Author: Jim

Acts is the second of two epistles written by Luke, so setting a date for Acts also serves to establish the latest possible date for the Gospel of Luke. The Gospel of Luke is closely related to the other synoptic gospels, Matthew and Mark, and will influence a view on their dates as well. Also, Acts describes in detail the three missionary journeys of Paul. These journeys form the backdrop for most of the epistles of Paul, and help us to date them as well. Finally, if Acts is analyzed by itself, the date of writing for the book is quite obvious.

There is a further reason to establish a date for Luke prior to establishing a date for the other synoptic gospels, Matthew and Mark. It seems that Luke has what can be described as a “simple” origin – simple in the sense that Luke researched his work, then wrote it one time in Greek, then sent it to his friend Theophilus, and that this writing is essentially what we have as the Gospel of Luke today. Most of the New Testament books have a similar “simple” origin, but the stories of Matthew and Mark are more complex. This has led to what scholars call the “synopic problem”, the effort to untangle the relationship between the Matthew, Mark and Luke.  .

The opening verses of Luke and Acts make it clear that these two epistles were written by the same individual, “Luke”, in keeping with unbroken tradition since the apostolic age. The Gospel of Luke was written before Acts, based on Acts 1:1-3, with Luke calling the epistle his “former account.” Acts takes the story of Paul up through Paul’s voyage to Rome, where he awaits trial before Caesar in about 62 A.D. Having built to this climax, the story of Acts then ends with a few verses about Paul witnessing without opposition in Rome, leaving the reader hanging as to what will happen to Paul at his trial.

Further support for the conclusion that Acts brings the story up to date is the fact that Acts gives no hint of any knowledge of the major events that would take place within the decade. These events include the execution of James, the brother of Jesus and head of the Jerusalem church, the burning of Rome by Nero and the subsequent persecution of the Christians, and most of all, the Roman-Judean war of 66-70 A.D. One is left with the distinct impression that Acts doesn’t mention the results of Paul’s trial or any of these other events simply because they had not happened at the time the book was written.

Luke’s favorable attitude toward Rome points to a date before the persecution of Christians under Nero:
·  Roman soldiers are favorably addressed by John the Baptist, something mentioned only by Luke (Luke 3:14)
·  The account of the Centurion in Luke 7 is very favorable to the man, who “loves our nation” (Acts 7:5)
·  The Centurion Cornelius in Acts 10 is a favorable character who becomes a Christian
·  The Centurion and Roman commander in Acts 21-23 help Paul repeatedly
·  The Centurion guarding Paul on the ship while he is traveling to Rome is yet another favorably portrayed Roman soldier.
·  Paul is repeatedly treated with deference due to his Roman citizenship
(Acts 16:37-38, 22:25-28)

The opposition to the gospel described in Luke/Acts comes primarily from either the Jews or from citizens acting outside the law. The Roman authorities are the ones who deal fairly and put things right. There is no warning of Roman sponsored persecution, nor any direct instruction provided to the church as to how to deal with it. There is no hint in Luke that Jewish Christians will soon be thrown to the lions by the very Roman authorities who were so helpful to Paul and his companions. The most logical reason for the absence of any such hint is that Luke does not know about it, because it hasn’t happened yet. This points to a date of writing prior to the Roman persecution of the late 60’s.

James, the brother of Jesus, who is head of the church in Jerusalem, is mentioned three times in Acts (12:17, 15:13 and 21:18). In every occasion the leadership role of James is taken for granted (Peter and Paul are not considered the top leaders, as they would be later). Luke makes no effort to identify who James is, nor to differentiate him from the other figures named James; it is just assumed that the reader knows that this is the most important James around. James was executed in Jerusalem in 62 A.D. by the High Priest Ananus, who acted in the temporary absence of a sitting Roman governor. However, Luke does not seem to know this either. Perhaps this word had not reached Luke before he finished Acts, as both events apparently happened at about the same time in different places. Certainly, if James had been a figure in the distant past, Luke would have needed to differentiate which James he was talking about when he mentioned him.

At this point it’s important that Acts was written when it was. Its significance is mostly because of what it does to the dating of all the rest of the New Testament, but the exact date would probably not have mattered much to the early church. This is important, because people advocating late dates for books of the Bible often suggest that there exists an element of deception on the part of the author. This deception could take the form of an author falsely claiming to be someone else. It is certainly true that deception of this sort took place with some other earlier Christian literature. However, there is simply no motivation for this to have taken place with Acts. The author of the book is technically anonymous. Strong tradition and good reasons identify the author as Luke, the companion of Paul, but Luke was a very minor figure in the New Testament church, being mentioned just twice in passing(Col 4:14, 2 Tim 4:11). The epistle was written by Luke, with close connection to Paul and the events described in the book. Therefore, there would not be any motivation for the author to make the epistle appear to have been written earlier than it was. So when the epistle closes its account in A.D. 62 and appears to have been written in A.D. 62, there is every reason to assume that it really was written then.

It seems that Luke, who was Paul’s traveling companion, was left with little to do for two years while Paul was imprisoned in Caesarea from around 59-61 A.D. He apparently used this time to research the story of Jesus, interviewing some of the eyewitnesses, and eventually produced the Gospel of Luke around 61-62 A.D., closely followed by Acts. As Luke researched for his gospel, some of the material now in Matthew and Mark would have been available to him.

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The writings of John (the Gospel, 1,2 and 3 John, Revelation) are often assigned the latest dates of all New Testament literature, with some secular scholars placing them well into the second century A.D., and even most conservative scholars dating at least Revelation around 95 A.D., when John would have been over 80 years old. John and James were the sons of Zebedee, and disciples (Apostles) of Jesus.

It would perhaps be best to first establish the case that the same author is responsible for all the books associated with John.  The attributions within these books are not at all clear on this point, since the Gospel of John and 1 John are anonymous, 2 John and 3 John are letters from “The Elder”, and the Revelation is given to simply “His servant John” (Rev 1:1).

Unlike the other gospels, John the apostle is never named in the Gospel of John, though his name seems to be deliberately self-obscured by calling himself “another disciple” or the “disciple that Jesus loved” (John 13:23, 18:15-16, 19:26-27, 20:2-4, 20:8, 21:7, 21:20, 21:23-24). The “we” in John 1:14 indicates that the author, along with the other apostles, were eyewitnesses of Jesus.

Finally, Rev 1:1-2 “…John: Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw“. The author of Revelation was also the author of this Gospel.

Some scholars have argued for different authors for John and Revelation because of differences in how the Greek language is used in the two books. However, this can probably be explained by the circumstances of writing. John, the Galilean fisherman, would have learned Greek not as his mother tongue but as a second or third language. The Greek of Revelation is different and non-standard, probably because John wrote it as a letter without help. The Gospel of John, though clearly coming from John, looks like it was a collaborative effort. John 21:24 says: “This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and wrote these things, and we know that his testimony is true.” The “his” in this verse at the end of the book is probably John, and the “we” is almost surely the Jewish Christian community working with him to put the book into its final form. A similar reference occurs in John 19:35 “And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe”.

There are different views to the time when the Gospel of John was written. Some believe it was written during the reign of Nero (A.D. 54–68), or during the reign of Vespasian (A.D. 69–79), or during the reign of Domitian (A.D. 81–96). Since Jerusalem and the Temple appear to still be in existence, 65-68 AD appear to be when The Apostle John wrote his epistle

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The epistles of John 1,2 and 3. John did not number these epistles, not were they written in this order. That was done many years later by a Church Council.

If the end or the last days were shortly after the writing of revelation (approx. AD 70), then how can John say in 1 John 2:18 “Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.” Things were getting bad in Jerusalem and John probably thought the Tribulation was coming. 

Here there is little to go on, but some conclusions can be made. John writes as an “elder” to his spiritual “children”.
(1 John 2:1, 2:12, 2:18, 2 John 1; 3 John 1, 4).
Since John was apparently a youthful disciple, the younger brother of James, this implies that a good deal of time has passed since Jesus’ earthly ministry. Many of the themes in 1-3 John are also present in the Gospel of John. The subject of truth and the idea of a commandment of love is prominent in both books, along with the idea that God is light.

Also, John’s warns against a gnostic influence (1 John 1:1 says he “handled the Word of life (Jesus), in the flesh”). One of the gnostic teachings was that Jesus was a spirit-man rather than a real human. 1 John 2:18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.   A date around of 65 A.D. would seem appropriate as the date for this epistle..

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In the letter, 1, 2 and 3 John, remember, John did not number these epistles. That was done many years later by a church council.

Again, there is little to go on, but some conclusions can be made. John writes as an “elder” to his spiritual “children” (1 John 2:1, 2:12, 2:18, 2 John 1; 3 John 1, 4). Since John was apparently a youthful disciple, the younger brother of James, this implies that a good deal of time has passed since Jesus’ earthly ministry.

John does not identify himself as the author and there is a level of intentional anonymity – “the elder“, “the elect lady“, “her children“, “the children of your elect sister” (2 John 1, 13), and as he writes in 1 John 2:18 “Little children, it is the last times…” this might indicate a time of persecution. There is little dispute as to a common author for the short letters of 2 John and 3 John. Both are written by a man calling himself “The Elder.” In both books the author rejoices over “children walking in truth.” Many of the themes in 1-3 John are also present in the Gospel of John. The subject of truth and the idea of a commandment of love is prominent in both books, along with the idea that God is light.

A date around of 65 A.D. for all three letters would seem appropriate, and there does not seem to be a clear way to designate a particular order for the three letters.

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John writes as an “elder” to “the well beloved Gaius” (3 John 1, 4). Since John was apparently a youthful disciple, the younger brother of James, this implies that a good deal of time has passed since Jesus’ earthly ministry.

Also, John’s warns about Diotrephes (3 John 9), praises Demetrius (3 John 12).
He concludes “ I had many things to write, but I will not with ink and pen write unto thee: But I trust I shall shortly see thee, and we shall speak face to face”.
(3 John 13-14).

There is little dispute as to a common author for the short letters of 2 John and 3 John. Both are written by a man calling himself “The Elder.” In both books the author rejoices over “children walking in truth.” Many of the themes in 1-3 John are also present in the Gospel of John. The subject of truth and the idea of a commandment of love is prominent in both books, along with the idea that God is light.

A date around of 65 A.D. for all three letters would seem appropriate, and there does not seem to be a clear way to designate a particular order for the three letters.

⇛ return to New Testament Epistles

Revelation is assumed by most scholars, including very conservative scholars, to have been written during a period of persecution under Caesar Domitian in 95 A.D. Supporting this date under Domitian are the early church fathers Tertullian, Victorious, Hippolytus, Clement of Alexandria, and Jerome. This should be considered as serious evidence.

John is the author, Rev 1:1-2, “…John, who bore record of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw“, could be read as saying that the author of this book previously wrote the Gospel of John as well.

Revelation looks to have been written before there was a clear break between Jewish Christians and Jews. Rev 2:9 and Rev 3:9 refer to those “who say they are Jews but are not“.

So, if Revelation is prior to A.D. 70, what date is most likely? The epistle fits best in the late A.D. 60’s. James, Peter and Paul had been martyred and the church in Rome was undergoing substantial persecution. Rome had been burned, and Nero has died, setting in motion a bitter and deadly power struggle that saw three different Caesars come and go within a year. And finally, Rome was locked in a death struggle with the Jews in the land of Israel. Since Nero died in June of A.D. 68, the year A.D. 69-70 seems most likely as a date of writing for Revelation, with the caveat that if it was written in A.D. 69-70 it was before July when Jerusalem was destroyed.

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