Early Christian Views of the New Testament Canon
Early Christians treated the New Testament as the apostolic writings read in the churches. Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Origen, and later church lists all point to a living canon of Gospels, Acts, and apostolic letters. The strongest agreement is on the main New Testament books, while a few edge books were still discussed differently in some places.
148 early-church witnesses · 243 source quotations · compared with Scripture
What did early Christians believe about the New Testament canon?
Early Christians treated the New Testament as the apostolic writings of the church, not as a later human collection. Justin Martyr spoke of the apostles’ memoirs called Gospels, Irenaeus defended the Gospel writings as apostolic, and Tertullian argued from the authority of the apostolic churches against Marcion.
By the third century, writers like Origen, Cyprian, Dionysius, and the Apostolic Constitutions were speaking of the Gospels, Acts, Paul’s letters, and other apostolic books as read in the churches. The evidence is broad on the core New Testament books, but it is more mixed on the exact edge of the canon, especially books like Revelation, Hebrews, 2 Peter, Jude, and some church-used writings that were not received everywhere.
Many more early Christian quotations, Bible passages, and source links are gathered below so you can study the evidence for yourself.
Key Takeaways
- Early Christians saw the Gospels and apostolic letters as authoritative church books.
- Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, and Tertullian defend the apostolic origin of the New Testament writings.
- By the third century, church lists and liturgical reading show a broad canon in use.
- A few books on the edge of the canon were still discussed differently in some regions.
Questions Answered by the Sources
Which New Testament books did early Christians recognize and read?
The strongest evidence here is that the four Gospels, Paul’s letters, and several catholic epistles were being named as church books and read in worship. One source also gives a broader sacred-books list, while another shows some variation over Revelation and Peter.
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Origen, Commentary on John Direct teaching
To this we must reply that it is the conviction of men who are wise in Christ, who have profited by those epistles which are current, and who see them to be vouched for by the testimonies deposited in the law and the prophets, that the apostolic writings are to be pronounced wise and worthy of belief, and that they have great authority, but that they are not on the same level with that Thus says the Lord Almighty.
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Origen, Commentary on John Supporting witness
...ding of the first fruits last, and may say that Acts and the letters of the Apostles came after the Gospels, and that this destroys our argument that the Gospel is the first fruits of all Scripture. To this we must reply that it is the conviction of those who are wise in Christ, who have profited from those epistles that are current, and who see them to be vouched for by the testimonies laid down in the Law and the Prophets, that the apostolic writings are wise and worthy of belief, and that they have great authority. But they are not on the same level as, "Thus says the Lord Almighty," 2 Corinthians 6:18. Consider Paul’s words on this point. When he declares that, "Every Scripture is inspired by God and profitable," 2 Timothy 3:16, does he include his own writings? Or does he not include such sayings as, "I say, and not the Lord," 1 Corinthians 7:12, and, "So I ordain in all the churches," 1 Corinthians 7:17, and, "What things I suffered at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra," 2 Timothy 3:11, and similar things which he writes by his own authority, and which do not quite have the character of words flowing from divine inspiration? Must we also show that the old Scripture is not Gos
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Clement of Alexandria, Exhortation to the Heathen Direct teaching
...nows this teaching to be truly divine. He says, "You, O Timothy, from childhood have known the holy writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith that is in Christ Jesus." 2 Timothy 3:15 For those writings are truly holy, because they sanctify and make divine. And the writings or books made up of those holy letters and syllables, the same apostle therefore calls inspired by God, and profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work. No one is moved so deeply by the exhortations of any of the saints as by the words of the Lord Himself, the lover of mankind. For this, and this alone, is His only work: the salvation of man. Therefore He Himself, urging them on to salvation, cries out, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matthew 4:17 He converts those who draw near through fear. In the same way, the apostle of the Lord, urging the Macedonians, becomes the interpreter of the divine voice when he says, "The Lord is at hand; take care that you are not found empty." Philippians 4:5 But are you so without fear, or rather so without faith, that you d
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Dionysius of Alexandria, Miscellaneous Fragments Supporting witness
... some teachers who say that the law and the prophets are of no importance, who refuse to follow the Gospels, who speak lightly of the epistles of the apostles, and who have also made great claims for the teaching of this work, as if it were some great and hidden mystery. At the same time, they do not allow that our simpler brothers have any lofty and exalted understanding either of our Lord's appearing in His glory and His true divinity, or of our own resurrection from the dead, and of our being gathered to Him and made like Him. Instead, they try to lead them to hope for things that are trivial and corruptible, and only for the kind of things we have now in the kingdom of God. Since this is so, it becomes necessary for us to discuss this subject with our brother Nepos as if he were present.
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Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness
...human argument and return with sincere and reverent faith to the authority of the Gospel and to the apostolic tradition, we will see that those who scatter and attack the Church of Christ can do nothing to give ecclesiastical and saving grace. They are called adversaries by Christ Himself, and by His apostles, Antichrists.
Did early Christians reject false gospels or later additions to the apostolic faith?
Some early writers explicitly oppose heretical claims, reject rival writings, or insist that only apostolic teaching should count as received in the churches. These sources are useful as counter-witnesses to later non-apostolic additions, not as definitions of the canon itself.
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Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Direct teaching
...aw and the Prophets—is called the Old. But the things written after His resurrection are called the New Testament. The Jews use the Old; we use the New. Yet they are not in conflict, for the New is the fulfillment of the Old. And in both there is the same testator, that is, Christ. Having suffered death for us, He made us heirs of His everlasting kingdom, while the people of the Jews were deprived and disinherited. As the prophet Jeremiah testifies when he speaks these things: Jeremiah 31:31-32, "Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new testament with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not according to the testament which I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my testament, and I disregarded them, says the Lord." Also in another place he says in the same way: Jeremiah 12:7-8, "I have forsaken my house, I have given up my heritage into the hand of its enemies. My heritage has become to me like a lion in the forest. It has cried out against me; therefore I have hated it." Since the inheritance is His heavenly kingdom, it is clear that He does not say t
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Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness
but those things which were written after His resurrection are named the New Testament.
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Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness
For that which He said above, that He would make a new testament to the house of Judah, shows that the old testament which was given by Moses was not perfect;
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Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Supporting witness
nor is the power of the New Testament detracted from, while its truth is resting on the roots of the same Old Testament.
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Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Supporting witness
... moon is not visible, they do not keep the Sabbath, which is called the first; nor do they keep the new moon, nor the feast of unleavened bread, nor the feast, nor the great day." Then he gives the final answer to the question: "Do that also, learning in a holy and righteous way what we deliver to you. Keep these things, worshiping God in a new way, through Christ. For we find in the Scriptures, as the Lord says: 'Behold, I make with you a new covenant, not as I made with your fathers at Mount Horeb.' Jeremiah 31:31-32; Hebrews 8:8-10" He made a new covenant with us, for what belonged to the Greeks and Jews is old. But we, who worship Him in a new way, in the third form, are Christians. For clearly, I think, he showed that the one and only God was known by the Greeks in a Gentile way, by the Jews in a Jewish way, and by us in a new and spiritual way.
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Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book IV Supporting witness
And those among them who declare that God would establish a new covenant with people, not like the one He made with the ancestors at Mount Horeb, and would give people a new heart and a new spirit; and again, "And do not remember the things of old: behold, I make new things which shall now arise, and you shall know it; and I will make a way in the desert, and rivers in a dry land, to give drink to my chosen people, my people whom I have acquired, that they may show forth my praise,"—clearly announced the freedom which characterizes the new covenant, and the new wine which is put into new bottles, meaning the faith which is in Christ, by which He has proclaimed the way of righteousness that arises in the desert, and the streams of the Holy Spirit in a dry land, to give water to the chosen people of God, whom He has acquired, that they might show forth His praise, but not that they might blaspheme Him who made these things, that is, God.
Did early Christians agree on the same New Testament canon everywhere?
No, not perfectly. The core books were widely received, but some books at the edges were discussed differently, such as Revelation of Peter in some places and other writings that were read by some churches but not all. Caius and Dionysius reflect that kind of difference.
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Caius, Fragments Direct teaching
The Epistle of Jude, and two epistles belonging to the John named above, or bearing the name of John, are counted among the Catholic Epistles. Also, the book of Wisdom, written by the friends of Solomon in his honor. We also receive the Apocalypse of John, and that of Peter, though some among us do not allow this latter one to be read in the Church. Moreover, Hermas wrote The Pastor very recently, in our own times, in the city of Rome, while his brother, bishop Plus, sat in the chair of the Church of Rome. Therefore it also ought to be read. But it cannot be made public in the Church to the people. Nor can it be placed among the prophets, since their number is complete, nor among the apostles to the end of time. Of the writings of Arsinous, also called Valentinus, or of Miltiades, we receive nothing at all. Those too are rejected who wrote the new Book of Psalms for Marcion, together with Basilides and the founder of the Asian Cataphrygians.
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Caius, Fragments Supporting witness
We receive also the Apocalypse of John and that of Peter, though some among us will not have this latter read in the Church.
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Dionysius of Alexandria, Miscellaneous Fragments Supporting witness
...ht at once to begin their festival joy and gladness. But in what you wrote to me, you showed very clearly, and with an intelligent understanding of the Holy Scriptures, that they do not seem to give any exact statement of the hour when He rose. For the Evangelists describe differently the people who came one after another to the tomb, and all declare that they found the Lord already risen. Matthew says it was at the end of the Sabbath. John writes that it was early, while it was still dark. Luke says it was very early in the morning. Mark tells us it was very early in the morning, at the rising of the sun. So no one has shown us clearly the exact time when He rose. It is admitted, however, that those who came to the tomb at the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, found that He was no longer lying in it. And let us not suppose that the Evangelists disagree or contradict one another. Even if there seems to be some small difficulty in the matter we are asking about, they all agree that the Light of the world, our Lord, rose on that one night, though they differ about the hour. So we may rightly try, with a wise and faithful mind, to bring their
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Dionysius of Alexandria, Miscellaneous Fragments Supporting witness
But the Revelation is totally different, and altogether distinct from this;
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Dionysius of Alexandria, Miscellaneous Fragments Supporting witness
And altogether, through their whole course, it will be evident that the Gospel and the Epistle are distinguished by one and the same character of writing.
Common Questions
Did early Christians have a New Testament canon?
Yes. They treated the apostolic Gospels, Acts, and letters as church writings with authority, even though the exact list was still being discussed in some places.
Which early Christian writers talk about the New Testament?
Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Origen, Cyprian, and the Apostolic Constitutions all speak about the apostolic writings and church reading.
Were all New Testament books accepted the same way?
No. The core books were widely received, but some edge books were treated with more caution or discussed differently in different churches.
Source Index for the New Testament canon
The guided sections above show the strongest quotations. This compact index highlights 160 ranked source links from 243 compiled sources for deeper study.
Source index 160 ranked links shown
Early Christian Writings 80 shown of 148
Primary-source quotations from early Christian writers and church documents.
Bible Passages 80 shown of 95
Related Bible passages saved for comparison with the early Christian quotations.
Related Resources
Course Lesson
In Light of Melito of Sardis’ Old Testament List, Should Christians Accept the Apocrypha as Canonical Scripture?
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The Old Testament canon
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