Development of the New Testament canon somewhat similar to the twenty-seven-book NT canon, which included four gospels and argued against objections to them. Thus, while there was a good measure of debate in the Early Church over the New Testament canon, the major writings are claimed to have been accepted by almost all Christians by the middle of the 3rd century. In his Easter letter of 367, Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, gave a list of the books that would become the twenty-seven-book NT canon, and he used the word "canonized" ( "kanonizomena") in regard to them. The first council that accepted the present canon of the
New Testament people named John among Jews of the time. He is usually identified with the Mark mentioned in various epistles, and with Mark the Evangelist. This John is occasionally proposed as author of some of the Johannine works as well. Tarazi even goes so far as to attribute to him the Gospels of both Mark and John and all the other Johannine books. Five canonical books of the New Testament are ascribed to John and thus called collectively the "Johannine literature": Only in Revelation does the text itself name its author as John; the other Johannine works are ascribed to John only through their