Dating the Gospels

Matthew Ferguson drew my attention to this discussion he had with Craig Evans about the date of the Gospels. Here’s the description from YouTube:

This radio debate between New Testament scholar Dr. Craig Evans of Houston Baptist University and soon-to-be Classics Ph.D Matthew Ferguson looks at when the Gospels were written and why it matters. Were the synoptics written within the lifetime of eyewitnesses? Or long after, combining some elements of history with some elements of myth? Do the Gospels correspond to what we know about the context of the ancient world and might that point to the authenticity of Jesus’ person? Or were the authors of the Gospels writing what they wanted to satisfy their bias. This interesting back and forth begins to answer those critical questions. Enjoy! Learn more about Craig Evans at http://craigaevans.com and Matthew Ferguson at http://adversusapologetica.wordpress.com. Learn more about First Evangelical Lutheran Church at www.felchouston.org.

It is a wonderful example of how mainstream scholars, whether atheists or religious believers, have major points of agreement, because they use the same secular methods of inquiry. They called it a “debate” but it wasn’t that in the sense that an interaction between a mythicist and a professional historian, or a young-earth creationist and a scientist, would be a debate, across radically different views and radically different methods and assumptions.

Of related interest, I too will be talking about the dates of the Gospels, as well as other topics, in the near future with Matt Kovacs, formerly of the Miami Valley Skeptics show. I’ll share more details about that when I have them.