New Testament Texts - Authors and Dates
(West, 2002)


Matthew - pseudonymous
Matthew was written about 80 A.D., a full 10 years after Mark. Though the Gospel is attributed to Matthew by church tradition, there is no way to know who the actual author of the book was. Like the other Gospels, Matthew is an anonymous writing.

Mark - anonymous
Mark was written by an anonymous Christian sometime around the year 70 A.D., that is, shortly after the destruction of Jerusalem. Though, in recent years efforts have been made to date Mark as early as the year 60 and as late as 73. These dates, however, are simply not as likely as 70.

Luke - anonymous
Again, as with all the Gospels, Luke is an anonymous writing. The book was written around the year 85 by a man who used the Greek version of the Old Testament (the Septuagint). He was not an eyewitness of the events he records, so he made use of Mark and Q. To this he added some material unique to himself. Whoever the author was, he most likely was a Gentile and not a Jew. Among the writers of the New Testament, he was the only Gentile.

John - pseudonymous
John, sometimes referred to in the scholarly literature as "The Fourth Gospel", was composed sometime around the end of the first century. The author is an anonymous Christian who utilized at least two sources in the composition of his book: 1) a "signs" source and 2) a "sayings" source.

Acts - anonymous
The Acts of the Apostles is volume two of the work begun by Luke. As such, what was said earlier about the author, date and place of composition apply to Acts as well as to Luke. That is, the book was written around the year 85 by a man who used the Greek version of the Old Testament (the Septuagint). He was not an eyewitness of the events he records, so he made use of travelogues and interviews of eyewitnesses. To this he added some material unique to himself. Whoever the author was, he most likely was a Gentile and not a Jew. Among the writers of the New Testament, he was the only Gentile. It is virtually impossible to know where the text was written, but in all likelihood it was composed in Syria or Greece.

Romans - Paul
This letter was written by the Apostle Paul, while he was in Corinth, in or around the year 57 CE.

1 Corinthians - Paul
Sometime around the year 56 Paul penned this letter.

2 Corinthians - Paul
The date of the book is somewhat harder to pin down because it seems to have been composed over a period of time. Yet it must be dated within a few years of 1 Corinthians, so that a date for the whole series around the year 58 CE is not out of the question.

Galations - Paul
Paul wrote Galatians in the mid 50’s of the first century, nearly a decade after the churches there had been established.

Ephesians - pseudonymous
Ephesians, attributed to Paul, is most likely a pseudonymous writing. The vocabulary, sentence structure, and theological perspective are "Pauline", but the situation addressed (historically) is later than Paul. This means that a student of Paul utilizeulary to address a later situation.
Again, this book was most likely written around 90 CE by a Pauline disciple to the Churches of Asia Minor (the phrase "in Ephesus" is quite late -- an addition by a later scribe).

Phillippians - Paul
Paul wrote this brief letter while imprisoned in Rome between the years 61 and 63 CE.

Colossians - pseudonymous
The letter to the Colossians was written by a student of Paul’s who lived in Ephesus and wrote around 80 CE. Colossae was a major city located in the Lycus River valley in Phrygia in the province of Asia Minor. The church there was established, not by Paul, but by an associate of his, Epaphras.

1 Thessalonians - Paul
I Thessalonians is Paul’s first effort to put into words this new viewpoint. He wrote the letter around the year 50, some 20 years after the death of Jesus.
In terms of chronology, Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians is not only the earliest letter we have from Paul, it is also the earliest Christian document which we posses.

2 Thessalonians - pseudepigraphal
This letter, attributed to Paul by tradition, is another example of pseudepigraphical writing. The anonymous text was written at the end of the first century, around the same time that Revelation was composed.

1 Timothy - pseudonymous

2 Timothy - pseudonymous

Titus - pseudonymous
The first and second letters to Timothy and the letter to Titus are called the "Pastoral Epistles" by New Testament scholars. Like several of the other letters we have examined, these letters all are pseudonymous. Penned by a student of Paul at a much later date than the span of Paul’s lifetime, these letters address issues which simply did not exist in the lifetime of Paul.

Philemon - Paul
This shortest of Paul’s letters is also one of the more interesting as it gives us a small glimpse into the heart of Paul. The letter was written around the year 58 while Paul was in prison at Caesarea awaiting his trip to Rome for trial.

Hebrews - pseudonymous
Though sometimes attributed to Paul, even the most conservative scholars today realize that Paul is not the author of this book. This letter was written approximately 66-70 AD (West, 2002b).

The editors of the KJV, in their Introduction to the Epistle to the Hebrews, wrote that:

The author of the Book of Hebrews is unknown. Martin Luther suggested that Apollos was the author...Tertullian said that Hebrews was a letter of Barnabas...Adolf Harnack and J. Rendel Harris speculated that it was written by Priscilla (or Prisca). William Ramsey suggested that it was done by Philip. However, the traditional position is that the Apostle Paul wrote Hebrews...Eusebius believed that Paul wrote it, but Origen was not positive of Pauline authorship. (Allahuma, 2002)

James - pseudonymous
This brief letter was written towards the end of the first century (around 90 AD), by an anonymous author who wrote in James’ name.

1 Peter - pseudonymous
Like some of the letters of Paul that we have already examined, it was written by a student or disciple of Peter who utilized his training in Petrine theology to address a later situation which the Church faced. The letter was most likely composed at the end of the last decade of the first century (around 96-98 AD).

2 Peter - pseudonymous
The Second Epistle of Peter is, like First Peter, pseudonymous. But unlike First Peter, it is the latest New Testament book; most likely written around the year 150 AD.

1 John - pseudonymous
2 John - pseudonymous
3 John - pseudonymous
The three letters of John were written by a member of the Johannine school (the folks who gave us The Gospel of John, 1-3 John, and Revelation). First John was written around the year 100 AD to Christians in the area of Ephesus. Second John was written at the same time and place for the same audience, as was Third John as well.

Jude - pseudonymous
Like the other catholic epistles, this one is also pseudonymous.
The epistle is so difficult to date that some scholars date it to the year 50 while others say that it was written in the 90’s.

Revelation - pseudonymous

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