How long after jesus was crucified were the gospels written?

Answer 1

All of the Gospels were written before AD 70, as acknowledged by even the liberal theologians ( for example, see J A T Robinson ''Redating the New Testament'').

If Jesus died in 33AD as is commonly believed according to the Biblical evidence, that makes an absolute maximum of less than 40 years, and probably considerably less. For example Luke made an explicit statment in his prologue to the effect that he was both re-stating and summarising what was written before (so at least one if not two other Gospels were in circulatuion by the time he wrote Luke) as well as adding to what was written -anything that might be of importance that was not mentioned previously. Luke is tied to Acts, as having been written before it. Acts finishes abruptly in around AD 64 (since it does not record Paul's death or the momentous events of AD 70), so Luke had to have been written earlier, with the other Gospels even earlier, with the exception of John, which most put as late as AD 90, but some scholars also date before AD 70.

So, given all of the above, it is quite likely that the earliest Gospels, either Mark or the possible aramaic version of Matthew, were written within 20 to 30 years after Jesus' death and resurrection.

Answer 2

The best guess is that the earliest documentations of the death of Yeshua of Nazareth was roughly 50 years. Little evidence is available to support any claims that the factual existence of a divine savior even occurred. You have to understand that the majority of history up to this point was passed down by word of mouth and story telling. Only the elite of the society, kings, scribes, and the "church" figures of each prominent religion were capable of writing and reading. They coincidentally were the ones who often had power over the people and control of the government systems. The corruption of this is easily seen in modern society as a result of hundreds of years of manipulation of scriptures and "sacred" documents. Lack of evidence is not evidence. By the way the name Yeshua was a common name in that time, like John is today.

Answer 3

Scholars tell us that all the New Testament gospels were originally anonymous and were only attributed to the apostles whose names they now bear later in the second century, when the Church Fathers sought to establish to their own satisfaction who probably wrote each of the gospels.

The first gospel to be written was Mark's Gospel, which has been dated to approximately 68-73 CE. The reason for such a long delay is unclear, but some scholars point out parallels between some of the text and Paul's epistles. If so, the gospel may have been based in part on, or inspired by, the epistles, which are generally thought to have been written in the fifties, give or take a few years. The coincidence of the timing of Mark's Gospel with the end of the First Roman-Jewish War also suggests a possible connection with the events of that time and the imperative to write a gospel.

Scholars tell us that Matthew's Gospel and Luke's Gospel were largely based on Mark's Gospel, with Matthew containing some 600 of the 666 verses in Mark. Clearly, they could not have been written until Mark had been published and enjoyed a wide circulation. For this and other reasons, Matthew is considered to have been written in the 80s of the first century, although Raymond E. Brown (An Introduction to the New Testament) suggests allowing a few years either side of that decade. The success of Mark's Gospel could have led to a demand for an improved gospel, which would include more detail on the human side of Jesus such as the stories of his birth.

Not only can Luke's Gospel be dated after Mark, it seems likely that the author made use of Antiquities of the Jews, published by Josephus in 93 CE, and his Life biography written shortly afterwards, as historical background material. This would require Luke to have written his Gospel around the end of the first century or shortly afterwards, if he wanted to provide a historical context that would add further credibility to his account. Some of the subtext of Luke's Gospel indicates that it was written for a specific Christian community, in which case the growth of that community was the very reason for the Gospel.

Elaine Pagels sees one reason for John's Gospel being to counter the influence of a Christian sect said to be followers of the apostle Thomas - hence the repeated allusions to the 'doubting Thomas'. Another possible reason apparent in the text was to moderate the excessive veneration of the apostle Peter, defining him once again as no more than human and by no means greater than the others. On this view, the need for John's Gospel arose because of the developments taking place in the second-century Christian world. Apart from this, John's Gospel is believed to have been inspired by Luke's Gospel, and was therefore written in the early part of the second century.

Answer 4

Mt:21:42: Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?

The Old Testament was already written so I assume you mean the new testament which was written anywhere from a couple of years to maybe ten years after.

Answer 5

When Jesus was killed by the Romans, he left no writings, but he did leave a number of devoted followers. They seem to have believed the world was about to end, so there was no need to write anything down or create any holidays or rituals. They simply (and faithfully) waited for Jesus to return.

When it became obvious the world was not ending and that a new religion cannot survive without leaders, worship services, and holy days, his devoted followers began to codify what they remembered that Jesus had said. They did this between 45 and 100 years after he died; some of the writings reflected the recollections of people who knew Jesus, but others reflected later viewpoints, from people who believed in him but had never met him. This sort of process happens in the evolution of all religions, and whether you believe in Christianity or not, the gradual development of the new faith and the creation of a body of writings years later is very typical. A similar process occurred in Buddhism, to cite another example: Buddha was a religious figure who left no writings and his followers codified what they remembered of his teachings years after he died.

Answer 6

hundreds of years after Christ died." Because historians consider "living memory" to be approximately 180 years, even liberal biblical scholars concede that the New Testament was written within living memory of Christ and the apostles. Many scholars believe that the New Testament was completed by the end of the first century, which is within 70 years of the death of Christ. The books of the New Testament were not officially placed into the canon of Scripture by the Church for several hundred years, but they were certainly written well before that time.

Answer 7

Jesus is generally believed to have died in 30 CE, based on the evidence of the synoptic gospels, or 33 CE, based on John's Gospel.

The first gospel to be written is that attributed to Mark - Mark's Gospel - although it was originally written anonymously and only attributed to Mark by the Church Fathers later in the second century. Based on evidence internal to the Gospel, scholars say that it was written around 70 CE, or perhaps shortly before or after.

Matthew's Gospel, also written anonymously, was next, written around 85 CE, although Raymond E. Brown (An Introduction to the New Testament) cautions allowing up to ten years either side of this date.

Luke's Gospel is widely regarded as having been written in the 90's of the first century CE, although a date early in the second century is possible.

The last Gospel was John's Gospel. Since this Gospel was inspired by Luke, it post-dates that Gosple, and is usually considered to have been written early in the second century.

So, the authorship of the gospels began perhaps forty years after the accepted date for the death of Jesus and was completed by John's Gospel around eighty or ninety years afterwards.

Answer 8

The most important books of the New Testament in terms of time since the death of Jesus are the four gospels. It is generally agreed that Mark's Gospel was the first gospel to be written.

The Gospel of Mark was originally written anonymously and only attributed to the apostle Mark later in the second century. Some Christians believe that Mark was written around 60 CE, or even earlier, but most modern scholars say that it was actually written around 70 CE. One of the internal clues to the date of Mark's Gospel is at Mark 13:2, where Jesus was said to prophesy the destruction of the Temple, an event that occurred in 70 CE. According to Mark, Jesus went on to predict the end of the world within the lifetime of his followers. If Jesus had really prophesied the destruction of the Temple, he would have been correct, but he would have been in error about the imminent end of times. Since it can not be accepted that Jesus made predictions that were capable of being in error, these prophecies must have originated with Mark, writing at a time when he would have known of the destruction or imminent destruction of the temple. Other clues in the Gospel indicate that it could not have been written later than the early 70s.

On this evidence, Mark's Gospel was written approximately 70 CE, and the anonymous author was probably not born at the time Jesus is believed to have been crucified. Matthew is thought to have been written in the 80s CE, although Raymond E. Brown (An Introduction to the New Testament) cautions that several years should be allowed either side of this decade. Luke is believed to have been written at least ten years after Matthew, and John is believed to have been written early in the second century.

Paul is believed to have begun to write his epistles within about fifteen to twenty years of the death of Jesus, although an earlier date is possible on internal evidence.

Very possibly, Hebrews was the first book of New Testament to be written. Its theology is relatively primitive and it makes no specific mention of Jesus as the historical Jesus of Nazarus, referring only to Jesus as the high priest in heaven. On this evidence, it could even have been written in a proto-Christian community long before the death of Christ.

The General Epistle of James could be substantially pre-Christian, or at least proto-Christian. Its teaching is not about the Christian faith, but about the importance of living a moral life, and the arguments for doing so are set forth as common wisdom. The source and authority for this wisdom are taken for granted by the author. Sayings reminiscent of the teachings of Jesus are not given special privilege and are not even attributed to him as their author or authority - as if the author had not actually known of Jesus. Jesus is only mentioned twice (James 1:1, 2:1) in what may be later insertions.

Answer 9

The actual period that it took to write the four gospels is not sure at all. It could be have been written in the second century A.D. As it was written by four different people.

Answer 10

Because it would have been a little strange to be writing books about him before he was born, and when he was alive, people didn't really NEED books about him, they could just go SEE him.