Steven Carr

As we all know, parts of the New Testament were found in the Dead Sea Scrolls :-)

However it appears that the Dead Sea Scrolls were deposited in the 1st century BC.

http://www.bibleinterp.com/articles/...Deposits_1.htm

So hopefully that should be the last we hear of New Testament manusripts dating from the 1st century AD

FordMadoxBrown

I don't thuink so, Stephen. Some of the Dead sea Scrolls date from BC ,but there's no reason why some of them could not have been put there in the first or second century Ad. the NT as we have it is very heavily based onthe Old, so these Manuscripts could be part of the contributory material rather than the finished product.

Given that the NT is largely retrospectibve accounts of things suppsed to have happened inthe First Century AD, I think it is more likely that a good prt of it was completed inthe second century AD.

If you want to prove the NT was written BC I think you'd need some pretty extensive evidence!

Asha'man

I'd like to point out Did Jesus Live 100 B.C.? by G.R.S. Mead

If you throw out the dates given in the gospels as fiction (along with the rest of the fictions along side them), there is no reason why a historical Jesus couldn't have existed much earlier than commonly thought.

Clivedurdle

Don't forget Ellegard, Jesus One Hundred Years before Christ

boneyard bill

Which parts of the New Testament were found with the Dead Sea Scrolls? I'm not aware of any. Moreover, the author you referenced doesn't seem to be aware of any either since he says his claim doesn't carry any great significance in terms of understanding the scrolls. But this would surely be of profound significance if the scrolls contained New Testament writings. Surely he didn't overlook this.

Bede

Sorry guys,

This is my fault. Steven has found an entry on my blog that points out that the DSS are now dated pre-Christ. I point out this means theories linking the DSS to early Christianity are wrong. Steven has realised it also means that the attribution by Carston Theide of a few DSS scraps to the New Testament is also wrong and seems to be fishing for a mea culpa from someone over this. He does these fishing expeditions quite a lot and they are often aimed at me. As I rarely bite the whole thing can look confusing to anyone not aware of the game he is playing.

Apologies once again.

Bede

Bede's Library - faith and reason

Vorkosigan

Bede, wouldn't this depend on which theory you were talking about? Those who see the Christians as emerging from Essenic judaism or from some related group such as the Theraputae would not be impaired by a first century BCE date for the DSS.

FordMadoxBrown

Hi, asha man, which 'dates' inthe Gospels are you refrrring to? I don't recall any such 'dates' except vague references such as a decree from Caesar Augustus, and references to 'King Herod' which appear to date the events to very roughly around what we now regard as 4 Bc to 30 AD.

Asha'man

Technically, I'm referring to historically known names and titles, not dates. As you correctly surmised, we can use a reference to King Herod to date Jesus' birth to before Herod's death in 4BCE. We can also use the census to date Jesus' birth to 6CE. And we know when Pilate held office, dating the crucifiction around 30-36CE.

Bede

Yeah, of course you can always twist the theory around each time the evidence changes. But as they stand, Theiring and Eisenman are wrong.

B