Writings: Christianity

How were the New Testament's books handed down?

They were passed on by word of mouth and in writing, then copied by hand. Catholic teaching holds that the apostles preached first, and that they and apostolic men later wrote the Gospels.¹ The Orthodox Church in America holds that the Bible was produced in the Church, by and for the Church.² Dale Martin of Yale also puts oral tradition first, then Paul's letters, then the Gospels. The Catholic and Orthodox statements and Martin differ on who wrote the Gospels.³¹⁴ The Hebrew Bible, whose books Christians read as their Old Testament, is listed under Judaism.⁵

How much survives, and how old are the oldest copies?

By one 2016 count, some 5,500 Greek manuscripts survive. The early ones are often fragments, and about 6 percent date before about 800 CE.⁶⁷ Copies of translations into Latin, Syriac, Coptic, Ethiopic, and other ancient languages also survive, but none of the ten entries is a Syriac, Coptic, Ethiopic, or Armenian copy.⁶⁸

• The tradition's account. Catholic teaching holds that the Gospels are of apostolic origin. The Orthodox Church in America's catechism names the four evangelists as their writers and dates Matthew, Mark, and Luke to the beginning of the second half of the first century and John near its close. The evangelical Chicago Statement, which speaks of scripture in general, rejects source study that leads to rejecting a book's stated authorship, and the Reformed Westminster Confession lists the Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John among the books of scripture. The Catholic, evangelical, and Reformed statements give no year, but the Catholic bishops' study Bible says tradition places Mark shortly before 70 CE.^149101112
• The critical dating. Martin dates 1 Thessalonians, the earliest New Testament writing, probably to about 50 CE, and Mark probably to about 70 CE.³ The same study Bible, whose introduction to John applies critical analysis, says John was probably written in the 90s CE.¹³
• The oldest copy and the gap. Papyrus 52, a scrap of John 18 widely regarded as the earliest portion of any New Testament writing found, was dated to 100 to 150 CE by handwriting. The John Rylands Library says newer research points nearer 200 CE, and Brent Nongbri argues for a range into the third century.⁷¹⁴ Dale Martin of Yale places John maybe a year in the 90s CE,¹⁵ the Catholic bishops' study Bible places it probably in the 90s CE,¹³ and the Orthodox Church in America's catechism places it near the close of the first century.⁹ The gap is therefore about the same on all three: no more than about 60 years on the first editor's date, or about 100 years if the copy is nearer 200 CE.
• The oldest complete copy. Codex Sinaiticus, the only complete Greek New Testament from before the ninth century, is dated 325 to 374 CE by the British Library, and Nongbri argues the range should widen to early fourth to early fifth century if one scribe wrote its marginal notes.¹⁶¹⁷¹⁸ Mark, at about 70 CE on the critical dating and shortly before 70 CE in the Catholic bishops' study Bible, is about 255 to 305 years earlier than the library's dates. The Orthodox Church in America dates Mark to the beginning of the second half of the first century.

How should the entries be read?

Equal slots do not mean equal evidence. The copies differ in age, dating method, and what is known of where they were found.

J. K. Elliott wrote in 2010 that experts generally agree Papyrus 52 was written by the mid-second century. Brent Nongbri argued in 2020 that its usual date, about 125 CE, rests entirely on handwriting.¹⁴¹⁴ Mark Letteney, reviewing Nongbri's book, says the record of where the papyri that dealers sold to the Beatty, Michigan, and Freer collections were found is almost certainly lost.¹⁹ For the methods, see how ancient texts are dated.