athanasius is credited with the first list of all 27 of the current list of canonical new testament texts.
athanasius is credited with the first list of all 27 of the current list of canonical new testament texts.
who is credited with the first list of all 27 of the current list of canonical new testament texts?
athanasius
this debate primarily concerned whether certain works should be read in the church service or only privately. these works were widely used but not necessarily considered "catholic" or 'universal.' such works include the didache, shepherd of hermas, 1 clement, 2 clement, the epistle of barnabas, and to a lesser extent the apocalypse of peter. considering the generally accepted dates of authorship for all of the canonical new testament works (ca. 100 ce), as well as the various witnesses to canonicity extant among the writings of ignatius, polycarp, irenaeus, etc., the four gospels and letters of paul were held by the gentile christian community as scriptural, and 200 years were needed to finalize the canon; from the beginning of the 2nd century to the mid-4th century, no book in the final canon was ever declared spurious or heretical, except for the revelation of john which the council of laodicea in 363–364 ce rejected (although it accepted all of the other 26 books in the new testament). this was possibly due to fears of the influence of montanism which used the book extensively to support their theology. see revelation of john for more details. athanasius wrote his easter letter in 367 ce which defined a canon of 27 books, identical to the current canon, but also listed two works that were "not in the canon but to be read:" the shepherd of hermas and the didache. nevertheless, the early church leaders in the 3rd and 4th centuries generally distinguished between canonical works and those that were not canonical but 'useful,' or 'good for teaching,' though never relegating any of the final 27 books to the latter category. one aim with establishing the canon was to capture only those works which were held to have been written by the apostles, or their close associates, and as the muratorian fragment canon (ca. 150–175 ce) states concerning the shepherd of hermas:
new testament apocrypha
these differences between traditionalists and progressives show up in how one views the old testament texts and promises in the new testament and how they are handled by the new testament writers. for traditionalists, who perceive the present dispensation as a parenthesis, the standard approach has been to view old testament quotations in the new testament as applications rather than fulfillment. if an old testament quotation is said to have a fulfillment role in the new testament (outside of the gospels), then that may imply that the present dispensation is no longer a parenthesis, but has a relationship or connection with the prior dispensation. in contrast, progressives, instead of approaching all old testament quotations in the new testament as application, attempt to take into account the context and grammatical-historical features of both old testament and new testament texts. an old testament quote in the new testament might turn out to be an application, but it also might be a partial fulfillment or a complete fulfillment or even something else.
progressive dispensationalism