Muslims often ignorantly claim the gospels were written "hundreds of years" after the events they describe. However we can confidently show an earlier date because of the following:
We know that Acts and the Gospel according to Luke were both written by the same author. They were both addressed to "Theophilus".
We know that Luke's gospel was written before Acts, because Acts starts like this:
The first book [i.e. Luke's Gospel] I wrote, Theophilus, concerned all that Jesus began both to do and to teach...
--Acts 1:1
The Book of Acts does not mention the following important events:
The Death of James (A.D. 62). James was the brother of Jesus and head of Jerusalem church, This event was recorded by the Jewish Historian Josephus.
The Death of Paul (A.D. 64). The book of Acts ends with Paul under house arrest for two years. Paul is the major figure in Acts.
The destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.
Probably both Matthew or Mark were written before Luke, because Luke's gospel specifically mentions other gospels, and clearly uses Matthew and Mark as source material:
Since many have undertaken to set in order a narrative concerning those matters which have been fulfilled among us, even as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having traced the course of all things accurately from the first, to write to you in order, most excellent Theophilus; that you might know the certainty concerning the things in which you were instructed.
--Luke 1:1-4
This means that Luke wrote what he heard from eyewitnesses.
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