What is the consensus on the dates of the Gospels?

Are they "late" or "early"

history and science say they are all first century ad

between around 50 -95 ad is what science and history has determined as far as when the letters and accounts of the gospel were actually written down , the Bible itself dates then if we trust what it says to the time when Jesus walked the earth with them and after his death they lived out thier lives spreading the good news of the gospel

that’s what we have in scriotire the apostles and disciples lives in those days and thoer eye witness accounts of Jesus and the gospel , the epistles reflect the first century dominion of rome and persecution of the early church and the Jews by Rome

everything we read in scriptures happened d was written down as a true and reliable record ordained of God to reach the ends of the earth

they were written during the lives of the apostles and original disciples which places them s a collection of writings written during the latter half of the first century ad between 50-95 ad

which exact years we’ll never know because they aren’t dated , but it is the subject matter that proves when they are written to a believer the time during and just after jesus life , death and resurrection and the following 50 years or so

when they all died , scriptire stops just like the ot stopped until it all came to pass the new testsment is now ek g fulfilled and will culminate in Christs return from heaven

it seems like it’s a matter of reading what is there and believing it thisnolaces the writings in the latter half of the first century

the majority of papyrus dating has placed many within the 1st century. of course, we know, since understanding how the Apostles, Luke, the disciple of Peter/Mark died, these had to be written before the 70 AD destruction. but being able to date the papyrus within the 1st century is actually amazing confirmation. because we have several methods beginning in Ancient Egypt and into the 1st and 3rd Centuries of how the papyrus was made into a writing paper/parchment/scroll. we know when leaves were held together by glue and when they changed to being glued and sewn and so forth.

so, if we say this Book is papyrus dated 55 AD to 95 AD, it means between the time space of 55 ADD to 95 AD the method of how they made the parchment to write on was different in 54 AD and 96 AD. so we have a good idea when it was factually written.

now to point out, Science will always take the later date to discredit it. so if something was written 55 AD, we can be sure Science will claim it was written 95 AD. but we know this and are not swayed or surprised by it.

Read your Profile Page and have to say that I am very confused. Could you enlighten me as to how you could be "unsure?" I mean, given the Bio you posted there...

Spiritual Status unsure

You posted:

I am a New Testament scholar, researcher, author, political leader and thought leader. I am a partner in an investment advisory firm and live in Nova Scotia, Canada, with my wife Lynn and new puppy Sprout.



Not for nothing, given your qualifications, I would think you wold have given thought to that "unsure" thingy, researched the Scriptures, and authored a more desired Spiritual Status of CHRISTIAN!

I hope you have not fell into that dangerous trap of trusting in the wisdom of man...it can be deadly, spiritually speaking.

James, Chapter 1, verse 5

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

Proverbs, Chapter 3:

5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.

1 Corinthians, Chapter 3:

18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.
19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
20 And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.
21 Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;

see! about 5 minutes of "research" and this is what I found!

Give it a try!

Welcome to CC

They are dated very early because writings like the Didache mention their teachings despite being written earliest 50AD and latest 70AD. The only reason why they would ever do that is because they don't like the early dating. The later they can push it the more likely it is to be false is their reasoning.

Thanks for the question. I have been told in the past that I am not a Christian even though I have been baptized and follow Jesus.

Everyone does tend to disagree on dates for the authorship.
Mostly due to pet theologies they like. Especially the Gospel of John.

And information about timing is mostly based internal evidence....not external except in the case of Mark.
Mark, Peter's cousin, was directed by the leader of the Early Church in Jerusalem to write down the stories Peter often repeated....because he was always there at Peter's side being his assistant. So he heard them repeatedly.

The Early Church was a rag tag group of "whole life failures" that didn't fit in with others well. Most had very meager finances. Pen, ink, and paper were very expensive and often reused to the point of illegiblility. However, every Church group that got a copy of the originals found enough finances to make their own copy. And they did so very very carefully.

The autographs have been lost due to handling in the past 2000 years. But the copies from the various regions have been compared enough to where we have a very accurate idea of the contents.

You forgot two of the most important things about being a Christian: Repentance and faith. Perhaps this was simply an oversight.

Due to internal evidence, which I go over, we can be reasonably certain the gospels were "early"
Mark Fall-Winter 40 CE
Luke & Matthew c. 58 to 61 CE
John c. 64-65 CE
Acts c. 62 CE

This is very important as they are within the lifetimes of living witnesses who can attest to their accuracy.

I do not know these things, but I want to tell you that Jesus is knocking at your heart's door right know and wants to have a personal relationship with you that brings blessed assurance of salvation.



Revelation 3:20

“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”

>

Why would anyone say that to you? Do you belong to a particular Church group/denomination? Even if someone told you such, why would that make you unsure? I have been told many things and called many things by more than a few people, and a few of them here on CC. However, there has never been a moment when I was unsure of my standing with God.

I am a blood bought, born again, child of the Living God, and I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Can you make this declaration? If so, then you should not be unsure.

just saying

Yes I can. I am also a child of the Living God and I have accepted the Choice taught by Jesus during his earthly mission!

My wife comes from a Christian background and she says Christians can be the absolute nastiest people you will ever meet. I have sometimes agreed with her over the last few years.

There are gospel fragments dated to before the P52 fragment?

supposedly some from the mid 40's AD. but my post is just giving an example of how the Papyrus itself is used for the dating process because we know each time the process to make paper changed and when it changed.

Yeah, Christians and politicians.

hi, jd

we call our son JD, too-- they're his first two initials. so i noticed your user name pretty much right away.

please forgive me for further derailing your thread. i know nothing about the topic but i was hoping you might be willing to answer this question for me.

what do you mean when you say you've accepted "the Choice taught by Jesus..."?

i've heard folks say lots of things, things that cause me concern for their souls. i hope you can sorta give me a little leeway here, because it's out of concern for you i'm writing. we don't know one another, and i don't want to assume anything about what you mean by that phrase. obviously, there's something bothering me and i'm sure you can tell.
would you mind very much explaining the Gospel to me?

if you've even read all this, i thank you, lol. welcome to CC! by God's grace i haven't made you sorry you joined.

Common sense makes it very clear that, not only the Gospels, but all of the books of the New Testament were written before 70AD only about 40 years after Jesus' death and resurrection. Why? Simple. Because Jesus foretold/prophecized the destruction of both the Temple and Jerusalem.
“He wept”
Luke 19
Jesus looked over the city of Jerusalem from the height of the Mount of Olives. As He looked, He wept for the city.
“If only you had known today what would bring peace! But it is hidden from you. The days will come that your enemies will surround you without a way to escape. They will destroy this city, and there will not be one stone left on top of another.”

In fact this prophecy did come true when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem, the Temple, and most of the population was slaughetered or enslaved. THIS HAPPENED IN 70AD. Not only was the city/temple/population decimated but it marked an end to almost all of the prior Jewish rituals, such as animal sacrifices and other forms of worship. JESUS' PROPHESY HAD COME TRUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SO, THE BIG COMMON SENSE QUESTION????????? The destruction of 70AD was so monumental to all Jews and Jewish history. If any of the books of the New Testament were written after 70AD, the writers would have noted this event in their writings and pointed out that Jesus had been correct in His prophesy. But they didn't write about it because it hadn't happened prior to the time of the authoring of the New Testament. It would have been really strange for the New Testament authors to know about the actual destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple and not mention it in their writings.

all but one?

we have disciples of John the Apostle and Church Fathers + Roman Documentation from Roman Emperor Domitian (and he reigned between 81-96 AD) placing the Apostle John in Patmos around 94 AD. and in the Book of Revelation itself, John proclaims he is on the Isle of Patmos when he receives this Prophetic Vision. and then his own disciples and earliest Church Fathers place him as Bishop over the Church at Ephesus until well after the beginning of the 1st Century (105-108) AD.

The Book of Revelation was written around 68-69 AD by the Apostle John on the Island of Patmos after the Emperor Nero exiled him for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There is some speculation that Emperor Domitian was the one that sent John to Patmos, but some evidences say otherwise.