When was the New Testament written?

Answer 1

Different books of the New Testament were, of course, written at different times. Some believe that the entire New Testament was written shortly after the death of Jesus, by the Apostle Paul and by eyewitnesses to the events that the New Testament describes, while others see a wider range of dates in the evidence.

Scholars now realise that the gospels were originally written anonymously and were only attributed to the apostles whose names they now bear, later in the second century. Those attributions were not based on factual evidence and there is no reason to believe that the disciples Mattew, Mark, Luke and John had any role in writing the gospels. This then means that it is no longer necessary for the gospels to have been written during the lifetimes of persons living at the time of Jesus. The scholarly view is that Mark was written approximately 70 CE, Matthew in the 80s, Luke in the 90s of the first century or early in the second century, John early in the second century.

The earliest complete book of the New Testament is thought to be the Epistle to the Hebrews, but it is uncertain when it was written - perhaps in the 40s of the first century. The latest books were probably the pseudepigraphical epistles such as 2 Peter or 3 John, believed to have been written before the middle of the second century.

Answer 2

The books that have become the New Testament were written between c. 45 AD and c. 96 AD, the first being written was the Epistle of St James. There are 27 books in the New Testament, comprising the four Gospels, the Acts, 21 Epistles and Revelations. But the canon of the New Testament as we know it today was not finalised until the latter part of the 4th Century AD. And this canon has remained unchanged since that time. However, many different translations and copies affected every book in some way or another. The King James Version uses a translation for the new testament that was rushed together.

Answer 3

Most of it was. However, the Book of Hebrews and the epistles actually written by Paul were written a little earlier. Parts of Revelation and James may also be older.

Mark's Gospel isdated to approximately 70 CE, followed by Matthew in the eighties, Luke around the turn of the century and John just a few years later. Second Peterwas probably the last book of the New Testament, believed to have been written after 120 CE.

Answer 4

No. All of the New Testament was most likely written prior to 70AD, and certainly by 95AD.