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Feb 9, 2022 · A full explanation of the process of deciding on the New Testament canon would require a book-length response, and indeed books have been written about it; however, it is possible to give a basic overview in a short article.
- The word wasn’t applied to Christian writings in the sense of an authoritative collection of texts until the fourth century. Before that point, it referred more to a set of governing Christian beliefs, something akin to the Articles of Faith in the modern Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
- Some scholars, however, understand the word canon in a much more capacious sense, as referring to normative texts, beliefs, and traditions, even before such things become formally ratified through conscious deliberation and ecclesiastical mandates.
- For a brief introduction to prominent issues relating to the formation of the biblical canon more broadly, see Lee Martin McDonald and James A. Sanders, “Introduction,” in The Canon Debate, ed.
- Those manuscripts and collections that survive to the present tend to be those whose contents were circulated most widely. The earliest of such collections date to about the fourth century.
Jan 30, 2014 · The recognition of the canon of the New Testament is one of the most important developments in the thought and practice of the early church; yet history is silent as to how, when, and by whom it was brought about.
- Bruce Metzger
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. It is critical to understand why only four gospels were accepted.
This is a critical question because the church has always believed that the documents found in the New Testament are “inspired” writings and the most important source documents for the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ (and Christian doctrine).
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In the first we seek for the evidences of the growth in appreciation of the peculiar value of the New Testament writings; in the second we discover the clear, full recognition of a large part of these writings as sacred and authoritative; in the third the acceptance of the complete canon in the East and in the West. 1.
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Jan 30, 2014 · Even when we have come to a conclusion about the date and origin of the individual books of the New Testament, another question remains to be answered. How did the New Testament itself as a collection of writings come into being? Who collected the writings, and on what principles?
