Sir: One of your correspondents makes the extra- ordinary statement
that the earliest gospel was writ- ten about 80 years after the Crucifixion. This would mean dating Mark c. 110. Now Matthew, who bor- rows from Mark, is almost certainly quoted by Ignatius of Antioch (martyred before 117); and since the discovery of the papyrus fragment edited by C H Roberts in 1935 and dating from the first half of the second century it has been agreed that John cannot have been written much later than the year 100.
Most scholars date Mark about thirty yearS'after the Crucifixion, but C C Torrey (rightly. I think) pushes it back to 41, the time of Caligula's death.
The abomination of desolation would Wait Ikeri topical when the mad emperor was thrdateiting to set up his statue in the Temple at Jerusalem. It was not likely to be introduced after the prophecy had apparently proved false.
On this theory, which cannot be discussed here in detail, the earliest gospel was written (in Aramaic) within ten or fifteen years of the Crucifixion.
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