THE NEW TESTAMENT

 

The old testament records from the beginning of creation until the time of Jesus. The New Testament is the record of Jesus and his apostles. Not many know how the New testament came to be. It was a long process from then until now, and it is common talk among skeptics  that its validity can't be trusted. Can it be trusted? How was it assembled? Who wrote it? Let's take a look.

 

How we got the New Testament

The reliability of New Testament scripture faces much scrutiny. I often meet others who think that the books of the bible, old and New Testament, are not a reliable source. Many believe that most of the books of the New Testament were not even written by the proclaimed authors. In the early church they faced the same conflicts within the church that we do now. I believe the conflict in history is repeating itself due to ignorance of early church history today. In this section I will give an account of the research that I have done in defense of the New Testament scripture and its reliability.

 

Common Era

CE is an abbreviation for "Common Era". It is an alternative to AD. BCE is an abbreviation for Before Common Era and is equivalent to BC. For this section I will use CE in reference to the dating of New Testament books. The use of AD was introduced in the 6th century by a Christian monk, intending the life of Jesus to be the reference date. Meaning that the year 1 AD would be Jesus's first year of life. But it is believed by many scholars that Jesus was born between 2 and 5 BC.

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Eusebius: An Early Church Father

Eusebius was an early church father who lived 260 CE to 339 CE. He kept an account of the early church. With the evidence he had, he compiled a record of the early church from the Lord's apostles up until his time. His writings have survived up until this time and are available to anyone who wants a copy of his work.

In his writings Eusebius lists the books that were reliable and those that were in circulation in his time that were believed to be false. He gives evidence of their reliability, trying to prove that they were written by the apostles, and were in circulation during the mid to late first century (50-99 CE). Eusebius also gives evidence of their reliability by showing that the 2nd generation disciples, in the early second century quoted from the books, meaning that they were in circulation during the early second century (early 100 CE).

Eusebius also makes a claim to a letter written by Jesus himself to King Abgar. I will start with this letter since I find that it is fascinating and that it is never heard of in church assemblies or anywhere else today. It is possible that there may be a copy of the letter, or the letter itself, in the Vatican archives since Eusebius was catholic and he had retrieved the letter himself. As far as I know the only remaining account of this letter is in Eusebius record. Eusebius wrote:

 

"Because of his miraculous powers the divinity of Christ was noised abroad everywhere, and myriads even in foreign lands remote from Judea came to him in the hope of healing from diseases of every kind. Thus, when King Abgar V, the celebrated ruler of peoples beyond the Euphrates, was suffering terribly from an incurable illness and often heard the name of Jesus and his miracles, he sent him a request, via letter carrier, pleading for relief from his disease. Jesus did not consent to his request at the time but favored him with a personal letter, promising to send one of his disciples to cure the disease and bring salvation to him and his relatives.

The promise was soon fulfilled. After his resurrection and ascension, Thomas, one of the Twelve, was divinely inspired to send Thaddeus, one of the Seventy, to Edessa as preacher and evangelist, who fulfilled all the terms of our Savior's promise. There is written evidence of this taken from the archives at Edessa, the then royal capital, which include ancient history as well as the events at Abgar's time. Here are the letters themselves which I have extracted from the archives and translated word for word from the Syriac:"

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COPY OF A LETTER WRITTEN BY ABGAR THE TOPARCH

TO JESUS, SENT TO HIM AT JERUSALEM

BY THE COURIER ANANIAS

 

Abgar Uchama, the Toparch, to Jesus the excellent Savior who has appeared in the region of Jerusalem, greeting.

I have heard about you and the cures you accomplish without drugs or herbs. Word has it that you make the blind see and the lame walk, that you heal lepers and cast out unclean spirits and demons, and that you cure those tortured by chronic disease and raise the dead. When I heard all these things about you, I decided that one of two things is true: either you are God and came down from heaven to do these things or you are God's Son for doing them. For this reason I am writing to beg you to take the trouble to come to me and heal my suffering. I have also heard that the Jews are murmuring against you and plot to harm you. Now, my city-state is very small but highly regarded and adequate for both of us.

 

(He wrote this letter when the divine light has only begun to shine on him. It is appropriate to hear also the letter that Jesus sent him by the same letter carrier. It is only a few lines long but very powerful :)

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THE REPLY OF JESUS TO THE TOPARCH

ABGAR BY THE COURIER ANANIAS

 

Blessed are you who believed in me without seeing me! For it is written that those who have seen me will not believe in me and that those who have not seen me will believe and live. Now regarding your request that I come to you, I must first complete all that I was sent to do here, and, once that is completed, must be taken up to the One who sent me. When I have been taken up, I will send one of my disciples to heal your suffering and bring life to you and yours."

 

This letter is among the accepted writings that Eusebius declared as being true. There were many other books and writing accepted in Eusebius’ time. They are the same books that we have available to us even today.

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The Accepted Books

These are the books most accepted and credible in Eusebius' time (260-339CE):

 

• The Four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John)

• The Acts of the Apostles

• All of the Epistles of Paul

• 1 John

• 1 Peter

• Revelation

 

The Disputed Books

Aside from the books that were accepted as Canonical in Eusebius' time were the other books that we have in the New Testament and some that are not. They were used, but widely disputed, mainly because there were no quotation or mention of these books in the earliest church father's writings. The disputed books that are in our New Testament in the bible today are as follows:

 

• James

• Jude

• 2 Peter

• 2nd and 3rd John

 

The disputed books that were used, and known to most of the church in Eusebius' time, but are not included in our New Testament in our bible are as follows:

 

• The Acts of Paul

• The Shepherd of Hermas

• Revelation of Peter

• Epistle of Barnabas

• Teachings of the Apostles (Didache)

 

Writings by the Heretics

Among the known and used books were writings published by persons known in Eusebius' time to be heretics using the apostles' names. These books are warned about by Eusebius. He writes, "The type of phraseology used contrasts with apostolic style, and the opinions and thrusts of their contents are so dissonant from true orthodoxy that they show themselves to be forgeries of heretics. Accordingly, they ought not be reckoned even among the spurious books but discarded as impious and absurd. “He also states that there are other "Gospels" and "Acts" that are penned under the apostles' names and he warns about them also. He gives a list as follows:

 

• The Gospels of Peter

• The Gospel of Thomas

• The Gospel of Matthias

• Other Gospels not listed in the Canonical or disputed books

• The Acts of Andrew

• The Acts of John

• Other Acts not listed in the Canonical or disputed books

 

The Four Gospels

The Four Gospels are as follows: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. There are "OTHER" gospels out there and I will make mention of them later.  Matthew and John are the only two original disciples, of the Lord, that we know of that wrote a gospel (canonized) of the Lord.  Eusebius writes, “Thus they proclaimed the kingdom of heaven to all the world and gave little thought to writing books." Remember, they were still waiting for the Christ to come back, so most of those who wrote probably did not write until late in their life.

 

The Gospel of Matthew

Matthew was believed to have been written as early as 60CE. The earliest known fragment that we have is dated to 150-200 CE. According to Eusebius, Matthew first preached to the Hebrews, and then when he had decided to go preach further into the world he wrote an account of Jesus' ministry to leave behind to his people.

 

The Gospel of John

John was believed to have been written as early as 80CE. The earliest known fragment that we have dates back to 125-160CE. John wrote his gospel much later in his life. According to Eusebius, John wrote his Gospel after all three of the other gospels ended up in his possession. It is said that he welcomed them and affirmed them. Then after reviewing them he wrote his own gospel because the others lacked the account of what Christ had done at the beginning of his mission.  John was the youngest of the apostles and reportedly lived to be 94 years old and died about 100CE peacefully at an old age. There are other accounts of John from early church fathers. The most famous would be Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna (69-155CE) who was a disciple of John.  If the account is true about John personally writing his gospel after receiving and affirming the other three gospels, then we know for sure that those three gospels were in circulation in the mid-late first century (50-100CE).

 

The Gospel of Mark

Eusebius also writes that before Matthew wrote his gospel, Mark and Luke were already in circulation.  Mark was believed to have received his information from Peter, according to Papias. Papias was an early church father who was born before 70CE and died 155CE. In one of his writings he says, ''The Presbyter (speaking of John the apostle) used to say this also: "Mark became Peter's interpreter and wrote down accurately, but not in order all that he remembered of the things said and done by the Lord. For he had not heard the Lord or been one of his followers, but later, as I said, a follower of Peter. Peter used to teach as the occasion demanded, without giving systematic arrangement to the Lord's sayings, so that Mark did not err in writing down some things just as he recalled them. For he had one overriding purpose: to omit nothing that he had heard and to make no false statements in his account."

 

The Gospel of Luke

Luke, as he states himself at the beginning of the gospel, gathers all the evidence that he could from every source the he could.  He was a gentile physician from Antiochene. He was also a close companion of Paul. Luke was believed to have been written as early as 60CE .The earliest fragment that we have for Luke is dated between 175-250CE.

 

 

The Acts of the Apostles

Since the gospel of Luke was found credible so was the Acts of the Apostles, since the two go together and were penned by the same author. Luke, in his time, not only took in evidence to write his gospel but he also wrote what the apostles did immediately following Jesus’ death and resurrection. The Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts are meant to be read back to back. The book of Acts was believed to have been written as early as 60 CE and the earliest known fragment that we have today is dated to 250CE.

 

Paul's Epistle's

All of Paul's epistles were accepted as canonical in Eusebius' time, except for the book of Hebrews. The book of Hebrews was disputed among some. Concerning Paul's epistles, Eusebius writes, "Paul was obviously the author of the fourteen letters, but some dispute the epistle to the Hebrews in view of the Roman church's denial that it is the work of Paul~"

 

First John

First John was the only canonically accepted book of John in Eusebius' time. First John was believed to have been written as early as 90CE. The earliest known fragments that we have today are dated between the 3rd and 4th century. Concerning first John, and also second and third John, Eusebius writes, "Of John's writings, in addition to the Gospel, the first of his epistles has been accepted as authentic both in past and present, but the other two are disputed."

 

First Peter

First Peter was the only canonically accepted book of Peter in Eusebius' time. It was believed to have been written as early as 60CE and the earliest known fragment that we have today is dated to the 3rd and 4th century. We know for sure that is was used in Eusebius' time. Eusebius writes that the early Fathers quoted from, and used, first Peter as undisputed in their own writings. Namely, Polycarp bishop of Smyrna, disciple of John the evangelist, quoted from first Peter. So we know that first Peter was in circulation in Polycarp's time, which is 69-155CE. Second Peter was not regarded as canonical, though Eusebius stated that many found it was useful and some still studied it with other scriptures.

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Revelation

Revelation was believed to have been written by John the apostle, while exiled on the island of Patmos. Eusebius states that the verdict on its credibility is split down the middle.  He himself says that he accepts it and believes that it was penned by John the Apostle. Papias seems to quote from it in one of his writings when he talks about the 1000 years that we are to spend on earth with Christ after His return.  Papias was born before 70CE and lived until 155CE.

 

The Early Church Fathers

Those who were disciples of Jesus' apostles, and disciples of those disciples, were known as the early church fathers. Although they did not physically see Jesus they provide a bridge from His disciples to the early church. They also provide evidence that many of the scriptures in the New Testament were written long before the earliest fragments of the books that archeologists have found, are dated.

 

Ignatius (35-107CE)

Ignatius may be the earliest known church father. He was born just a few years after Christ died in 35CE. He was one who was taught by John the Apostle. He wrote a series of letters that are still preserved today. In one of them he quotes what seems to be a passage from Luke 24:39.  In his passage Ignatius writes, "I know and believe that even after the Resurrection he was in the flesh. When he came to Peter and his companions he said to them, "Take hold, touch me and see that I am not a bodiless spirit." And they touched him at once and believed." This being said we know that Luke was in circulation during the life of Ignatius. He was known to extensively quote from the books that became the New Testament. Ignatius succeeded Peter as the bishop of Antioch. Later, in 107CE he faced martyrdom when he was fed to wild beasts.

 

Papias (Approx. 70-155CE)

Papias, bishop of Hierapolis, was born before 70CE. He was an ancient writer and a companion of Polycarp. He sought out those who were personally taught by the apostles. He did this, he said, "For I did not think that information from books would help me as much as the word of a living, surviving voice." In his writings he states that Mark, the author of the Gospel of Mark, was peter's interpreter and wrote down everything. He also states that Matthew compiled all of Christ's sayings. He spoke directly with Aristion whom was one of the original 72 Disciples of Christ. He also spoke with the presbyter John who he says was also a disciple of the Lord. This John may not have been John the Apostle but a different disciple of Jesus with the same name. Papias quotes from 1 John and 1 Peter and also from the Gospel of Hebrews.

 

Polycarp (69-155CE)

Polycarp was born in 69CE and lived until his martyrdom in 155CE when he was burned at the stake, and then finally slashed with a sword when the fire was seen not consuming him. He was appointed as bishop of Smyrna by John the apostle, whom also taught him. Polycarp helped preserve letters in his time, for edification. In his writings Polycarp even quotes from 1 Peter.

 

Quadratus (Late 1st Century-129CE)

Quadratus was born in the late first century and died in 129CE. He is known for his address, to defend the faith, to Aelius Hadrian who succeeded Trajan to the throne, sometime after 117CE. He makes a clear statement that some of those that Jesus healed lived up to his time. Quadratus writes, "Our Savior's deeds were always there to see, for they were true: those who were cured or those who rose from the dead were seen not only when they were cured or raised but were constantly there to see, not only while the Savior was living among us, but also for some time after his departure. Some of them, in fact, survived right up to our own time."

 

Justin Martyr (100-165CE)

Justin Martyr was born 100CE and died 165CE in martyrdom. He had many writings. In one, it is known that he quotes from Revelation and states that it is the work of the apostle.

 

 

Clement of Alexandria (150-215CE)

Clement was born 150CE. When writing to the church at Corinth, he quotes from the epistle of Hebrews. Eusebius uses this as his argument, that because of the early quotation, Hebrews could not have been recently written as some were disputing.  Paul even mentions Clement in Philippians 4:3

 

The Early Bible

So how did we end up with the bible that we know today, and is it credible?  Before the printing press, the books of the bible, and those not contained in our known bible today, had to be hand copied over, and over, and over again. It’s easy to make a mistake when you’re writing, and they didn't have whiteout back then. They took their time and were very careful when writing. It wasn't as if they were copying "Moby dick" or "Oliver's twist". They were handling the words of God, the life of Jesus Christ, and salvation for future generations.

 

The Earliest Sources

The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, and the New Testament was originally written in Greek. Many might think that there are not many ancient sources for scholars to refer to, to prove the New Testament credible. Archeology proves different. There are nearly 100,000 manuscripts and letters, written by Christians, that have been recovered which date back to the first few centuries. Many of these manuscripts and letters contain quotations from New Testament books.  There are 4000 known manuscripts of the bible (or parts) that date between 2nd-15th centuries. Modern Scholars possess more than 5000 manuscript copies, or portions of the New Testament, in the original Greek language. There are more than 15,000 manuscripts written in other languages from just the first few centuries. From the 1st century to the 9th century, the bible had been translated from Hebrew and Greek, to Syriac, Peshito Syriac, Old Latin, Revised Latin, Ethiopian, Gothic, Armenian, Arabic, and Slavic. There are no other historical or religious texts that has more than a few dozen early copies that have survived this long. There is not even a single complete copy of Homer earlier than 1300CE, or of Herodotus earlier than 1000CE.

The original Manuscripts have all been lost as far as we know it. Probably due to time and exposure. The original NT writings would have been written on papyrus paper, which doesn't last long unless kept in a very dry climate, like Egypt. The 1st century papyrus manuscripts would have been in scroll form about 9-10 inches wide and up to 30 feet long. In the 2nd century the manuscripts found were in codex form, meaning the pages were bound together like the books that we have today. This is one way to begin pinpointing the date of the writing. For example, if the manuscript found was in scroll form it was probably written within the 1st century, and if it was written in codex form then it was written within the 2nd and 4th century. In the 4th century they began to write on vellum, which were animal skins. Vellum was more durable and better withstood the test of time than papyrus. Until the 19th century (1800's), all known manuscripts that were accessible to us were written in, or later than, the 4th century. Scholars knew this because they were all written on vellum. It wasn't until Flinders Petrie made an important discovery in central Egypt during an excavation. There, Petrie discovered papyri manuscripts and deemed them important and valuable. Two of his pupils from Oxford, Grenfell and Hunt, began excavations in 1895 and found over 10,000 manuscripts. These included diaries, receipts, bills, letters, certificates, almanacs, and historical documents. Also among them were early Jewish and Christian writings dating between 300 BCE-300CE.

 

The Egyptian Papyri

The Egyptian Papyri were an amazing find. They included the earliest known manuscripts of Old Testament scripture until the discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls. They are still today the earliest known manuscripts that we have for the New Testament. Among them were the earliest known fragments of the Gospel of John dating to the early first half of the 2nd century (125-150CE). Many other manuscripts were found. In what is called the Chester Beatty Collection, were found: Genesis, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Esther, The Gospels, Acts, Paul's Epistles, and one third of the book of Revelation. All books in the Chester Beatty Collection were written before 250CE. Also among the Papyri found were the Logia. They included parts of the books of the bible, unrecorded sayings of Jesus, an unknown Gospel that parallels the Canonical Gospels, and fragments that contain similar incidents of Jesus' life.

 

Sinaitic Manuscripts

In the 1800's a German scholar named Tischendorf discovered the Sinaitic manuscripts in the monastery of St. Catherine, located on Mt. Sinai. It is the only manuscript that contains the complete New Testament in Greek plus the epistle of Barnabas, and the shepherd of Hermas. It was written on Vellum with 15x13.5 inch dimensions. It was written in the first half of the 4th century (300-350CE). It is possible that this was one of the 50 bibles ordered to be made by Constantine for the churches of Constantinople under the direction of Eusebius.

 

The Vatican Manuscripts

The Vatican manuscript has been in the Vatican since 1481. It was written in the 4th century, and may also have been one of the 50 bibles made for the churches of Constantinople.

 

The Alexandrian Manuscripts

The Alexandrian Manuscript is the entire bible. It was written in the 5th century. It is currently in a British museum and has been since 1627. Some of the fragments are missing. It includes the Epistles of Clement, and the Psalms of Solomon.

 

The Ephraem Manuscripts

The Ephraem manuscripts were written in the 5th century. They contain about half of the New Testament.

 

The Beza Manuscripts

The Beza Manuscripts were written in the 5th century. They contain the Gospels and Acts.

 

The Washington Manuscripts

The Washington Manuscripts were written in the 4th century. They contain the Gospels. They were found in Egypt in 1906.

 

From Constantine to Theodosius

From Jesus' death until the end of the reign of Diocletian, Christians faced constant persecution. By the end of Diocletian's reign and the imperial persecutions, Christians made up about one half of the Roman Empire. After the end of Diocletian's reign in 305CE, Constantine, through a series of civil wars, became emperor in 306CE. During the civil wars, Constantine converted to Christianity after having a vision prior to a battle. He saw a cross appear in the sky above the setting sun with the words "In this sign conquer" above it. The next day he fought the battle under the banner of Christ and won. In 313CE he put into effect "the edict of toleration". This gave everyone full religious freedom. Even after declaring religious freedom for everyone, Constantine favored the Christians of the empire over others. Constantine moved the capital to Byzantium and renamed it Constantinople. He built churches there, and made Christianity the religion of his court. He also made Sunday a rest day, since Christians sought this day to come together and sing, have fellowship, and hold communion. He also ordered that no skilled labor was to be done this day. In Constantinople, Constantine ordered 50 bibles to be prepared under the direction of Eusebius on the finest vellum, by skillful artists, for the churches in Constantinople. After Constantine came Julian (361-363CE), who tried to restore Paganism. Then Jovian (363-364CE) who re-established the Christian faith. After Jovian Theodosius became emperor in 378CE, he made Christianity the state religion and forced it on the population. The church at that time stuck its nose into politics and took a turn for the worst because it lost sight of the true faith and message. Theodosius suppressed all other religions, tore down idols and forbid idol worship. Under his decree, Christians tore down pagan temples and there was much bloodshed as a result. Although many bad things happened during the turning point in Christian history, many good things happened as well. Slavery was abolished, so were gladiatorial fights, killing of unwelcome children, and crucifixion as a form of punishment was put away with as the Roman empire was Christianized.

 

The Papal Reign

After diving into politics, the church began to grow as a world power itself. Thus, the papal reign (the authority and office of the pope). With the growth of the papacy, the bible fell out of general use because of the supplanted decrees and dogmas of the councils and popes, until the protestant reformation. Eventually, the church fell into apostasy and compromised with kings and aristocracy of Europe. Laws were issued that only the clergy could possess a bible. In the dark ages even priests were not allowed to read or keep Latin bible manuscripts. After 1199 it was ordered that extensive punishment was given to those possessing or distributing the bible. Even up until 1870 it was illegal to own a bible in Italy.

 

From Greek to English

As Christianity spread around the world, the scriptures that we have today were translated to many languages within the first few centuries, from the original Greek manuscripts. In the 4th century, St. Jerome translated a revised Latin edition of the bible called the Vulgate. By the 7th century the bible was translated into Anglo Saxon. The first English bible was not the King James Bible, as many may believe. The first English bible was Wycliffe’s bible, which was translated from the vulgate in 1382. In 1525 Tyndale translated the bible from the original Greek and Hebrew manuscripts. Coverdale translated the bible from Dutch and Latin sources in 1535. Roger's bible was translated from Tyndale's bible in 1537. The Great Bible, put together in 1539, was a compilation of Tyndale's, Coverdale, and Roger's bible. The Bishop's bible was authorized for the Church of England in 1568. In 1611 King James ordered a revision of a version based on Tyndale's bible. The King James Bible became the common household bible for nearly 300 years. In 1901 it became necessary to revise the bible because of the change of the English language and some meanings of its words. This revised bible was known as The American Standard Revised Bible. Today we can walk into a Christian bookstore and there are dozens of English translations that are accessible to us. Many people have fought, suffered, and died for the bible that many people take for granted.   

 

Dead Sea Scrolls

The Dead Sea Scrolls were found in 1947 by a shepherd boy in Qumran, near the Dead Sea. Nearly 1000 manuscripts were found which dated back to before 68CE. Among those found were biblical and secular texts dating before the destruction of the second temple (written in Hebrew). In cave 4 alone they discovered every Old Testament book except the book of Esther. Until the discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls, it was easy to consider that the bible probably changed in wording and some of the meaning due to having to be hand copied for several thousand years. When scholars compared the Textus Receptus (the manuscripts that were used by the King James translators in 1611), with the manuscripts discovered in Qumran, they found very few spelling variations. In fact, not a single important word was altered. Most variations that were found would be similar to the difference of us using "a" instead of "an".

The Dead Sea scrolls were thought to only contain Old Testament manuscripts, but some scholars believe that they have found direct quotations to New Testament scripture, and to Jesus. One example is the crucified Messiah scroll. It’s a fragment that describes a Messiah who suffered crucifixion for the sins of humanity. Also discovered was the "son of God" scroll (4Q246) that proclaimed a future Messiah as "son of God" and "Son of most high". These two fragments cause some scholars to believe that they may have been written after Jesus' death. Another scholar, Jose' O' Callaghan studies 8 small fragments that appear to contain lines from several books of the NT. It cannot be a positive match because these fragments only contain a few lines each.

There were three main religious Jewish groups in Jesus' time. The Sadducees, the Pharisees, and the Essene. The Essene community is responsible for collecting and writing what we know as the Dead Sea scrolls. They occupied three main areas: Qumran, the Essene Quarter of Jerusalem (mount Zion), and Damascus. The Essene community would have been well aware of the Christian movement, and may have recorded some of the sayings or even have collected books or parts of those books that were in circulation before 68 CE. If some of these fragments that O'Callaghan studied are what he believes they may be, then they are the earliest known written evidence that we have of Jesus and His disciples.

 

Below is a list of the New Testament books. To the left are the proposed dates that they were written. To the right are the earliest known physical evidence that we have of that writing. Many of these are not the full books but only fragments of what time left behind.

 

Gospel of Matthew 60-85 CE \ (150–200 CE)

Gospel of Mark 60-70 CE \ (350 CE)

Gospel of Luke 60-90 CE \ (175–250 CE)

Gospel of John 80-95 CE \ (125–160 CE)

Acts 60-90 CE \ (250 CE)

Romans 57–58 CE \ (late 2nd century or 3rd century CE)

Corinthians 57 CE \ (late 2nd century or 3rd century CE)

Galatians 45-55 CE \ (late 2nd century or 3rd century CE)

Ephesians 65 CE \ (late 2nd century or 3rd century CE)

Philippians 57–62 CE \ (late 2nd century or 3rd century CE)

Colossians 60 CE \ (late 2nd century or 3rd century CE)

1 Thessalonians 50 CE \ (late 2nd century or 3rd century CE)

2 Thessalonians 50-54 CE \ (300 CE)

Timothy 60-100 CE \ (350 CE)

Titus 60-100 CE \ (200 CE)

Philemon 56 CE \ (3rd century CE)

Hebrews 63-90 CE \ (late 2nd century or 3rd century CE)

James 50-200 CE \ (early 3rd century CE)

First Peter 60-96 CE \ (3rd/4th century CE)

Second Peter 60-130 CE \ (3rd/4th century CE)

Epistles of John 90-110 CE \ (3rd/4th century CE)

Jude 66-90 CE \ (3rd/4th century CE)

Revelation 68-100 CE \ (150–200 CE)

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