If you look at the sequence in which the Gospels were written, Mark, Matthew, Luke and then John you notice that the amount of miracles increases. The first Gospel Mark has distinctively less recorded miracles than John that was written last. Also, the last part of Mark has been called into question.
Does this not strengthen the theory that this is a “legend” that evolved?
I’m aware of the 1 Corinthians 15 creed and its early dating but, that doesn’t answer why the amount of miracles increases.
Also using the answer that each author had a different intent, therefore they left certain things out, does that really justify such a great number of stuff been left out?
Then there is also the argument, that Mark was written when many people could still remember the miracles and because of this he didn’t think it necessary to include that many miracles.
Are these, although strong arguments, the only ones we have?
The premise of this question is incorrect. John’s Gospel, generally held to be the latest, actually records the fewest miracles of the four canonical gospels.
It depends on how you count, but the number of miracles in Matthew, Mark and Luke are pretty close. One helpful chart lists 23 miracles each in Mark and Luke, and 29 in Matthew. Again, John is the outlier with only 10 miracles. By these counts, Mark has the most “miracles per page” of the four (and none of those occur in the disputed verses of chapter 16).
There are many reasons for the differing counts of miracles in the four Gospels. No Gospel author claims to give us a final and exhaustive list. There is considerable overlap between Matthew, Mark and Luke, but each of these authors include miracles that illustrate the themes they bring out from Jesus’ life and ministry. John narrates fewer miracles than any other author, but generally goes into greater detail on each one.
So even if the miracle count did increase in subsequent Gospels (and the order in which they were written is by no means certain), there could be lots of good reasons. As it happens, though, that doesn’t appear to be the case.