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c. 65-100 CEReputable source · 2 sourcesDebated

The Gospels Take Written Form, Decades After the Events They Describe

Mark likely first, then Matthew and Luke building on him, with dates that remain educated guesswork

On the timeline · around c. 65-100 CE · The Early ChurchThe Early ChurchThe Gospels Take Written Form, Decades After the Events They Describe50 CE75 CE100 CE125 CE150 CE175 CE200 CE

Quick facts

Likely first Gospel
Mark, c. 65-74 CE
Matthew and Luke
c. 80-95 CE, both draw on Mark
John
Usually dated c. 90-100 CE
Named authorship inside the texts
None of the four Gospels names its author internally

What happened

Most scholars hold that Mark was the earliest Gospel written, likely between 65 and 74 CE, and that Matthew and Luke both used Mark as a source, placing them roughly a decade or more later, in the 80s CE, with John usually dated last, around 90 to 100 CE. Brigham Young University's Religious Studies Center is candid that dating the synoptic Gospels is often educated guesswork, particularly for Matthew and Luke, since their dates depend on assumptions about Mark's date that cannot themselves be pinned down precisely. None of the four texts names its author within the body of the work; the traditional attributions to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John became fixed only in the following century, once congregations that held more than one Gospel needed a way to tell them apart.

Why it matters

The gap of decades between the events and their written record, combined with uncertainty over authorship, is central to how historians read the Gospels: as documents shaped by the theological concerns and community memories of the late first century, not as contemporaneous transcripts, a distinction that does not settle questions of religious truth but does bear on historical method.

How we know

Dating rests on internal evidence, including whether a Gospel appears to describe the Jerusalem temple's destruction in 70 CE before or after the fact, and on which Gospels appear to draw material from which others.

Sources

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The Gospels Take Written Form, Decades After the Events They Describe · History of Christianity · SourcedStory