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The books did the apostolic fathers and apologists quoted
A conservative, bible believing perspective!
God's providence gave us the 27 book New Testament Canon, not the church.
God, not men decided the canon. This providence does not mean that church
leaders were inspired in their selecting the canon, only that God had his
eye on the scriptures the whole time and brought about His will to form the
Bible we see today!
The books did the apostolic fathers
and apologists quoted
Go to: "Canon of the Bible" Home Page
Introduction:
Although the apostolic fathers and apologists were not inspired,
they do give us a windows into which books of the Bible they considered to
be part of the Canon.
Like preachers today, they used many historical books as references
that they knew were not inspired.
"He [Graham N. Stanton, The Fourfold Gospel, p 322] points to a
significant passage, often ignored in the literature, which shows that
Justin must have reckoned with at least four gospels. In Dialogue 103.8 he
refers to "memoirs" composed by Jesus' apostles and by those who followed
them." As noted above, this remark corresponds to the evidence that the
early church thought that two gospels were written by apostles (Matthew and
John), and two by followers of apostles (Mark as the interpreter of Peter,
as per the Papias fragment, and Luke as the companion of Paul). Stanton
also argues that 1 Apol. 61.4 and Dial. 88.7 show that, apart from the
Synoptics, Justin also knew John's Gospel, because the former draws on John
3:3-5 and the latter on John l:19-20. (Lee Martin McDonald, James A.
Sanders, Editors: The Canon Debate; Peter Balla, Evidence for an Early
Christian Canon: Second and Third Century, p 380, 2002)
The first author who clearly asserts that the church has no more and
no less than four authoritative gospels is Irenaeus. (Lee Martin McDonald,
James A. Sanders, Editors: The Canon Debate; Peter Balla, Evidence for an
Early Christian Canon: Second and Third Century, p 380, 2002)
Graham Stanton has rightly argued that it is a good method to point
to the source that is most explicit, and "to work back from the full
flowering of a concept or a development to its earlier roots." If we find
no sign of a major change in the view of the great church reflected in the
previous sources, it can be argued that the situation clearly expressed
around 180 C.E. by Irenaeus applies to earlier decades as well. Irenaeus
employs analogies from both nature and scripture (e.g., the four winds and
the four-faced cherubim of Ezek l; Haer. 3.11.8) to show that the church
has to have no more and no less than four gospels. Additionally, "he
reckons to `scripture' . . . Acts and the thirteen letters of Paul. 1 Peter
and the two Johannine letters (l and 2) are appraised like the Pauline
letters, while James and Hebrews are probably not so highly esteemed" (see,
e.g., Haer. l.9.4; 2.26.l-2; 3.l.1). (Lee Martin McDonald, James A.
Sanders, Editors: The Canon Debate; Peter Balla, Evidence for an Early
Christian Canon: Second and Third Century, p 380, 2002)
II. Which books did the apostolic fathers refer to?
Book
Clement
of Rome
Justin
Martyr
Polycarp
Didache
Papias
Barnabas
Hermas
Aristides
Murat-orian
Fragment
Athena-goras
Lyons
Clement
of
Alexan-dria
Irenaeus
Hippolytus
Tertu-llian
Tatian
Theo-philus
Origen
Cyprian
Ignatius
Eusebius
Book
Date
AD
95
100
110
125
130
140
150
175
175
177
177
180
180
200
200
200
200
230
250
250
275
Date
AD
Mt
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Mt
Mk
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Mk
Lk
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Lk
Jn
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Jn
Act
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Act
Rom
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Rom
1Co
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1Co
2Co
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2Co
Gal
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Gal
Eph
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Eph
Phi
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Phi
Col
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Col
1Th
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1Th
2Th
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2Th
1Ti
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1Ti
2Ti
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2Ti
Tit
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Tit
Phl
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Phl
Heb
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Heb
Jas
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Jas
1Pe
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1Pe
2Pe
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2Pe
1Jn
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1Jn
2Jn
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2Jn
3Jn
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3Jn
Jud
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Jud
Rev
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Rev
Date
AD
95
100
110
125
130
140
150
175
175
177
177
180
180
200
200
200
200
230
250
250
275
Date
AD
Book
Clement
of Rome
Justin
Martyr
Polycarp
Didache
Papias
Barnabas
Hermas
Aristides
Murat-orian
Fragment
Athena-goras
Lyons
Clement
of
Alexan-dria
Irenaeus
Hippolytus
Tertu-llian
Tatian
Theo-philus
Origen
Cyprian
Ignatius
Eusebius
Book
III. Notes:
1. We take the view that all 15 letters of Ignatius are forgeries
written about 250 AD. They are important, only in that they document 250
AD. If you look at the books Ignatius quoted from, only Hebrews is of any
value because it was one of the disputed books. Otherwise, Ignatius is an
insignificant witness in the Canon discussion.
2. Regarding the date of the Muratorian Fragment: The majority of
conservative scholars still believe the evidence best supports the date of
175 AD.
IV. Bibliography:
1. The Canon of the New Testament: Its Origin, Development, and
Significance, Bruce Metzger, 1987
2. New Testament Apocrypha, 6th edition. 2 Vols. Wilhelm
Schneemelcher, 1989
3. A General Survey of the History of the Canon of the New
Testament, B.F. Westcott, 1855
4. General Introduction to the Bible, Norman Geisler and William
Nix, 1986
By Steve Rudd: Contact the author for comments, input or corrections.
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