Jerome Canon Lists Author’s Note: Because Jerome’s writings profoundly influenced later discussions of the Old Testament, it is essential to distinguish his various canon lists from the views of others. 391 AD, 398 AD, 404 AD: Jerome. Jerome’s personal views are pretty clear: he thought the Jewish canon and the…
Epiphanius Canon Lists Author’s Note: Epiphanius discusses the biblical canon in several different works, making his testimony especially valuable—and occasionally misunderstood. 385 AD:[1] Epiphanius. Epiphanius is the Romaniote Jewish Christian mentioned earlier. He gives us multiple Jewish canons and one Christian list. For my purposes, Baruch and Susanna are accepted…
Gregory of Nazianzus and Amphilochius of Iconium Canon Lists Author’s Note: These closely related canon lists offer valuable insight into how two influential fourth-century bishops understood the biblical canon. 380 AD: Gregory of Nazianzus;[1] and 380 AD: Amphilochius of Iconium[2] Gregory and Amphilochius were cousins, and both left poems on…
The Apostolic Canons List Author’s Note: The Apostolic Canons preserve an early canon list that illustrates how evidence concerning Scripture must be corroborated. 380 AD: The Apostolic Canons.[1] The writer of the Apostolic Constitutions—whoever he was or they were—does Athanasius one better: rather than pass on what came from the…
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…
