Gospel of Thomas in the late 2nd century that "since there are four quarters of the earth ... it is fitting that the church should have four pillars ... the four Gospels" ("Against Heresies", 3.11.8), and then shortly thereafter made the first known quotation from a fourth gospel—the canonical version of the Gospel of John. The late 2nd-century Muratorian fragment also recognizes only the three synoptic gospels and John. Bible scholar Bruce Metzger wrote regarding the formation of the New Testament canon, "Although the fringes of the emerging canon remained unsettled for generations, a high degree of unanimity concerning the greater part of
Law and Gospel (Cranach) them with serpents; they need only look upon the serpent placed on a cross by Moses to be saved. Luther considered the story an example of faith and illustrative of Gospel. The mixture of Old and New Testament concerns in both halves of the panels illustrates that Gospel is not only found in the New Testament. For Luther and Cranach, artworks such as "Law and Gospel" were intended to instill understanding of scripture and Lutheran thought, and the images were deemed acceptable so long as they were subordinate to the written word. The role of these Reformation "Merkbilder" contrasted with