Day Three - “You’re In!”
This collection of mini-collections of books took a noticeable shape by the end of the 2nd century. But what gave the early church confidence to say “you’re in” to some books and “no go” to others?
First, virtually every book was either written by an apostle (Matthew, John, Paul, Peter, James) or at an apostle’s direction (Luke, Acts and Mark). Mark wrote at Peter’s behest and Luke/Acts were written under Paul’s direction to his travelling companion, Luke. The only possible to this criterion is the book of Hebrews. To answer the question of its authorship, Origen (185-254) replied, “Only God knows.” And yet, very early in Christian history, it was placed on equal standing with the other books known to have been written by or authorized by an apostle.
So, the book of Hebrews’ inclusion into the canon (canon means ‘rule’ and the NT is the ‘rule’ by which Christians live) lets us know that the early church looked not only for authorship but also authority. The book of Hebrews passed the test because it was entirely consistent with every other book included in the New Testament.
The primary two signifancant factors for inclusion were authorship and authenticity, less when a book was written. However, the majority of the New Testament books were definately written between A.D.50 and 100 with the possible exception of James which may have been written around A.D. 40. In addition, John’s epistles may have been written just after the first century mark. The vast majority of the New Testament however, was written as or just after the events occured.
Even though the churches unofficially recognized this canon prior to the end of the second century, 2 Peter, Jude and Revelation were not ‘officially’ recognized as part of the completed canon until the fourth century. So you can see that great care was taken in placing books into a canon that would truly rule church and Christians for centuries.