Writing on
an early (pre-70) date for the gospels (I view I accept for Matthew, Mark, and
Luke [I believe John to be post-70]), Jimmy Akin offered the following
insightful evidence for Matthew being pre-70:
A noteworthy passage is where Jesus tells
Peter to pay the temple tax rather than giving offense to non-Christian Jews
(Matt. 17:24-27). It’s difficult to imagine Matthew writing this passage the
way he did after A.D. 70 because after this date the Romans required Jews to
pay the tax not to their own temple
but to support the temple of Jupiter Best and Greatest in Rome (Josephus, Jewish War 7:6:6; Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars, “Domitian” 12:2). If
Matthew was writing after A.D. 70, to portray Jesus condoning, alienating, and
outraging members of his audience. Jesus could even be understood as financially
supporting idolatry so as “not to give offense!” (Jimmy Akin, The Bible is a Catholic Book [El Cajon,
Calif.: Catholic Answers Press, 2019], 102, emphasis in original)
