Dating the New Testament

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Destruction of Jerusalem

Matthew

Mark

Luke

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Romans

1 and 2 Corinthians

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Colossians

1 and 2 Thessalonians

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Titus

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The Epistle of James

1 and 2Peter

1, 2 and 3 John

1 and 2Peter

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Dating the Old Testament

Motives in Dating Books of the Bible

Most Christians have little interest in when the books of the Bible were written. Some apologetically-minded believers are motivated to argue for earlier dates of writing, since early dates move the Biblical accounts close to or into an eyewitness time frame, but for most Christians this remains a non-issue. Believers generally accept the Bible to be true on faith, and therefore it just doesn't matter when it was written.

For secular scholars who study the Bible, the situation is different. Secular scholars often revel in their belief that a Biblical book was written late, since the later the date, the farther it is from the historical event being described. An account far removed from an historical event is less likely to be true. Therefore, a scholar hostile to the Bible's message will be motivated to push for as late a date of writing as possible.

This motivation for late dates has introduced an element of bias into the critical analysis of Biblical texts. In the New Testament, much critical analysis has historically seized on passages where the theology seems to be advanced, or some church office (bishop, elder, etc.) is mentioned, touting that as evidence for a late date. This web site has ignored these types of arguments. There is no compelling reason why the New Testament church could not have had highly structured roles and advanced theology even within the first year of its existence.

This web site attempts to determine the date of writing for the books of the New Testament using the internal evidence from the books themselves, and comparing that evidence to what is known about the history of the first century A.D.