DefendingtheFaith.png
DefendingtheFaith.png

No Gospel mentions the destruction of the temple other than Jesus Christ prophesying its destruction, furthermore the Gospel writers were always keen to mention fulfilled prophecies but did not mention the fulfillment of Jesus prophecy regarding the temples destruction in 70AD.

The early church held that the gospel of Matthew was the first written gospel. Lately, the priority of Matthew as the first written gospel has come under scrutiny. Early quotes of Mathew have been found in Ignatius’ writings. Therefore, Matthew was in circulation well before Ignatius. Since Ignatius died in 115AD then the Gospel of Mark would have to earlier. It is generally believed that Matthew was written before A.D. 70 and as early as A.D. 50.

Mark was a disciple of Peter and it was Peter who told Mark of the life of Christ and guided him in writing the Gospel known by his name. Generally, Mark is said to be the earliest gospel with an authorship of between 55-70AD.

Luke was written before the book of Acts which does not mention the persecution of the Christians by Nero in 64AD or the deaths of James, Paul and Peter between 62-65AD. Therefore, we can conclude that Luke was written before 62AD. 

The Gospel of John is likely the last gospel to be written and appears to be written around 80-90AD. The Ryland’s papyrus fragment 52 of John's gospel dated in the year 135 contains portions of John 18, it was found in Egypt and would have needed time to circulate that far.