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To: Seti 1
Even the gospels were written a couple of generations later and repeated and recopied for several centuries before being put down in any form existing today.

Close, but not exactly. Historical evidence exists that point to the Gospels being written within 30+ years of the death/resurrection of Jesus.

The books of the New Testament do not appear in chronological order. The Apostle Paul wrote the Epistles (books of the NT that come after the book of Acts) before the four Gospels were written. Acts was finished before Paul died in A.D. 62. So the Gospels were written after the Epistles, but before Acts. This means that the gospel of Mark was probably written in the late 40s, Matthew and Luke in the early-mid 50s, and John in the late 50s.

The sheer magnitude of subjects that could be discussed regarding the Gospels and historical accuracy of the Bible prevents me from writing much more about it. I recommend Craig Blomberg's book The Historical Reliability of the Gospels, or Lee Strobel's The Case for Christ. Both are good reads.

The search for truth is often a life-long one. Good luck on your journey.

25 posted on 08/31/2002 11:05:10 AM PDT by Genesis defender
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To: Genesis defender
The search for truth is often a life-long one. Good luck on your journey.

You will agree that the dates you give are not universally agreed upon. At any rate, the Apostles are not likely to have been eyewitnesses to the Resurrection, although perhaps they knew someone who was (by your chronology).

As for good reads, try:

R.E. Friedman. Who Wrote the Bible
Israel Finkelstein & N. A. Silberman. The Bible Unearthed
J.K. Hoffmeier. Israel in Egypt
Thomas Thompson. The Mythic Past
D.B.Redford. Egypt, Canaan, and Israel in Ancient Times
Those are the books on my desk where I'm now sitting. They deal mostly with the OT which I find more interesting since I'm more interested in archeology than religion.

40 posted on 08/31/2002 1:58:23 PM PDT by Seti 1
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