The New Testament Books are the Earliest Christian Writings We Possess

canon fodder ^ | January 21, 2013 | Michael J. Kruger

[Gamecock]

Full Title: Ten Basic Facts about the NT Canon that Every Christian Should Memorize: #1: “The New Testament Books are the Earliest Christian Writings We Possess”

_______________________________________________________

This new blog series is designed to help the lay believer learn some basic facts about the New Testament canon—the kind of facts that might be helpful in a conversation with a skeptic or inquisitive friend. The first of these facts is one that is so basic that it is often overlooked. It is simply that the New Testament books are the earliest Christian writings we possess.

One of the most formidable challenges in any discussion about the New Testament canon is explaining what makes these 27 books unique. Why these and not others? There are many answers to that question, but in this blog post we are focusing on just one: the date of these books. These books stand out as distinctive because they are earliest Christian writings we possess and thus bring us the closest to the historical Jesus and to the earliest church. If we want to find out what authentic Christianity was really like, then we should rely on the writings that are the nearest to that time period.

This is particularly evident when it comes to the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These are the only gospel accounts that derive from the first century. Sure, there are a few scholars have attempted to put the Gospel of Thomas in the first century, but this has not met with much success. After all the scholarly dust has settled, even critics agree that these four are the earliest accounts of Jesus that we possess.

Now, a few qualifications are in order. First, it should be noted that there are disagreements about the dating of some New Testament books. Some critical scholars have argued that some New Testament books are forgeries written in the second century. Meanwhile, other scholars have defended the authenticity (and first-century date) of these books. This is a debate that we cannot delve into here. However, even if these debated books are left aside in our discussions, we can still affirm that the vast majority of the New Testament writings (including the four gospels) still remain the earliest Christian writings we possess.

Second, some may point out that 1 Clement is a Christian writing that dates to the first century, and it is not included in the New Testament canon. True, but the consensus date for 1 Clement is c.96 A.D. This date is later than all our New Testament books. The only possible exception is Revelation which is dated, at the latest, around 95-96 A.D. But, some date Revelation earlier. Even so, this does not affect the macro point we are making here.

Just to be clear, we are not arguing here that books are canonical simply because they have a first century date. Other Christian writings existed in the first century that were not canonical—and perhaps we will discover some of these in the future. Our point is not that all first century books are canonical, but that all our canonical books are first century. And that is a point worth making.

In the end, every Christian should remember one basic fact, namely that the New Testament books are distinctive because, generally speaking, they are the earliest Christian writings we possess. None are earlier. If so, then it seems that the books included in the New Testament are not as arbitrary as some would have us believe. On the contrary, it seems that these are precisely the books we would include if we wanted to have access to authentic Christianity.

Michael J. Kruger, President and Professor of New Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary, Charlotte, NC.

[Gamecock]

#1 of 10.

[Gamecock]

[DManA]

Is this controversial?

[bunkerhill7]

30-60 Passion Narrative
40-80 Lost Sayings Gospel Q
50-60 1 Thessalonians
50-60 Philippians
50-60 Galatians
50-60 1 Corinthians
50-60 2 Corinthians
50-60 Romans
50-60 Philemon
50-80 Colossians
50-90 Signs Gospel
50-95 Book of Hebrews
50-120 Didache
50-140 Gospel of Thomas
50-140 Oxyrhynchus 1224 Gospel
50-200 Sophia of Jesus Christ
65-80 Gospel of Mark
70-100 Epistle of James
70-120 Egerton Gospel
70-160 Gospel of Peter
70-160 Secret Mark
70-200 Fayyum Fragment
70-200 Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs
73-200 Mara Bar Serapion
80-100 2 Thessalonians
80-100 Ephesians
80-100 Gospel of Matthew
80-110 1 Peter
80-120 Epistle of Barnabas
80-130 Gospel of Luke
80-130 Acts of the Apostles
80-140 1 Clement
80-150 Gospel of the Egyptians
80-150 Gospel of the Hebrews
80-250 Christian Sibyllines
90-95 Apocalypse of John
90-120 Gospel of John
90-120 1 John
90-120 2 John
90-120 3 John
90-120 Epistle of Jude
93 Flavius Josephus
100-150 1 Timothy
100-150 2 Timothy
100-150 Titus
100-150 Apocalypse of Peter
100-150 Secret Book of James
100-150 Preaching of Peter
100-160 Gospel of the Ebionites
100-160 Gospel of the Nazoreans
100-160 Shepherd of Hermas
100-160 2 Peter

[Gamecock]

To some, yes.

[Lee N. Field]

Is this controversial?

The old liberal received wisdom was that the NT books were late, late, late. 2nd century forgeries.

[canuck_conservative]

All these accounts were written 50-100+ years after Jesus. Why the delay? Why no accounts written contemporaneously with, or shortly after Jesus?

And with that time delay, doesn’t that imply a 2nd- or 3rd-generation telling of the story, with all its inherent distortions of the original?

[RushingWater]

I like Haley’s Bible commentary. It has a great discussion.

[Gamecock]

All these accounts were written 50-100+ years after Jesus. Why the delay?

Because the authors thought Jesus would return at any time. They didn't write it down because the didn't see the need. As they aged they changed their minds and penned the eyewitness accounts.

Why no accounts written contemporaneously with, or shortly after Jesus?

Answered above. What were you doing on September 11? Where were you? How did you first find out?

And with that time delay, doesn’t that imply a 2nd- or 3rd-generation telling of the story

No. Jesus was crucified at 33. If an eyewitness was 23 when Jesus was nailed to a cross, he would have been 73 at the 50 year mark.

[wmfights]

FWIW, we can reconstruct all but 11 verses of the NT from from material written by early Christian theologians from 200 AD and before. I know at first blush this is a little off the point, but one of the arguments muslims make is that the Scriptures today have been substantially changed. The point being is they have not and the Gospels are as they were.

One of the miracles of God is how He formed the Scriptures without the aid of any institution deciding what is inspired and what isn't.

[Raycpa]

50-33=17

[wmfights]

Jesus was crucified at 33. If an eyewitness was 23 when Jesus was nailed to a cross, he would have been 73 at the 50 year mark.

If I might add, one reason we know the accounts that were written were accurate is because they were read by people who actually lived through the events. The NT testament closed with the death of the last Apostle, John.

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

33 King James hands out the red-letter edition.

[Gamecock]

That too.
Thanks for anticipating what prolly was coming up.

[bunkerhill7]

My Summa is Theo`d Illogically

[Salvation]

Check the dates here.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/3064771/posts?page=4#4

[Stingray]

“The New Testament Books are the Earliest Christian Writings We Possess”

And they were all written prior to 68 AD.

[wmfights]

Your welcome. :-)

You do us all a great favor reviewing why we can be so confident in the truth revealed to us in Scripture. Defending the unique character of our Bible is something every Christian should be able to do if they want to share The Gospel with someone.

[cizinec]

the New Testament books are distinctive because, generally speaking, they are the earliest Christian writings we possess.

How the New Testament books were selected as acceptable reading in church (i.e., canonical) was a long and painful process that involved many decades of discussions, with no absolute consensus reached. Syrians, Ethiopians, Greeks, Russians, Rome and Protestants all have different books, the Protestant canon being, by a long way, the most recent.

Regardless, I find it really strange how many merely claim the NT as Christian writings. I would point out that the earliest Christian writings were the Pentateuch.

[Salvation]

Now for the truth:

"We are compelled to concede to the Papists
that they have the Word of God,
that we received it from them,
and that without them
we should have no knowledge of it at all."

~ Martin Luther

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