THE CANON OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
Although in the first decades of the
Church, after the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ, Christians relied on the
gospel that being preached by the apostles, and on the Old Testament, but
afterwards, the apostles and the disciples wrote the account of the life of the
Lord Jesus Christ (called the Gospel), and epistles or letters.
There are authors who claim that
before the writing of the books or letters that would become the New Testament,
early Christians relied on “oral tradition” about Jesus’ words and deeds, and
on the Old Testament.
“At first, Christians
did not have any of the books contained in our New Testament. They depended
therefore on the Old Testament, on oral tradition about Jesus’ words and deed,
and on messages from God spoken by Christian prophets.”1
“Oral traditions” implies that
the account of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ has passed on from generation
to generation before committed in writings. We know that tradition” means “a
long-established custom or belief, often that has been handed down from
generation to generation.”
However, this was not the real
case. The writer of Matthew and John were apostles, the eye-witnesses
themselves, and the writer of Mark and Luke were disciples under the
supervision of the apostles (contemporary of the apostles). Thus, it is wrong
to say that the “Gospels” are “oral traditions” put in writing if those who wrote
it were eye-witnesses themselves.
Actually, the apostles warn us
about those not been written:
“Now these things,
brethren, I have figuratively transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes,
that you may learn in us not to think beyond what is written, that none of you
may be puffed up on behalf of one against the other.” (I Cor. 4:6, NKJV)
Thus, in the second-century
onwards, the teachings of the apostles, and the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ
were already committed in writings. All were written in the first century AD.
The Book of Revelation, the last book of the New Testament was written about 90-100
AD.
The New Testament Canon
The New Testament is consists of
twenty-seven documents – five narrative records (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and
Acts), twenty-one epistles, and one book of Revelation. Long before these were
recognized by any council, they were already recognized as authoritative or
inspired by those for whom it was written:
“Long
before the apostolic letters were recognized as elements in a canonical
collection, they were recognized as authoritative by most of those for whom
they were written; as we said before, authority is the necessary precedent of
canonicity.”2
The Catholic Church claimed that
their church councils set the canon of the New Testament. However, facts and
evidences from the history of the New Testament canon prove that such was not
the case.
Various councils of the Catholic
Church that pronounced upon the subject of the New Testament canon were merely
stating publicly what had been widely accepted by the Church for some time:
“To the authoritative
bond in the bishop and to the authoritative belief of the creed, the canon, a
listing of the volumes belonging to an authoritative book, came as
reinforcement. People often err by thinking that the canon was set by church
councils. Such was not the case, for the various church councils that
pronounced upon the subject of the canon of the New Testament were merely
accepted by the consciousness of the church for some time.” 3
It can be shown that from the New Testament itself that
the New Testament books were well known by early Christians and copies were
made and each locale churches having copies of these documents. Apostle Paul
encouraged the locale churches to exchange letters:
“Now when this epistle
is read among you, see that it is read also in the church of the Laodiceans,
and that you likewise read the epistle from Laodicea.” (Col. 4:16, NKJV)
Apostle Peter refers to the letters of Paul as if they
were perfectly familiar to his reader:
“Wherefore, beloved,
seeing that ye look for these things, give diligence that ye may be found in
peace, without spot and blameless in his sight. 15And account that the
longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also,
according to the wisdom given to him, wrote unto you; 16as also in all `his'
epistles, speaking in them of these things; wherein are some things hard to be
understood, which the ignorant and unstedfast wrest, as `they do' also the
other scriptures, unto their own destruction.” (II Peter 3:14-16, ASV)
The Epistle of Peter is a general
epistle, addressed not only to a single congregation, but to a wider audience,
if not to Christians everywhere.
The Collection of the New Testament Books
The next generations of ecclesiastical writers witnessed
not only that these New Testament books exist, but that it were well-known and
accepted. Moreover, they prove that the collection of these letters was done as
early as the end of the first century AD.
The Collection of the
Gospels
There was a movement about the
end of the first century to gather the Gospels, and eventually, each church had
all four in a corpus that was call the Gospel.
“But we have not yet a
canon in the sense of a collection of these writings. Towards the end of the
first century, however, we find the beginnings of a movement in this direction.
Not long after the writing of the fourth Gospel, the four Gospels appear to
have been brought together in one collection. Thus, whereas previously Rome had Mark’s Gospel, and Syria had Matthew’s, and a Gentile
group had Luke’s, and Ephesus John’s, now each church had all four in a corpus
which was call The Gospel (each of the components being distinguished by
the additional words, According to Matthew, According to Mark, and so
on).”4
The first reference to one of the
canonical Gospels is to be found in the Didache that was said to be written in 100 AD or earlier.5
“The first reference
to one of our canonical Gospels is to be found in the Didache, a little
manual of church discipline from the end of the first century A.D. Here the
writer warns the churches not to pray like the hypocrites ‘but as the Lord
commanded in his Gospel’ (8:2) – a reference to the Lord’s Prayer.”6
A papyrus fragment of the Gospel
of John was found dating from perhaps as early as 125 A.D. – the John Rylands
Papyrus. Papias (140 AD) mentions the Gospels, such as Matthew, by name.
There were clear evidences that
the four-fold Gospels were already collected and recognized even in the second
century A.D. These are the following:
· The
attempt of Marcion to reduce the four to one by eliminating the three and
maintaining Luke (c. 140 AD). Let us discuss Marcion in the latter part.
· Tatian’s
attempt to prepare a Gospel harmony in which he had blended the four Gospels
into one, called Diasteron (c. 160 AD).
· Irenaeus
finds it necessary to defend the fourfold Gospels (c. 180 AD), clearly witness
to the presence of the fourfold Gospel by the beginning of the second century.
Collection of other
Documents of the New Testament
The collection of other documents
of the New Testament started towards the end of the first century A.D.
“Towards the end of
the first century, however, we find the beginnings of a movement in this direction.
Not long after the writing of the fourth Gospel, the four Gospels appear to
have been brought together in one collection…About the same time, or possibly a
few years earlier, came a movement to gather together the letters which Paul
had written to various churches and individuals, and thus a further collection
began to circulate among the churches, bearing the title The Apostle
(the various components being distinguished by the subheadings To the
Romans, First to the Corinthians, and so on).”7
The Epistles of Paul were
collected by the end of the first century AD, and it was suggested that the
publication of the book of Acts “may have stimulated the collection of the
letters of Paul.”
“Professor
E.J.Goodspeed has suggested that the publication of Acts may have stimulated
the collection of the letters of this great church planter, Paul. Be that as it
may, there is considerable evidence that by the end of the first century the
letters of Paul had been collected.” 8
The New Testament itself attests
that Paul’s letters were being collected. Apostle Peter’s second general
epistle (II Pet. 3:16) refers to the letters of Apostle Paul as if they were
perfectly familiar to his readers. Peter confesses that there are difficult
passages in them, which false teachers twist.
The letter of Clement of Rome to
the Corinthians, dated c.95 AD, mentioned that, “Take up the letter of the
blessed Apostle Paul” (I Clement 46:1).
Thus, there are evidences that
the letters of Paul were not only already been collected, but were widely known,
widely circulated, and widely accepted from 100 A.D. onward.
“It is clear that by
A.D. 100 Paul’s letters had been collected and were widely known and widely
accepted.” 9
Evidences on The New Testament
Canon of 27 books
There are evidences that “Once
the NT books were written, they were collected and eventually these
twenty-seven books comprised the NT.” 10
It is a fact that there were
apocryphal literatures proliferated in the second century. However, the early
Christians have the capacity to recognize divine authority.
“The early Christians
were not exceptionally intelligent people, but they did have the capacity to
recognize divine authority when they saw it. And they judged wisely in
distinguishing the canonical writings from the uncanonical will be apparent to anyone who compares the
New Testament with other early Christian literature.” 11
As mentioned, these 27 New
Testament books were all written in the first century AD. The writers are all
Christ’s known disciples: there are apostles (Matthew, John, Paul, Peter, James
and Jude); and the two, even though they are not apostles but they are
companions of the apostles and ministers of the first century Church (Mark and
Luke).
“It is sometimes said
that the criterion which the early Christians applied in deciding whether a
book was to be regarded as canonical or not was that of apostolic authorship.
Now, it is certain that apostolic authorship counted for very much.” 12
The Truncated Canon of Marcion (140 A.D.)
In 140 AD, Marcion, a man of
wealth, had come to Rome from Pontus. The
heretic Marcion taught that Christianity had been Judaized, and set himself the
task of bringing the church back to what he thought was true Christianity. For
Marcion, true Christianity is “Pauline” Christianity, and Apostle Paul as the
only faithful apostle.
Marcion also rejected the Old
Testament. He rejected more than half of the books of the New Testament and set
his own canon of the New Testament.
“In accordance with
his views about the supersession of the Old Testament, he rejected the Bible of
our Lord and the apostles and drew up a canon to take its place. This canon
consisted of two sections – The Gospel and The Apostle. Marcion’s
Gospel consisted of an expurgated edition of the Gospel of Luke, which
he probably regarded at the least Jewish of the Gospels, as its author was a
Gentile; his Apostle consisted of the Pauline letters (excluding those
to Timothy and Titus). Even the books which he did accept as canonical
Scripture were edited in accordance with what he believed to be pure Christian
doctrine. No doubt he believed that by
this process of editing he was removing interpolations introduced by those who
followed the teaching of the Twelve, as distinct from Paul, who in Marcion’s
eyes was the only faithful apostle. Thus, anything even in Paul’s epistle which
seemed to recognize the authority of the God of Israel or to identify him with
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ was cut off; it could not, on
Marcion’s premises, be genuine. All Old Testament references were likewise
excised. And in accordance with his belief that Jesus was a supernatural being
who appeared suddenly among men in the mere semblance of humanity, his Gospel
began with the words: ‘In the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar, in the times
of Pontius Pilate, Jesus came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught
in the synagogue’. This statement is based on Luke 3:1; 4:31, but it
deliberately omits Luke’s birth-narratives, the ministry of John the Baptist,
the baptism of Jesus, his genealogy (according to Marcion, he had no human
descent), and his temptation.” 13
Marcion rejected the Old
Testament, Matthew, Mark, John, Acts, First and Second Timothy, Titus, Hebrews,
the Epistles of Peter, John, James and Jude, and the Revelation of John.
Take note that this proves that
the twenty-seven books were already well-known and generally accepted by Christians
throughout the whole Christendom during the early decades of the second
century. Because, if not, it is unlikely that Marcion made a movement to reject
these books if these books are already rejected or not yet accepted by
“Christians.”
However, the churches did not
give up the Old Testament, the other Gospels and apostolic books. This further proves
that the other Gospels and apostolic books Marcion rejected were already
acknowledged by the churches.
“Marcion’s followers
formed quite an influential group for a considerable time, and looked like
attracting many others from the orthodox churches. The church leaders saw the
necessity of defining the canon of New Testament Scripture more explicitly by
way of countering Marcion’s canon. It is not correct to say, as it sometimes
said, that Marcion was the first to draw up a New Testament canon, and that the
orthodox party thereupon drew up theirs as a reply to his. The canon was well
on its way to taking clear shape before Marcion’s activity began. But his
activity certainly provided the church leaders, especially in Rome, where he chiefly propagated his views,
with an incentive to state the orthodox position regarding the canon more
clearly. The main points of this position were that the canon more clearly. The main point of this position
were that the canon contained four Gospels, not one; thirteen Pauline epistles,
not only ten; the book of Acts, which vindicated the apostolic commission of
Paul, but also related something of the doings of other apostles, and thus
refuted Marcion’s depreciation of those; and (in addition to the writings of
Paul) writings of some other apostles and ‘apostolic men’.” 14
The response of the Church
against Marcion’s rejection of the three Gospels and of other New Testament
documents clearly witness to the general acceptance of the Church of the 27
books of the New Testament.
Other Witnesses of the New Testament
Canon of 27 books
There were other witnesses of the
acceptance of these 27 New Testament books as canonical.
The Muratorian Fragment (170 AD)
An early list of the New
Testament books that was drawn at Rome
towards the end of the second century is called the Muratorian fragment: it
include the Four Gospel, Acts, the Epistles of Paul, Jude, 1 and 2 John, and
Revelation. He also included Revelation of Peter, and recommended the reading
of Shepherd of Hermas but not to be included in the apostolic writings.
“An early list of the
New Testament books, drawn up in the church at Rome towards the end of the second century,
is called the Muratorian fragment, after the atiquarian, Cardinal L. A.
Muratori, who discovered it in manuscript and published it in 1749. It is in
great measure an orthodox counterblast to Marcion. The fragment is mutilated at
the beginning, but seems to have mentioned Matthew and Mark, because it goes on
to mention Luke as the ‘third’ Gospel; then it mentions John, and gives a
curious account of the circumstances under which his Gospel was composed. Acts
is next named, and called the ‘Acts of all he apostles’ – an obvious
misnomer, but equally obviously a reminder that all the apostles were to
be recognized, and not Paul only. Then it enumerates Paul’s nine letters to
churches and four to individuals, Jude’s epistle, two epistles of John, and the
Apocalypse of John and that of Peter. The Sheperd of Hermas (an allegory
written by a member of the Roman church in the second century) is then said to
be worthy to be read in a church but not to be included among the apostolic
writings. Its character might have entitled it to a place among the prophetic
writings, but its date was too recent for that to be possible.” 15
Irenaeus (180 AD)
Irenaeus (180 AD) acknowledges
twenty-one or twenty-two of our twenty-seven books: Four Gospels, Acts,
Epistles of Paul (except Philemon), I Peter, 1 and 2 John, and Revelation.
Philemon was missing but it may be accidental. Even he omits Hebrews, James,
Jude, 2 Peter and 3 John, but it does not necessarily mean he rejects these
books. He does not accept Shepherd of Hermas as Scripture. 16
Hippolytus (170-235)
Hippolytus (170-235), a pupil of
Irenaeus, his New Testament closely resembles that of his teacher: accepted the
Four Gospels, Acts, thirteen Epistles of Paul, 1 and 2 Peter, I John, and
Revelation. Even though he knows the Shepherd of Hermas, the Revelation of
Peter, the Acts of Paul, and many more, but does not include them.
Tertullian (c. 160-220)
Tertullian (c. 160-220 AD)
accepts the Four Gospels, Acts, the thirteen Epistles of Paul, I Peter, I John,
Jude, and Revelation. He condemned the Shepherd of Hermas.
Origen (c. 185-254)
Origen (c. 185-254 AD) attests
that the Church has only four Gospels accepted the fourteen letters of Paul,
Acts, 1 Peter and 1 John. Although he has difficulty of accepting the Pauline
authorship of the Hebrews, but still ascribes it to Paul. The Revelation of
John is accepted together with Shepherd of Hermas. For Origen, of the
twenty-seven New Testament books, seven are disputed.
Eusebius (c. 260-340 A.D.)
Eusebius (c.260-340 AD), bishop
of Caesarea and well-known Church historian, his New Testament include Four
Gospels, Acts, Pauline epistles (including Hebrews), 1Peter, 1 John, and
although with reservations, the Revelation of John. James, Jude, 2 Peter, 2 and
3 John are disputed books, not necessarily non-canonical for Eusebius. The
books Eusebius rejects are the Acts of Paul, the Shepherd of Hermas, the
Revelation of Peter, the Letter of Barnabas, the Didache, the Gospel of Peter,
the Acts of Andrew, and others.
Athanasius (c.293-373 A.D.)
Athanasius (c. 293-373 A.D.), in
his Festal letter written in 367 list 27 books of the New Testament: his New
Testament begins with the Four Gospel, followed by Acts, James, 1 and 2 Peter,
1, 2 and 3 John, Jude, and the fourteen epistles of Paul (including the
Hebrews), and ends with the Revelation of John. While he permits the reading of
Didache and Shepherd of Hermas, but he does not accept them as Scripture.
Athanasius totally rejects the apocryphal books.
Issues Regarding the 27 Books
of the New Testament
The above clearly witnessing to
the total acceptance of the twenty-two books of the New Testaments as
canonical: the Four Gospels, Acts, the thirteen Pauline Epistles, 1 Peter, 1
John, and Revelation of John.
The other five books (Hebrews,
James, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, and Jude) were also acknowledged although
“disputed.” However, even if these five books were disputed these were not
rejected.
From Muratorian Fragment to Tertullian
represent the Western church. Generally speaking, the Western church accepted
only twenty-two books of the New Testament by 200 A.D.
The Epistle to the Hebrews is not
among the Pauline in the Western church, until the fourth century.
There were still questions
regarding James, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, but it does not necessarily mean the
Western Church altogether reject those books.
The Western Church
did not accept the letter to the Hebrews, while the Eastern Church includes it
in the Pauline letters. The Western Church acknowledge Revelation of John,
while the Eastern Church disputed it, especially after Dionysius, bishop op
Alexandria, argued that it was not Johannine and therefore, not apostolic.
When the disputes regarding the
Hebrews, the Revelation of John, and the seven General Epistles were solved?
“Through the
interaction of Eastern and Western churches, however, the two branches of
Christendom drew even in the matter of the disputed books. In the West, Hebrews
came to be accepted, and in the East the Revelation of John found a secure
place. The seven General Epistles were also accepted eventually.
“While there may have
been uneasiness about several of the NT books for a long time, the major writings
were accepted by almost all the Christians by the middle of the second century.
In fact, the Gospels and the Epistles of Paul were accepted by the end of the
first century.”17
Thus, generally, the Christians throughout the
Christendom acknowledge the 27 books of the New Testament. These 27 books were
already been collected even towards the end of the first century, and already
widely circulated and widely accepted in the second century A.D.
Comparing these 27 New Testament
books with other literature of that time, the Letter of Barnabas, the Shepherd
of Hermas, the Revelation of Peter, and others, were only accepted by some
persons or some churches, and perhaps recommended for reading, but generally
rejected as canonical or Scripture. This was not the case with the 27 New
Testament books. They were generally accepted only a few persons and some
churches disputed or objected them.
The Councils
From evidences above, it prove
that no council ever made a book of the New Testament canonical. These twenty-seven
books were already collected and acknowledged long before such Church councils
were convened. Thus, these councils simply affirmed those books already long
been acknowledge since the end of the first century.
The Synod of Laodicea
(365 A.D.)
The Synod of Laodicea in 365 A.D.,
forbade the reading of non-canonical books. This decision of the council
clearly attests that everyone already knew which book were canonical and which
were not.
The Council of Hippo (393
A.D.)
The Council of Hippo in 393 A.D.
although laid down a list of 27 New Testament books, the same as our present
New Testament list, but it only confirmed the 27 books of the New Testament
already acknowledged and accepted long before the council of Hippo.
The Synod of Carthage (397 A.D.)
The Synod of Carthage in 397 A.D.
declared that nothing should be read in the churches as divine scriptures
except the canonical books, and then gave a list of Old and New Testament
books, the same as ours today. Again, it was not this council that gave us the
canon of the Old and New Testaments, but only confirmed what were already
accepted long before this council occurred.
SOURCE: Lopez, E. M. The Bible: Our Sacred Scripture, A General Introduction To The Bible. Quezon City, Philippines: 2010.
End
Notes:
Chapter 1
1
Gundry, Robert H. A Survey of the New
Testament. 3rd ed. Manila,
Philippines:
OMF Literature Inc., 1994. p. 85
2
Bruce, F.F. The Books and the Parchment.
Old Tappan, New Jersey: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1984.
pp. 97-98
3
Cairns, Christianity
through the Centuries, Michigan:
Zondervan Publishing House, 1981. p. 118
4
Bruce, p. 98
5
Boer, Harry R., A Short History of the Early
Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing
Company, 1995. p. 31
6
Ewert, David. A General Introduction to the
Bible. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1990.
p. 121
7
Bruce, p. 98
8
Ewert, p. 119
9
Barclay, W. The Making of the Bible. New York: Abingdon,
1961. p. 65
10
Ewert, p. 116
11
Bruce., pp. 101-102
12
Ibid., p.
101
13
Ibid,
pp. 99-100
14
Ibid.,
p. 100
15
Ibid.,
pp. 100-101
16
Ewert, p. 126
17
Ibid.,
p. 181
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