Session 5 - Deciding the Canon

It’s important to remember the idea of a Canon pre-dates the New Testament

Many people think the New Testament writings were agreed upon at the Council of Nicea. There were 20 canons (church rules) voted on at Nicea - none dealt with sacred

writings. We will discuss Nicea next week in more detail

Marcion Produced the first “Canon” of New Testament books (The OT Canon obviously was

complete)

Marcion included Paul’s writings as well as Luke’s gospel (most of it)

This caused a reaction in the church that said they needed to recognize what is scripture

and what isn’t

The Gospels were collected by A.D. 170 and recognized as the four inspired gospels

It was important for these gospels to be recognized with what the

Gnostics were doing

What was the process?

They would pick one gospel and say it alone has the truth… Having four gospels agreeing was

important

The four gospels are confirmed by Irenaeus of Lyons in Against the

Heresies (cir. 175),

“From this it is clear that the Word, the artificer of all things, being manifested to men gave us the gospel, fourfold in form but held together by one Spirit.”

A.H. III,11.8

Justin Martyr does not cite any New Testament writing by name, but he designates his several

New Testament citations with "it is recorded," or the "memoirs of the apostles." He does,

however, refer to the "Gospels,"

“For the apostles, in the memoirs composed by them, which are called Gospels, have thus

delivered unto us what was enjoined upon them; that Jesus took bread, and when He had given

thanks, said, "This do ye in remembrance of Me..." First Apology 66

The order of the books being laid out as Gospels, then Epistles etc.

came about very early on

We often find collections of writings

either Gospels, or Pauline writings, or

others

“Collections” of books started early on

The first time we have a definitive list of the 27 books of the New Testament is with Athanasius

(born ~293 CE, -- died 373 CE)

Athanasius of Alexandria

A clear acknowledgment of the NT canon of 27 books appears in the 39th Festal

Letter of Athanasius.

How did the early church decide what would make it into the Canon?

Apostolicity was the most important factors that they considered for inspired books

They either had to be written by an apostle, or by someone under the guidance for an apostle

Many of the Gnostic gospels were forgeries (falsely said to be written by an apostle)

because that was a definite requirement

Other things were also considered for the debated books

Are they orthodox? Meaning do the doctrines and sayings agree with known scripture?

Are there doctrinal or factual errors within them? If so they can’t be inspired

Do they provide spiritual nourishment and growth? Are they useful to the church in that

sense?

We believe that the early church was guided by the Holy Spirit to recognize the books

which God had inspired

2 Timothy 3:16: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for

instruction in righteousness,”

The Church does not decide what is scripture (inspired by God) God does, the Church has the

job to recognize what God has done

A Natural Delivery

The NT was NOT dropped from heaven.

The NT was NOT delivered by an angel.

The NT was NOT dug up in a farmer's field as golden plates like the Book of Mormon.

The NT was NOT suddenly "discovered" in a clay jar with 27 "books" intact like the

Dea Sea Scrolls or the Nag Hammadi texts.

There were books that were disputed among some early Christians

JamesJude

2nd Peter2nd, 3rd John

HebrewsRevelation

Shepherd of Hermes1 Clement

Epistle of Barnabas

Y = Scripture

N = Disputed

M = Could be seen as scripture

X = Rejected

S = Not mentioned

(implied rejection)

Remember, God’s people (By his leading) had already formed a canonical group of writings

called the Old Testament

It did not require the Church to decide what would be in the OT for the OT to be formed

It wasn’t a new idea, having a group of books that would be seen as canonical

The Muratorian canon is a manuscript fragment that represents the oldest known

orthodox list (or canon) of the New Testament.

The document is dated by most scholars to have been written around 170-200 AD. This

document was discovered in an Italian library by Ludovico Antonio Muratori, a famous

historian of the time.

- Matthew and Mark (we assume these were named in the beginning of the fragment which is

missing - the writer mentions "four gospels") - Luke and John

- Acts- all 13 Pauline letters

- 1 and 2 John is assumed since the writer only names two letters of John

- Jude- the Revelation of John

This listing omits Hebrews, 1 and 2 Peter, and 3 John. It also names a few documents

that do NOT appear in the orthodox NT.

Irenaeus quotes from, or alludes to, almost all the documents that become the

orthodox NT.

By the time we come to the end of the second century and look at the citations

of Clement of Alexandria (writings cir. 195-202) and Tertullian (writings cir. 205-225)

we find hundreds of references from almost every NT document.

By the end of the second century most of the 27 documents in the orthodox New

Testament canon had already gained widespread acceptance, especially the four

gospels and the Pauline writings.

While there were a few debated books by some people, the large majority of the

orthodox church recognized the books we have today as scripture

An explosion of Christian literature comes in the fourth century with Lactantius, Eusebius of Caesarea, Athanasius of Alexandria, and the Cappadocian Fathers, John Chrysostom, Jerome, Rufinus, and the great Augustine of Hippo (his Confessions was written in 396-97

AD). All of these writers illustrate how the New Testament had become settled with

thousands of citations from the 27 "inspired" writings and fewer citations outside that list.

Some people today are looking at the newly discovered Gnostic gospels and asking why

they are not part of scripture

As we said earlier, they are often associated with apostles in order to gain acceptance, but they were written after the apostles (chronology didn’t line up)

and they were rejected by the early church for that, and other reasons.

Gospel of Thomas

Jesus said, "Blessed is the lion which the man shall eat, and the lion become man;

and cursed is the man whom the lion shall eat, and the lion become man.“ Thomas 7

Contents were one reason for rejection

Some things within these (now called) Gnostic gospels were just pure bizarre

Jesus said to them, "When you make the two one, and when you make the inside as the

outside, and the outside as the inside, and the upper side as the lower; and when you make

the male and the female into a single one, that the male be not male and the female

female; when you make eyes in the place of an eye, and a hand in place of a hand, and a

foot in place of a foot, an image in place of an image, then shall you enter [the

kingdom]." Thomas 22

Simon Peter said to them: "Let Mary go forth from among us, for women are not worthy of the life." Jesus said: "Behold, I shall lead her, that I may make her male,

in order that she also may become a living spirit like you males. For every woman

who makes herself male shall enter into the kingdom of heaven." Thomas 114

“Jesus took them all by stealth, for he did not appear as he was, but in the manner in

which they would be able to see him. He appeared to them all. He appeared to the

great as great. He appeared to the small as small. He appeared to the angels as an

angel, and to men as a man. Because of this, his word hid itself from everyone…”

The Gospel of Philip

…Some indeed saw him, thinking that they were seeing themselves, but when he

appeared to his disciples in glory on the mount, he was not small. He became great, but he made the disciples great, that they might be able to see him in his greatness.”

57,28 - 58,10

Apostles Creed and other creeds were very important for the beginning of the church

Ignatius says things that look very similar to the Apostles Creed, as if it developed from already

known creeds he was quoting

There are many other examples from many other Gnostic gospels, but these

are just a few examples

1 Corinthians 15:1-7: “Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel

which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by

which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—

unless you believed in vain…

Creeds were important to the early church

We have several examples of “Creed” type writing in the New Testament

”For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He

was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that

He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve.6 After that He was seen by over five

hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but

some have fallen asleep. 7 After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles.”

Nicene Creed: “We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only

Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not

made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made.

…For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the

Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our

sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven

and is seated at the right hand of the Father…

…He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no

end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father and

the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken

through the Prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge

one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the

life of the world to come. Amen.”

The Nicene Creed is very close to the apostles creed (which is more famous)

1. I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth:

2. And in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord:

3. Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary:

4. Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead and buried: He descended into hell:

5. The third day he rose again from the dead:6. He ascended into heaven, and sits at the

right hand of God the Father Almighty:7. From thence he shall come to judge the

quick and the dead:8. I believe in the Holy Ghost:

9. I believe in the holy catholic church: the communion of saints:

10. The forgiveness of sins:1l. The resurrection of the body:

12. And the life everlasting. Amen.

The earliest historical evidence of the creed's existence is in a letter written by the Council of Milan in 390 A.D. – But we can trace very obvious parts back to A.D.

200 showing it formed far earlier

Reformers gave great honor to the apostles creed and thought it was very

important for people to know

Memory Verse

Isaiah 55:11 - So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please,

and it shall prosper [in the thing] whereto I sent it.