New Testament the Anchor Bible Dictionary), may be the earliest known New Testament canon attributed to mainstream Christianity. It is similar, but not identical, to the modern New Testament canon. The oldest clear endorsement of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John being the only legitimate gospels was written "circa" 180 AD. A four gospel canon (the "Tetramorph") was asserted by Irenaeus, who refers to it directly in his polemic "Against the Heresies", "It is not possible that the gospels can be either more or fewer in number than they are. For, since there are four zones of the world in which we live,
New Testament phraseology, and other evidence, modern scholarship generally concludes that Acts and the Gospel of Luke share the same author, referred to as Luke–Acts. Luke-Acts does not name its author. Church tradition identified him as Luke the Evangelist, the companion of Paul, but the majority of scholars reject this due to the many contradictions between Acts and the authentic Pauline letters. The most probable date of composition is around 80–100 AD, and there is evidence that it was still being substantially revised well into the 2nd century. The epistles of the New Testament are considered by Christians to be divinely inspired