Redating the New Testament - J.A.T Robinson

Jared Matthews
Jared Matthews Member Posts: 18 ✭✭

This work is cited in nearly every discussion of New Testament books that have disputed dates. J.A.T Robinson argues on the basis that the fall of Jerusalem is never mentioned in the New Testament writings as a past fact, that the books of the New Testament were written before A.D. 70.

This work is very important, and with the change of views of many New Testament scholars recently, is seeming like a precursor to many modern changes of view.

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Comments

  • GregW
    GregW Member Posts: 295 ✭✭

    Agree it would be good to have, but it's quite an old book now. Are you aware of Jonathan Bernier's recent critique and reworking of Robinson's book which also addresses a number of its weaknesses? It is available in Logos: https://www.logos.com/product/210605/rethinking-the-dates-of-the-new-testament-the-evidence-for-early-composition?queryId=7b0077d0ad26346cd1c8d7de3bcca575

  • Jared Matthews
    Jared Matthews Member Posts: 18 ✭✭

    No, I was not aware of that, thanks for sharing!

  • DAL
    DAL Member Posts: 10,822 ✭✭✭

    Bernier’s book is more up to date.

  • Jared Matthews
    Jared Matthews Member Posts: 18 ✭✭

    It seems like based on the description, Bernier's book would cover mostly the same content. Would I be missing out on anything by reading Bernier's book and skipping Robinsons? I want to make sure before I devote time to reading it. How similar are these two books, and how do they differ? Do they come to any different conclusions?

  • NichtnurBibelleser
    NichtnurBibelleser Member Posts: 480 ✭✭✭

    I tried to read Robinson cover to cover years ago, but I gave up after some time. He tries to unfold assumptions often taken for granted or to be self-evident in dating the NT and other christian writings from the first century A.D. At the end of the work, he presents a table with possible date ranges according to his reasoning for each book.

    Bernier explicitly tries to update Robinson's efford. Maybe you look into a preview, but I think you don't have to work through Robinson in order to understand Bernier.

  • Rick Mansfield (Logos)
    Rick Mansfield (Logos) Member, Community Manager, Logos Employee Posts: 352

    @Jared Matthews we will request a license from the current publisher. However, I note that they do not offer digital copy themselves. Although this is a significant work in 20th century biblical studies (it was assigned reading for a class in my MDiv days), as some have noted above, it is now a bit dated. Therefore, I would guess that if the publisher does not have any digital files, we probably will not go to the extra expense of converting it from a hard copy.

    Senior Publisher Relations Specialist • Logos Bible Software • Rick.Mansfield@logos.com

  • Jared Matthews
    Jared Matthews Member Posts: 18 ✭✭

    Thanks for your hard work! I understand completely.