Why Would an Ancient Author Write a Book Anonymously?

In response to yesterday’s post, I received a seemingly simple question that is both intriguing and complex.  I will devote two posts to giving an answer

 

QUESTION:

Why were the gospels written anonymously? Was this the usual practice with this type of account in those times?

 

RESPONSE:

It’s a bit surprising that more attention hasn’t been paid to this question by scholars, who, as a rule, are *far* more interested in proving that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were written by the people nam...