The Formation of the Christian Bible

Around the beginning of the 3rd century there are some indications that the theologian Origen espoused what would become the traditional 27 book New Testament, though not without some reservations. There were concerns about several books, labeled antilegomena (Greek for ‘spoken against’), that were included in what would become the New Testament. Among these are the books Hebrews, James, II Peter, II and III John, and the Revelation of John. Several other antilegomena books, like the Shepherd of Hermas, the Apocalypse of Peter, the Epistle of Barnabasa and the Didache, were ultimately not included in the canon.

The first legitimate appearance of the traditional New Testament appeared in 367. Bishop Athanasius of Alexandria outlined the 27 book canon in an Easter address. He also used the term ‘kanonizomena’ (meaning canon) to solidify his position. This event is widely regarded as fixing in place the Christian New Testament. It took a few decades for this list to be agreed upon by various councils. There was much resistance to the inclusion of the Revelation of John due to the difficult nature of interpreting it and questions about apostolic authorship. By the end of the 5th century, though, every major church had adopted the 27 book New Testament.

The funny thing is that, despite all the pomp and circumstance surrounding what to include in this holy text, it would be another thousand years before the major Christian traditions formally adopted the current versions of their Bibles. By this point the Great Schism, the Protestant Reformation and Catholic Counter-reformation had taken place. In the wake of all this upheaval the different Christian communities sought to finally (and dogmatically) cement their Bibles in their respective traditions. It is worthwhile to note that Martin Luther tried (albeit unsuccessfully) to revive the old antilegomena arguments against certain books. He did not like the books Hebrews, James, Jude, and Revelation of John. This move was wildly unpopular with his followers, though the Luther version of the Bible does move these four books to the very end of the canon.