How Did the New Testament Canon Come Together?

Stage 5: 150s-200s

David Trobisch has argued convincingly (in my opinion) that the New Testament, containing the same 27 books as are found in our New Testament (though in a slightly different order than they are presently arranged), was published at some point in the middle of the second century. Unlike earlier discussions of canon, Trobisch’s arguments are based primarily upon evidence from early manuscripts of the New Testament rather than from statements in the church fathers.¹⁰ This does not mean that questions were not sometimes raised about particular books; it does mean that the 27 book collection circulated widely from this point forward.

Conflicts with three aberrant groups in particular, (1) Marcionites, with their truncated “canon,” (2) Gnostics, who had begun to compose additional gnostic “gospels,” and (3) Montanists, who claimed to be recipients of new divine revelation, may have contributed to the acceleration¹¹ of discussions among orthodox Christians of which books were acceptable and which were unacceptable. Thus, orthodox Christians such as Irenaeus had to affirm the authority of more books than did the Marcionites, exclude Gnostic literature, and stake a claim that the apostolic writings were qualitatively different (in terms of authority) than the new revelations of the Montanists.

Writers from this period and beyond acknowledged authoritative writings by referring to what had been “handed down.” The early ecclesiastical writers did not regard themselves as deciding which books to accept or reject. Rather, they saw themselves as acknowledging which books had been handed down to them.”¹²

Furthermore, during this period—and perhaps even before—various authors began to use or suggest in some way the expression “New Testament,” which suggests that they conceived of authoritative writings as cohering in a single collection, rather than simply as unconnected individual writings or various small collections of writings.¹³

By the end of the second century, the four Gospels, Acts, all thirteen of Paul’s letters, 1 Peter and 1 John were fully accepted everywhere.¹⁴ It should not escape our notice that these documents about which there was no doubt comprise 86% of our present New Testament.

Stage 6: 200s-360s

Probably the best way to understand the third and fourth centuries is to view the canon as substantially in place, with questions arising occasionally about individual books. The books sometimes questioned were Hebrews, James, 2 Peter, Jude, 2 and 3 John, and Revelation.¹⁵ But even these books were widely accepted, and contrast sharply in terms of use and attestation with non-canonical books. It should be remembered that the manuscript evidence presented by Trobisch becomes very strong in the third century. Though some Christians in some quarters occasionally questioned whether a given book should have been included among the other inspired writings, it seems that the twenty-seven books of our New Testament were widely circulating—sometimes together—during this century and beyond.

In 303 Diocletian ordered an empire-wide persecution of Christians in which Christian books were confiscated and burned.¹⁶ Christians apparently knew which books were sacred and which were not. They had to know which books they could and could not hand over to the officials who wanted to destroy them.

After Christianity was legalized by Constantine, Constantine financed the copying of fifty copies of the “sacred Scriptures” and appointed Eusebius to oversee the task.¹⁷ It should be remembered in this regard that before Constantine, there were no church councils because Christians were an often persecuted and shunned minority. But they also knew which of their writings were worth preserving from the flames of their persecutors.

Stage 7: 360s onward

Although complete lists of the twenty-seven books of our New Testament may have existed earlier, the first extant list of these books that has no additions or deletions is Athanasius’s Thirty-Ninth Festal Letter (ca. 367). Most lists henceforth included the same books with the exception of Revelation, which is not found on a number of lists from the church in the East.

Summary

The teachings of the Lord and his apostles were considered self-authenticating and authoritative from the days they were first spoken/written. As the apostles died off, orthodox Christians continued to use the writings of the apostles as authoritative. Such Christians recognized a distinction between the writings of the apostolic circle and later Christians who wrote edifying material. The church did not establish a canon of its choosing; it is more proper to speak of the church recognizing the books that Christians had always considered to be an authoritative Word from God.

Ken Berding (M.A. Talbot, Ph.D. Westminster Seminary) is Associate Professor of New Testament at Talbot. A former church planter in a Middle Eastern country, Ken’s most recent book is What are Spiritual Gifts: Rethinking the Conventional View (Kregel, 2006). Ken and his wife Trudi have two daughters, and live within walking distance of Biola, frequently hosting students for dinner.