In one of my classes, "Quest for Wisdom," my instructor said that the book of John was not written until 90 years after the death of Jesus. He said this was proven because the types of scrolls used and the verbiage used did not exist during Jesus' life. He was explaining to the class that the type of ink and scrolls were not available until 90 years later. Can you please help me out with this. It's been bothering me because I saw a few of my classmates questioning the authenticity of the Bible. I would like to have some facts before I write a paper or speak to my instructor about the book of John. -- Marjorie Ulloa

John was certainly written in the 1st century, as nearly all scholars today admit. In fact, the earliest surviving manuscript fragment has been dated to around 115-120 AD. If the gospel were not written until 120 -- 90 years after the resurrection -- it is impossible that a scrap of a copy older than the original would have been found!

I believe your professor is basing his opinion on passé and disproved theories. As for the verbiage, not only was the language common in the time of Jesus, but a good few scholars even place the composition of John's gospel as early as the 40s AD!

Enough said. For further study, why not read Merrill Tenney's New Testament Survey, or Donald Guthrie's New Testament Introduction?

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