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===Early New Testament history===

===Early New Testament history===

[[Image:Gospel of Luke in Arab.gif|thumb|This tenth-century Egyptian codex was donated to Pope Eugenius IV by the Coptic delegates at the Council of Ferrara-Florence. Translated from a Coptic original, it is one of the earliest Arabic versions of any part of the New Testament, none of which can be dated before the late eighth or ninth centuries.]]

[[Image:Gospel of Luke in Arab.gif|thumb|This tenth-century Egyptian codex was donated to Pope Eugenius IV by the Coptic delegates at the Council of Ferrara-Florence. Translated from a Coptic original, it is one of the earliest Arabic versions of any part of the New Testament, none of which can be dated before the late eighth or ninth centuries.]]

In ''1st Timothy'' 5:8 Paul quoted as scripture ''"the laborer is worthy of his hire."''  This line is found nowhere else in the Bible except ''Matthew'' 10:10 and ''Luke'' 5:7.  In ''2nd Peter'' 3:15-16, Peter classes Paul's letters with "other scriptures".  Both lines are indicative of the writing down and general use of the New Testament prior to A.D. 60 (Halley, pg. 741-742).  Spurious "gospels" which are known to have appeared by A.D. 100, make references to the New Testament.  [[Clement of Rome]], writing in his own letter to the Corinthians in A.D. 95, refers to ''Matthew'', ''Luke'', ''Corinthians'', ''Hebrews'', ''1st Timothy'', and ''1st Peter'' (Halley, pg. 743).

In 1st Timothy 5:8, Paul quoted as scripture ''"the laborer is worthy of his hire."''  This line is found nowhere else in the Bible except Matthew 10:10 and Luke 5:7.  In 2nd Peter 3:15-16, Peter classes Paul's letters with "other scriptures".  Both lines are indicative of the writing down and general use of the New Testament prior to A.D. 60 (Halley, pg. 741-742).  Spurious "gospels" which are known to have appeared by A.D. 100, make references to the New Testament.  [[Clement of Rome]], writing in his own letter to the Corinthians in A.D. 95, refers to ''Matthew'', ''Luke'', ''Corinthians'', ''Hebrews'', ''1st Timothy'', and ''1st Peter'' (Halley, pg. 743).

The oldest surviving New Testament fragment of which there is a reliable date is the [[John Rylands Fragment]] (P52) of the ''Gospel of John'', dating from 117-138 A.D., just decades from when the Gospel was first written. <ref>[http://www.biblefacts.org/history/oldtext.html N.T. Ancient Manuscripts]</ref> The time span between the writing of the New Testament and the oldest surviving fragments are well under two hundred years.  By comparison, Greek classics such as [[Herodotus]], [[Plato]], [[Euripides]], and [[Homer]] have a time span well over a thousand years each between the date of the oldest known fragment of writing and the time period they were first written.

The oldest surviving New Testament fragment of which there is a reliable date is the [[John Rylands Fragment]] (P52) of the ''Gospel of John'', dating from 117-138 A.D., just decades from when the Gospel was first written. <ref>[http://www.biblefacts.org/history/oldtext.html N.T. Ancient Manuscripts]</ref> The time span between the writing of the New Testament and the oldest surviving fragments are well under two hundred years.  By comparison, Greek classics such as [[Herodotus]], [[Plato]], [[Euripides]], and [[Homer]] have a time span well over a thousand years each between the date of the oldest known fragment of writing and the time period they were first written.