[kosciusko51]

From the article: The books were discovered five years ago in a cave in a remote part of Jordan to which Christian refugees are known to have fled after the fall of Jerusalem in 70AD. Important documents from the same period have previously been found there.

Initial metallurgical tests indicate that some of the books could date from the first century AD. ... If the dating is verified, the books would be among the earliest Christian documents, predating the writings of St Paul.

Obviously, not a Bible scholar. Paul wrote in the period BEFORE 70 AD. He was dead by the end of the first century.

[ModelBreaker]

“Obviously, not a Bible scholar. Paul wrote in the period BEFORE 70 AD. He was dead by the end of the first century.”

I stopped at the same passage. I think what they mean is they would be our earliest copies. Paul died about 65 A.D. But our earliest copies of his epistles date to the mid-second century—almost certainly copies of copies. (There is a fragment of the Gospel of John that is about 115 A.D. and it is the earliest known new testament document.) So if the plates can be reliably dated to the fall of Jerusalem, they would be the earliest known documents, even though written later than the epistles.

[AppyPappy]

Paul seemed to know about the fall of Jerusalem