Manuscripts

From ScripturalPedia

Many scholars now believe that the Gospels were written before Paul's first imprisonment in 57-60 AD, and that virtually all of the New Testament books were written before Jerusalem's destruction.

There is no hint in the New Testament of Nero's persecutions after 64 AD, nor of the execution of James, the Lord's brother, in 62 AD. There is not the slightest mention of the Jewish revolt against the Romans, which began in 66 AD, nor of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. These historic events would have been irresistible in making many of the arguments in the New Testament documents.

Textual evidence suggests that the Gospels were originally written in Hebrew. In hundreds of places the Greek sentence structure betrays a Semitic influence and implies a translation from the Hebrew. It appears that within five years after the death and resurrection of Christ, most of His words and deeds had been committed to a simple written Hebrew form and Matthew is, of course, assumed to be part of this compilation.

In 1994, an ancient segment of the Greek text of Matthew's Gospel was analyzed and it appears to be dated before 66 AD. Known as the Magdalen Papyrus, it contains segments of Matthew 26:23 and 26:31 on both sides of three fragments. Using a scanning laser microscope, it has provided physical evidence that the Gospel according to Matthew is an eyewitness account written by contemporaries of Christ.

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Pyrgi Tablet - Ancient Hebrew Research Center -