Warning: if you haven't read the blog about the authority of the Gospels please go back and read that first. In it, I discuss the reasons for dating at least some of the Gospels into the late 50s or very early 60s. This blog is an answer to the question, "why is that significant?" There are at least two reasons why the dating of the Gospels is extremely significant.

The first reason why this dating is extremely important is that it means there were people alive who had actually witnessed the life and death of Jesus Christ. Now think about this for a minute. If the gospel writers were telling something that was untrue, then there were people alive at this time who could have, "called their hand" on any fabrication or untruths. This is enormously important! Let me put it in modern terms. Not too long ago a writer for a nationally known newspaper made some claims in an article that were false. Not only were they  false, but apparently he just made these events up out of his own imagination. Almost immediately people began to call his hand on it. Now here's my point. Can you imagine these eyewitnesses in the early community of faith letting Mark or Matthew get away with wrong facts or outright fabrications? Of course not! So, the fact that there were eyewitnesses still alive who could either corroborate or deny these written accounts in the Gospels is a very powerful statement for their truthfulness and accuracy.

There is a second reason why the early dating of the Gospels is very important. There have been a rash of movies and books about "other" Gospels that are supposed to be just as authoritative as our four Gospels. You can Google some of these other Gospels. Look for names like, "the gospel of Thomas," "the Gospel of Mary," or "the secret Gospel of Mark." These Gospels, we are told, are just as accurate and just as authoritative as Matthew or John. We are also told in these books and movies that the only reason they didn't make it into the Bible is that the early church squelched them due to political reasons. There is a Greek word that describes that perspective. Hogwash!

The truth is that these Gospels were written hundreds of years later than our gospels. Take for example the gospel of Thomas. It was almost certainly written at least 150 years later than the gospel of Mark.  It contains numerous historical inaccuracies. And don't even get me started on the theology of the gospel of Thomas! In no way do these other gospels compare with what we have in the Bible.

Here's my point. I recently wrote to you about this tiny metal codex that was found in the Middle East. I made the statement that, "while is exciting to find this ancient artifact, at the very best it will only be an independent archaeological verification of what we already know." Why ? Because we have very early, historically accurate, and extremely precise records of the life of Jesus Christ in the Gospels. Our faith is NOT in a pie-in-the-sky hope so, nor is it dependent on some archaeological artifact.