The word “church” is used one hundred ten times in the New Testament, and it is instructive to note that ninety-three of those are clear references to the local church… We may conclude from this large number of references that the Bible has quite a lot to say about the importance of the local church.
Wayne Mack

NTDating

NTDating

The poster has requested info for the various books in the Bible. Here is something I have on the NT books, taken mostly from two sources, my NIV Study Bible (Zondervan) and “An Introduction to the Bible” by Hauer and Young. I’ll give the range of the dates for the Gospels, without going into the long discussion…basically, earlier dates are ‘conservative’ scholarship, later ones, ‘liberal’ scholarship…

Other datings, for which I don’t have ready reference, date the books earlier and later than these ranges. Perhaps someone has some references.

Gospel/Acts dates: Mark……………..50-70AD -Usually attribted to ‘John Mark’, a disciple of Peter Matthew…………..55-75AD -Usually attributed to Matthew/Levi, the Apostle Luke……………..59-75AD -‘Luke’ is generally thought to be the same person referred to by Paul in his letters. John……………..53-85AD -Usually attributed to John, the ‘disciple whom Jesus loved’ Acts……………..63-70AD* -Written by the same author as ‘Luke’.

  • Could be much later than 70, but no earlier than ‘Luke’

Paul’s Letter dates:

(Books generally attributed to Paul) I Thessalonians…….51AD II Thessalonians……52AD Galatians………….53AD I & II Corinthians….55AD Romans…………….57AD Colossians…………60AD Ephesians………….60AD Philemon…………..60AD Philipians…………61AD

Rest of NT Books: James……………..63AD% -Generally attributed to James, the brother of Jesus. The disciple James had died by 44AD I Timothy………….63AD* -Attributed by tradition & salutation to Paul, but authorship challenged on vocabulary and stylistic basis. Also, there seems to be a highly structured church, which was a late phenomenon. Titus……………..63AD* -Same as I Timothy I & II Peter……….65-68AD -Generally attributed to Simon Peter, the Apostle. II Timothy…………66AD* -Same as I Timothy Hebrews……………65-70AD -Author unknown (could be Barnabus, Apollos, or someone else) I, II & III John……85-95AD -Generally attributed to John, the Apostle Jude………………65-80AD -Generally attributed to Jude (Judah/Judas) the brother of Jesus Revelation…………95AD -Generally attributed to John, the Apostle.

% Textual evidence suggests possible dating before 50AD * Paul’s authorship strongly challenged, alternative shown

Sources:

NIV Study Bible

(c) 1985 Zondervan Corporation, Grand Rapids, MI

An Introduction to the Bible, C. E. Hauer & W. A. Young

(c) 1990 Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ

A General Introduction to the Bible 2nd Ed., N. L. Geisler & W. E. Nix

(c) 1986 Moody Press, Chicago, IL

-Steve