The Greek New Testament

The concept of canon as a list of accepted writings was first applied to the Bible in the fourth century, although the notion of an agreed upon list of Scriptures arose much earlier. Criteria for canonicity among the orthodox in both East and West were apostolicity, universal use in the church from earliest times, and agreement with early Catholic doctrine.

Old Testament: Scholars differ about the formation of the canon of the Old Testament. It seems, however, clear that Jewish communities had authoritative collections of the Law, the Prophets, and the other Writings by the end of the first century.

Apocrypha: Early Christian communities were nearly uniform in their acceptance of the same canon of the Old Testament used in the synagogues. Some Christian communities, however, admitted a larger list of the Writings than other communities. This larger list included the books now known as the apocryphal or deuterocanonical books in, for example, the Revised Standard Version of the Bible. 1 and 2 Maccabees are among the most significant of these writings.

New Testament: By the middle of the second century the central writings of the New Testament (Gospels, Letters of Paul, Hebrews, and Acts) were widely accepted, with other writings being excluded or included somewhat later. Hebrews, Jude, 2 Peter, 3 John, and Revelation were often disputed. Revelation remained in question longer than any other canonical book. Other writings, including the Shepherd of Hermas, were by some churches considered a part of the canon for a time. The Marcionite church acknowledged a very small canon. East and West did not come to full agreement about the canon until early in the fourth century. In 367 Athanasius presents the canon of the New Testament as finally fixed by the churches of both East and West.