Criteria used to determine new testament books.
... because of their apostolicity. Of the four Gospels, only two were written in the name of apostles, although not proven to be the apostles themselves, Matthew and John. So why were the other two accepted as authoritative? The New Testament mentions that Matthew was a disciple of Mark, and that Luke was an associate of John (Col. 4:14) . So although Matthew and Luke did not hold apostolic authority, each of the men were related to Christ through original disciples. Likewise, the book of Acts was highly trusted because most of the events took place in the presence of Luke, who was considered influential because of his relationship to the Apostle John. Another example of how apostolicity played a large role in the canonisation process is the acceptance of Paul’s letters. He wrote the most material compared to the other disciples of his time. His apostolicity and authenticity of his works was questioned since he was not one of the original twelve, but to the churches of the Gentiles, his apostleship was undoubted because a number of them would not have existed except for his apostolic ministry . Also, membership to the holy family carried near-apostolic status. In Galatians 1:19 Paul includes James, the brother of Jesus, as an apostle of Christ. Although the Epistle of Saint James may be pseudepigrapha, it held authority in the early church because of the apostolicity that Paul gave it. Jude, the brother of James and the servant of Jesus Christ, also wrote an epistle. It was included in the New Testament canon largely because of his relation to James . Although apostolicity was a large factor in the canonisation, if it were the only factor, the New Testament would look very different than it is today. Many writings of the time were pseudepigraphic; people would falsely attach the name of an apostle to the literature just to pass it as authoritative. Some examples of these are the Gospel of Thomas, the Acts of Andrew, and the Apocalypse of Peter. Antiquity Since the most authoritative authors were those closest to Jesus, the apostolic era was the most important and reliable time recorded in the Holy Scripture. Pieces of writings such as the Gospels and Epistles are all from the apostolic era. Indeed the general rule was that the older the literature, the more accurate and authoritative it was. There was also a general mistrust of more recent documents because of false prophets and heresy . An example of how antiquity shaped the New Testament was the effort to add the Shepherd of Hermas. It was rejected was that it appeared too late in history to be counted as Holy Scripture. This criterion alone would have been an imprecise method of forming the canon. The people who concerned themselves with the problem of antiquity lacked the information and expertise for dating important documents . The use of antiquity and apostolicity together though, with proper caution, continued to be an appropriate means of coming closer to the defining, fundamental moment in the Christian faith . Use Regular use of a Gospel or Epistle in the church played an important role in the works admittance into the canon. Most of the canonisation process was largely unconscious. When the time came to finalise the canon, people were familiar with, and favoured certain books. Reading the ‘Memoirs of the Apostles’ together with Old Testament writings in church had become an established practice . Towards the end of the second century A.D. most of the churches in the west, with Rome having the most influence, had commonly accepted a list of works as authoritative, reading from them liturgically. These included the four Gospels, Acts, and the 13 letters of Paul. So when the time came to decide which books were to be put in the New Testament, no one questioned the authentication of the books Christians already considering Holy Scripture. Also, the authorship of Hebrews was questioned, but since it was commonly used in church sermons, it was accepted as a canon-worthy book . Catholicity Catholicity relates closely to the issues discussed in the paragraph above. It is the unwillingness of a church to be out of step with other churches . The most common example is that the Roman church did not necessarily believe that Paul wrote Hebrews, but it was ultimately received it as canonical so as not be out of step with orthodox Christendom. Orthodoxy The early church used the ‘rule of faith’ as a criterion of orthodoxy to determine which writings should be used in the church . Orthodoxy is the authenticity of doctrine, rather than authorship. Christian communities in early church history and during the reformation shared certain beliefs and these had a role in determining which writings were welcomed into the canon. The question, ‘What does it teach about the person and work of Christ?’ had to be founded on the church’s beliefs. Does it maintain the apostolic witness to him as the historical Jesus of Nazareth, crucified and raised from the dead, divinely exalted as LORD over all? Material that did not parallel with the ‘rule of faith’ completely, such as the Gospel of Peter, was not included in the canon. One story is that Serapion, bishop of Antioch in A.D. 200, sanctioned the use of the Gospel of Peter without reading it. Peter’s Gospel described the Lord’s death as coloured with Docetism, that Jesus really had no human body, that it only appeared to have died on the cross, and that he didn’t really suffer . Since this gospel did not follow the central teachings of Jesus completely, Serapion was taken out of his position of leadership . On top of following the ‘rule of faith’ set out by Irenaeus, the non-triviality of the material added to the authority of the message . In 1 Corinthians 9:9 Paul quotes Deuteronomy 25:4, an Old Testament writing that was already deemed Holy Scripture. By leaning on credible scripture, Paul insured Christians that his material was authentic as well as holy. Another criterion within orthodoxy is that the literature would be internally self-consistent and not contradictory. Justin Martyr talks about this in his Dialogue with Trypho. Adaptability/Fluidity Another standard of the works was that the material had to be fluid and non-ephemeral, relevant to all ages. Texts with excess meaning or interpretation have fluidity and adaptability to ever-changing circums...