Was the New Testament written in the early first century CE or at a much later date? Sturdy's work was conceived as a reply to John Robinson's Reading the New Testament, which dated the New Testament material very early

Chapter 1 T he P roblem P osed; Chapter 2 1 C lement; Chapter 3 T he L etters of I gnatius; Chapter 4 P olycarp; Chapter 5 E arly C hristian L iterature : S ome P arameters of D ate; Chapter 6 T he R elationship of the S ynoptic G ospels; Chapter 7 M ark; Chapter 8 L uke; Chapter 9 M atthew; Chapter 10 A cts; Chapter 11 T he P auline C orpus : I ts G rowth and D evelopment; Chapter 12 T he C atholic E pistles; Chapter 13 J ohannine L iterature; Chapter 14 S ummary and C onclusions;

John Sturdy was Dean of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, until his death in 1996, and taught German in the Divinity Faculty.

Jonathan Knight is Research Fellow of the Katie Wheeler Trust, and previously Lecturer in Biblical Studies at Sheffield University and Research Assistant to Bishop Stephen Sykes.