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In reply to the discussion: 'Jesus's Wife' papyrus fragment not a forgery, scientists say [View all]muriel_volestrangler
(106,738 posts)The other poster said there was a claim that all the pro-Christian writings about Jesus had been made up in the 3rd or 4th centuries. The Gospel of Thomas etc. are thought to have been written in the middle of the 1st century, from their style (or possibly from references to them in other writings), but the physical copies we have of them date from later. The Rylands fragment is, as far as I (and Wikipedia) knows, the earliest physical part of New Testament book.
I'm not sure what the date of the earliest physical copy of Tacitus' Annals is, but the point is that, since it denigrates Christianity, it's unlikely to be something written later to be held up as a proof of Christianity. I think everyone is happy to date it to the first quarter of the 2nd century.