Brief History of the Canon of the New Testament

Debate concerning the "Letter to the Laodiceans." Paul mentioned it in Colossians. Someone wrote a letter to meet this description. Quite harmless. But it was widely circulated. Between the sixth and fifteenth centuries it frequently appeared among the Pauline epistles. Second Council of Nicaea warned the people against it. Translated into Old English and German and occurs afer Galations in all High German Bibles from 1466 to the appearance of Luther's Bible. The revival of learning killed it. 

Another problem in Spain. Visigoths brought the Gothic New Testament with them which did not contain the Apocalypse. Its influence brought forth the denunciation of the fourth Council of Toledo with the threat of excommunication to those who did not accept the book of the Apocalypse.

Apart from other such minor differences, the verdict of the first four centuries remained the verdict of the Church through the Middle Ages. Great religious unity during the reign of Charlemagne. As time went on, the Latin Bible passed more and more into the hands of the clergy, who, along with the councils, opposed the idea of translating it into the newer languages. Laity forbidden to have books of the Old and New Testaments. In 1441 Pope Eugene IV. reaffirmed the Canon of Augustine. From the fifth century to the fifteenth century there was no marked change in the view of the Canon.

Roman Catholic Church had supreme ecclesiastical authority during this time. The Bible, the creeds, the councils, and the opinions of the Fathers were the sources of doctrine, but the Church was the selector among these things. One of the first things the Reformers did as to break this insistence on ecclesiastical authority. They substituted an infallible Bible for an infallible Church, which once more called the Canon into question. 

Erasmus recognized the value of Hebrews, but denied its Pauline authorship. Ultimately accepted James, though he deemed it unworthy in some ways of such recognition Erasmus was much criticized for his outspokenness and grew reserved in his statements. Luther held John's Gospel and his First Epistle and Paul's Epistles in high esteem. He excluded Hebrews, James, Jude, and the Apocalypse from the "true and capital books of the New Testament." For this reason he put them at the end of his New Testament translation. They still appear there in modern editions of Luther's version. Doubted whether the Apocalypse should appear in the Canon. Said that every one must form his own opinion of it. Yet he declared that it could be used by the true Christian for consolation and warning. Carstadt, friend of Luther, was first to assert clearly the supremacy of the Scriptures. Yet he ascribed different dignities to the books. Highest were the four Gospels, then the thirteen Epistles of Paul, 1 Peter, and 1 John, and finally the seven disputed books. Most likely did not mention Acts because he believed it to be a continuation of Luke's Gospel.

Zwingli of Zurich recognized all the present books of the New Testament as of equal value, though he believed that the Bible was occasionally found to be with fault in matters fact and history. Calvin of Geneva silently took no notice of 2 and 3 John and the Apocalypse. Heartily accepted the Epistle to the Hebrews, but did not acknowledge its Pauline authorship. He believed that 2 Peter was not actually by Peter himself, but by one of his disciples, and still remained a valuable book. Unhistitatingly accepted the Epistles of James and Jude. Grotius of Leyden maintained that Luke wrote Hebrews and that James was indeed written by the Lord's brother, James. He denied the authenticity of 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, and Jude. Strangely, he did accept the Apocalypse as having been written by the Apostle John. 

Council of Trent made the contents of the Bible an absolute article of faith. Listed all the books in the present Old and New Testaments and the Old Testament Apocrypha as sacred and canonical, even pronouncing a curse on anyone who did not regard them so. The Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England and the Westminster Confession list the exact twenty-seven books by name. The Nonconformist Churches of England have accepted the same Canon as the Established Church. The Lutheran and Reformed Churches have likewise accepted the same books as canonical. 

Little or no discussion of the question of the New Testament Canon in recent times. Some may favor the omission of any current books. Many ascribe varying degrees of value to the books. The tendency though is to accept them all because of their traditional recognition. Some attempt to lower the dignity of canonical books and raise that of the extra-canonical books to meet on a similar level. Scholars try to link the two categories. Present day interest in the New Testament is more intellectual than spiritual. Yet there are still a number of young scholars and leaders who firmly believe in the hand of Divine Providence ruling over the selection of the books of the Canon.