapter of his work, John does something which Matthew did not take upon himself to do. And that is to bring the reader's attention to one who is an eyewitness to these things which are written in this text. It writes that the man who SAW these things gave testimony and that what he says is true. In other words, what we see is that someone indeed SAW what happened, and this text suggests that its author, to some degree, knows who this man is (the common conclusion in the christian world is that this man is John, but for this section, let us assume that it was not). So even if John did not write this gospel, we are aware that the author knew one who was an eyewitness or, was in some ways connected to his work. Such things would STILL make this gospel compelling even if it wasn’t written by an eyewitness, which we will see, actually was.

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[33] But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs:
[34] But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.
[35] And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe.

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The next passages we are going to look at are found within chapter 21 of John’s Gospel.  After we read the event of Christ telling Peter to follow him, we come to something quite interesting. Herein is where Bart Erhman’s argument gets thrown out the window. This is because within this section, the author writes concerning himself and informs the readers that he was THIS DISCIPLE whom Jesus loved. He says that he testifies to these things and that he WROTE THEM DOWN. As we know, the disciple whom Jesus loved was an eyewitness and even walked with Jesus during his earthly ministry.

Still objections arise towards such a passage. This is because right after we read that the author of this text was an eye witness and a disciple, it writes that “WE know that his testimony is true”. Because of the words WE and HIS, many come to think that this could not have been written by the apostle, despite it saying that IT WAS, just before this sentence is read. The problem is, if John did not add this little piece to his work, many would still object saying that his testimony is not true because there is no one else who can testify that what he says is true. This concept is also found within the 8th chapter of this gospel: [17] It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true. Even within the other gospels we read that we should have a testimony of more than one man so that every word my be proven by 2 or 3 witnesses. This is found in the 18th chapter of Matthew: [16] But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. So the reason why John included this WE is because he did not want the readers believing that this was just a story which he fashioned out of his own mind. It is very likely that other eye witnesses were present at the time this passage or this gospel was written in order to testify that what John wrote was true.

Furthermore, it writes that this disciple wrote THESE things down. In the Greek, the word THESE or THESE THINGS is τούτων and ταῦτα. This word almost all the time points to something that was just said or that went before it. For example, when we read the conclusion of the sermon on the mount in chapter 7, it reads: [28] And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: The Greek word for THESE here is τούτους, which is the same as in John 21. The reason why this is important is because when we read this closing section to the sermon on the mount, the word THESE points to what preceded it: the sermon. In the same way, the word THESE in the concluding section of John points to everything that preceded it: his gospel. 

-Many say that the gospels do not claim to be written by eyewitnesses. 

-John's gospel claims to be written by an eyewitness.

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[20] Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee?
[21] Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do?
[22] Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.
[23] Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?
[24] This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true.

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Now, let us go on to tackle Ahmad Deedat’s argument.

Deedat, as we saw, said that because the gospels, mainly

Matthew, wrote in the third person, that this is the evidence that it was not written by him. The first point I want to make is that the gospels are not meant to be a biography of the author, but a biography of Jesus. Hence, we can understand why they used the third person in their writings. The second point to note is that when we look at John’s gospel, he never refers to himself as ME or I, but as John and the disciple whom Jesus loved. These are in the 3rd person. Yet, within the following passage, he shifts from speaking in the 3rd person to speaking in the 1st. This displays unto us the way in which the apostles wrote, mainly, that they wrote in the third person using their OWN NAMES and words like HIM when speaking about themselves, despite it being THEM who authored the texts. 

-People say that the gospels are written in the 3rd person and hence could not have been written by the believed authors. 

-The author of John wrote in the 3rd person concerning himself, yet later on referred to himself as I (1st person)

Hence, the gospels being written in the third person does not disprove that they were written by the believed authors.

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[25] And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.

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