Hilary of Poitiers Canon List Author’s Note: Hilary’s list is an important window into both Christian history and the nature of canon lists themselves. 367 AD: Hilary of Poitiers.[1] An interesting list because it seems copied from Origen’s list for the Jews (as given to us by Eusebius), but with…
Athanasius of Alexandria Canon List Author’s Note: Athanasius’ famous Festal Letter contains one of the best-known canon lists in Christian history and continues to play a prominent role in modern canon debates. 367 AD: Athanasius of Alexandria.[1] “Because Athanasius’ canon is the closest canon of any of the Church Fathers…
Cheltenham Canon List Author’s Note: The Cheltenham List provides another valuable piece of evidence for reconstructing the canon recognized by the early Church. 360 AD: Cheltenham List.[1] Another stichometric list. Between names and verse counts, it is clear enough to me that all the Apocrypha are included. However, the canonical…
St Catherine Syriac List MS 10 Canon List Author’s Note: This Syriac manuscript preserves an important eastern witness to the biblical canon during the fourth century. 350 AD: St. Catherine’s Syriac List MS 10.[1] A stichometric list, but one with known errors that make the stichometry hard to rely on.…
350 AD: Cyril of Jerusalem Author’s Note: Cyril’s canon list is one of the most influential fourth-century witnesses and remains central to modern discussions of the Old Testament canon. 350 AD: Cyril of Jerusalem[1] gives us a canon list, which expressly accepts Baruch and implicitly accepts Susanna. The other Apocrypha…
COUNCILS Author’s Note: This section examines the councils most frequently cited in discussions of the biblical canon and evaluates what they actually decided. Also, there were six Church councils that may have produced canon lists: The Nicene Council (325 AD)[1] occurred, with 318 Bishops attending. But with respect to the…
GREAT UNCIAL CODICES Author’s Note: The great biblical codices of the fourth and fifth centuries provide some of the earliest surviving manuscript evidence for the contents of the Christian Bible. To begin our review, recall that two Great Uncial Codices date after 400 and so were made during this period.…
350 AD-450 AD Author’s Note: This chapter examines the historical evidence from the fourth and fifth centuries, when surviving manuscripts, canon lists, and conciliar records become far more abundant. Let’s consider the evidence for the Canon at the start of 350 AD. We, of course, have no formal declaration, so…
