How We Got the BibleThe Writing of the New Testament

General Outline

5. Early Gospel Sources6. The Writing of the New Testament7. The Dissemination of the New Testament8. The New Testament Canon

Conclusions from Last Week• Oral teaching predates the Gospels.• The Gospels made use of various sources,

including their own memories and the memories of others.

• The Gospels are reliable, especially if we know what to expect from them.

• The Gospels probably date to the years between 45-65 AD, with the possibility of John’s being later near 90 AD.

Historical Framework• 30 AD – Death of Jesus• 46 AD – Paul Begins Missions• 54 AD – Nero Becomes Emperor• 60 AD – Rome Burns• 66 AD – Jewish Revolt Begins• 67 AD – Paul Martyred• 70 AD – Destruction of Jerusalem• 81 AD – Domitian Becomes Emperor

Schools of Thought

Late Dates• Kummel argues that the New Testament

writings sound like later Christians explaining their faith rather than eye witnesses reporting what they saw.

• Paul’s Letters: AD 50-100• Synoptics: AD 70-100• John: AD 90-100

Schools of Thought

Early Dates• William Albright: “We can already say

emphatically that there is no longer any solid basis for dating any book of the New Testament after about AD 80, two full generations before the between 130 and 150 given by more radical New Testament critics of today.”

Schools of Thought

Really Early Dates (Pre-70 AD)• Robinson: “There is nothing, I believe, in the

theology of the gospels or Acts or in the organization of the church there depicted that requires a longer span, which was already long enough, if we are right, for the creation of the whole Pauline corpus, including the Pastoral Epistles.”

Schools of Thought

Typical Early Date Chart• Paul’s Letters: AD 50-66• Synoptics: AD 50-65 or 70-80• John: AD 80-100

James

James (47-48 AD)• Of the three or four notable “James” in the

Bible, the brother of Jesus is thought to be the author of this book.

• James, the brother of Jesus, is put to death in AD 62.

• The Jewish style of teaching and the topics suggest that the book is written to a primarily Hebrew church (see James 1:1).

Hebrews• Hebrews is not a letter so much as a sermon

prepared for a congregation.• Suggested authors for the text include: Paul,

Apollos, Barnabas, and almost anyone else.• A common suggestion is that this is written

to Christians in Italy who had been expelled from Rome under Claudius (Acts 18:1-3; compare Hebrews 10:32-34; 13:24).

• This would put the book in AD 49, though others put it later under Nero.

Pauline Epistles

1 & 2 Thessalonians (50-51 AD)• 1 Thessalonians deals with concerns over

what happens “next,” issues of death, resurrection, and the return of Christ.

• 2 Thessalonians shows that those concerns persisted, as they are discussed again with added emphasis on how the church should function until Christ returns.

Pauline Epistles

1 & 2 Corinthians (55-56 AD)• 1 Corinthians deals with the worldly

influences that thrived in the church at Corinth.

• 2 Corinthians deals with the ramifications of the previous epistle and contains instruction dealing with false apostles.

Pauline Epistles• Galatians (56 AD) deals with role of the

gospel story in a world that had previously only known the Hebrew Scriptures.

• Romans (57 AD) is a masterpiece discussing how the story of the gospel relates to the now very diverse church that included Jews and Gentiles.

Prison Epistles• The “Prison Epistles” were all written during

one of Paul’s various imprisonments. They include the books of Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and the short epistle of Philemon.

• The date of the writing of these epistles, while uncertain, falls within a five year window when Paul was imprisoned either at Caesarea (57-59 AD) or Rome (60-62 AD).

Prison Epistles

Ephesians & Colossians• Both the books of Colossians and Ephesians

were delivered by the same man, Tychicus (Ephesians 6:21-22; Colossians 4:7-8).

• Ephesians is longer and more general. Colossians is shorter and more specific.

• Ephesians emphasizes the church of the Christ. Colossians emphasizes the Christ of the church.

Prison Epistles• Philippians uses Paul’s circumstances in a

Roman prison to be a launching point for a sermon about spiritual maturity. The book seems to be a very mild rebuke of Euodia and Syntyche (ch. 4:2).

• Philemon is a personal letter from Paul to the owner of a run away slave who is now a Christian.

Pauline Epistles• 1 Timothy (55 AD) & Titus (57 AD) contain

technical instructions for young preachers helping to maintain order in a local congregation.

• 2 Timothy (58 AD) is a more personal and affectionate discussion of the work of preaching and “passing of the torch” to the next generation of evangelists.

Petrine Epistles & Jude

1 & 2 Peter (60-65 AD)• Both are written by Peter to a church facing

severe persecution.• Both texts make frequent use of OT Scripture

and are written to a heavily Hebrew church (see 1 Peter 1:1).

• Jude has heavy parallels in content to 2 Peter and may have been written near the same time.

Revelation & John’s Epistles

Revelation• If reflecting on Roman persecution and God’s

judgment of Rome, then 80-90’s AD.• If reflecting on Jewish persecution and God’s

judgment of Jerusalem, then late 60’s AD.• Typically, wherever one dates Revelation,

then John’s Gospel and Epistles are placed in that same period.

Revelation & John’s Epistles• Revelation discusses the persecution of the

church and paints prophetic, metaphorical images of the judgment of God and the churches victory.

• 1 John is like the doctrinal significance of the John’s Gospel distilled into a small text.

• 2 & 3 John are personal epistles that were sent to encourage and exhort the early church.

Conclusions• The writing of the New Testament comes

from a variety of authors, contexts, and episodes that fit within the middle of the first century.

• The books comprise a snapshot of the early church wrestling with difficult issues.

• It stands alone as the definitive picture of the identity and function of the church.