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Overview > Is the New Testament reliable? > Internal Evidence Test > When was the New Testament of the Bible written? When was the NT written?Summary The witness's nearness both geographically and chronologically to the events recorded, is closely linked to their ability to tell the truth. Did the New Testament writers record their accounts of the life of Jesus hundreds of years after Jesus' actual existence? Did they even come from the same geographical region as Jesus? Were the writers of the New Testament eyewitnesses (or did they relate the accounts of eyewitnesses) to the life and teachings of Jesus? The New Testament writers certainly claimed to be eyewitnesses and to have interviewed eyewitnesses: [5 p.61] Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the
things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down
to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of
the word. Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything
from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account
for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty
of the things you have been taught. (Luke 1:1-3) The New Testament documents also show an intimate knowledge of Jerusalem prior to its destruction in AD 70. The documents are full of proper names, dates, cultural details, historical events, customs and opinions of that time. [1 p. 193] In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar--when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene (Luke 3:1) The New Testament also does not contain any anachronisms i.e. it does not place any person, or event in a time where it does not belong; there are no errors in fixing dates or referring to events, circumstances or customs. The writers of the New Testament certainly appear to have been first century Jews who were witnesses to the events. [1 p.194] Historians, however, also has to deal with the eyewitness who consciously or unconsciously tells falsehoods, even though they are near to the event and are competent to tell the truth. [6 p. 52] Before examining the truth of their claims, it is worth examining when the actual New Testament documents were written. The dating of the New Testament documents is greatly debated topic and the dating ranges from 40 - 100 AD (depending on liberal / conservative scholars). However, we do find that there is no good reason to date ANY of the Gospels (the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) later than 70 AD. We also find that Paul's letters, which contain all the main claims that are in the Gospels, were written between 49 and 65 AD! [9] & [5 p. 62] We can therefore state that the New Testament was written in the same generation in which the events took place. It was circulated among the very people about whom these documents spoke, while they were still alive to deny them. Both first and second-generation eyewitnesses were alive when the New Testament was written! [2] Let us now examine the issue of whether
the writers of the New Testament recorded falsehoods. |
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(c) 1999 - Richard Helsby Comments and suggestions are welcome |