John Price

Oct 8, 201811 min read

A User's Guide to the New Testament (pt 2)

“In coming to understand anything, we are rejecting the facts as they are for us in favor of the facts as they [truly] are.”

– C. S. Lewis, An Experiment in Criticism

Dating a book or document from antiquity is pivotal in anyone’s search for truth. Dates either help us trust the historical accuracy of a book or they show us that the book is probably not reporting historical facts. This dating principle applies to every book, document, and piece of ancient manuscript we have. So with this in mind, how do the 27 different books of the New Testament fair? Do the dates of the New Testament actually support or discredit the historical accuracy of the New Testament?

In order to prove or disprove the historical reliability of the New Testament, we will need to look at each individual book of the New Testament. The best place to start our search is with the book of Acts.

ACTS

The book of Acts, written by a first-century doctor named Luke, is a historian’s goldmine because we see in the last half of Acts (chapters 13-28) at least 84 different details giving us the ability to either confirm or deny the historical accuracy of this book.1

Acts is the second letter, written by Luke, to a high-ranking Roman official named Theophilus (Luke 1:3; Acts 1:1). In the book of Acts, Luke meticulously records the birth and rise of the early church and its explosion of influence within various cultures of the known world. Luke jams 84 different details into the last half of his letter, which have been historically confirmed to be accurate, but interestingly enough he does not record the deaths of his two main characters (the apostle Paul, who was martyred in AD 68, and James, who was martyred in AD 62), or the fall of his countries most prized landmark and symbol of religious freedom, the Jewish Temple, which was destroyed by the Romans in AD 70. Because of these two facts, we would be safe to assume that Luke’s second letter was written in its entirety and in distribution before the above mentioned events unfolded.

This is exactly what we can do with the book of Acts. Luke finishes his second letter with the Temple still standing and his two main characters still alive, which means that the latest possible date Acts could have been written is AD 62.2

LUKE

Since Acts was written, at the very latest, in AD 62. His first letter, The Gospel of Luke, must have been written before this time, probably around AD 60. According to Norm Geisler, “this [date] seems reasonable because there had to have been sometime between Luke’s first writing to Theophilus and his second. This date also makes sense in light of Paul’s quotation of Luke’s Gospels. Writing sometime between AD 62-65, Paul quotes from Luke 10:7 and calls it ‘scripture’ (1 Tim. 5:18).” (Geisler, 240-41)

We now know that Acts was written in or before AD 62, and that Luke was written most likely in AD 60, but what about the other non-Luke books of the New Testament?

Luke meticulously records 84 historically confirmed facts in Acts

MARK & MATTHEW

Building off of the foundational dates for Luke and Acts, we can safely say the Gospels of Mark and Matthew were both written before Luke. The Gospel of Mark was written around the mid-to-late AD 50s, because (1) Luke uses Mark as a source (Luke 1:1-4) for his gospel, (2) it was written before the destruction of the Temple (AD 70), and (3) before Paul and Peter’s martyrdom and preaching tour in Rome (AD 64-68). For the Gospel of Matthew, the same evidence (numbers 2 and 3 above) can be applied giving us the date for his gospel to be around AD 60, thus dating all of the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) within thirty years of the actual events they record, and making them incredibly trustworthy because of three things: (1) Eyewitness could attest the claims being made, (2) Contemporary critics were still alive to discredit or approve the claims being made, and (3) Legendary or Mythological elements had not crept into the claims being made by these three authors. For more information on these three dating guidelines, check out A User’s Guide to the New Testament: Part 1.

JOHN

The Gospel of John, however, was written much later than the other gospel accounts by the Apostle John around the year AD 90. The reason why we know this is because of the following:

John makes a reference to the “Sea of Tiberius” in John 6:1, which was only used for the Sea of Galilee near the end of the first-century.
John mentions the martyrdom of the Apostle Peter (John 21:18) which occurred sometime between AD 64-66.
John makes no mention to one of the leading Jewish religious parties, the Sadducees, which disbanded after the destruction of the Temple in AD 70. This party was the ruling council which sentenced Jesus to death, so it would make sense for John to mention them in his gospel, but he does not because they hadn’t existed for 20 years.

With this evidence in mind, we have to date the Gospel of John much later than the other gospels. Dating the Gospel of John in AD 90 fits perfectly when you compare his first book to his other works, 1 – 3 John and Revelation.

John’s three letters were written in response to the rise of an early form of Gnosticism, which based one’s salvation solely on an individual’s knowledge and not on Christ’s finished work on the Cross. These letters were later quoted by the early church fathers Polycarp and Papias in the year AD 100. Since these church fathers were quoting 1 – 3 John in their own personal works we can’t date these books any later than AD 90. More than likely, John was writing these letters in Ephesus (which is in modern-day Turkey), after completing his gospel account.

Three, out of four, Gospels were written within 30 years of the events they record

Out of all the twelve disciples of Jesus, John is the only disciple to die of old age. Even though he was not martyred for his faith, he was still persecuted and was exiled to the Island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea by Emperor Domitian, who reigned from AD 81 to 96. John wrote his final book, the prophetic and apocalyptic book of Revelation which he received from God (Rev. 1:1), during his exile on the small Island of Patmos. Because Revelation was written during Domitian’s reign, the book must be dated during AD 81 to 96. According to another early church father Iraneus, “John received the Revelation almost in our own time, toward the end of the reign of Domitian” (Against Heresies 5.30.3), so in order to be historically accurate a date for Revelation must be around AD 95/96.

Therefore, John wrote his gospel account in AD 90, his three letters no later than AD 90, and his Revelation around AD 95/96.

PAUL

The Apostle Paul wrote the vast majority of individual books for the New Testament. According to history, Paul was beheaded in Rome in the year AD 68, just 35 years after Christ’s death and bodily resurrection. So, keeping with the tradition that dead men don’t write books, all of Paul’s books must have been written before his head was cut off in AD 68.3

During his lifetime, Paul wrote 13 or 14 books (the author of Hebrews is still in question). Starting with Paul’s earliest letter, written to the believers in Galatia, we can see he started writing around the year AD 48. The reason why we place Galatians so early (only 10 – 15 years after Christ’s death and bodily resurrection) is because Paul makes no mention of the Jerusalem Council which met in AD 48 – 49 in the book of Galatians. This is very significant because the results of this council could have assisted Paul during his writing to the Galatians tremendously because the very same issues that Paul was dealing with in Galatians were the same issues that the Jerusalem council was discussing and making decisions on (Acts 15; Gal. 3). Paul must have written Galatians before this council met because it would have settled his case with those in Galatia.

Using the letter to the Galatians as our foundation for Paul’s works, we then move to First and Second Thessalonians which were written during AD 49 to 54. The reason why these books are dated so closely to the book of Galatians is because Paul was staying and ministering in the city of Corinth while he was writing both of his letters to those in Thessalonica (Acts 18:1-11; 1 Thess. 1).

Dead men don’t usually write books

After ministering to the believers in Corinth and writing to the Thessalonians, Paul traveled to the city of Ephesus (Ac. 18:18-21) to continue to preach the Gospel. Naturally he writes back to the Corinthians to instruct them further in matters of their own faith in AD 54. The reasons why we know First and Second Corinthians follows First and Second Thessalonians are because of two reasons:

Acts 18:2 tells us that the Emperor “Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome” which took place in AD 49.
Acts 18:12 shows us that Gallio was appointed as the governor “of Achaia, [and] the Jews made a united attack on Paul” which happened in AD 51.

After Paul writes to the Corinthians while in Ephesus, he travels throughout the ancient world preaching boldly about the Gospel of Christ (Ac. 18:23-21:26). On his third missionary journey, Paul travels to Corinth again and writes the book of Romans in AD 57 (Ac. 20:2-3).

He then travels to Jerusalem, where he is arrested because the Jews there wanted to kill him (Ac. 21:27-36). This led to a long judicial process where the Jewish leadership would bring serious accusations against Paul, but could prove nothing (Ac. 25:7). While on trial before Governor Festus, in Caesarea, Paul appealed to be tried before Caesar, since he was a Roman citizen (Ac. 21:10-12; Ac. 28:17-20).

Paul wrote a total of 13 or 14 New Testament books, the most of any other NT author

Once Paul arrived in Rome, he was placed under house arrest (Ac. 28:16) which allowed him time to write Ephesians (3:1; 4:1; 6:20), Philippians (1:13, 20; 4:22), Colossians (4:7-18), and Philemon (1:1, 9-10, 13, 23). We know Paul was imprisoned twice in Rome, so during his first imprisonment he wrote the above books giving us the date of AD 62. After being released, Paul wrote First Timothy and Titus sometime during AD 63-67. He then returned to Rome and was quickly arrested a second time. His second imprisonment was much different than his first. This time he was not allowed visitors or the ability to freely preach the gospel (Ac. 28:16-31), but rather was bound by chains like a common criminal and placed in a undisclosed location (2 Tim. 1:16-17; 4:6-8, 13, 16-18). While in prison for the second time, Paul was able to finish his Pastoral Letters (Titus and First and Second Timothy) giving us the last book Paul ever penned before his death in AD 68. Therefore, Second Timothy must have been written sometime between AD 67 or 68.

Other Writers

We see that 22, out of the 27, New Testament books must be dated within 70 years of the actual events they report, with the vast majority of them written within 40 years of Christ’s death and bodily resurrection. What about the other five books of the New Testament? Are they dated within this same time span?

1-2 Peter

The Apostle Peter, the leader of the disciples (or apostles, Mark 3:13-19) of Jesus, wrote two New Testament books, each self-titled, between AD 62-63 (1 Pt. 1:1; 5:1). Peter wrote these books to encourage believers who were being dispersed due to Roman persecution so they would persevere in their faith (1 Pt. 1:6-7).

The reason why we know Peter wrote these two books during AD 62-63 is because:

Peter was in Rome when he wrote his first and second letter. He even makes a reference to Rome by calling it Babylon (1 Pt. 5:13).
Since he was in Rome, he must have been there awaiting his execution, which happened during Nero’s reign (AD 64-68).
One of the main themes in both of Peter’s letters is that of suffering through persecution (1 Pt. 1:6-7; 2:18-20; 3:9, 13-17; 4:1-4, 12-19; 5:9; 2 Pt. 3:1-13).

Therefore, Peter must have written both of his books during the Neronian persecution in Rome, which gives us the date of AD 62-63.

James & Jude

The book of James is a self-titled book, written by the half-brother of Jesus, sometime in the AD 40s. The reason why this book is dated the earliest is because of three reasons:

The book of James was cited by the early church father Ignatius, who was writing from Asia Minor, in AD 107. So it must have been written and in circulation prior to this date.
The author (James, Jesus’ half brother) was martyred in AD 62/63 when he was thrown from a tower in the Temple. After surviving the fall, his murderers actually stoned and clubbed him to death. So the book of James must have been written before this event took place.
Within the book of James there is no mention of the Jerusalem Council. This is significant because this council met in AD 48/49 and was led by James himself (Ac. 15:13-21). Surely he would have made mention or allowed his writings to be influenced by the decisions that were made during the Jerusalem Council.

Therefore, the book of James must have been written before the council convened. Making this the earliest New Testament book we have.

The Bible is a book of fact that we can base and build our lives on

Likewise, the book of Jude is a self-titled book, written by another half-brother of Jesus, sometime in the early to mid AD 60s. The book of Jude exhibits some similarities with the previously discussed book of Second Peter. Both Jude and Peter address similar situations like:

Believers in Christ need to defend their faith (Jude 1:3). This is can also be found in 2 Peter 2:1-10, because false teachers arose among the people teaching destructive heresies.
Believers are able to identify false teachers because of their immoral lifestyles (Jude 1:4, 8, 10, 12-13, 16, 18-19) because false teachers are ethically bankrupted (2 Pt. 2:11-13).
God will judge false teachers (Jude 1:4, 5-7, 11, 14-15) because they are bound for destruction (2 Pt. 2:1-10).
Believers need to persevere in order to be saved (Jude 1:17-23) by enduring opposition, knowing that they live in the end times (2 Pt. 3:1-13) and they will be saved by God because they are righteous (2 Pt. 3:13-18).
God grants grace to his followers so they can persevere persecution (Jude 1:1-2, 24-25) because His grace results in godliness (2 Pt. 1:5-15).

It would be safe to say that Jude used Second Peter as a reference, based on all of the similarities, when he wrote his book, resulting in a date during the early to mid AD 60s.

Hebrews

The book of Hebrews is slightly different than all the other books of the New Testament simply because scholars and historians still disagree on who the author is that wrote this book. Many textual critics and Biblical historians claim that Paul is indeed the author but, to date, there is no hard evidence that would prove or disprove these claims.

With this in mind, when was the book of Hebrews written?

It is safe to say that Hebrews was written before AD 70. There are a few reasons why this date is legitimate:

The book of Hebrews heavily influenced the writings of Pope Clement the First, who wrote 1 Clement in AD 96.
The author makes reference to Timothy (Heb. 13:23), who was known to be an active part of the early church in the first century.
The author speaks of the Levitical animal sacrificial system, which took place in the Temple, as being a valid practice among the Jewish people (Heb. 7:27-28; 8:3-5; 10:1-3; 13:10-11). The Temple was destroyed by the Romans in AD 70, so animal sacrifice for one’s atonement of personal and national sin was no longer a valid practice.

Therefore, the book of Hebrews was written before AD 70, whether we know who the author was or not.

Conclusion

We see from the above evidence that every New Testament is historically accurate and worthy of our wholehearted, unreserved trust. Each of the 27 books which make up the New Testament was written within 70 years of the actual events they report making each book trustworthy because (1) it had eyewitnesses attesting to its accuracy, (2) it withstood contemporaries critical attacks of it, and (3) since each book was written within a generation of the events they are reporting no mythological or legendary corrosive elements made their way into the documents.

There is no other book in the world like the Bible because the Bible is not simply a book of history, psychology, or spirituality. Rather, the Bible is a book of fact that we can base and build our lives on.

For a quick view of all the dates and reasons why we know a book was written when it was, check out: A User’s Guide to the New Testament: Dates (pt. 1).