What the Book of Revelations the last written?
Using external evidence and some early tradition most scholars will use the date of 95-96 CE for Revelation. Irenaeus gives us the most credible reason for this dating.
[*]He was Bishop of Lyon in Gaul. And lived very close to the apostolic era
[*]He was student of Polycarp who was one of the disciples of John the Evangelist. Polycarp himself was converted by the apostles, made bishop of Smyrna, and knew many people who had seen Jesus.
[*]Irenaeus had ample opportunity to obtain the correct information and he seems to state it quite positively when it was written.
In Against Heresies Irenaeus wrote:
The next question is when do you date the other books of the New Testament?
[*]It's common agreement that Paul's letters are the earliest. The rest depends on how you critically look at the New Testament.
[*]Modern critical scholars generally place the four gospels in order from Mark, Matthew, Luke and John. Mark being no earlier than 65 CE, Matthew between 70-90 CE, Luke between 80-100 CE, and John in 95-100CE.
[*]There is ample evidence that source documents for the New Testament like Q and The Signs Gospel. Those documents would obviously date much earlier.
[*]Excluding the Signs Gospel within John, I would place the Gospel of John very close to or right after the dating of Revelation. This is due to internal evidence withing the gospel like the theme of Christian expulsion from the synagogue.
The pseudepigraphical epistles of the New Testament all seem to date after the destruction of the temple in 70 CE and possibly as late as 140-150 CE for Second Peter.
It's easy to expect that a half dozen or more books post-date the book of Revelation aka The Apocalypse of John.
[*]He was Bishop of Lyon in Gaul. And lived very close to the apostolic era
[*]He was student of Polycarp who was one of the disciples of John the Evangelist. Polycarp himself was converted by the apostles, made bishop of Smyrna, and knew many people who had seen Jesus.
[*]Irenaeus had ample opportunity to obtain the correct information and he seems to state it quite positively when it was written.
In Against Heresies Irenaeus wrote:
We will not, however, incur the risk of pronouncing positively as to the name of Antichrist; for if it were necessary that his name should be distinctly revealed in this present time, it would have been announced by him who beheld the apocalyptic vision. For that was seen no very long time since, but almost in our day, towards the end of Domitian's reign(A.H. 5.30.3)
Emperor Domitian reigned 81-96 CE and early church historian Eusebius confirms the statement of Irenaeus in his writings (Church history chapter 18, Book 3).
The next question is when do you date the other books of the New Testament?
[*]It's common agreement that Paul's letters are the earliest. The rest depends on how you critically look at the New Testament.
[*]Modern critical scholars generally place the four gospels in order from Mark, Matthew, Luke and John. Mark being no earlier than 65 CE, Matthew between 70-90 CE, Luke between 80-100 CE, and John in 95-100CE.
[*]There is ample evidence that source documents for the New Testament like Q and The Signs Gospel. Those documents would obviously date much earlier.
[*]Excluding the Signs Gospel within John, I would place the Gospel of John very close to or right after the dating of Revelation. This is due to internal evidence withing the gospel like the theme of Christian expulsion from the synagogue.
The pseudepigraphical epistles of the New Testament all seem to date after the destruction of the temple in 70 CE and possibly as late as 140-150 CE for Second Peter.
It's easy to expect that a half dozen or more books post-date the book of Revelation aka The Apocalypse of John.
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