New Testament Comparison Author’s Note: Comparing the evidence for the New Testament with the evidence for the Deuterocanonical books helps determine whether both are being judged by the same historical standard. But let’s compare against the New Testament Books in more detail. The only New Testament canon list that could…

THE CANON, AS OF 200 AD Author’s Note: This summary brings together the evidence presented thus far to evaluate what the biblical canon most likely looked like around the year AD 200. Let’s pause to consider the status of the Apocrypha in the second century. After all, what date we…

Clement of Alexandria’s List Author’s Note: Clement’s writings provide an important glimpse into the Scriptures recognized and used by one of the most influential Christian teachers of the second century. There is one other list—which is only considered a list when it is useful. It is another reference in Eusebius,…

The Muratorian Fragment Author’s Note: Although primarily concerned with the New Testament, the Muratorian Fragment provides valuable evidence for understanding what the earliest Christians determined was authoritative Scripture. The Muratorian Fragment[1] is our last (allegedly) second-century canon list. I include it here because Professor Bart Ehrman once gave implicit support…

Melito’s List Author’s Note: Melito’s famous canon list is one of the earliest surviving Christian witnesses and remains central to nearly every discussion of the Old Testament canon. The earliest certain date for a list is Melito’s, which is dated at 170 AD.[1] The main issue with this list is…

The Mistaken Bryennios List: 20/20 Hindsight Author’s Note: This section reexamines the Bryennios List and shows how many modern scholars bias their interpretations of evidence in favor of their own presuppositions. Gallagher and Meade are the best resource I have found for all the early canon lists.[1] So we start…

33 AD TO 200 AD Author’s Note: This chapter traces the development of the biblical canon during Christianity’s first two centuries through the surviving evidence from the earliest generations of believers. We begin with canon lists, where a Father from the early Church may have provided a list of the…

PART II: THE EARLY CHURCH Author’s Note: This section turns from the New Testament and the Jews to the historical witness of the early Church, examining what the earliest Christians believed about the biblical canon. INTRODUCTION: THE CERTAIN EXPLAINS THE UNCERTAIN Author’s Note: The strongest historical evidence should form the…

SIDEBAR 6: REASONABLE STANDARDS OF PROOF, PART II Author’s Note: This discussion continues developing the consistent evidentiary framework that underlies every argument presented throughout Canon Crossfire. The case for Christianity is usually framed as a debate among scholars. This book began as the very first footnote in a different book…

SIDEBAR 5: CONTRADICTORY PROOFS Author’s Note: Historical arguments cannot remain persuasive if they rely upon one standard of proof for books we accept and another for books we reject. From Geisler and Saleeb, Answering Islam: Insisting that the Qur’an must be divine revelation because it is self-consistent and noncontradictory is…