New Testament Canon

The New Testament canon is the collection of 27 books that Christians accept as part of the Bible. These books include the four Gospels, Acts, the letters, and Revelation. The word “canon” means an accepted standard or official list.

The New Testament is often divided into three groups of books.

1.

2.

3.

Gospels and Acts

Paul’s Letters

General Letters and Revelation

Matthew

Romans

Hebrews

Mark

1 Corinthians

James

Luke

2 Corinthians

1 Peter

John

Galatians

2 Peter

Acts

Ephesians

1 John

Philippians

2 John

Colossians

3 John

1 Thessalonians

Jude

2 Thessalonians

Revelation

1 Timothy

2 Timothy

Titus

Philemon

The New Testament was written over about 50 years, several hundred years after the Old Testament was completed. Some modern scholars question both parts of this statement. They believe that each Testament took longer to complete. However, the writer of this survey is confident that this statement is historically true. This survey’s explanation of how the Old and New Testaments became accepted as Scripture is based on these two beliefs.

In one sense, we have stronger confirmation of the Old Testament canon than of the New Testament canon. The canon is the collection of books accepted as Scripture. Jesus himself confirmed the authority of the Hebrew Scriptures by using them as the word of God.

However, Jesus Christ also pointed ahead to the content of the New Testament. He promised that the Holy Spirit “will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have told you” (John 14:26). He also said that the Spirit “will guide you into all truth” (16:13).

From this, we can identify the basic principle for recognizing the New Testament canon, the books accepted as Scripture. This principle is the same as the one used for the Old Testament: a writing belongs in the canon if God inspired it.

This applies both to the Old Testament prophets and to the apostles and their God-given coworkers in the New Testament period. Their writings had authority because people recognized these authors as true messengers of God when they wrote. A writing is fully God’s word only if it is “God-breathed,” or inspired by God.

The church in the time of the apostles accepted these books when an apostle confirmed that they were inspired. Some New Testament letters were not recognized in every region at the same time. This may be because the apostles’ confirmation was first known only in certain places. In the end, the church accepted all 27 books of the New Testament. According to this view, their final acceptance shows that the church carefully examined the evidence and confirmed that the books had proper apostolic approval (that is, an apostle had confirmed that the writing came from God).

Tertullian was an important Christian writer during the first 20 years of the third century. He was one of the first people to call the Christian Scriptures the “New Testament.” This title had appeared earlier, around AD 190, in a work written against Montanism, a Christian movement. The author of that work is unknown. This title was important because it placed the New Testament Scriptures on the same level of inspiration and authority as the Old Testament.

The available evidence shows that the church gradually moved toward full and official recognition of the 27 books of the New Testament. This process continued into the fourth century AD. This does not necessarily mean that the church had failed to recognize all these books before that time. Rather, the church did not have an urgent need to define the canon officially until the fourth century.

The New Testament was written over a much shorter period than the Old Testament. However, its books were written across a much wider geographic area. This helps explain why churches did not immediately recognize the exact contents of the New Testament canon. Different churches first received different parts of the New Testament. Because these churches were far apart, some regions took longer than others to recognize certain books. This also led to some uncertainty about those books.

To understand how the New Testament books became part of the canon, we must review the available evidence. This will help us see how and why the early Christians accepted the 27 books now included in the New Testament.

This historical process was gradual and continuous. However, it will be easier to understand if we divide the period of nearly 350 years into shorter sections. Some writers describe three main stages in the formation of the canon. However, this may wrongly suggest that the process developed through clear and separate steps. Other writers give a long list of the people and documents involved. This approach can make it hard to see how the process developed over time.

For this reason, this discussion divides the process into five periods. These divisions are somewhat artificial. Throughout the whole period, knowledge of the sacred writings continued to spread. At the same time, Christians continued to grow in agreement that these writings were authentic and inspired Scripture.

The five periods are:

First Century

First Half of the Second Century

Second Half of the Second Century

Third Century

Fourth Century

These five periods are not clear and separate stages. However, the main developments in each period can help us understand the process.

During the first period, the New Testament books were written. Christians also began to copy them and share them among the churches.

During the second period, more churches came to know and value these writings. Christians also began to quote them as authoritative.

By the end of the third period, these writings had gained a recognized place beside the Old Testament as “Scripture.” Christians also began to translate them into local languages and write commentaries on them.

The fourth period took place during the third century AD. Christians began to collect the books into one “New Testament.” They also worked to distinguish these books from other Christian writings.

In the fifth period, church leaders in the fourth century stated that the church had reached agreement about the canon. In the strict and formal sense, the canon was now fixed.

We will now examine in more detail the people and influences that produced the written evidence for this important process. Through God’s providence (his wise care and guidance over history), this process gave us the New Testament we have today.

The New Testament writings themselves show why the early church recognized their authority. Several passages tell believers to read the apostles’ messages aloud in public.

At the end of 1 Thessalonians, which may be the first New Testament book written, Paul says, “I charge you before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers” (1 Thessalonians 5:27). Earlier in the same letter, Paul praises the Thessalonians for accepting his spoken word as “the word of God” (1 Thessalonians 2:13). Paul says the same thing about what he writes. He insists that his readers recognize his written message as a commandment from the Lord himself (1 Corinthians 14:37). We see similar instructions in Colossians 4:16 and Revelation 1:3.

In 2 Peter 3:15–16, Paul’s letters are included with “the other Scriptures.” Because Peter’s letter was written for a broad audience, this suggests that Paul’s letters were already widely known.

Paul does something similar in 1 Timothy 5:18. He introduces two quotations with the words “the Scriptures say.” The first is the command “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain” (Deuteronomy 25:4). The second is the saying “the worker is worthy of his wages,” which also appears in Luke 10:7. This suggests that Paul treated an Old Testament passage and a New Testament Gospel as having equal authority as Scripture.

Around AD 95, Clement of Rome wrote a letter to the Christians in Corinth. In this letter, he freely quoted or paraphrased material from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. His writing also shows a strong influence from the Letter to the Hebrews. In addition, he was clearly familiar with:

Romans,

1 and 2 Corinthians,

Ephesians,

1 Timothy,

Titus, and

1 Peter.

One of the earliest known New Testament manuscripts is a fragment of the Gospel of John found in Egypt. It is called the John Rylands Papyrus. This fragment shows that Christians respected and copied John’s writings by about AD 125, only 30 to 35 years after his death.

Evidence also suggests that within 30 years of John’s death, all four Gospels and Paul’s letters were known and used in every major Christian center from which evidence has survived.

Some churches continued to question the authority of a few shorter letters for about another 50 years. This was mainly because they were uncertain about who had written them. This suggests that councils did not force churches to accept these books. Instead, churches accepted them as they learned more about their authorship and apostolic approval. In places where this information was uncertain, acceptance took longer.

The first three major church fathers (Clement, Polycarp, and Ignatius) used most of the New Testament writings in a natural and informal way. They did not argue for the authority of these writings. Instead, they treated the recognized Scriptures as already authoritative.

Their writings clearly refer to nearly every New Testament book. The exceptions are:

Mark (which closely follows much of the material in Matthew),

2 Peter,

2 and 3 John, and

Jude.

The Epistles of Ignatius, written around AD 115, contain several phrases that are similar to passages in the Gospels. They also seem to use language from several of Paul’s letters. The Didache, also called The Teaching of the Twelve, may have been written even earlier. It refers to a written Gospel. Most importantly, Clement, Barnabas, and Ignatius clearly distinguish their own writings from the inspired and authoritative writings of the apostles.

The Epistle of Barnabas, written around AD 130, gives the earliest known example of the phrase “it is written” being used for a New Testament book. In Barnabas 4:14, the phrase introduces words from Matthew 22:14.

Even before this, Polycarp combined a quotation from the Old Testament with one from the New Testament. Polycarp had personally known people who had seen and heard Jesus during his ministry. In his Epistle to the Philippians, Polycarp refers to Paul’s teaching in Ephesians 4:26. In that verse, Paul quotes Psalm 4:4 and adds further words. Polycarp introduces this material with the phrase “as it is said in these Scriptures” (Epistle to the Philippians 12:4).

Papias was the bishop of Hierapolis around AD 130–140. In a work later preserved by Eusebius, Papias names the Gospels of Matthew and Mark. He also uses them as the basis for explanation. This suggests that he accepted them as part of the canon.

The Gospel of Truth, written around AD 140, also provides important evidence. This work reflects Gnostic teaching, a religious movement that claimed special spiritual knowledge. Valentinus probably wrote it. The work uses many New Testament writings and treats them as authoritative. This evidence supports the conclusion that Christians in Rome at that time had a collection of New Testament books that was very similar to the one used today. The Gospel of Truth includes citations from:

the Gospels,

Acts,

Paul’s letters,

Hebrews, and

Revelation.

Around AD 140, the heretic Marcion (a teacher whose views the church rejected as false) created his own limited canon. This prompted orthodox Christians (those who held the church’s accepted teaching) to define more clearly which books they accepted as Scripture. Marcion rejected the entire Old Testament. He accepted only the Gospel of Luke, but he removed chapters 1 and 2 because he believed they were too Jewish. He also accepted Paul’s letters, except for the Pastoral Letters (1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus). An interesting detail is that Marcion used the name “Laodiceans” instead of “Ephesians.” This is especially noteworthy because of Colossians 4:16.

Near the end of this period, Justin Martyr described the worship services of the early church. He placed the writings of the apostles on the same level of authority as the writings of the Old Testament prophets.

Justin said that the voice speaking through Christ’s apostles in the New Testament was the same voice that spoke through the prophets. It was the voice of God. It was also the same voice that Abraham heard and obeyed in faith. Justin also often used the phrase “it is written” when he quoted from New Testament Scriptures.

Irenaeus began his Christian training under Polycarp, who had learned from the apostles. Later, while serving as a church leader in Lyons, Irenaeus worked with Bishop Pothinus. Pothinus had also known Christians from the first generation of the church.

Irenaeus quoted from almost every New Testament book and treated these writings as authoritative. He also taught that God had given the apostles power from heaven. They were, he said, “fully informed concerning all things, and had a perfect knowledge … having indeed all in equal measure and each one singly the Gospel of God” (Against Heresies 3.1.1).

Irenaeus also explained why there are four Gospels. “The word,” he says, “gave us the Gospel in a fourfold shape, but held together by one Spirit.” In addition to the four Gospels, Irenaeus referred to:

Acts,

all of Paul’s letters except Philemon,

1 Peter,

1 John, and

Revelation.

Tatian, a student of Justin Martyr, combined the four Gospels into one continuous account called the Diatessaron. This work shows that the church regarded all four Gospels as having equal authority by about AD 170. Other writings called “gospels” also existed by that time, but Tatian accepted only these four.

The Muratorian Canon also dates from about AD 170. In 1740, the librarian L. A. Muratori discovered and published an eighth-century copy of this document. The manuscript is damaged at both the beginning and the end. However, the surviving text suggests that Matthew and Mark were included in the missing opening section.

The surviving list includes:

Luke,

John,

Acts,

13 letters of Paul,

1 and 2 John,

Jude, and

Revelation.

It then says, “We accept only the Apocalypse of John and Peter, although some of us do not want it to be read in the church.” Scholars are not certain what this sentence means, because the manuscript is damaged at this point. The list then rejects several heretical leaders and their writings by name.

Translations of the New Testament already existed by this time. By about AD 170, Syriac translations in the eastern church and Old Latin translations in the western church provide strong evidence for the books Christians accepted. These translations contain the New Testament canon with no added books and only one book missing (2 Peter).

Origen, who lived from AD 185 to 254, was one of the most important Christian scholars of the third century. He studied and interpreted the Bible in great depth. He also examined the text of the New Testament, alongside his work on the Hexapla, a large comparison of different versions of the Old Testament. Origen wrote commentaries and sermons on most New Testament books. In these works, he emphasized that the Scriptures were inspired by God.

Dionysius of Alexandria, a student of Origen, shows that churches did not agree about every New Testament book. The Western church accepted Revelation from an early time, but churches in the East were less certain about it. The situation was the opposite for the Letter to the Hebrews. Churches in the East accepted it more readily than churches in the West.

Other books were also disputed. These books now appear near the end of the New Testament, from Hebrews through Revelation. Among the General Letters, the letters written to a broad Christian audience, Dionysius supported James and 2 and 3 John. However, he did not support 2 Peter or Jude.

This shows that the church had still not reached full agreement about certain books at the end of the third century. The situation was the same as it had been at the beginning of that century.

Early in this period, the situation became clearer. Eusebius lived from AD 270 to 340. He became the bishop of Caesarea before AD 315, and he was an important church historian. In his Ecclesiastical History (3.3–25), he described the status of the New Testament canon in the early fourth century.

He divided the books and writings into three groups:

Books accepted by all as part of the canon:

the four Gospels,

Acts,

Paul’s letters,

1 Peter,

1 John, and

Revelation.

Eusebius included Hebrews among Paul’s letters, though he noted questions about whether Paul wrote it.

Books accepted by most Christians but disputed by some:

James,

2 Peter,

2 and 3 John, and

Jude.

Eusebius himself accepted these books. Second Peter faced the strongest disagreement.

Other Christian writings:

Eusebius called the Acts of Paul, the Didache, and the Shepherd of Hermas “spurious,” meaning that he did not accept them as part of the canon. He described other writings as “heretical and absurd.”

However, the New Testament canon received its full and final form during the second half of the fourth century.

In his Easter letter of AD 367, Athanasius, the bishop of Alexandria, listed the books Christians should accept as Scripture. He also warned against using certain apocryphal books, writings that were not accepted as part of the canon. His letter says, “Let no one add to these; let nothing be taken away.” This is the earliest surviving document that lists all 27 New Testament books without qualification.

Near the end of the century, the Council of Carthage met in AD 397. It declared that only the canonical Scriptures should be read in church as divine Scripture. Its list also included the same 27 books of the New Testament.

Christianity grew rapidly under Emperor Constantine after the Edict of Milan in AD 313. This growth played an important role in the Eastern church’s acceptance of all the New Testament books.

Constantine asked Eusebius to prepare “fifty copies of the Divine Scriptures.” Eusebius knew which books Christians regarded as sacred and for which many believers had been willing to die. By choosing the books for these copies, he helped establish a standard that included the books that had once been disputed.

In the Western church, Jerome and Augustine had a strong influence on the final acceptance of the canon. The publication of all 27 New Testament books in the Latin Vulgate largely settled the matter.

By its nature, Holy Scripture (both the Old Testament and the New Testament) comes from God. It is not simply a human creation. The key question in recognizing a book as part of the canon is whether God inspired it.

For this reason, the church did not choose from many possible books. According to this view, there were no other true candidates. Instead, the church received the authentic writings and gradually recognized them as more people learned the facts about their origin.

In one sense, the Montanist movement encouraged the church to define a closed canon of God’s written word. The church of that time declared Montanus’s teaching heretical in the middle of the second century.

Montanus taught that the gift of prophecy would continue permanently in the church. He also claimed to be a prophet. The need to respond to Montanism increased the search for a clear and reliable authority. As a result, apostolic authorship or approval came to be seen as the sure standard for recognizing God’s revelation. Even in the New Testament, first-century prophets were under apostolic authority (see 1 Corinthians 14:29–30; Ephesians 4:11).

During the Protestant Reformation, Christians reexamined many teachings and practices. Some Reformers also looked for ways to reassure themselves and their followers about which books belonged in the Bible.

The writer considers this concern unfortunate in some respects. According to this view, God had already guided his people to recognize the fixed contents of Scripture. That recognition had become a fact of history and did not need to be repeated.

Even so, Martin Luther used a theological test to judge biblical books, and he questioned some of them. He asked, “Do they teach Christ?” John Calvin used a different test. He taught that the Holy Spirit gives each Christian an inner witness about which writings are God’s word. According to Calvin, the Spirit does this in every period of church history. The writer regards both approaches as subjective because they depend on personal judgment or experience.

The first acceptance of the written word of God was not based on intuition or personal feeling. Scripture and history do not support that view. Instead, believers accepted these writings because they obeyed the known commands of Christ and his apostles.

As noted earlier, Jesus promised that he would give everything necessary through his chosen messengers (John 14:26; 16:13). The apostles knew that they had this responsibility and authority when they wrote.

Paul explains this in 1 Corinthians 2:13. He says that the apostles did not use words chosen by human wisdom. They used words taught by the Holy Spirit to explain spiritual truths.

The early church had closer links to the apostles and more information than we have today. Church leaders examined the testimony of earlier Christians. They identified authentic and authoritative books by asking whether those books came from the apostles or had apostolic approval.

Mark was connected with Peter, and Luke was connected with Paul. These relationships gave their writings apostolic approval. Books such as Hebrews and Jude were also closely connected with the apostles’ message and ministry.

The consistent teaching found throughout the books, including those that were sometimes disputed, may also have served as a secondary test. However, the main historical process was the acceptance of books that trusted and informed church leaders confirmed as authentic.

Another important factor was the response of the first readers. They accepted these writings, and later Christians continued to recognize and use them. This ongoing acceptance helped shape the New Testament canon.

The church’s understanding of the canon first grew from its deep respect for the Old Testament Scriptures. It was also based on the belief that the apostles had unique authority to speak in the name of Jesus Christ, who has all authority.

The next steps followed naturally. Those who heard Jesus in person were under his authority. Jesus himself confirmed the truth of his words to his followers. These same believers also knew that Jesus had authorized the apostles to speak in his name, both during his earthly ministry and, even more importantly, after it.

The church therefore accepted the apostles’ teaching as the message of Christ, whether the apostles spoke in person or wrote letters. Both the spoken words and the written letters of an apostle were understood as the word of Christ.

The generation after the apostles received the testimony of people who knew that the apostles had authority to speak and write in Christ’s name. As a result, second- and third-generation Christians looked back to the apostles’ writings as the words of Christ.

This is the meaning of canonization: recognizing the word that God had already confirmed as authoritative. The church did not create the canon. Instead, believers recognized the authority of Christ’s word and testified about which writings belonged in the canon.

See also Canon of the Bible.