Bart D. Ehrman - The Bane of Fundies!

[Minimalist]

Also important to keep in mind is the fact that the authorship and dating of the Gospels is a debate. There are many positions on this subject, but it would be unwise to assume that the traditional view of authorship is wrong.

For the sake of argument let's look at the "traditional" view.

Mark.1
[1] The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;
[2] As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
[3] The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
[4] John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.

The Gospel According to St. Matthew

1:1The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

1:2Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judah and his brethren; 1:3and Judah begat Perez and Zerah of Tamar; and Perez begat Hezron; and Hezron begat Ram; 1:4and Ram begat Amminadab; and Amminadab begat Nahshon; and Nahshon begat Salmon; 1:5and Salmon begat Boaz of Rahab; and Boaz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse; 1:6and Jesse begat David the king.

The Gospel According to St. Luke

1:1Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to draw up a narrative concerning those matters which have been fulfilled among us, 1:2even as they delivered them unto us, who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, 1:3it seemed good to me also, having traced the course of all things accurately from the first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus; 1:4that thou mightest know the certainty concerning the things wherein thou wast instructed. 1

The Gospel According to Saint John

1:1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 1:2The same was in the beginning with God. 1:3All things were made through him; and without him was not anything made that hath been made. 1:4In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

There are the beginnings of all 4, according to Earlychristianwritings.com and the American Standard version. In no case is there the slightest hint of authorship. There is no attempt to even suggest that the authors were either part of jesus' traveling road show or that they spoke to anyone who was.
Ehrman, in Lost Christianities, discusses the concept of Apostolic Authority in which, to over-simplify, xtians sought to ascribe their writings to people who had some street cred, to borrow the term. The earliest attestation we have for them was Irenaeus in Against Heresies and that dates to 180 AD...a short time after Celsus and Lucian of Samosata began to cast aspersions against xtian doctrines.

These remain anonymous works to which someone attached these names in order to give them a pedigree. Most of the gnostic gospels were given similar stylings but the church, for reasons of doctrine rather than authorship or authority, suppressed those.