John W. Wenham was a Anglican Bible scholar. Born in 1913, he devoted his professional life to academic and pastoral work.

Among New Testament Greek scholars Wenham's work The Elements of New Testament Greek is well regarded.

In 1992 John Wenham published Redating Matthew, Mark and Luke which discusses the dating of these gospels and the relationship of the gospels to one another (prior to Wenham's work. John A.T. Robinson, a liberal theologian, had written a widely known book titled Redating the New Testament which also advocated a early date of the gospels. Wenham accepted the church father evidence of authorship, and inferred a very early date for each of the synoptic gospels. Wenham's work is well regarded by those who supported the Augustinian hypothesis which is the traditional view of gospel authorship. Scholars consider the two strongest defenders of the Augustinian Hypothesis in the twentieth century to be John Wenham and B.C. Butler. Wenham's work which gained him recognition among Bible scholars and lay persons was his work Easter Enigma which offered Bible exegesis that argued for the harmony of the gospel accounts. As a result of these two works Wenham is frequently cited in regard to these issues in the discipline of Christian apologetics. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... The Augustinian hypothesis holds that Matthew was written first, then Mark, then Luke, and each Evangelist depended on those who preceded him. ... This article discusses textual hermeneutics. ... Christian Apologetics is the field of study concerned with the systematic defense (apologetics) of Christianity. ...

In his work Redating Matthew, Mark and Luke Wenham wrote regarding the book of Matthew the following: "The [Church] fathers are almost unanimous in asserting that Matthew the tax-collector was the author, writing first, for Hebrews in the Hebrew language: Papias (c. 60-130), Irenaeus (c. 130-200), Pantaenus (died c. 190), Origen (c. 185-254), Eusebius (c. 260-340), Epiphanius (c. 315-403), Cyril of Jerusalem (c. 315-86) and others write in this vein. The Medieval Hebrew gospel of Matthew in Even Bohan could be a corrupted version of the original. Though unrivaled, the tradition has been discounted on various grounds, particularly on the supposed unreliability of Papias, from whom some would derive the whole tradition." (John Wenham, Redating Matthew, Mark & Luke (1991), p. 116). Wenham also argued for the Gospel of Mark being the second gospel written which he claims is consistent both with internal evidence and with the testimony of the church fathers. [1] Papias (working in the 1st half of the 2nd century) was one of the early leaders of the Christian church, canonized as a saint. ... Saint Irenaeus (ca. ... Pantaenus was the head of the catechetical school at Alexandria, ca. ... Origen ( 182– 251) was a Christian scholar and theologian and one of the most distinguished of the Fathers of the early Christian Church. ... Eusebius is the name of several significant historical people: Pope Eusebius - Pope in AD 309 - 310. ... Epiphanius (clearly manifested) was the name of several early Christian scholars and ecclesiastics: Epiphanius of Salamis, bishop of Salamis in Cyprus, died 410, author of Panarion Epiphanius of Constantinople, died 535, Patriarch of Constantinople 520—535 Epiphanius Scholasticus, known only as the assistant of Cassiodorus who compiled the Historiae Ecclesiasticae... Cyril of Jerusalem was a distinguished theologian of the early Church ( 315 - 386). ...

Mr. Wenham works include:

• The Elements of New Testament Greek (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1965).
• Easter Enigma, originally, Easter Enigma: Are the Resurrection Accounts in Conflict? (Exeter, Devon, UK: Paternoster Press, 1984; repr., Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Publishing House, n.d.).
• Redating Matthew, Mark and Luke: A Fresh Assault on the Synoptic Problem IVP: 1992

External links

• The Evangelical Quarterly - "Wenham": An Appreciation of the Elements of New Testament Greek by Mark Goodacre

• Book Review - Redating Matthew, Mark and Luke