The canon of the new testament assignment

Polycarp of Smyrna, Ignatius of Syrian Antioch, and Justin Martyr all quoted or alluded to books of the New Testament canon including all four Gospels, Acts, and many of the Pauline epistles. As heretical teachings such as Gnosticism began to spread the early apologists began to realize that an authoritative canon was necessary in order to turn back the tide of heresy. One of the top apologists of the time was Irenaeus. He declared that there could only be four gospels and to add or subtract from that number would be heresy. He also countered Marcion who that the “ Old Testament God had been evil, different from the New Testament God. Marcion wanted to remove all ties to Judaism from Christianity and only accepted Luke and ten of Paul’s letters in his canon. Irenaeus responded by emphasizing the authority of all four Gospels and all thirteen of Paul’s letters. Marcion’s canon was followed by other varying canons over the next two centuries. One list which was very close to our current canon was the Muraturian Canon. It appears to include the four Gospels, Acts, I and II Corinthians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Galatians, I and II Thessalonians, Romans, Philemon, Titus, I and II Timothy, all three epistles of John, and Revelations.

It directly rejected the epistles of Paul to the Laodiceans and the Alexandrians, and questioned strongly the Revelation of Peter. The first list that clearly defined the 27 books that we know today as the New Testament was contained in a letter written by Athanasius, the bishop of Rome, in AD 367. In it he declares these books “ God inspired Scripture…handed down to our fathers by those who were eyewitnesses and servants of the word from the beginning. ” About this same time the oldest complete copy of the New Testament, the Codex Sinaiticus, was made which contained all 27 books plus two additional books known as Barnabas and Hermas.

Each book brings its own unique view of that plan laying out God’s will for us and to show us His gift of grace which is received through His son Jesus Christ. It is important for us to know and understand where our Scripture came from and how it was authenticated. This book is the foundation of our faith and the divine Word of God. It is important to recognize that the canon was not one man’s fantasy, but the work of many authenticated authors. The books were not arbitrarily chosen but set apart by stringent criteria and the decision handed down by councils of trusted early church fathers.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994. Hill, Jonathan. Zondervan Handbook to the History of Christianity. Oxford, England: Lion Publishing Plc. , 2006. Metzger, Bruce M. , and Michael D Coogan, . The Oxford Companion to the Bible. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1993. Tinney, Merrill C. New Testament Survey. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm B. Eermans Publishing Co. , 1961. Towns, Elmer L. Theology of Today. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning, 2008.