The document discusses the formation of the New Testament canon. It notes that the earliest New Testament manuscripts date to around AD 110. The writings of the Apostles, including Paul, were seen as authoritative from an early period. By around AD 120, the four gospels and Paul's letters were joined by Acts to form the core of the New Testament. While some books faced more debate, by AD 220 there was almost a total consensus on most books. The canon was finalized in the late 4th century without any formal ecumenical councils, but rather through a process of consensus among Christian communities.

1. 1
Canon of the Bible
New Testament
Royal Oak Sunday School
December 2005

2. 2
Earliest NT
Manuscript
(fragment of John
18:31-34, 37-7)
This is dated
AD 110

3. 3
Another Candidate
Qumran cave 7 (7q5 is Mark 6:52-53) - (dated
around 50 A.D. !) - this may be possibly be the new
earliest surviving New Testament manuscript:

4. 4
New Testament Attitude to Itself
 2 Pe 3:16. As also in all his (Paul’s) epistles,
speaking in them of these things; in which are
some things hard to be understood, which they
that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they
do also the other scriptures, unto their own
destruction.
 1 Ti 5:18. For the scripture saith, Thou shalt
not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn.
And, The labourer is worthy of his reward.
 So Peter regarded Paul’s letters as scriptures,
and Paul regarded Luke 10:7 as a scripture

5. 5
The Apostles and Inspiration
 The Apostles, including Paul, has a special role
in the early Church
 Their words were seen as authoritative - see 1
Thess 2:13
 Their writings were inspired - 1 Cor 14:37
 Hence their writings were automatically part of
the Canon as soon as they were written
 The only disputes really arose over their
genuineness

6. 6
The Spread of the NT Books
Some books were written to certain places such as Rome
(Romans) or even to individuals (Gaius in 3 John). It
would take a good amount of time before the document
circled back to Antioch, Jerusalem and the other
Christian communities. Those books that were slower to
be accepted were often excluded from one part of the
church.
Note how Colossians 4:16 describes how
the book was to be passed around.
“And when this letter is read among you,
have it also read in the church of the
Laodiceans; and you, for your part read
my letter that is coming from Laodicea.”

7. 7
The History of the NT Canon
 We have seen that from its earliest days the Christian Community
was aware it had a body of writings equal in authority to the OT
and equally revelatory of GOD
 Some time around AD 120, the fourfold gospels and Paul’s
writings, which had circulated separately, became joined by the
addition of Acts.
 The other NT writings were also recognized as inspired by the
majority by this time, although some dispute arose over Hebrews,
James, Jude, the Second Epistle of Peter, and Revelation.
 Note we are at a time of local Church Autonomy. The Canon of
scripture was accepted by consensus, not directive
 By around 220 AD there was almost total consensus, but the final
details took another 150 years.

8. 8
The Undisputed Books
 20 of the 27 NT books were accepted easily.
Metzger tells us that:
 “Although the fringes of the emerging canon
remained unsettled for generations, a high
degree of unanimity concerning the greater
part of the New Testament was attained among
the very diverse and scattered congregations
of believers not only throughout the
Mediterranean world, but also over an area
extending from Britain to Mesopotamia.”*
*Metzger, Bruce Manning. The Canon of the New Testament, p 254

9. 9
The Non-Apostolic Books
 Mark was an “Amanuensis” (scribe) for
Peter, like Tertius actually wrote Romans
(Ro 16:22)
 Luke similarly was associated with Paul
 This is the universal witness of the early
Church
 On this basis the books of Mark, Luke
and Acts were never disputed

10. 10
The disputed books - 1
 Revelation
 Was accepted early, and certainly ascribed to the
Apostle John very early in the 2nd century. It only
later was disputed, because of Heretical views in the
early church
 II Peter, and II & III John
 These are weakly attested, partially perhaps because
they were not well circulated. But their apostolic
authorship was never really doubted, hence their
inclusion

11. 11
The disputed books - 2
 James and Jude were certainly written
by “Apostles.” The only dispute has
been which ones.
 James the brother of Jesus – or James the
apostle – or were there other James’? The
normal attitude is that they were two, and one
was killed in AD 44 – Ac 12:2. The Apostolic
authority of the brother of Jesus was like that of
Paul – see 1 Cor 15:7, Gal 1:19
 Jude was written by one called an Apostle by
Tertullian in around AD 220

12. 12
The disputed books - 3
 Hebrews
 This book was quoted early (by Clement of
Rome in AD 95) but its acceptance delayed by
doubts over its Pauline authorship
 General view is that the ideas were that of Paul,
but it was actually written by an Amanuensis,
possibly Barnabas.
 Hence Hebrews also was accepted
fundamentally based on Apostolic Authorship

13. 13
The Non-Canonical Books
 Eusebius wrote in about 300 AD
“Among Spurious Books must be placed
the `Acts' of Paul, the `Shepherd', and
the `Revelation of Peter'; also the
alleged `Epistle of Barnabas', and the
`Teaching of the Apostles' [Didache]”
 These books, along with ‘Wisdom’,
were with rare exception never
considered on the same level as
“canonical” books

14. 14
Formation of New Testament
 Salmon* says “It is a remarkable fact we have no early
interference of Church authority in the making of a
Canon: no Council discussed the subject; no formal
decisions were made. The Canon seems to have
shaped itself.”
 Lee** says “the reception of different parts of the New
Testament, a scripture, took place without external
concert - and with scarcely an exception, each writing
which it contains was all at once, and without a word of
doubt, placed on a level with the Old testament.”
* In Introduction to the New Testament
** In The Inspiration of the Holy Scripture

15. 15
Status in the Second Century
 So long as the fourfold Gospel and the Pauline collection circulated
separately, one can hardly speak of a canon, even in embryo. The
bringing together of the two collections into one was facilitated by the
existence of Acts, the hinge which joined the two. ... Acts provided
the central structure of an edifice which now took on the shape of the
canon as we have received it. So, already at this early stage, the
Church was making progress in the recognition of an authoritative
collection of Christian books. Just before the middle of the second
century something happened to speed up that progress and give it
greater precision than had characterized it up until that time*
F.F. Bruce “The Canon Of The New Testament”

16. 16
The Witness of Eusebius
 The list of Eusebius* refers to all 27 of
our current books. 22 of the 27 were
placed in the "universally accepted"
category: The four Gospels, Acts, Paul's
13 epistles, 1 Peter, 1 John, and
Revelation.
Eusebius (260 - to 340) was a Church
Historian

17. 17
This informative
table is
interesting, but
not the whole
picture
Marcion – around AD 120
Muraturion – around 190 AD
Irenaeus – around 180 AD
Tertullian – around 210 AD
Origen – around 230 AD
Eusebius – around 300 AD
Athanasius – 367 AD

18. 18

19. 19
The NT Canon is Complete
In his Festal Letter for A.D. 367, St. Athanasius,
Bishop of Alexandria, was the first to list the
twenty-seven canonical books of the New
Testament. He called them the "springs of
salvation" (allegorizing Isaiah 12:3), and
claimed that "in these alone is the teaching of
true religion proclaimed as good news; let no
one add to these or take anything from them."
He distinguished canonical from apocryphal,
and determined that the Shepherd of Hermas,
for example, did not belong to the canon.

20. 20
Did the Church Originate the Canon?
 The Church did not originate the NT. Its
inspiration is from God, not from priests. The
canon was the result of total consensus,only
acknowledged by Council Decrees.
 It would be much truer to say the canon
selected itself than the Church selected it.
 The Scripture is of God, in its origin, character,
and authority. History bears this out, although
sometimes mis-interpreted by some “scholars.”