When were the New Testament documents written?

ARE THE NEW TESTAMENT DOCUMENTS WRITTEN EARLY? 

The short answer is yes. But how early? 

All the New Testament books were written before A.D. 100 (About 70 years after the death of Jesus)

How do we know this? Well, firstly, we know tis because letters written by early church fathers—between A.D. 95 and 110—quoted passages out of 25 of the 27 New Testament books. Between Clement, writing from Rome (A.D. 95), Ignatius, writing from Smyrna in Asia Minor (A.D. 107) and Polycarp, writing form Smyrna in Asia Minor (A.D. 110) they quoted from every New Testament book except Jude and 2 John. 

 Most, if not all, of these books were written before A.D. 70 (About 40 years after the Death of Jesus). 

The destruction of the Jewish temple in AD 70

I’m referring to the destruction of the Jewish temple in A.D. 70. Why is this significant? Well, Jesus predicted that the temple would be destroyed before his contemporary generation would pass away. 

Many of the New Testament Books were composed before A.D. 62 (About 30 years after the death of Jesus)

It hasn’t happened yet

Why would you record the martyrdoms of Stephen and James the brother of John but not the martyrdoms of prominent figures like Paul and James (the brother of Jesus)? We can assume the reason Luke does not record their deaths is because it hasn’t happened yet.

Luke was written earlier

If Acts was written by 62, then the gospel of Luke was certainly written before that. How do we know that? Well, we know that because Luke reminds the original recipient of Acts (Theophilus) that he had written to him earlier. 

Paul quotes Luke

Paul, writing sometime between A.D. 62-65 quotes from Luke and calls it scripture. 

Mark was written earlier than Luke

Not a Myth

So then in Luke and Mark we have meticulously recorded eyewitness testimony written within 25 – 30 years of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.

Some New Testament books were written in the 40s and 50s A.D. with sources from the 30s A.D. (Only a few years after the death of Jesus. 

Almost all scholars agree that Paul wrote his letter to the Christian community at Corinth sometime between 55 and 56 A.D. 

Creeds

According to Gary Habermas (leading scholar on the historical Jesus), the testimony found in 1 Corinthians 15 was part of an early creed that dates back right to the resurrection itself. What is a creed? Creeds were literary devices that people used to help them remember important information. This was important for people in the ancient world because most people were illiterate. So, the Christians developed these statements of faith to summarize the key doctrines of Christianity. 1 Corinthians 15:3-7 is an example of this. Paul would’ve received that Creed soon after his conversion to Christianity. Therefore, the information in the abovementioned verses can be traced back to within 18 to 24 months of the resurrection. That’s astounding early! Nothing in the ancient world even comes close.

Why is early dating important? 

Early dating is important because it neutralises the claim that the resurrection was a myth that developed over time. All the earliest sources about Jesus’ life maintain that he lived, he died, was buried and rose from the dead. Paul goes as far as to name several people who witnessed the resurrected Christ in order to challenge his contemporaries to go and interview the eyewitnesses for themselves because many of them were still alive.