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,
The Missing Gospels The Missing Gospels The Missing Gospels: Unearthing the Truth Behind Alternative Christianities is a book by Darrell L. Bock, Research Professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary. The book is concerned with later alternative gospels and 'Christianities' associated with the Nag Hammadi discoveries of 1945. The book focuses on the claims of early Christian diversity, the origins of Gnosticism, as well as the theology of the later alternative texts and communities. The book contains a foreword by Edwin M. Yamauchi. The book contains numerous endorsements by prominent Christian New Testament scholars and academics including Larry Hurtado, Martin Hengel,