The Biblical Canon Lists from Early Christianity

Scholars of early Christianity often note that this movement was remarkably bookish. Those who could read and write liked to do so and the amount of different writings and books presented challenges to audiences wondering about their value. Could they be read with profit? Who produced these books? We know that in the 4th century AD we start to find biblical canon lists that set forth the books of the Christian canon and much more valuable information as well. The story of the rise of the Christian canon(s) is not nearly as simple as popular imagination often likes to think. No emperor, no bishop, no single council simply decided which books were “in” and which books were “out.” Rather, difficult decisions about which books preserved apostolic testimony and accorded with their sense of the integrity of the gospel message affected which books were read liturgically, which could be read privately, and which books should be avoided.Articulating this story of the rise of the Christian biblical canon is dependent in large part upon the study of the many canon lists. This work has as its goal the presentation of “the evidence of the early Christian canon lists in an accessible form for the benefit of students and scholars” (p. xii). These lists preserve what a bishop, author, or council determines to be authoritative for reading and church doctrine. They are the most important, though not to say only, source for determining the books believed to be canonical by the early Christians. The book largely consists in the reproduction of each canon list in its original language, an English translation of the canon list, and a commentary on each list.The first chapter (“The Development of the Christian Biblical Canon”) presents a valuable and up-to-date guide to the details of canon formation. They note that, while there are certainly disputed books, by the mid-fourth century (Athanasius’s famous 37th Festal Letter), “a great deal of the work was done before Athanasius. All of the lists include the four Gospels, Acts, and at least thirteen Pauline letters, along with some Catholic Epistles and other books” (p. 32). Some books which were not universally accepted, including the Revelation of John, Hebrews, and some Catholic Epistles, are examined as well.Chapter two (“Jewish Lists”) sets the context by looking at what we can know about canon lists for Jewish Scriptures. For example, Josephus divides the Jewish Scriptures into 22 books. The Babylonian Talmud divides the writings into the traditional Jewish canon of Torah, Prophets, and Writings.Chapter three (“Greek Christian Lists”) is by far the lengthiest of the chapters as they cover 11 canon lists, most of which stem from the writings of the church fathers (e.g., Melito, Origen, Eusebius, Cyril, Athanasius, Gregory of Nazianzus, Amphilochius, and Epiphanius) but some from councils and synods. Numerous insights can be drawn from these lists, the most obvious, of course, being what writings were considered universally accepted. Also, important, however, is the way in which a variety of Christian authors quote and cite texts which they do not consider canonical/scriptural. Origen, for example, made use of Gospel of Thomas and 1 Enoch showing that he found value “in a variety of religious texts” which he, and others, did not consider scriptural (p. 98–99). The difficulty which the so-called Catholic Epistles presents is also fascinating. In addition to some of these writings often being disputed, their canonical placement varies throughout the lists. Also interesting is the popularity of the Didache and the Shepherd, despite not garnering as much use as one might expect.Chapter four (“Latin Christian Lists”) contains the canon lists from Western Christianity and includes lists from church fathers (e.g., Hilary, Jerome, Augustine) and evidence from codices (Muratorian Fragment, Codex Claromontanus). The most well-known list here is certainly the Muratorian Fragment given its possible dating in the late second century and thereby confirming a canon that coheres quite closely (though not in every respect) with later 4th-century canon lists. Surprising, however, is its lack of 1–2 Peter, James, and Hebrews.Chapters five (“The Syriac Christian List”) and six (“Selected Greek, Syriac, Latin, and Hebrew Manuscripts”) provide summaries of a few other relevant canon lists. Readers should not ignore the appendix (“Antilegomena and the More Prominent Apocrypha”), as it traces the reception of some disputed writings—both those which became canonical (e.g., Esther, Hebrews) and some that did not (e.g., the Epistle of Barnabas, the Apocalypse of Peter). Scholars wanting basic information for the canonical reception of books such as Hebrews, Revelation, and the Didache, for example, can use this as a helpful starting point.While it may not make for a riveting read, this book is an essential resource that helpfully makes accessible the most important information that many of us who write and teach on matters related to the Christian canon are dependent. In addition, the canon lists often function as something of a proto-versions of “Introductions to the New Testament” as they treat matters of Einleitung in terms of offering notes on authors, provenance, and audience

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