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Jesus.Doc So, what evidence do we have concerning when the Gospel accounts of Jesus were really written? The consensus of most scholars is that the Gospels were written by the apostles during the first century. They cite several reasons that we will review later in this article. For now, however, note that three primary forms of evidence appear to build a solid case for their conclusions:. early documents from heretics such as Marcion and the school of Valentinus citing New Testament books, themes, and passages (see "Mona Lisa's Smirk")Biblical archaeologist William Albright concluded on the basis of his research that all the New Testament books were written while most of the apostles were still alive. He wrote, "We can already say emphatically that there is no longer any solid basis for dating any book after about 80 A.D., two full generations before the date of between 130 A.D. and 150 A.D. given by the more radical New Testament critics of today."4 Elsewhere Albright put the writing of the entire New Testament at "very probably sometime between about 50 A.D. and 75 A.D."5 . The notoriously skeptical scholar John A. T. Robinson dates the New Testament earlier than even most conservative scholars. In Redating the New Testament Robinson asserts that most of the New Testament was written between 40 A.D. and 65 A.D. That puts its writing as early as seven years after Christ lived.6 If that is true, any historical errors would have been immediately exposed by both eyewitnesses and the enemies of Christianity. So let's look at the trail of clues that takes us from the original documents to our New Testament copies today. WHO NEEDS KINKO'S? The original writings of the apostles were revered. Churches studied them, shared them, carefully preserved them and stored them away like buried treasure. But, alas, Roman confiscations, the passage of 2,000 years, and the second law of thermodynamics have taken their toll. So, today, what do we have of those original writings? Nothing. The original manuscripts are all gone (though each week Bible scholars, no doubt, tune in to Antiques Roadshow hoping one might emerge). Yet the New Testament is not alone in this fate; no other comparable document from ancient history exists today either. Historians aren't troubled by the lack of original manuscripts if they have reliable copies to examine. But are there ancient copies of the New Testament available, and if so, are they faithful to the originals? As the number of churches multiplied, hundreds of copies were carefully made under the supervision of church leaders. Every letter was meticulously penned in ink on parchment or papyrus. And so, today, scholars can study the surviving copies (and the copies of copies, and the copies of copies of copies-you get it), to determine authenticity and arrive at a very close approximation of the original documents. (This is an excerpt from just one article in Y-Jesus. Order your copy here) |