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164-633: The canon of the New Testament is the set of books many modern Christians regard as divinely inspired and constituting the New Testament of the Christian Bible . For most churches, the canon is an agreed-upon list of 27 books that includes the canonical Gospels , Acts , letters attributed to various apostles, and Revelation . Although the list of what books constituted the canon (i.e., list of books to read out in church) initially differed among

328-646: A secondary status . Martin Luther (1483–1546) moved seven Old Testament books (Tobit, Judith, 1–2 Maccabees, Book of Wisdom, Sirach, and Baruch) into a section he called the " Apocrypha , that are books which are not considered equal to the Holy Scriptures, but are useful and good to read". All of these apocrypha are called anagignoskomena by the Eastern Orthodox Church per the Synod of Jerusalem . As with

492-535: A 'gospel'. He knows several of Paul's epistles, and values them highly for their content; the same can be said of the Epistle to the Hebrews, with which he is well acquainted. Although these writings obviously possess for Clement considerable significance, he never refers to them as authoritative 'Scripture'. Marcion of Sinope , a bishop of Asia Minor who went to Rome and was later excommunicated for his views , may have been

656-561: A bad Latin translation of an original, no longer extant, Greek text that is usually dated in the late 2nd century, although a few scholars have preferred a 4th-century date. This is an excerpt from Metzger's translation: The third book of the Gospel is that according to Luke... The fourth... is that of John... the acts of all the apostles... As for the Epistles of Paul... To the Corinthians first, to

820-597: A biblical canon identical to that mentioned above, or if not the list is at least a 6th-century compilation claiming a 4th-century imprimatur. Likewise, Damasus's commissioning of the Latin Vulgate edition of the Bible, c.  383 , was instrumental in the fixation of the canon in the West. In 405, Pope Innocent I sent a list of the sacred books to a Gallic bishop, Exsuperius of Toulouse . When these bishops and councils spoke on

984-471: A canon was made by Marcion, c.  140 AD , who accepted only a modified version of Luke and ten of Paul's letters, while rejecting the Old Testament entirely. After the council of Nicaea in year 325, Roman Emperor Constantine instructed Eusebius to put together accepted Christian Scriptures that would be displayed in churches. However, nothing is known if Eusebius was successful in completing

1148-448: A challenge and incentive to emerging Proto-orthodoxy; if they wished to deny that Marcion's list was the true one, it was incumbent on them to define what the true one was. The expansion phase of the New Testament canon thus could have begun in response to Marcion's proposed limited canon . The Muratorian fragment is the earliest known example of a defined list of mostly New Testament books. It survives, damaged and thus incomplete, as

1312-444: A clearly defined way,. The process of determining orthodoxy (right belief) began with the writings of the New Testament and continued through the period of the first seven ecumenical councils . Orthodox teachings were those that claimed to have the authentic lineage of Holy Tradition . All other teachings were viewed as deviant streams of thought that were sometimes viewed as heretical . Early attacks upon alleged heresies formed

1476-553: A complete list of the books received by the Catholic Church as inspired, but omits the terms "canon" and "canonical". The Council of Florence therefore taught the inspiration of all the Scriptures, but did not formally pronounce itself on canonicity. Luther proposed that the genuine mark of canonical material was that it preached Christ. This allowed him to relegate books (including ones that may not have supported his theology) to

1640-411: A complex fashion to form the dynamic character of Christianity in this era. The Post-Apostolic period was extremely diverse both in terms of beliefs and practices. In addition to the broad spectrum of general branches of Christianity, there was constant change and diversity that variably resulted in both internecine conflicts and syncretic adoption. These various interpretations were called heresies by

1804-506: A day , "on rising, at the lighting of the evening lamp, at bedtime, at midnight" and "the third, sixth and ninth hours of the day, being hours associated with Christ's Passion." Christians attended two liturgies on the Lord's Day , worshipping communally in both a morning service and evening service, with the purpose of reading the Scriptures and celebrating the Eucharist . Throughout the rest of

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1968-583: A defined set of four gospels (the Tetramorph ), c . 180. In his central work, Adversus Haereses Irenaeus denounced various early Christian groups that used only one gospel, such as Marcionism which used only Marcion's version of Luke , or the Ebionites which seem to have used an Aramaic version of Matthew , as well as groups that used more than four gospels, such as the Valentinians ( A.H. 1.11). Based on

2132-469: A dispute between Cyprian of Carthage and Pope Stephen . A bishop from Caesarea named Firmilian sided with Cyprian in his dispute, seething against Stephen's "insulting arrogance" and claims of authority based on the See of Peter . Cyprian's argument won out the day, with Pope Stephen's claims meeting rejection. Cyprian's claim was that bishops held the keys to the forgiveness of sins , with all bishops being

2296-416: A dwelling was used to mark the eastward direction of prayer . Instituted in the New Testament, in the early Church, "the verbal exchange of 'peace' with a kiss appears to be a Christian innovation, there being no clear example in pre-Christian literature." The Holy Kiss was thus followed as a Christian teaching, not a cultural practice. The early Christian apologist Tertullian wrote that before leaving

2460-535: A house, Christians are to give the Holy Kiss and say "peace to this house". In early Christianity, "the kiss was shared in conjunction with the benedictions at the conclusion of worship services" though it soon "became associated with the Eucharist" and thus "its location during the worship service moved forward in time to the celebration of Communion." The Holy Kiss was seen as an essential part of preparing to partaking in

2624-497: A lesser degree of inspiration, but a later time of final approval. The Sixto-Clementine Vulgate contained in the Appendix several books considered as apocryphal by the council: Prayer of Manasseh , 3 Esdras , and 4 Esdras . Christianity in the ante-Nicene period The second and third centuries saw a sharp divorce of Christianity from its early roots. There was an explicit rejection of then-modern Judaism and Jewish culture by

2788-501: A letter ( c. 405) to Exsuperius of Toulouse , a Gallic bishop, Pope Innocent I mentioned the sacred books that were already received in the canon. When bishops and Councils spoke on the matter of the Biblican canon, however, they were not defining something new, but instead "were ratifying what had already become the mind of the Church". Thus from the 4th century there existed unanimity in

2952-486: A line tracing back to the apostles themselves. Over the course of the second century, this organizational structure became universal and continues to be used in the Catholic , Orthodox and Anglican (Anglican churches are Protestant) churches as well as in some Protestant denominations. Jerusalem was an important church center up to 135. It had the prestige of being the city of Jesus's death and reported resurrection , and

3116-449: A list of exactly the same books that would become the New Testament –27 book–proto-canon, and used the phrase "being canonized" ( kanonizomena ) in regard to them. In 331, Constantine I commissioned Eusebius to deliver fifty Bibles for the Church of Constantinople . Athanasius recorded Alexandrian scribes around 340 preparing Bibles for Constans . Little else is known, though there

3280-412: A list was clearly necessary to fulfill Constantine's commission in 331 of fifty copies of the Bible for the Church at Constantinople, no concrete evidence exists to indicate that it was considered to be a formal canon. In the absence of a canonical list, the resolution of questions would normally have been directed through the see of Constantinople, in consultation with Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea (who

3444-416: A minority of heretics. Walter Bauer, drawing upon distinctions between Jewish Christians , Pauline Christians , and other groups such as Gnostics and Marcionites , argued that early Christianity was fragmented, with various competing interpretations, only one of them eventually coming to dominate. While Bauer's original thesis has been criticised, Elaine Pagels and Bart Ehrman have further explicated

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3608-747: A part of the Jewish canon, describes Nehemiah ( c.  400 BC ) as having "founded a library and collected books about the kings and prophets, and the writings of David, and letters of kings about votive offerings" ( 2:13–15 ). The Book of Nehemiah suggests that the priest-scribe Ezra brought the Torah back from Babylon to Jerusalem and the Second Temple ( 8–9 ) around the same time period. Both 1 and 2 Maccabees suggest that Judas Maccabeus ( c.  167 BC ) likewise collected sacred books ( 3:42–50 , 2:13–15 , 15:6–9 ), indeed some scholars argue that

3772-444: A second and third", and the epistles of Paul who "did not so much as write to all the churches that he taught; and even to those to which he wrote he sent but a few lines." In all, Origen's canon is suggested to be identical to that of Athanasius. Marcion may have been the first to have a clearly defined list of New Testament books, though this question of who came first is still debated. The compilation of this list could have been

3936-667: A separate textual tradition. Marcion's gospel, called simply the Gospel of the Lord , differed from the Gospel of Luke by lacking any passages that connected Jesus with the Old Testament. He believed that the god of Israel, who gave the Torah to the Israelites , was an entirely different god from the Supreme God who sent Jesus and inspired the New Testament. Marcion termed his collection of Pauline epistles

4100-584: A set of Christian writings somewhat similar to what is now the 27-book NT, which included four gospels and argued against objections to them. There were those who rejected the Gospel of John (and possibly also Revelation and the Epistles of John ) as either not apostolic or as written by the Gnostic Cerinthus or as not compatible with the Synoptic Gospels . Epiphanius of Salamis called these people

4264-632: A spiritual cleansing by Jesus . Eastern and Western Mediterranean Christians had a history of differences and disagreements dating back to the second century. Among the most significant early disagreements is the Quartodecimanism controversy. Until the late second century there was a difference in dating the celebration of the Christian Passover / Easter between Western churches and those of Asia Minor . The churches in Asia Minor celebrated it on

4428-626: A standard by the early 5th century. The five excluded books were added in the Harklean Version (616 AD) of Thomas of Harqel . The standard United Bible Societies 1905 edition of the New Testament of the Peshitta was based on editions prepared by Syriacists Philip E. Pusey (d. 1880), George Gwilliam (d. 1914) and John Gwyn . All twenty seven books of the common western New Testament are included in this British & Foreign Bible Society's 1905 Peshitta edition. The first Council that accepted

4592-461: Is associated with Supersessionism . Robert M. Price argues that the evidence that the early church fathers, such as Clement, Ignatius, and Polycarp, knew of the Pauline epistles is unclear, and concludes that Marcion was the first person to collect Paul's writings to various churches and to treat ten Pauline letters, some of them Marcion's own compositions, together with an earlier version of Luke (not

4756-411: Is clearer, with both Origen (calling infant baptism "according to the usage of the Church") and Cyprian advocating the practice. Tertullian acknowledges the practice (and that sponsors would speak on behalf of the children), but, holding an unusual view of marriage, argues against it, on the grounds that baptism should be postponed until after marriage. Interpretation of the baptismal practices of

4920-530: Is no scholarly consensus as to when the Jewish canon was set . For example, some scholars argue that the Jewish canon was fixed earlier, by the Hasmonean dynasty (140–137 BC). There is a lack of direct evidence on when Christians began accepting their own scriptures alongside the Septuagint. Well into the second century Christians held onto a strong preference for oral tradition as clearly demonstrated by writers of

5084-544: Is plenty of speculation. For example, it is speculated that this may have provided motivation for canon lists, and that Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus are examples of these Bibles. Those codices contain almost a full version of the Septuagint ; Vaticanus lacks only 1–3 Maccabees and Sinaiticus lacks 2–3 Maccabees, 1 Esdras , Baruch and Letter of Jeremiah . Together with the Peshitta and Codex Alexandrinus , these are

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5248-719: Is the Old Testament , which contains, at minimum, the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible divided into 39 ( Protestant ) or 46 ( Catholic [including deuterocanonical works]) books that are ordered differently. The second part is the New Testament , almost always containing 27 books: the four canonical gospels , Acts of the Apostles , 21 Epistles or letters and the Book of Revelation . The Catholic Church and Eastern Christian churches hold that certain deuterocanonical books and passages are part of

5412-439: Is the tri-partite form of church leadership consisting of episkopoi (overseers); presbyteroi (elders), as was the case with Jewish communities; and diakonoi (ministerial servants). Presbyters were ordained and assisted the bishop; as Christianity spread, especially in rural areas, the presbyters exercised more responsibilities and took distinctive shape as priests. Deacons also performed certain duties, such as tending to

5576-418: Is to "prefer those that are received by all Catholic Churches to those which some of them do not receive" (On Christian Doctrines 2.12). In the same passage, Augustine asserted that these dissenting churches should be outweighed by the opinions of "the more numerous and weightier churches", which would include Eastern Churches, the prestige of which Augustine stated moved him to include the Book of Hebrews among

5740-609: Is upon Mount Gerizim that sacrifices to God should be made—not in Jerusalem. Scholars nonetheless consult the Samaritan version when trying to determine the meaning of text of the original Pentateuch, as well as to trace the development of text-families. Some scrolls among the Dead Sea scrolls have been identified as proto-Samaritan Pentateuch text-type. Samaritans consider the Torah to be inspired scripture, but do not accept any other parts of

5904-608: The Alogi , because they rejected the Logos doctrine of John and because he claimed they were illogical. There may have also been a dispute over the doctrine of the Paraclete . Gaius or Caius, presbyter of Rome (early 3rd century), was apparently associated with this movement. Canon of the New Testament A biblical canon is a set of texts (also called "books") which a particular Jewish or Christian religious community regards as part of

6068-600: The Antilegomena . Likewise, the Muratorian fragment is evidence that perhaps as early as 200, there existed a set of Christian writings somewhat similar to the twenty-seven book NT canon, which included four gospels and argued against objections to them. Thus, while there was a good measure of debate in the Early Church over the New Testament canon, the major writings are claimed to have been accepted by almost all Christians by

6232-640: The Antithesis , he claimed the theology of the Old Testament was incompatible with the teaching of Jesus regarding God and morality. Marcion created a definite group of books that he regarded as fully authoritative, displacing all others. This comprised ten of the Pauline epistles (without the Pastorals ) and a gospel similar to that of Luke. It is uncertain whether he edited these books, purging them of what did not accord with his views, or whether his versions represented

6396-507: The Apostolikon . These also differed from the versions accepted by later Christian Orthodoxy. Marcion's list and theology were rejected as heretical by the early church; however, he forced other Christians to consider which texts were canonical and why. He spread his beliefs widely; they became known as Marcionism . In the introduction to his book Early Christian Writings , Henry Wace stated: A modern divine... could not refuse to discuss

6560-527: The Bible . The English word canon comes from the Greek κανών kanōn , meaning " rule " or " measuring stick ". The use of the word "canon" to refer to a set of religious scriptures was first used by David Ruhnken , in the 18th century. Various biblical canons have developed through debate and agreement on the part of the religious authorities of their respective faiths and denominations. Some books, such as

6724-555: The Catholic biblical canon consisting of 46 books in the Old Testament and 27 books in the New Testament for a total of 73 books. The canons of the Church of England and English Presbyterians were decided definitively by the Thirty-Nine Articles (1563) and the Westminster Confession of Faith (1647), respectively. The Synod of Jerusalem (1672) established additional canons that are widely accepted throughout

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6888-548: The Council of Florence (1439–1443) took place. With the approval of this ecumenical council , Pope Eugenius IV (in office 1431–1447) issued several papal bulls ( decrees ) with a view to restoring the Eastern churches , which the Catholic Church considered as schismatic bodies, into communion with Rome . Catholic theologians regard these documents as infallible statements of Catholic doctrine . The Decretum pro Jacobitis contains

7052-488: The Dura-Europos synagogue , to have had images of religious figures, the traditional Mosaic prohibition of " graven images " no doubt retained some effect. This early rejection of images, although never proclaimed by theologians, and the necessity to hide Christian practice in order to avoid persecution, leaves few archaeological records regarding Early Christianity and its evolution. The oldest Christian paintings are from

7216-500: The Eastern Orthodox Church . Various forms of Jewish Christianity persisted until around the fifth century, and canonized very different sets of books, including Jewish–Christian gospels which have been lost to history. These and many other works are classified as New Testament apocrypha by Pauline denominations. The Old and New Testament canons did not develop independently of each other and most primary sources for

7380-663: The Elchasai "made use of texts from every part of the Old Testament and the Gospels; it rejects the Apostle (Paul) entirely"; 4.29.5 says Tatian the Assyrian rejected Paul's Letters and Acts of the Apostles ; 6.25 says Origen accepted 22 canonical books of the Hebrews plus Maccabees plus the four Gospels , one epistle of Peter "perhaps also a second, but this is doubtful," the apocalypse of John, by John an "epistle of very few lines; perhaps also

7544-606: The First Council of Nicaea . Today, the date still varies between West and East , but this is because the West later adopted the Gregorian calendar over the Julian calendar . Institutional Christian monasticism seems to have begun in the deserts in third century Egypt as a kind of living martyrdom . Anthony the Great (251-356) was the first to specifically leave the world and live in

7708-538: The Gallic Confession of Faith of 1559 for Calvinism , the Thirty-Nine Articles of 1563 for the Church of England , and the Synod of Jerusalem of 1672 for the Greek Orthodox . Martin Luther made his own canon , relegating without numbers various "disputed" New Testament books that did not meet his criteria to a section sometimes marked "Apocrypha" at the end of the Bible ( German : die Apokryphen ) after

7872-512: The Gospel of Luke as now known): But the first collector of the Pauline Epistles had been Marcion. No one else we know of would be a good candidate, certainly not the essentially fictive Luke, Timothy, and Onesimus. And Marcion, as Burkitt and Bauer show, fills the bill perfectly. In the mid-2nd century, Justin Martyr (whose writings span the period from c. 145 to 163) mentions the "memoirs of

8036-666: The Hasmonean dynasty (140 BCE to 37 BCE) fixed the Jewish canon. Another version of the Torah, in the Samaritan alphabet , also exists. This text is associated with the Samaritans ( Hebrew : שומרונים ; Arabic : السامريون ), a people of whom the Jewish Encyclopedia states: "Their history as a distinct community begins with the taking of Samaria by the Assyrians in 722 BC." The Samaritan Pentateuch's relationship to

8200-544: The Jewish Christian church was centered in Jerusalem in the first century, Gentile Christianity became decentralized in the second century. Various local and provincial ancient church councils were held during this period, with the decisions meeting varying degrees of acceptance by different Christian groups. Major figures of the second century who were later declared by the developing proto-orthodoxy to be heretics were Marcion , Valentinus , and Montanus . Although

8364-663: The Jewish–Christian gospels , have been excluded from various canons altogether, but many disputed books are considered to be biblical apocrypha or deuterocanonical by many, while some denominations may consider them fully canonical. Differences exist between the Hebrew Bible and Christian biblical canons, although the majority of manuscripts are shared in common. Different religious groups include different books in their biblical canons, in varying orders, and sometimes divide or combine books. The Jewish Tanakh (sometimes called

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8528-621: The Lutheran Churches , the Anglican Communion accepts "the Apocrypha for instruction in life and manners, but not for the establishment of doctrine", and many "lectionary readings in The Book of Common Prayer are taken from the Apocrypha", with these lessons being "read in the same ways as those from the Old Testament". The Protestant Apocrypha contains three books (3 Esdras, 4 Esdras and

8692-522: The New Testament developed over time. Writings attributed to the apostles circulated among the earliest Christian communities. Possible apostolicity was a strong argument used to suggest the canonical status of a book. The Pauline epistles were circulating in collected forms by the end of the 1st century AD. Justin Martyr , in the early 2nd century, mentions the "memoirs of the Apostles", which Christians (Greek: Χριστιανός) called " gospels ", and which were considered to be authoritatively equal to

8856-401: The Old Testament canon . The Eastern Orthodox , Oriental Orthodox , and Assyrian churches may have differences in their lists of accepted books. Some Christian groups have other canonical books (open canon) which are considered holy scripture but not part of the Bible. Rabbinic Judaism ( Hebrew : יהדות רבנית ) recognizes the twenty-four books of the Masoretic Text , commonly called

9020-434: The Roman Catacombs , dated to about 200, and the oldest Christian sculptures are from sarcophagi , dating to the beginning of the third century. The development of doctrine, the position of orthodoxy , and the relationship between the various opinions is a matter of continuing academic debate. Since the Nicene Creed came to define the Church, the early debates have long been regarded as a unified orthodox position against

9184-424: The Septuagint . Metzger 1987 draws the following conclusion about Clement: Clement... makes occasional reference to certain words of Jesus; though they are authoritative for him, he does not appear to enquire how their authenticity is ensured. In two of the three instances that he speaks of remembering 'the words' of Christ or of the Lord Jesus, it seems that he has a written record in mind, but he does not call it

9348-449: The Tanakh ( תַּנַ"ךְ ) or Hebrew Bible . Evidence suggests that the process of canonization occurred between 200 BC and 200 AD, and a popular position is that the Torah was canonized c.  400 BC , the Prophets c.  200 BC , and the Writings c.  100 AD perhaps at a hypothetical Council of Jamnia —however, this position is increasingly criticised by modern scholars. According to Marc Zvi Brettler ,

9512-435: The Vetus Latina translations in Carthage . Beyond the Torah (the Law ) and some of the earliest prophetic works (the Prophets ), there was not agreement on the canon , but this was not debated much at first. Some theorize that the split of early Christianity and Judaism in the mid-second century eventually led to the determination of a Jewish canon by the emerging rabbinic movement , though, even as of today, there

9676-415: The West concerning the New Testament canon as it is today, with the exception of the Book of Revelation . In the 5th century the East too, with a few exceptions, came to accept the Book of Revelation and thus came into harmony on the matter of the New Testament canon. As the primary canon crystallised, non-canonical texts fell into relative disfavour and neglect. Before the Protestant Reformation ,

9840-468: The same communion and hold the same theological beliefs. The Peshitta is the standard version of the Bible for churches in the Syriac tradition . Most of the deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament are found in the Syriac, and the Wisdom of Sirach is held to have been translated from the Hebrew and not from the Septuagint . This New Testament, originally excluding certain disputed books (2 Peter, 2 John, 3 John, Jude, Revelation), had become

10004-426: The second century that Peter and Paul had been the founders of the Church in Rome and had appointed Linus as succeeding bishop . The four Eastern patriarchs affirmed Saint Peter 's ministry and death in Rome and the apostolic succession of Roman bishops. However, they perceived this as a mark of honor rather than an overarching authority over belief and practices, as they still considered themselves to be

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10168-487: The second century , Irenaeus , bishop of Lyons, may have referred to it. Additionally, Justin Martyr wrote about baptism in First Apology (written in the mid-second century), describing it as a choice and contrasting it with the lack of choice one has in one's physical birth. However, Justin Martyr also seems to imply elsewhere that believers were "disciples from childhood", indicating, perhaps, their baptism. The so-called Apostolic Tradition says to "Baptize first

10332-426: The " canon " (meaning a measuring line, rule, or principle) of accepted theological thought and those that promoted heresy. This played a major role in finalizing the structure of the collection of works called the Bible. It has been proposed that the initial impetus for the proto-orthodox Christian project of canonization flowed from opposition to the list produced by Marcion. A four-gospel canon (the Tetramorph )

10496-419: The "true and certain chief books": these were Hebrews, James, Jude and Revelation. Not all codexes were intended to contain complete New Testaments. By the end of the 1st century, some letters of Paul were known to Clement of Rome (fl. 96), together with some form of the "words of Jesus" ; but while Clement valued these highly, he did not refer to them as "Scripture" ( "graphe" ), a term he reserved for

10660-426: The 14th of the Jewish month of Nisan, the day before Jewish Passover , regardless of what day of the week it fell on, as the Crucifixion had occurred on the day before Passover according to the Gospel of John . The Latins called them Quartodecimans , literally meaning 14'ers . At the time, the West celebrated Easter on the Sunday following the Jewish 14th of Nisan. Victor , the bishop of Rome, attempted to declare

10824-410: The 4th century or later. The people of the remnants of the Samaritans in modern-day Israel / Palestine retain their version of the Torah as fully and authoritatively canonical. They regard themselves as the true "guardians of the Law". This assertion is only re-enforced by the claim of the Samaritan community in Nablus (an area traditionally associated with the ancient city of Shechem ) to possess

10988-411: The 5th and 6th centuries, is said by Bernhard Schimmelpfennig to illustrate the generally limited scope of the Roman bishops' authority but acknowledged the authority nonetheless. William Kling states that by the end of second century that Rome was a significant, if not unique, early center of Christianity , but held no convincing claim to primacy . The Petrine proof text first occurs historically in

11152-425: The Apocrypha". The fathers of Anabaptism, such as Menno Simons , quoted "them [the Apocrypha] with the same authority and nearly the same frequency as books of the Hebrew Bible" and the texts regarding the martyrdoms under Antiochus IV in 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees are held in high esteem by the Anabaptists, who historically faced persecution. Lutheran and Anglican lectionaries continue to include readings from

11316-564: The Apocrypha. In response to Martin Luther 's demands, the Council of Trent on 8 April 1546 approved the present Catholic Bible canon, which includes the deuterocanonical books , and the decision was confirmed by an anathema by vote (24 yea, 15 nay, 16 abstain). The council confirmed the same list as produced at the Council of Florence in 1442, Augustine's 397–419 Councils of Carthage , and probably Damasus' 382 Council of Rome . The Old Testament books that had been rejected by Luther were later termed "deuterocanonical", not indicating

11480-401: The Bible—probably a position also held by the Sadducees . They did not expand their canon by adding any Samaritan compositions. There is a Samaritan Book of Joshua ; however, this is a popular chronicle written in Arabic and is not considered to be scripture. Other non-canonical Samaritan religious texts include the Memar Markah ("Teaching of Markah") and the Defter (Prayerbook)—both from

11644-580: The Christian communities became larger, more numerous and farther apart geographically. The passage of time also moved some Christians farther from the original teachings of the apostles giving rise to teachings that were considered heterodox and sowing controversy and divisiveness within churches and between churches. Classical writers mistook early congregations for burial or fraternal societies which had similar characteristics like divine worship, common meals, regular meetings, initiation, rules for conduct, and their own burial grounds. The Ante-Nicene period saw

11808-561: The Early Church over the New Testament canon, the "major" writings were accepted by almost all Christian authorities by the middle of the second century . The next two hundred years followed a similar process of continual discussion throughout the entire Church, and localized refinements of acceptance. This process was not yet complete at the time of the First Council of Nicaea in 325, though substantial progress had been made by then. Though

11972-884: The Ephesians second, to the Philippians third, to the Colossians fourth, to the Galatians fifth, to the Thessalonians sixth, to the Romans seventh... once more to the Corinthians and to the Thessalonians... one to Philemon, one to Titus, and two to Timothy... to the Laodiceans , [and] another to the Alexandrians, [both] forged in Paul's name to [further] the heresy of Marcion... the epistle of Jude and two of

12136-677: The Eucharist: Peace, reconciliation, and unity were the very essence of the church's life; without them communion would have been a sham. Bestowed by the Spirit and experienced in prayer, their liturgical expression—which pointed forward to the eucharist—was the holy kiss. For the early Christians, the Holy Kiss "was associated with the peace and unity given by the Holy Spirit to the congregation." To guard against any abuse of this form of salutation, women and men were required to sit separately, and

12300-885: The Hebrew Bible) contains 24 books divided into three parts: the five books of the Torah ("teaching"); the eight books of the Nevi'im ("prophets"); and the eleven books of Ketuvim ("writings"). It is composed mainly in Biblical Hebrew , with portions in Aramaic . The Septuagint (in Koine Greek ), which closely resembles the Hebrew Bible but includes additional texts, is used as the Christian Greek Old Testament, at least in some liturgical contexts . The first part of Christian Bibles

12464-489: The Jewish scriptures outside the Torah and the Prophets were fluid, with different groups seeing authority in different books. The Book of Deuteronomy includes a prohibition against adding or subtracting ( 4:2 , 12:32 ) which might apply to the book itself (i.e. a "closed book", a prohibition against future scribal editing) or to the instruction received by Moses on Mount Sinai . The book of 2 Maccabees , itself not

12628-423: The Latin Vulgate edition of the Bible, c.  383 , was instrumental in the fixation of the canon in the West. In c.  405 , Pope Innocent I sent a list of the sacred books to a Gallic bishop, Exsuperius of Toulouse . Christian scholars assert that, when these bishops and councils spoke on the matter, however, they were not defining something new but instead "were ratifying what had already become

12792-575: The Masoretic Text is still disputed. Some differences are minor, such as the ages of different people mentioned in genealogy, while others are major, such as a commandment to be monogamous, which appears only in the Samaritan version. More importantly, the Samaritan text also diverges from the Masoretic in stating that Moses received the Ten Commandments on Mount Gerizim —not Mount Sinai —and that it

12956-540: The New Testament , which includes the Canonical Gospels , Acts , letters of the Apostles , and Revelation were written before 120 AD, but not defined as "canon" by the orthodox mainstream until the 4th century. The writings attributed to the apostles circulated amongst the earliest Christian communities. The Pauline epistles were circulating in collected forms by the end of the 1st century AD. The earliest mention of

13120-654: The Nisan 14 practice heretical and excommunicate all who followed it. On this occasion Irenaeus and Polycrates of Ephesus wrote to Victor. Irenaeus reminded Victor of his predecessor's more tolerant attitude and Polycrates emphatically defended the Asian practice. Victor's "excommunication" of the Asians was apparently rescinded, and the two sides reconciled as a result of the intervention of Irenaeus and other bishops, including Tertullian. Both Tertullian and Irenaeus were pupils of Polycarp , who

13284-593: The Old Testament. Marcion of Sinope was the first Christian leader in recorded history (though later considered heretical ) to propose and delineate a uniquely Christian canon (c. 140). This included 10 epistles from Paul , as well as an edited version of the Gospel of Luke , which today is known as the Gospel of Marcion . By doing this, he established a particular way of looking at religious texts that persists in Christian thought today. After Marcion, Christians began to divide texts into those that aligned well with

13448-429: The Pauline epistles and Irenaeus Against Heresies 26.2 says the Ebionites rejected him. Acts 21:21 records a rumor that Paul aimed to subvert the Old Testament (against this rumor see Romans 3:8 , 3:31 ). 2 Peter 3:16 says his letters have been abused by heretics who twist them around "as they do with the other scriptures." In the 2nd and 3rd centuries Eusebius 's Ecclesiastical History 6.38 says

13612-511: The Prayer of Manasseh) that are accepted by many Eastern Orthodox Churches and Oriental Orthodox Churches as canonical, but are regarded as non-canonical by the Catholic Church and are therefore not included in modern Catholic Bibles. Anabaptists use the Luther Bible , which contains the intertestamental books; Amish wedding ceremonies include "the retelling of the marriage of Tobias and Sarah in

13776-503: The Sabbath. It seems clear that some of the Early Church considered, in addition to keeping the weekly Sabbath, the importance of also worshipping on the Lord's Day . In the Didache , it states "But every Lord's day gather yourselves together, and break bread, and give thanksgiving." Infant baptism was widely practised at least by the third century , but it is disputed whether it was in

13940-549: The West for the necessity of making sharp delineations with regard to the canon. They were more conscious of the gradation of spiritual quality among the books that they accepted (for example, the classification of Eusebius, see also Antilegomena ) and were less often disposed to assert that the books which they rejected possessed no spiritual quality at all. For example, the Trullan Synod of 691–692 , which Pope Sergius I (in office 687–701) rejected (see also Pentarchy ), endorsed

14104-468: The Western and Eastern churches had come into agreement on the matter of the New Testament canon. Writings attributed to the apostles circulated among the earliest Christian communities . The Pauline epistles were circulating, perhaps in collected forms, by the end of the 1st century AD . Justin Martyr , in the mid 2nd century , mentions "memoirs of the apostles" as being read on "the day called that of

14268-466: The above-mentioned (or, bearing the name of) John... and [the book of] Wisdom ... We receive only the apocalypses of John and Peter , though some of us are not willing that the latter be read in church. But Hermas wrote the Shepherd very recently... And therefore it ought indeed to be read; but it cannot be read publicly to the people in church. This is evidence that, perhaps as early as 200, there existed

14432-557: The acts was read at and accepted by the Councils of Carthage in 397 and 419. These councils were under the authority of St. Augustine , who regarded the canon as already closed. Pope Damasus I 's Council of Rome in 382, if the Decretum Gelasianum is correctly associated with it, issued a biblical canon identical to that mentioned above, or, if not, the list is at least a 6th-century compilation. Likewise, Damasus' commissioning of

14596-410: The ante-Nicene period continued the practice of female Christian headcovering (from the age of puberty onward), with early Christian apologist Tertullian referencing 1 Corinthians 11:2–10 and stating "So, too, did the Corinthians themselves understand [Paul]. In fact, at this day the Corinthians do veil their virgins. What the apostles taught, their disciples approve." Hippolytus of Rome specified

14760-651: The apostles", which Christians called "gospels" and which were regarded as on par with the Old Testament. Scholars are divided on whether there is any evidence that Justin included the Gospel of John among the "memoirs of the apostles", or whether, on the contrary, he based his doctrine of the Logos on it. Justin quotes the letters of Paul, 1 Peter , and Acts in his writings. In Justin's works, distinct references are found to Romans , 1 Corinthians, Galatians , Ephesians , Colossians , and 2 Thessalonians , and possible ones to Philippians , Titus , and 1 Timothy . In addition, he refers to an account from an unnamed source of

14924-473: The arguments Irenaeus made in support of only four authentic gospels, some interpreters deduce that the fourfold Gospel must have still been a novelty in Irenaeus's time. Against Heresies 3.11.7 acknowledges that many heterodox Christians use only one gospel while 3.11.9 acknowledges that some use more than four. The success of Tatian's Diatessaron in about the same time period is "...a powerful indication that

15088-494: The baptism of Jesus which differs from that provided by the synoptic gospels: When Jesus went down in the water, fire was kindled in the Jordan; and when he came up from the water, the Holy Spirit came upon him. The apostles of our Christ wrote this. Tatian was converted to Christianity by Justin Martyr on a visit to Rome c.  150 and returned to Syria in 172 to reform the church there. Irenaeus of Lyon referred directly to

15252-565: The book of Revelation. Irenaeus argued that it was illogical to reject Acts of the Apostles but accept the Gospel of Luke, as both were from the same author; in Against Heresies 3.12.12 he ridiculed those who think they are wiser than the Apostles because the Apostles were still under Jewish influence . He may also refer to Hebrews ( Book 2, Chapter 30 ) and James ( Book 4, Chapter 16 ) and maybe even 2 Peter ( Book 5, Chapter 28 ) but does not cite Philemon, 3 John or Jude. He does think that

15416-591: The books that would later be put in the New Testament canon except the Letter to Philemon , II Peter , III John , and the Epistle of Jude in Against Heresies , refers to the Shepherd of Hermas as "scripture" and appears to regard I Clement as authoritative. By the early 3rd century, Christian theologians like Origen of Alexandria may have been using—or at least were familiar with—the same 27 books found in modern New Testament editions, though there were still disputes over

15580-418: The canon specify both Old and New Testament books. For the biblical scripture for both Testaments, canonically accepted in major traditions of Christendom , see § Canons of various traditions . For churches which espouse sola scriptura it is necessary and critical to have a clear and complete list of the canonical books. For churches which espouse sacred Tradition or Magisterium as well as Scripture,

15744-416: The canonical writings, though he had reservation about its authorship. Philip Schaff says that "the council of Hippo in 393, and the third (according to another reckoning the sixth) council of Carthage in 397, under the influence of Augustine, who attended both, fixed the catholic canon of the Holy Scriptures, including the Apocrypha of the Old Testament, ... This decision of the transmarine church however,

15908-439: The canonicity of some of the writings (see also Antilegomena ). Likewise by 200, the Muratorian fragment shows that there existed a set of Christian writings somewhat similar to what is now the New Testament, which included four gospels and argued against objections to them. Thus, while there was a good measure of debate in the Early Church over the New Testament canon, the major writings were accepted by almost all Christians by

16072-417: The children, and if they can speak for themselves let them do so. Otherwise, let their parents or other relatives speak for them." If it was written by Hippolytus of Rome , Apostolic Tradition could be dated about 215, but recent scholars believe it to be material from separate sources ranging from the middle second to the fourth century, being gathered and compiled about 375–400. The third century evidence

16236-550: The church at this time as largely an Old Testament church (one that "follows the Testament of the Creator-God ") without a firmly established New Testament canon, and that the church gradually formulated its New Testament canon in response to the challenge posed by Marcion. Marcion rejected the theology of the Old Testament entirely and regarded the God depicted there as an inferior being. In

16400-418: The claim that any texts of the Bible were written by the earliest apostles (though many of the Pauline letters were likely written by Paul or close associates of his). For most churches, the canon is an agreed-upon list of 27 books that includes the canonical Gospels , Acts , letters attributed to various apostles, and Revelation . Although there are many textual variations , most scholars believe that

16564-421: The claims of the fourth century church councils that their canonical list are the same 27 books that the church received from the earliest bishops. Irenaeus (died c.  202 ) quotes and cites 21 books that would end up as part of the New Testament, but does not use Philemon, Hebrews, James, 2 Peter, 3 John and Jude. By the early 3rd century, Origen of Alexandria may have been using the same 27 books as in

16728-471: The current New Testament canon except for four books: James , 2nd Peter , and the 2nd and 3rd epistles of John . He also included the Shepherd of Hermas which was later rejected. The religious scholar Bruce Metzger described Origen's efforts, saying "The process of canonization represented by Origen proceeded by way of selection, moving from many candidates for inclusion to fewer." In his Easter letter of 367, Patriarch Athanasius of Alexandria gave

16892-498: The debates of scholars, but the spiritual nourishment of the people of God...the factor which ultimately carried the day (for what was in the canon) was actual usage in the Church." The Early Church used the Old Testament , namely the Septuagint (LXX) among Greek speakers, with a canon perhaps as found in the Bryennios List or Melito's canon . The Apostles did not otherwise leave a defined set of new scriptures ; instead,

17056-478: The desert as a monk. Anthony lived as a hermit in the desert and gradually gained followers who lived as hermits nearby but not in actual community with him. One such, Paul the Hermit (also known as Paul of Thebes , c.226/7-c.341) lived in absolute solitude not very far from Anthony and was looked upon even by Anthony as a perfect monk. Paul had gone into the desert before Anthony, but to escape persecution rather than for

17220-533: The earliest extant Christian Bibles. There is no evidence among the canons of the First Council of Nicaea of any determination on the canon; however, Jerome (347–420), in his Prologue to Judith , makes the claim that the Book of Judith was "found by the Nicene Council to have been counted among the number of the Sacred Scriptures". The Eastern Churches had, in general, a weaker feeling than those in

17384-434: The early Christian period, being founded officially in 330, five years after the First Council of Nicaea, though the much smaller original city of Byzantium was an early center of Christianity largely due to its proximity to Anatolia . The community and seat of the patriarchate according to Orthodox tradition was founded by St Peter and then given to St. Ignatius , in what is now Turkey. Irenaeus of Lyon believed in

17548-550: The early Church Fathers Augustine of Hippo and John Chrysostom held that footwashing is done in imitation of Jesus , a rite also being encouraged by Origen . The early Church Father Clement of Alexandria linked the new sandals given by to Prodigal Son with feetwashing, describing "non-perishable shoes that are only fit to be worn by those who have had their feet washed by Jesus, the Teacher and Lord." The early Church thus saw footwashing to be connected to repentance , involving

17712-530: The early church is important to groups such as Baptists , Anabaptists , and the Churches of Christ who believe that infant baptism was a development that occurred during the late second to early third centuries. The early Christian writings mentioned above, which date from the second and third century indicate that Christians as early as the second century did maintain such a practice. In Apostolic Tradition , Hippolytus instructed Christians to pray seven times

17876-487: The early church." While Clement and New Testament writers use the terms overseer and elder interchangeably, an episcopal structure becomes more visible in the second century. Roger Haight posits the development of ecclesiology in the form of "Early Catholicism" as one response to the problem of church unity. Thus, the solution to division arising from heterodox teaching was the development of "tighter and more standardized structures of ministry. One of these structures

18040-465: The end of the second century, with a growing body of adversus Judaeos literature. Fourth- and fifth-century Christianity experienced pressure from the government of the Roman Empire and developed strong episcopal and unifying structure. Many variations in this era defy neat categorizations, as various forms of Christianity interacted in a complex fashion. One variation was proto-orthodoxy which became

18204-488: The existence of variant Christianities in the first centuries. They see early Christianity as fragmented into contemporaneous competing orthodoxies. Eamon Duffy notes that Christianity throughout the Roman Empire was "in a state of violent creative ferment" during the second century. Orthodoxy , or proto-orthodoxy , existed alongside forms of Christianity that they would soon consider deviant " heresy ". Duffy considers

18368-415: The final authorities in their own regions, see for example Metropolitan bishops and Pentarchy , yet still under the overall guidance of the bishop of Rome. Other patriarchs did turn to Rome for support in settling disputes, but they also wrote to other influential patriarchs for support in the same fashion. Outside of a few notable exceptions, the body of literature left from this period, and even as late as

18532-492: The first centuries of Christianity. Some believe that the Church in the apostolic period practised infant baptism, arguing that the mention of the baptism of households in the Acts of the Apostles would have included children within the household. Others believe that infants were excluded from the baptism of households, citing verses of the Bible that describe the baptized households as believing, which infants are incapable of doing. In

18696-414: The first known document considered to be describing apostolic succession , including the immediate successors of Peter and Paul: Linus , Anacleutus , Clement , Evaristus , Alexander , and Sixtus . The Catholic Church considers these men to be the first popes , through whom later popes would claim authority. In apostolic succession, a bishop becomes the spiritual successor of the previous bishop in

18860-575: The first of record to propose a definitive, exclusive, unique list of Christian scriptures, compiled sometime between 130 and 140 AD. Whether his canon was preceded by that of the Church is debated. Though Ignatius did address Christian scripture, before Marcion, against the perceived heresies of the Judaizers and Docetists , he did not define a list of scriptures. In his book Origin of the New Testament Adolf von Harnack argued that Marcion viewed

19024-569: The following lists of canonical writings: the Apostolic Canons (c. 385), the Synod of Laodicea (c. 363), the Third Synod of Carthage (c. 397), and the 39th Festal Letter of Athanasius (367). And yet, these lists do not agree. Similarly, the New Testament canons of the Syriac , Armenian , Egyptian Coptic and Ethiopian Churches all have minor differences, yet five of these Churches are part of

19188-522: The form of episkopos (overseers, bishops), presbyters ( elders ), and then deacons (servants). A hierarchy within Pauline Christianity seems to have developed by the late 1st century and early second century. (see Pastoral Epistles , c. 90–140 ) Robert Williams posits that the "origin and earliest development of episcopacy and monepiscopacy and the ecclesiastical concept of (apostolic) succession were associated with crisis situations in

19352-411: The fourfold Gospel contemporaneously sponsored by Irenaeus was not broadly, let alone universally, recognized." Irenaeus apparently quotes from 21 of the New Testament books and names the author he thought wrote the text. He mentions the four gospels, Acts, the Pauline epistles with the exception of Hebrews and Philemon, as well as the first epistle of Peter, and the first and second epistles of John, and

19516-585: The general resurrection and judgment. Justin Martyr and Irenaeus were the most outspoken proponents of premillennialism. Justin Martyr saw himself as continuing in the “Jewish” belief of a temporary messianic kingdom prior to the eternal state. Irenaeus devoted Book V of his Against Heresies to a defense of the physical resurrection and eternal judgement. Other early premillennialists included Pseudo-Barnabas , Papias , Methodius , Lactantius , Commodianus Theophilus , Tertullian , Melito , Hippolytus of Rome and Victorinus of Pettau . By

19680-526: The geographically-separated churches in antiquity, according to ancient church historian Eusebius there was a consensus that the same 27 books constituting the canon today were the same 27 books generally recognized in the first century. For the first three hundred years of Christianity, there was no entirely agreed-upon canon. Some of Paul's letters and the four Gospels whose authorship were attributed to Mark, Matthew, Luke and John were read publicly in certain churches. The earliest record of attempt at compiling

19844-483: The geographically-separated churches in antiquity, according to ancient church historian Eusebius, there is a consensus that the 27 books constituting the canon today are the same 27 books generally recognized in the first centuries. For historical Christians, canonicalization was based on whether the material was written by the apostles or their close associates, rather than claims of divine inspiration. However, some biblical scholars with diverse disciplines now reject

20008-421: The gospels are in accord with these things ... For the living creatures are quadriform and the gospel is quadriform [...] These things being so, all who destroy the form of the gospel are vain, unlearned, and also audacious; those [I mean] who represent the aspects of the gospel as being either more in number than as aforesaid, or, on the other hand, fewer. Irenaeus additionally quotes from passages of all

20172-572: The gospels is found in the First Apology (c155) of Justin Martyr , who mentions the "memoirs of the apostles" which Christians called "gospels" and which were regarded as on par with the Old Testament. A four gospel canon (the Tetramorph ) was asserted by Ireanaeus, who refers to it directly. Debates about scripture were underway in the mid- second century , concurrent with a drastic increase of new scriptures, both Jewish and Christian. Debates regarding practice and belief gradually became reliant on

20336-450: The influence of Augustine of Hippo , who regarded the canon as already closed. Pope Damasus I 's Council of Rome in 382 (if the Decretum is correctly associated with it) issued a biblical canon identical to that mentioned above. Likewise, Damasus' commissioning of the Latin Vulgate edition of the Bible, c. 383, proved instrumental in the fixation of the canon in the West. In

20500-510: The international Great Church and in this period was defended by the Apostolic Fathers . This was the tradition of Pauline Christianity , which placed importance on the death of Jesus as saving humanity, and described Jesus as God come to Earth. Another major school of thought was Gnostic Christianity , which placed importance on the wisdom of Jesus saving humanity, and described Jesus as a human who became divine through knowledge. While

20664-412: The issue can be more organic, as the Bible is an artifact of the church rather than vice versa . Theologian William J. Abraham has suggested that in the primitive church and patristic period the "primary purpose in canonizing Scripture was to provide an authorized list of books for use in worship. The primary setting envisaged for the use of Scripture was not that of the science of theology, or that of

20828-444: The kiss of peace was given only by women to women and by men to men, with closed mouths. Apostolic Tradition specified with regard to catechumens: "When they have prayed they shall not give the kiss of peace for their kiss is not yet holy" (18:3). As such, the Holy Kiss was distinguished as a ritual only to be partaken of by baptized Christians , with catechumens and non-Christians not being greeted this way (18:4). Christianity in

20992-486: The leaders of the proto-orthodox church, but many were very popular and had large followings. Part of the unifying trend in proto-orthodoxy was an increasingly harsh anti-Judaism and rejection of Judaizers . Some of the major movements were: In the middle of the second century, the Christian communities of Rome, for example, were divided between followers of Marcion, Montanism, and the gnostic teachings of Valentinus. Many groups were dualistic , maintaining that reality

21156-452: The letter to the Corinthians, known now as 1 Clement , was of great worth but does not seem to believe that Clement of Rome was the one author ( Book 3 , Chapter 3, Verse 3) and seems to have the same lower status as Polycarp's Epistle ( Book 3 , Chapter 3, Verse 3). He does refer to a passage in the Shepherd of Hermas as scripture ( Mandate 1 or First Commandment ), but this has some consistency problems on his part. Hermas taught that Jesus

21320-529: The matter of Tertullian 's Prescription Against Heretics (in 44 chapters, written from Rome), and of Irenaeus' Against Heresies (c. 180, in five volumes), written in Lugdunum (modern Lyon) after his return from a visit to Rome. The letters of Ignatius of Antioch and Polycarp of Smyrna to various churches warned against false teachers, and the Epistle of Barnabas warned about mixing Judaism with Christianity , as did other writers. The First Council of Nicaea

21484-559: The matter, however, they were not defining something new, but instead "were ratifying what had already become the mind of the church." Thus, from the 5th century onward, the Western Church was unanimous concerning the New Testament canon. The last book to be accepted universally was the Book of Revelation. However, with time all the Eastern Church also agreed. Thus, by the 5th century, both

21648-486: The middle of the 3rd century . In his Easter letter of 367, Athanasius , Bishop of Alexandria, gave a list of the books that form the modern twenty-seven-book NT canon, and he used the word "canonized" ( Ancient Greek : κανονιζόμενα kanonizomena ) in regard to them. The first council that accepted the present canon of the New Testament may have been the Synod of Hippo Regius in North Africa (393). A brief summary of

21812-457: The middle of the 3rd century. Origen of Alexandria (184/85–253/54), an early scholar involved in the codification of the biblical canon, had a thorough education both in Christian theology and in pagan philosophy, but was posthumously condemned at the Second Council of Constantinople in 553 since some of his teachings were considered to be heresy. Origen's canon included all of the books in

21976-539: The mind of the Church." Thus, some claim that, from the 4th century , there existed unanimity in the West concerning the New Testament canon, and that, by the 5th century , the Eastern Church , with a few exceptions, had come to accept the Book of Revelation and thus had come into harmony on the matter of the canon. Full dogmatic articulations of the canon were not made until the Canon of Trent of 1546 for Roman Catholicism ,

22140-422: The modern New Testament, though there were still disputes over the canonicity of Hebrews, James, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, and Revelation (see also Antilegomena ). Likewise by 200, the Muratorian fragment shows that there existed a set of Christian writings somewhat similar to what is now the New Testament, which included four gospels and argued against objections to them. Thus, while there was plenty of discussion in

22304-529: The oldest existing copy of the Torah—one that they believe to have been penned by Abisha, a grandson of Aaron . The canon of the Catholic Church was affirmed by the Council of Rome (AD 382), the Synod of Hippo (AD 393), two of the Councils of Carthage (AD 397 and 419), the Council of Florence (AD 1431–1449) and finally, as an article of faith, by the Council of Trent (AD 1545–1563). Those established

22468-399: The original text of the New Testament can be established with a reasonable degree of accuracy. The core books of the New Testament were completed before 120 AD, with the Gospels being finished slightly earlier (the first of which, Mark, was likely written close to 70 AD). Although the list of what books constituted the canon (i.e., list of books to read out in church) initially differed among

22632-485: The orthodox and unorthodox were sometimes difficult to distinguish during this period, and simply says that early Christianity in Rome had a wide variety of competing Christian sects. Some orthodox scholars argue against the increasing focus on heterodoxy. A movement away from presuming the correctness or dominance of the orthodoxy is seen as neutral, but criticize historical analysis that assumes heterodox sects are superior to

22796-408: The orthodox movement. Rodney Stark estimates that the number of Christians grew by approximately 40% a decade during the first and second centuries. This phenomenal growth rate forced Christian communities to evolve in order to adapt to their changes in the nature of their communities as well as their relationship with their political and socioeconomic environment. As the number of Christians grew,

22960-570: The poor and sick. Much of the official organizing of the ecclesiastical structure was done by the bishops of the church. This tradition of clarification can be seen as established by the Apostolic Fathers, who were bishops themselves. The Catholic Encyclopedia argues that although evidence is scarce in the second century, the primacy of the Church of Rome is asserted by Irenaeus of Lyons' document Against Heresies (AD 189). In response to second century Gnostic teaching, Irenaeus created

23124-447: The present Catholic canon (the Canon of Trent of 1546) may have been the Synod of Hippo Regius , held in North Africa in 393. A brief summary of the acts was read at and accepted by the Council of Carthage (397) and also the Council of Carthage (419) . These Councils took place under the authority of Augustine of Hippo (354–430), who regarded the canon as already closed. Augustine of Hippo declared without qualification that one

23288-474: The purpose of pursuing God. This type of monasticism is called eremitical or "hermit-like." Pachomius of Thebes (c. 292–348) is traditionally considered the founder of cenobitic monasticism , in which monks live in communities isolated from the world but not from each other. As monasticism spread in the East from the hermits living in the deserts of Egypt to Palestine, Syria, and on up into Asia Minor and beyond,

23452-461: The question raised by Marcion, whether there is such opposition between different parts of what he regards as the word of God, that all cannot come from the same author. Ferguson 2002 quotes Tertullian 's De praescriptione haereticorum 30: Since Marcion separated the New Testament from the Old, he is necessarily subsequent to that which he separated, inasmuch as it was only in his power to separate what

23616-496: The rise of a great number of Christian sects , cults and movements with strong unifying characteristics lacking in the apostolic period. They had different interpretations of Scripture , particularly different Christology —questions about the divinity of Jesus and salvation from the consequences of sin—and the nature of the Trinity . Many variations in this time defy neat categorizations, as various forms of Christianity interacted in

23780-517: The sayings ( apophthegmata ) and acts ( praxeis ) of the Desert Fathers came to be recorded and circulated, first among their fellow monastics and then among the laity as well. Christian art emerged only relatively late. According to art historian André Grabar , the first known Christian images emerge from about AD 200, though there is some literary evidence that small domestic images were used earlier. Although many Hellenised Jews seem, as at

23944-452: The successors of Saint Peter. Jerome later took up the argument for the primacy of the Roman bishop in the 5th century , a position adopted by Pope Leo I . By the end of the early Christian period, the church within the Roman Empire had hundreds of bishops, some of them (Rome, Alexandria, Antioch, "other provinces") holding some form of jurisdiction over others. The books of the canon of

24108-460: The sun" (Sunday) alongside the "writings of the prophets." A defined set of four gospels (the Tetramorph ) was asserted by Irenaeus , c . 180, who refers to it directly. By the early 3rd century, Origen may have been using the same twenty-seven books as in the present New Testament canon, though there were still disputes over the acceptance of the Letter to the Hebrews , James , II Peter , II John , III John , Jude and Revelation , known as

24272-540: The task. One of the oldest bibles in existence is the Codex Vaticanus which was written around year 350. The Codex is currently kept in the Vatican Library . It has the 27 books of the New Testament which are accepted by all Christian denominations today. The 27 books were canonized in the council of Hippo in year 393. This was later affirmed in the council of Carthage in year 397 and 419. Evidence corroborates

24436-626: The third century there was growing opposition to premillennialism. Origen was the first to challenge the doctrine openly. Dionysius of Alexandria stood against premillennialism when the chiliastic work, The Refutation of the Allegorizers by Nepos, a bishop in Egypt , became popular in Alexandria , as noted in Eusebius 's, Ecclesiastical History . Eusebius said of the premillennialian, Papias, that he

24600-458: The type of veil: "And let all the women have their heads covered with an opaque cloth, not with a veil of thin linen, for this is not a true covering." The early Christian apologist Tertullian recorded that footwashing was a regular part of Christian worship in the ante-Nicene period. Footwashing was done with a basin "of water for the saints' feet" and a "linen towel". Being commanded in John 13 ,

24764-509: The use of scripture other than what Melito referred to as the Old Testament , as the New Testament canon developed . Similarly, in the third century a shift away from direct revelation as a source of authority occurred, most notably against the Montanists . "Scripture" still had a broad meaning and usually referred to the Septuagint among Greek speakers or the Targums among Aramaic speakers or

24928-463: The use of the term Christian is attested in the Acts of the Apostles (80–90 AD), the earliest recorded use of the term Christianity (Greek: Χριστιανισμός ) is by Ignatius of Antioch about 107 AD. The predominant eschatological view in the Ante-Nicene period was Premillennialism , the belief of a visible reign of Christ in glory on earth with the risen saints for a thousand years, before

25092-474: The week, Christians assembled at the church every day for morning prayer (which became known as lauds ) and evening prayer (which became known as vespers ), while praying at the other fixed prayer times privately. This practice of seven fixed prayer times was done in the bodily positions of prostration and standing. Derived from the writings of Saint Paul , Christians employed the orans position in prayer too. A Christian cross on an eastern wall of

25256-467: Was "a man of small mental capacity" because he had taken the Apocalypse literally. Christian communities came to adopt some Jewish practices while rejecting others. Only Marcion proposed rejection of all Jewish practice, but he was excommunicated in Rome c. 144 and declared heretical by the growing proto-Orthodoxy . According to Bauckham, the post-apostolic church contained diverse practices as regards

25420-504: Was a student of the Apostle John and, according to Polycarp's own written words, was also a "hearer" of the other Apostles. Polycarp was a bishop in Smyrna. Eusebius later claimed that synods and conferences of bishops were convened, which ruled "without a dissenting voice" in support of Easter on Sunday. A uniform method of computing the date of Easter was not formally addressed until 325 at

25584-526: Was asserted by Irenaeus (c. 130 – c. 202 AD) in the following quote: It is not possible that the gospels can be either more or fewer in number than they are. For, since there are four-quarters of the earth in which we live, and four universal winds, while the church is scattered throughout all the world, and the 'pillar and ground' of the church is the gospel and the spirit of life, it is fitting that she should have four pillars breathing out immortality on every side, and vivifying men afresh [...] Therefore

25748-698: Was composed into two radically opposing parts: matter , usually seen as evil, and spirit, seen as good. Proto-orthodox Christianity, on the other hand, held that both the material and spiritual worlds were created by God and were therefore both good, and that this was represented in the unified divine and human natures of Christ . Trinitarianism held that God the Father, God the Son , and the Holy Spirit were all strictly one being with three hypostases . Christianity differed from Roman religions in that it set out its beliefs in

25912-399: Was convoked by Emperor Constantine at Nicaea in 325 in response to disruptive polemical controversies within the Christian community over the nature of the Trinity caused by Arius , who denied the eternal nature of Christ as put forth in the Gospel of John . In the post-Apostolic church, bishops emerged as overseers of urban Christian populations, and a hierarchy clergy gradually took on

26076-515: Was given the commission), and perhaps other bishops who were available locally. In his Easter letter of 367, Athanasius , Bishop of Alexandria, gave a list of exactly the same books that would formally become the New Testament canon, and he used the word "canonized" ( κανονιζομενα ) in regard to them. The first council that accepted the present Catholic canon (the Canon of Trent ) was the Council of Rome, held by Pope Damasus I (382). A second council

26240-420: Was held at the Synod of Hippo (393) reaffirming the previous council list. A brief summary of the acts was read at and accepted by the Council of Carthage (397) and the Council of Carthage (419) . These councils took place under the authority of St. Augustine , who regarded the canon as already closed. Pope Damasus I's Council of Rome in 382, if the Decretum Gelasianum is correctly associated with it, issued

26404-409: Was not himself a divine being, but a virtuous man who was subsequently filled with the Holy Spirit and adopted as the Son (a doctrine called adoptionism ). But Irenaeus's own work, including his citing of the Gospel of John ( Jn . 1:1), indicates that he himself believed that Jesus was always God. In the late 4th century Epiphanius of Salamis (died 402) Panarion 29 says the Nazarenes had rejected

26568-427: Was previously united. Having been united previous to its separation, the fact of its subsequent separation proves the subsequence also of the man who effected the separation. Note 61 of page 308 adds: [Wolfram] Kinzig suggests that it was Marcion who usually called his Bible testamentum [Latin for testament]. Other scholars propose that it was Melito of Sardis who originally coined the phrase Old Testament , which

26732-413: Was subject to ratification; and the concurrence of the Roman see it received when Innocent I and Gelasius I (414 AD) repeated the same index of biblical books. This canon remained undisturbed till the sixteenth century, and was sanctioned by the council of Trent at its fourth session." According to Lee Martin McDonald, the Revelation was added to the list in 419. These councils were convened under

26896-473: Was the center of the Apostolic Age , but it experienced decline during the years of the Jewish–Roman wars (66-135). The First Council of Nicaea recognized and confirmed the tradition by which Jerusalem continued to be given "special honour", but did not assign to it even metropolitan authority within its own province, still less the extraprovincial jurisdiction exercised by Rome and the other sees mentioned above. Constantinople came into prominence only after

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