Program / Course 17: Defending Scripture / Lesson 2.2
What you will learn
- Trace the main stages by which the 27 books of the New Testament came to be recognized.
- Describe the criteria the early church used and the books that were disputed.
- Evaluate the claim that church councils created the canon.
- State the strongest skeptical objection to the canon and the main replies to it.
The big idea
The 27 books of the New Testament were not chosen by one council at one moment. The four Gospels and the letters of Paul were widely read in the churches by the second century. Debates continued for some time about a handful of books, and by the late fourth century the 27 were broadly agreed in both East and West. Scholars agree on this outline. They disagree about how much weight to give church authority, apostolic origin or later use, and about how to judge books that were excluded.
Key terms
- Apostolic
- Connected with the apostles, either by their own writing or by the testimony of their close companions.
- Rule of faith
- A summary of the basic Christian teaching, passed on in the churches in the early centuries, used to test whether a writing agreed with the faith.
- Marcion
- A second-century teacher in Rome who rejected the Old Testament and accepted only an edited Luke and ten letters of Paul. The church rejected his list.
- Muratorian fragment
- A damaged Latin list of New Testament books. Its date is debated, with many scholars placing it in the late second century and others in the fourth.
- Disputed books (antilegomena)
- Books whose acceptance was contested for a time, usually including Hebrews, James, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, Jude and Revelation.
- Apocryphal gospels
- Writings such as the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Peter and the Gospel of Judas, not accepted in the canon. Most are later than the four Gospels.
- Codex
- An early book made of sheets bound at one edge, which Christians adopted widely and which made it easier to gather several books together.
Background
The first Christians had the Hebrew Scriptures, in Greek, and the spoken teaching of the apostles. As the apostles died, their letters and accounts were copied and shared. Paul’s letters were already being gathered by the time 2 Peter was written, which refers to them alongside the other Scriptures (2 Peter 3:15-16). Many scholars date 2 Peter late, and some doubt it was written by Peter, but the verse is still evidence of how early writers regarded Paul.
The standard works on the subject, such as Bruce Metzger’s study, describe a process in which usage came first and lists followed. Churches read certain books in worship because they were known to come from or be connected with the apostles. Lists came as a response to disputes, to false writings and to the need to know which books to read and to copy. Metzger and others emphasize that this was a process of recognition rather than a creation.
Step-by-step explanation
Step 1: The earliest evidence
Early Christian writers such as Clement of Rome and Ignatius quote or allude to letters and sayings of Jesus, but rarely say that these are Scripture. Justin Martyr, in the middle of the second century, says that the memoirs of the apostles were read on Sundays alongside the prophets. About 170, Tatian combined the four Gospels into one narrative called the Diatessaron, which shows that he regarded the four as special.
Irenaeus, bishop of Lyon, wrote around 180 that there are four Gospels and no more or fewer, comparing them to the four winds. The argument is strained by modern standards, but it is strong evidence that the four were firmly accepted in his churches. The Gospel of Thomas and others of its kind are not cited in this way by the writers of this period.
Step 2: Challenges that pressed the question
Marcion’s list, from about 140, forced other Christians to say what they accepted and why. The Montanist movement claimed new prophecies and raised the question of whether revelation had closed. The growth of writings under apostles’ names, such as the Gospel of Peter, raised the question of which were genuine.
The Muratorian fragment lists books accepted at Rome, including four Gospels, Acts, thirteen letters of Paul, Jude, two letters of John and Revelation, and mentions the Apocalypse of Peter as accepted by some but not all. It rejects the Shepherd of Hermas for public reading. The date of the fragment is disputed, which makes it difficult to say how early the Roman church had a list.
Step 3: Lists and councils in the fourth century
Eusebius, the historian, wrote around 325 and sorted books into those recognized, those disputed and those spurious or heretical. Among the disputed he placed James, Jude, 2 Peter and 2 and 3 John, and he was uncertain about Revelation. In 367, Athanasius of Alexandria sent a Festal Letter listing exactly the 27 books we have as the books handed down and believed to be divine. The Western councils of Hippo in 393 and Carthage in 397 gave the same list. These were regional councils, and not ecumenical ones.
Some Eastern churches were slower to accept Revelation, and some Western churches were slow to accept Hebrews. The Syriac churches long used a smaller group of books. The Ethiopian church today has a larger canon. These differences were not resolved by a single council at the time, and later councils such as Trent (1546) for the Catholic church confirmed the list in response to the Reformation.
Step 4: The criteria
Scholars list several tests the church applied, though no ancient source states them as a formal checklist. Apostolicity asked whether the book came from an apostle or someone close to the apostles. Conformity to the rule of faith asked whether it agreed with the received teaching. Catholicity, or wide acceptance, asked whether the book was used across the churches. Use in worship also counted.
Critics note that these tests were not applied evenly. Hebrews is anonymous, and the church accepted it in part because it was thought to be Pauline. Some books that were widely read, such as the Shepherd of Hermas, were left out. Defenders reply that the process was practical rather than mechanical, and that the result reflects the settled judgment of the churches over generations.
Step 5: The strongest objection
The objection can be put this way. The canon was settled by fallible people, often in disputes, and long after the events. Different churches held different lists, and decisions were influenced by power and politics. Early Christian movements that were later called heretical had their own books, and the winners wrote the history. Why should a modern reader trust the result?
Three replies are given. First, the evidence shows that the core of the canon was in use well before any council, so the councils recognized rather than imposed it. Second, historians have found little reason to think the excluded gospels preserve earlier or more reliable traditions about Jesus, since most were written in the second century or later. Third, Catholics and Orthodox argue that the church was guided by the Holy Spirit in the process, and Protestants, who locate authority in Scripture itself, argue that the books carry their own authority and were recognized as such. These replies do not remove the objection, and the student should be able to state both.
- Why would the use of a book in worship be an important sign in the early church?
- What do the dispute with Marcion and the rise of apocryphal gospels tell you about why lists were needed?
- Is a list made in 367 a late date or an early date, in your judgment? What makes it so?
- Which of the criteria seems strongest to you, and which seems weakest?
- How do Catholics, Orthodox Christians and Protestants differ on who gave the canon its authority?
- What would you ask a historian who claims that the canon was imposed by politics?
Examples
Hebrews
The Letter to the Hebrews does not name its author. Eastern churches linked it to Paul, and Western churches were for a time doubtful. Eventually it was accepted by both. This is a case in which the criterion of apostolicity was applied flexibly, and scholars today mostly agree that Paul probably did not write it.
The Shepherd of Hermas
This early Christian work was read in some churches and appears in some early Bibles, such as Codex Sinaiticus. It was in the end not included, in part because it was thought to be written too late to be apostolic. It remains an important early text, and the Apostolic Fathers collection contains it.
The Gospel of Thomas
This is a collection of sayings attributed to Jesus, surviving in a Coptic copy found at Nag Hammadi in Egypt in 1945. Scholars debate its date, with some placing it in the second century and a minority arguing for an earlier origin. Few argue that it was a rival to the four Gospels in the churches of the second century.
Different perspectives
Catholic
The Catholic Church teaches that the canon was discerned by the church under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and defined at Trent. The Catechism says it was the apostolic Tradition that enabled the church to discern which writings constitute the list of sacred books. The authority of the church and the authority of the canon are thus linked.
Orthodox
Orthodox Christians receive the canon as part of the living Tradition, confirmed by the regional councils and by use in worship. They do not usually claim that a single act defined it, and they note some differences among Orthodox churches on the edges.
Protestant
Protestants usually say that the church recognized the books but did not create them, and that the books were self-authenticating, in Calvin’s view, by the witness of the Spirit. Some also say that the church’s recognition was a fallible human act, which led to the accepted list in practice.
Scholarly
Historians describe a gradual process. The consensus is that the four Gospels and Paul’s letters were widely accepted by the second century, that a group of other books was disputed for some time, and that the 27 were in most churches by the fourth century. They differ on dates for the Muratorian fragment and on the weight of various factors.
Skeptical
Some historians argue that early Christianity was far more diverse than the canon suggests, and that the selection reflects the views of the party that became dominant. They point to the sources of Gnostic Christianity at Nag Hammadi. Others respond that the canonical books are the earliest and best attested, a conclusion reached on historical grounds.
Why it matters
The status of the New Testament depends partly on the way it was formed. If a council created it by decree, a Christian is trusting a decision. If the churches recognized books that already carried apostolic authority, a Christian is trusting a history. The truth appears to lie closer to the second picture, but the traditions describe the role of the church in different ways. Knowing the actual history makes you able to answer popular claims, in either direction, that a single council or a conspiracy made the Bible.
Common misunderstandings
Misunderstanding: The Council of Nicaea in 325 chose the books of the Bible.
Correction: The surviving records of Nicaea do not mention the canon. The idea is a popular legend. The lists that matter come from other sources, such as Athanasius in 367 and the councils of Hippo and Carthage.
Misunderstanding: Many Gospels were suppressed and the church chose four by force.
Correction: The four Gospels were accepted widely by the second century, and the alternative gospels are mostly later. Some were condemned as heretical, but the four were not selected from a field of equals.
Misunderstanding: The canon is purely a human invention, so it has no authority.
Correction: Whether the human process shows the work of the Spirit is a theological question that the traditions answer differently. The fact that people made the decisions does not by itself answer it.
Misunderstanding: The canon was always fixed and nobody disputed any book.
Correction: Hebrews, James, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, Jude and Revelation were questioned in some places for a time. Honest accounts say so.
Knowledge check
What role did Athanasius play in the history of the canon?
In his Festal Letter of 367, Athanasius of Alexandria listed exactly the 27 books of the New Testament as those handed down and believed to be divine. It is the earliest surviving list with this exact content. It did not create the canon, since most of these books were already in wide use, but it shows that the list was settled in the East by then.
Which New Testament books were disputed for a time?
The usually listed disputed books are Hebrews, James, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, Jude and Revelation. Different regions doubted different books. The Eastern churches were sometimes uncertain about Revelation, and the West was for a time uncertain about Hebrews. By the late fourth century these doubts had mostly faded.
Name the criteria scholars say the church used and one criticism of them.
The criteria are apostolic origin or connection, conformity to the rule of faith, wide acceptance across the churches and use in worship. A common criticism is that they were applied unevenly. Hebrews is anonymous yet accepted, while the Shepherd of Hermas was widely read and left out. Defenders say the process was practical judgment, not a fixed checklist.
Why is it misleading to say that a council created the canon?
The core books, the four Gospels and Paul’s letters, were in wide use well before any council. Lists in the fourth century, including Athanasius and the regional councils of Hippo and Carthage, recorded what was already received. Later councils such as Trent confirmed the list for Catholics. Whether the church had authority to define it is a separate theological question.
State one skeptical objection and one reply.
A skeptic may say the canon was shaped by disputes and power and so should not be trusted. One reply is that the main books were accepted early and widely, before any council, and that the excluded gospels are mostly later. Another reply, from Catholics and Orthodox, appeals to the Spirit’s guidance of the church. The objection and replies each rest on assumptions that can be examined.
Think it through
- Does it matter to you whether the canon was recognized or created? Why?
- How would you respond to a friend who says the Bible was chosen by Constantine?
- What do you think is the most important difference between the canonical Gospels and the later gospels that you have read about?
Independent assignment
From Irenaeus to Athanasius
In your own notebook, write 350 to 450 words tracing the history of the New Testament canon in four stages, using this lesson and one reading from the list. For each stage, say what the evidence is, what it shows and what it does not show. End with your own judgment on whether the churches recognized or created the canon, and give your reasons. Do not send this to anyone or post it anywhere.
Further study
- Bruce M. Metzger, The Canon of the New Testament Read selectively for the history of the recognition of the New Testament canon and note where the author says the evidence is limited.
- Irenaeus of Lyon, Against Heresies Read selectively for the argument about the four Gospels and the apostolic faith.
- F. F. Bruce, The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? A shorter older defense of the New Testament documents.
- J. B. Lightfoot, ed., The Apostolic Fathers Read the Shepherd of Hermas and the Didache to see books that were widely read but not included.
- 2 Peter 3:16 The letters of Paul mentioned alongside the other Scriptures.
- Hebrews 1:1 An anonymous letter that was eventually received by the churches.