Introduction . Biblical critics sometimes question the process of selecting (or rejecting) various books for inclusion in the New Testament. Since faith comes by hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17), this is an important question. Do the New Testament books we have really belong in the Bible? Inspired books left out? Were the New Testament books selected by the Roman Catholic Church? These are some of the questions that need to be answered as we examine this topic.
God’s role. God’s plan to give mankind his word, both orally and in writing, involved using man as an instrument by which that word would be written (2 Peter 1:21; 2 Timothy 3:16). God promised us that he would be in the process of preserving his word, at least indirectly through his providential care (1 Peter 1:23-25).
Canonization. The process of compiling the New Testament from a set of available letters and books is called canonization. To canonize something is to attribute authorized consent or approval to it. This process began in the first century when inspired writings were considered authoritative, read in the assembly of the saints, and exchanged between congregations (2 Peter 3:16; Colossians 3:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:27). The only thing that took time after the death of the apostles and the loss of the original epistles was the recognition of the authenticity of the copies of those writings as representative of the inspired originals and therefore worthy of inclusion in the canon. Various tests were used, including claimed authorship by an alleged inspired writer and especially consistency with the Old Testament and already accepted works.
Forces Fostering the Early Development of the NT Canon. In addition to believers wanting to know which books in circulation were truly inspired, other events also encouraged the development of lists of authentic New Testament books. For example, around the year 144, a renegade teacher named Marcion rejected the Old Testament scriptures, denied the crucifixion of Christ, founded his own church, and began circulating a list of books he considered authoritative. Early Christians realized that because of the wide circulation of Marcion’s canon, there needed to be a list of the books that were recognized as inspired. Also during this time, many church leaders began to accept uninspired books such as the “First Epistle of Clement”, the “Didache”, the “Epistle of Barnabas” and the “Pastor of Hermas”. Still later, around AD 303, the church experienced another period of persecution at the hands of Emperor Diocletian. The Emperor issued an edict that all books be considered sacred by the Christians destroyed by fire. This obviously made it very important to decide which books needed to be protected from this atrocity.
Early NT book lists . Twenty of the twenty-seven books that make up the New Testament were recognized in the second century. The remaining seven (Hebrews, James, 2 Peter, 2 John, 3 John, Jude, and Revelation) took longer to be accepted.
- Around the year 150 AD. C., Justin Martyr made references to the gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) and several of Paul’s letters.
- Already in the year 170 d. C., the Muratorian fragment has a list similar to the modern canon of the New Testament.
- Around the year 180 AD. C., Irenaeus endorses Matthew, Mark, Luke and John as the only legitimate gospels.
- Around the year 300 AD. C., Eusebius gave a detailed list of the writings of the New Testament (he recognized the disputed status of Hebrews, James, 2 Peter, 2 John, 3 John, Jude and Revelation.
- In 367 AD C., Athanasius gives a list of New Testament books identical to today’s.
The role of church “councils”. In the year 325 AD. C., the Roman Emperor Constantine I called a meeting of representatives of various local congregations in an attempt to achieve a consensus on a number of current issues. The resulting Council of Nicaea and the Nicene Creed set the precedent for a series of subsequent “ecumenical councils” or “synods” of “bishops” to create a “doctrinal orthodoxy.” This represented a departure from the New Testament pattern of local congregational autonomy and was representative of the digression that would eventually result in the appointment of Boniface III as the first universal bishop (the “pope”) in AD 607. The first councils to address the canon of the New Testament included the Synod of Hippo in 393 AD and the Councils of Carthage in 397 and 419.
conclusion . Several extreme positions are offered regarding the development of the New Testament canon. These include that it was fully formed at the end of the first century, the Holy Roman Catholic Church through its Councils and Synods was responsible for the entire New Testament, and/or the process was politically motivated and error prone. The truth lies between these extremes (as is often the case).