WASNT THE NEW TESTAMENT WRITTEN HUNDREDS OF YEARS AFTER CHRIST? One of the standard bits of misinformation and Islamic lies that are used by Muslims to sew doubt upon the veracity of the Bible and the New Testament in particular, is to claim that the books were written so long after Christ’s time that they could not possibly be accurate in their details and that they were not written by the claimed authors. Even though these so-called scholars making these claims say that the New Testament was written 100 to 300 years after Christ died, the truth is that it was written before the close of the first century by those who either knew Christ personally, had encountered him, or were under the direction of those who were His disciples. One of the most important events in the history of Israel and the Jewish people, was the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in A.D. 70 by the Romans. This was the beginning of the diaspora of the Jewish people, causing them to flee to all parts of the world as it was known in those times. This momentous event, recorded by Jewish historians and Roman and Greek alike, can be used to gauge when the gospels were all written and whether it was before A.D. 70. In Matthew 24:2; Mark 13:2 and Luke 21:6, Jesus prophesied of the destruction of the Temple, yet in the gospels there is not a single mention of this momentous event, which leads us to safely surmise that at least Matthew, Mark and Luke were written before A.D. 70. The gospel of John is supposed to have been written by John the apostle. It is written from the perspective of an eyewitness of the events of Christ’s life. The John Ryland’s papyrus fragment 52 of John’s gospel dated in the year 135 contains portions of John 18:31-33, 37-38. This fragment was found in Egypt and a considerable amount of time is needed for the circulation of the gospel before it reached Egypt. It is the last of the gospels and appears to have been written in the 80’s to 90’s. Of important note is the lack of mention of the destruction of the Jewish temple in A.D. 70. But this is understandable since John does not mention Jesus’ prophecy of the destruction of the Temple. He was not focusing on historical events. Instead, John focused on the theological aspect of the person of Christ and listed His miracles and words that affirmed Christ’s deity. This makes perfect sense since he already knew of the previously written gospels. Furthermore, 1, 2, and 3 John all contain the same writing style as the gospel of John and the book of Revelation, which is supposed to have been written in the late 80’s or early 90’s. The book of Acts was written by Luke, but he fails to mention the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 nor does he mention the deaths of James (A.D. 62), Paul (A.D. 64), and Peter (A.D. 65). Since Acts is an historical document dealing with the church and extremely well researched as only Luke, the scholar could do, we would naturally expect such important events to be recorded in Acts if it was written after the fact. Since Acts 1:1-2 mentions that it is the second writing of Luke, the gospel of Luke was written even earlier, and it certainly seems to signify that Acts too, was written before any of the above events. Undoubtedly, if Matthew, Mark, and Luke were written after the destruction of the Temple, they would have included the fulfilment of Christ’s prophecy in their gospels. Since they don’t, it is a very strong indication that they were written before A.D. 70 and so their accuracy to detail etc. can be trusted one hundred percent. Paul’s Writings: Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon Paul the Apostle was a convert to Christianity. The book of Acts speaks of his conversion in Acts 9. Since Acts was written before A.D. 70 and Paul wrote the Pauline Epistles and we know that Paul died in A.D. 64, the Pauline Epistles were all written before that date. Furthermore, in 1 Corinthians 15:3+4 is an early creed of the Christian church where Paul mentions that Jesus had died and risen: “(3) For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, (4) that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,” (1 Cor 15:3+4). Notice that he says he received this information. From whom did he receive it? Most probably the apostles since he had a lot of interaction with them. This means that Paul received the gospel account from the eyewitnesses. They were, of course, contemporaries; they all died before the turn of the century. Therefore, their writings were completed within the lifetime of the apostles of Jesus. Hebrews It is not known for sure who wrote the book of Hebrews. Authorship has been proposed for Paul, Barnabas (Acts 4:36), Apollos (Acts 18:24), etc. The only geographical area mentioned is Italy (Heb 13:24). The latest possible date for the writing of Hebrews is A.D. 95 but could have been written as early as A.D. 67. The book of Hebrews speaks of the sacrifice by the High Priest in the present tense (Heb 5:1-3; Heb. 7:27) possibly signifying that the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in A.D. 70 had not yet happened. James This epistle claims to have been written by James, “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.” (James 1:1). The question is, “Which James?” Is it James, the son of Zebedee (Matt 10:2-3); James, the son of Alphaeus (Matt. 10:2-3), or the most commonly and accepted James who was the brother of Jesus? “(55) Is not this the carpenters son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? (56) And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” (Matt 13:55, 56). Notice that the context of the verses suggests immediate family since it mentions Jesus’ Mother, brothers, and sisters. Also, see Galatians 1:18+19 which says, “(18) Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. (19) But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lords brother.” It is probable that James didn’t believe in Jesus as the Messiah until Jesus appeared to him after His resurrection as is mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15:7, “Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.” James was martyred by the order of the high priest Ananus after the death of the “Procurator Festus in A.D. 61 (Josephus, Ant. 20. 9).” Therefore, the epistle of James was written before A.D. 61. 1 and 2 Peter Both epistles clearly state that they were authored by Peter, an eyewitness of Jesus’ life and post resurrection appearances. Though there have been some who have doubted the authorship of these two epistles, the clear opening statements of each epistle tell us Peter was the author. “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion ...” (1 Peter 1:1) and, “Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ . . .” (2 Peter 1:1). It certainly seems most logical that Peter is indeed the author of the letters that bear his name. Peter died in Rome during Nero’s persecution of Christians around A.D. 64, so the epistles were obviously written before that time. 1, 2, 3 John The writer of 1 John does not identify himself in the letter. The writer of 2 and 3 John refers to himself as “the elder” (2 John 1; 3 John 1). Regarding the first epistle, authorship can reasonably be determined to be that of John the Apostle. The opening of John is written from the perspective of someone who was there with Jesus (John 1:1-4). Also, the Ecclesiastical Historian Eusebius often quoted from this Epistle, lending historical confirmation to it. 1 John is quoted as authoritative by Bishop Polycarp of Smyrna, a disciple of John the apostle before the middle of the second century. The attestation of 2 John is almost as good. There is no second century reference to 3 John, but that is not surprising, since it deals with a specific, local issue. Furthermore, the style of the three epistles is very similar to that of the gospel of John. 1 John mentions the “word of life” (1 John 1:1) as does the gospel of John 1:1, etc. It appears that the epistles were written after the Gospel of John since the epistles seem to assume a knowledge of the gospel facts. Date of writing varies from A.D. 60 to the early 90’s. Jude Jude identifies himself as the brother of James (Jude 1). It is most likely that Jude, in true Christian humility, does not want to equate himself as the brother of Jesus as he is traditionally held to be and seems to be supported by scripture: “Is not this the carpenters son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?” (Matt 13:55). Instead, he mentions himself as a servant of Jesus --- as James has also done. The date of writing seems to be anywhere from A.D. 68 to the early 90’s. Remember that if Judas was a brother of Jesus, he was born after Jesus which would mean the later the writing date, the older was Judas. There is no mention of the destruction of Jerusalem, which could have been naturally included in the writing considering that Jude mentions judgments from God upon believers and unbelievers alike (Jude 5-12). Nevertheless, it appears that Jude may have quoted from Peter. Jude 17+18 says, “(17) But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. (18) They said to you, In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” Compare this to 2 Peter 3:3, “knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires.” If this is a quote, it would place the epistle of Jude after the writing of 2 Peter 3:3. Revelation The author of the Book of Revelation is John. “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,” (Rev 1:1). Revelation was probably written at the end of John the Apostle’s life on the island of Patmos. Some hold to the 90’s and it is the last book written in the New Testament. Conclusion With this basic information and using the logic with which God has gifted us all, it is not too difficult to see how ignorantly wrong and just plain stupid the claims are that certain people make to the New Testament having been written 300 years after the death of Christ. It is obvious that the entire New Testament was written before the end of the first century.
Posted on: Fri, 01 Aug 2014 11:15:37 +0000
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