Under the close guidance of the Church of God, the formation of the canon of sacred books of the New Testament took place. As Hieromartyr Hilarion notes, many of the books that made up the subsequently adopted canon of sacred books of the New Testament were already in apostolic times actively used by the Church and collected by it for their preservation.

Hieromartyr Hilarion’s study of the canon of sacred books of the New Testament, already formed in apostolic times, is largely based on the article of Archpriest Alexander Gorsky “The formation of the canon of sacred books of the New Testament,” and therefore it can be considered belonging to Russian theological thought.

Your thoughts on the history of formation Holy Scripture Hieromartyr Hilarion begins the New Testament, like Archpriest Alexander Gorsky, with the meaning of apostolic service in the life of the Church, and also speaks about the reason for the appearance of the holy books. The Apostles, as successors and disciples of the Lord, were sent by Him to preach: “... as the Father has sent Me, so I am sending you” (John 20:21), “go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature” (Mark 16: 15). For this reason, the apostolic ministry must be recognized as exceptional, since the Lord Himself placed them in this ministry. The Book of Acts of the Holy Apostles tells of the election of another man instead of the fallen Judas, who was with the apostles the entire time the Lord was with them, “beginning from the baptism of John until the day on which he ascended...” (Acts 1:22). The choice was made not by human voting, but by lot, with the following words to the Lord: “Thou, Lord, knowest the hearts of all, show of these two one whom Thou hast chosen to accept the lot of this ministry and Apostleship...” (Acts 1: 24-25). Hieromartyr Hilarion explains this by saying that if the Lord chose the number twelve for this exclusive service, it means that it had to be filled by someone after the fall of Judas. And one more point, noticed by him and confirming the special election in this service, is the resort to the lot, through which it is not man who chooses, but God.

The young man Saul, who persecuted the Church of God, and then became the “chosen vessel” of God to preach the Gospel, often told the pagans about his chosenness by Jesus Christ Himself: “Paul is an Apostle, chosen not by men or through man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father...” ( Gal. 1:1). There are places in the Holy Scriptures in which the Lord speaks of his apostolic mission: “Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles” (Acts 22:21). That is why in iconography we so often see the image of the Apostle Paul together with the twelve apostles during the Last Supper, as if he were with them at that moment, although historically his presence is impossible.

In accordance with their purpose and calling from God, the apostles taught and preached to people about the Coming into the world of Christ and the Son of God, through whom our sins are forgiven and every person is given the opportunity to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. In addition to oral instructions, there were also written ones: “Brethren, stand fast and hold to the traditions that you were taught either by word or by our message” (2 Thess. 2:15); “let such a one know that, as we are in words in letters in absentia, such are we in reality in person” (2 Cor. 10:11); “I adjure you by the Lord to read this letter to all the holy brothers” (1 Thess. 5:27). The apostolic epistles have as much authority as those who wrote them. Or as Hieromartyr Hilarion says, “there is no difference between the personality of the apostle and his message.” It is simply physically impossible to be in all the Churches at once, so we had to send messages. And, probably, the apostles understood that they could not live forever, and the verbs of truth that they learned from the Lord were to instruct subsequent generations of Christians. If anyone disobeyed the message, then the apostle did not even allow communication with such people (see: 2 Thess. 3:14). False teachers, seeing such importance and seriousness of the messages and the corresponding attitude of Christians towards them, more than once tried to replace them. In this regard, the Apostle Paul writes to the Thessalonians not to immediately accept any word or message, since there are many seducers who used the apostolic authority for their own needs (see: 2 Thess. 2:2). Protecting church communities from such “epistles,” the Apostle Paul writes the final words in his own hand, which he often communicates to the recipients of the message: “Greetings with my hand, Paul’s, which serves as a sign in every epistle; I write this: the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen" (2 Thess. 3: 17–18), or, for example, in the Epistle to the Colossians: “Greetings with my hand, Paul’s ..." (Col. 4: 18). Apparently, not only the Apostle Paul encountered substitutions; Holy Apostle John the Theologian writes similar words: “...if anyone takes away anything from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the book of life and from the holy city and from what is written in this book” (Rev. 22:19). The same fact is noted by Archpriest Alexander Gorsky: “Some even abused this meaning of the apostolic epistles; the name of the apostle was attached to writings that did not belong to him. Thus, after the very first epistle that we have from the Apostle Paul, others had already begun to appear written under his name, and he found it necessary in the second of his known epistles to show a clear sign by which his genuine epistles can be distinguished from inauthentic ones. “In every epistle I usually write with my own hand the greeting: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all” (2 Thess. 2:2 and 3:17).”

The New Testament books were written for the entire Church. It happens that one letter is sent to several Churches, for example, the letters of the Apostle Peter. But even if the message was written to one community, it is known how the Apostle Paul commanded that they be exchanged so that the whole Church could learn through them. “When this letter is read to you, then order that it be read in the Laodicean church; and that which is from Laodicea, read ye also” (Col. 4:16). We are not talking about the Gospel, which, according to the commandment of the Savior, must be preached throughout the entire earth. From this, Hieromartyr Hilarion concludes that different Churches collected sacred scriptures. The Apostle Peter writes: “...count the longsuffering of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote to you, just as he speaks about this in all his epistles...” (2 Pet. 3: 15-16). From these words the basic principle of the exchange of messages between the Churches is derived. The Apostle Peter wrote this letter to the Christians of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia (1 Pet. 1: 1; 2 Pet. 3: 1). The Apostle Paul did not send his messages to all of the areas listed. It should also be noted how the letters of the Apostle Paul are called. Along with the sacred Old Testament books, they are called “scriptures.” The word "scripture" in ancient Greek Grafh is the term used to designate Holy Scripture in the New Testament Old Testament(see, for example: Luke 24: 27, 32). It is very important for us that the Apostle Peter uses the same word to refer to the letters of the Apostle Paul. Despite the great significance and authority among all Christians of the epistles of the Apostle Paul, it seems that other apostolic epistles were treated with the same respect and reverence. True, due to the long distances, the apostolic letters did not reach all Churches immediately. Therefore, a complete set of them could be collected in one area, but not in another.

The significance of the Church of Ephesus in the history of the formation of the New Testament canon

Hieromartyr Hilarion, through logic and study of the Holy Scriptures, tries to identify the church community in which the most favorable conditions existed for the collection and preservation of the maximum number of New Testament writings, which later formed the canonical corpus of the sacred books of the New Testament. On this issue, Hieromartyr Hilarion agrees with Archpriest Alexander Gorsky, who considers the Church of Ephesus to be such a place, where the disciple of the Apostle Paul Timothy and the beloved disciple of the Lord, the Evangelist John the Theologian, lived and worked.

Timothy, as the Apostle Paul writes, while still a child learned and was interested in the Holy Scriptures (see: 2 Tim. 3:15). The same chief apostle, speaking about the piety and unfeigned faith of Timothy's mother and grandmother (see: 2 Tim. 1: 5), thereby shows how close their relationship was, if he even knows the family from which Timothy came. Maybe that’s why Timothy became the closest disciple of the Apostle Paul. The first mention of Timothy can be found in the chapters of the Acts of the Holy Apostles, which tell about the second missionary service Apostle Paul. First, it talks about his origins from a Jew and a Greek. Later, the Evangelist Luke mentions Timothy as a person who directly helps the Apostle Paul in evangelizing. Having learned about the misfortune of the Thessalonian Church, the Apostle Paul sent Timothy there so that on his behalf he would strengthen their faith and console them in love. Already being in Corinth, the apostle received good news about the Thessalonians from Timothy, who came (see: Acts 18: 5; 1 Thess. 3: 6). Therefore, it is not surprising that the Epistle to the Thessalonians begins with a greeting not only from the Apostle Paul, but also from his disciples Timothy and Silvanus, whom they already knew in those places (see: 1 Thess. 1: 1; 2 Thess. 1: 1).

After some time, while the Apostle Paul was preaching in Ephesus, Timothy went to the Corinthians: “I have sent to you Timothy, my beloved and faithful son in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach everywhere, in every church" (1 Cor. 4:17), and again: "If Timothy comes to you, see that he is safe with you; for he is doing the Lord’s work, just as I do. Therefore let no one despise him, but see him off in peace, so that he may come to me; for I am waiting for him with the brethren” (1 Cor. 16:10–11). The Second Epistle to the Corinthians also mentions Timothy: “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy brother, of the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints throughout all Achaia...” (2 Cor. 1:1). The same letter mentions the preaching of Timothy and Silvanus in Corinth (see: 2 Cor. 1: 19).

Around the same time, the Epistle to the Romans was written, where the Apostle Paul calls Timothy his co-worker (see: Rom. 16:21). Timothy was also present in Rome, during the imprisonment of his teacher, who soon sent him to Philippi: “I hope in the Lord Jesus to soon send Timothy to you, so that I, having learned about your circumstances, may be comforted in spirit. For I have no one equally zealous who would so sincerely care about you: because everyone is looking for their own, and not what is pleasing to Jesus Christ. And his faithfulness is known to you, because he served me as a son to his father in the gospel” (Phil. 2:19-22). In the welcoming part of the Epistle to the Philippians, in addition to the name of the apostle of tongues, the name of his disciple Timothy is also found (see: Phil. 1: 1). Similar references, where the Apostle Paul, together with his colleague Timothy, greets Christian communities, are in the Epistle to the Colossians (see: Col. 1: 1) and to Philemon (see: Phil. 1: 1), written in the same period as the Epistle to the Philippians.

Writing the Epistle to the Hebrews, the Apostle Paul speaks about the release of Timothy, and if everything goes well, then he will come to them with him (see: Heb. 13: 23).

As for the Epistles to the Ephesians and Timothy himself, we can definitely say that these letters were found in Timothy. The very fact that the Apostle Paul placed Timothy at the head of the Ephesian Church (see: 1 Tim. 1: 3), and also gave him the right to ordain priests (see: 1 Tim. 4: 14), gives us reason for such a conviction . And the two Epistles to Timothy could not escape their addressee, for whom they were especially valuable and important, showing all the fatherly care and love of the Apostle Paul for his disciple and helper.

Hieromartyr Hilarion does not find serious evidence in the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament for the exact statement that Timothy had the Epistles to the Galatians and Titus, but makes the following assumption: “The Epistle to the Galatians could also have been known in Ephesus. After all, it was written to one of the Churches neighboring Ephesus, and given the mutual exchange of messages between the Churches, it could not have been unknown in Ephesus, this center of all Asia Minor life.” And about the Epistle to Titus, he writes in continuation: “There remains one epistle to Titus. But this epistle in its content is very close to the First Epistle to Timothy and contains very important instructions for Timothy about how one should act in the house of God. Being himself in a position similar to that of Titus, Timothy could not help but be interested in the instructions that the Apostle Paul taught in his Epistle to Titus.” The relationship of Timothy to the Apostle Paul was, as the Epistle to the Philippians says, equivalent to the relationship of a son to a father (see Phil. 2:22), so it is not surprising that Timothy could have had all the letters of the apostle. Every word coming out of Pavlov’s mouth meant something to him. special meaning, to which he was motivated by his love for his teacher and their common service to the Church of Christ. Priest Alexander Gorsky came to the same conclusion, noting that the Apostle Timothy’s love for his teacher leaves no doubt that the shepherd of Ephesus collected for his Church everything that was possible from the writings of the Apostle Paul. The above gives us the right to assert that the Ephesian Church, led by Timothy, had all fourteen letters of the Apostle Paul.

In addition to Timothy, it is necessary to note other people who were close to the Apostle Paul and helped him in carrying out his difficult apostolic ministry. Of all the people close to him, Hieromartyr Hilarion is especially interested in the personalities of the Evangelists Mark and Luke. People who had gone through the school of writing and were sufficiently educated gathered around the Apostle Paul. The Apostle Paul calls the Evangelist Luke in his Epistle to the Colossians “a beloved physician” (Col. 4:14), and Philemon as his fellow worker (see Phil. 1:23). Evangelist Luke, like Timothy, was faithful and devoted to the Apostle Paul even when everyone abandoned him: “Demas left me, loving the present age, and went to Thessalonica, Crescent to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. Luke alone is with me” (2 Tim. 4:10). Two books from the New Testament canon were written by Luke to the Venerable Theophilus, as the evangelist himself writes about this (see: Luke 1: 1-4; Acts 1: 1-5). Since the first centuries, these books have been considered authoritative by Christians. What gave them this significance in the Church was that they were associated with the name of the Apostle Paul. In a letter to Timothy, the Apostle of Nations writes: “Remember the Lord Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, who rose from the dead according to my gospel...” (2 Tim. 2:8). According to the testimony of Hieromartyr Hilarion, in this place there is a mention of the Gospel written by Luke. And the extensive book of the Acts of the Holy Apostles consists more than half of the biography and sermons of the Apostle Paul. All the above arguments make it possible to say that Timothy knew these books.

There are passages in the Holy Scriptures confirming the communication of the Evangelist Mark with the Apostle Paul and Timothy: “Try to come to me soon... Take Mark and bring him with you; for I need him to serve” (2 Tim. 4:9, 11). From these words we can conclude that Timothy and the Apostle Mark were together in Ephesus. Knowing about the friendly relations between Timothy and Mark, one cannot help but assume that the Ephesian Church had the Gospel written by Mark. But besides the Gospel, the Ephesian community also had two letters of the Apostle Peter. In his First Epistle, the Apostle Peter calls Mark “my son” (1 Pet. 5:13), just like the Apostle Paul to Timothy, and it was written by Silvanus, with whom Timothy preached together in Corinth (see: 2 Cor. 1 : 19). These letters could not pass by Ephesus, since they were written to Christians living and scattered throughout Asia Minor; it also mentions Asia, the region where this city was located (see: 1 Pet. 1: 1).

The Epistle of James was written specifically to the Jews in the dispersion. Having become acquainted with the activities of the Apostle Paul in Ephesus, where he preached to the Jews at the synagogue for three months (see: Acts 19: 8), it can be argued that this message was also known to the Ephesian community, because it consisted of a sufficient number of Jews, including There were probably Christian believers: “...all the inhabitants of Asia heard the preaching of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks” (Acts 19:10). And from the fear that arose after the beating by demons of certain seven sons of the Jewish high priest Sceva, who used the name of the Lord Jesus, but were not in the true sense Christians, among the inhabitants of Ephesus - both Jews and Greeks - according to the testimony of the Evangelist Luke, “the name was magnified Lord Jesus" (Acts 19:17).

Hieromartyr Hilarion, seeing a certain similarity between the Second Epistle of Peter and the Epistle of Jude, writes: “The small Epistle of the Apostle Jude comes very close in content to the Second Epistle of Peter, where the same false teachers are exposed as in the Epistle of Peter. Perhaps it was intended for approximately the same circle of readers as the Second Epistle of Peter. Consequently, in its spread it did not pass through Ephesus." Hieromartyr Hilarion also took this idea from the work of Archpriest Alexander Gorsky.

The Ephesian Church stands out not only because it was led by Timothy, a colleague and disciple of the Apostle Paul, but also because the beloved disciple of the Lord, John the Theologian, had close communication with this community of Christians, as evidenced by church writers. Saint Irenaeus speaks of the stay of the Apostle John in Ephesus before the Emperor Trajan, where Polycarp of Smyrna studied with him, whom, according to Tertullian, the apostle of love himself ordained a bishop. Blessed Jerome tells about the stay of the Apostle John in the Ephesian Church and at the same time edifying the Asian Christian communities. According to the conviction of this same saint, he was buried by his disciples near the city of Ephesus. The same can be heard from Clement of Alexandria, Eusebius of Caesarea and Polycarp, Bishop of Ephesus.

If the Apostle John lived in Ephesus, then, accordingly, all four Gospels, three of his messages and the Apocalypse were there. Eusebius of Caesarea writes that after writing the Gospel of Matthew, Mark and Luke, the Apostle John, seeing the absence of works accomplished by the Savior before the imprisonment of the prophet of God John, decided to supplement the three Gospels with his fourth. Blessed Jerome finds the reason for writing the Gospel of John in the desire of John the Theologian, at the request of local bishops, to expose heresies, and especially the false teachers of the Ebionites, who claimed the non-existence of Christ before Holy Mother of God.

Three epistles were also written for Christians in Asia Minor. The first contains the exhortations and instructions of the Apostle John, who cared for his spiritual children, whom he calls with all love and tenderness “my children” (1 John 2:1). The second and third messages were sent to special persons who lived, as one might assume, not far from Ephesus, if he, already in his old age, was going to come to them (see: 2 John 1:12; 3 John 1:14).

The last book of the New Testament canon, which was also written by the Evangelist John, was directly related to the Ephesian Church, since it contains instructions addressed to this community from the Lord: of the seven Churches mentioned in this book, the Lord, not without reason, is the first to address the Ephesian Church.

Summing up some results, Hieromartyr Hilarion makes the following conclusion: “So, considering the various circumstances of the apostolic time, with a very high degree of probability we can talk about the formation of the New Testament canon in Ephesus back in the apostolic time. This education began there under Timothy, who had the closest relations with the most important New Testament writers - the Apostle Paul, the evangelists Luke and Mark. The compilation of the New Testament was completed in Ephesus under the Apostle John the Theologian, who himself was the last writer of New Testament books... After him, no one could write anything that with equal right could become one of the books of the New Testament.”

From Ephesus, the holy books of the New Testament could be distributed to all other Churches. Hieromartyr Hilarion recalls the apocryphal monument “The Teaching of Addai,” where Addai, bidding farewell to his disciple Ageus and other Christians, commands them to read “The Acts of the Twelve Apostles, sent from Ephesus by John, the son of Zebedee.” Addai says that it is one of those books in which the truth is proclaimed, and through it, for this reason, people should be instructed in the Churches. This information, despite the fact that it is taken from apocrypha, appears to be true.

At the conclusion of the study, Hieromartyr Hilarion himself notes the merits of Archpriest Alexander Gorsky, who published the article “The Formation of the Canon of the Holy Books of the New Testament.”

Particular attention should be paid to it, since it reveals the instability and inconsistency of Western theological science in this matter, where it is generally accepted that the formation of the canon of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament took place in the 2nd century in Rome. On this occasion, Hieromartyr Hilarion writes: “Such a presentation of ancient church history is unacceptable for an Orthodox member of the Church, and without this presentation, almost all meaning and the opinion that the New Testament canon was originally formed in Rome, where there was no equally favorable combination of circumstances, were lost , as it was in Ephesus in apostolic times." The arguments of Archpriest Alexander are much more natural and convincing than the arguments of Western scientists who do not have sufficiently serious facts and grounds for their beliefs.

Having determined the place where during the Apostolic period the sacred books of the New Testament were located, subsequently accepted by the Church as canonical, Hieromartyr Hilarion examines them future fate in the 2nd century. To do this, he takes the works of church writers who actively opposed heretics who distorted the Holy Scriptures and tried to adjust it to their false teachings.

Major heretical movements of the 2nd century that distorted the Holy Scriptures

In the 2nd century, three main movements can be distinguished: Marcionism, Montanism and Gnosticism.

The heresy of Marcionism takes its name from its founder, Marcion. The Church recognized the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament and, after the appearance of the New Testament books, did not abolish it in any way. Marcion, on the contrary, argued that the Old Testament was unnecessary and even spoke of its contradiction to the New Testament. Marcion had to redo many words from the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament, since little was said there about the enmity of the two testaments, which he tried to prove with such insatiability. For example, Marcion remade the words of Christ that He did not come to destroy the law and the prophets, but to fulfill them: “What do you think, that I came to fulfill the law or the prophets? I did not come to fulfill, but to destroy.” Therefore, in accordance with Tertullian’s description, he ordered his disciples to read the Gospel, guided by his works (“Antitheses”). Of all the books of the New Testament, he recognized only those written by the Apostle Paul, since, according to Marcion, other writers of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament introduced many Jewish and Old Testament concepts into the Gospel preaching. Of the four Gospels, he recognized only the Gospel of Luke as a collaborator of the Apostle Paul, and even then he omitted 300 verses and 60 altered.

Regarding Paul's epistles, the first in Marcion's list is the Epistle to the Galatians, where, in his opinion, a quarrel occurred between the Apostle Peter and Paul due to the Apostle Peter's observance of Jewish customs. Here is what the complete version of the sequence of letters of the Apostle Paul looks like according to Marcion: “first - Epistle to the Galatians, second - Epistle to the Corinthians, third - Epistle to the Second Corinthians, fourth - Epistle to the Romans, fifth - Epistle to the Thessalonians, sixth - Epistle to the Second Thessalonians , the seventh is the Epistle to the Ephesians, the eighth is the Epistle to the Colossians, the ninth is the Epistle to Philemon, the tenth is the Epistle to the Philippians. Also accepts in parts the so-called Epistle to the Laodiceans." About the Epistle to the Laodiceans, Hieromartyr Hilarion makes a reservation that in fact it coincides with the Epistle to the Ephesians (for example, Ephesians 4:5 completely coincides with one of the quotes from the Epistle to the Laodiceans). Therefore, Hieromartyr Hilarion singles out ten epistles from Marcion, and not eleven. Tertullian also mentions this, saying that by the letter to the Laodiceans Marcion means the letter to the Ephesians, based on Colossians 4:16.

In addition to Marcion's heresy, another serious heretical movement- Montanism. Its founder is Montanus, a native of Phrygia. Montanism was called a new prophecy, since people who belonged to this heretical movement “prophesied” in ecstasy, without control of their feelings. Tertullian defended the Montanists, speaking of a certain darkening of the mind when God speaks through them or one of them sees the glory of God. To which the church writer Miltiades rightly notes that a prophet should not speak in a frenzy, and this opinion is shared not only by him, but also by other church writers. That's what it is main reason the names of their “prophecies” are new. One has only to look at what they said to understand how mistaken they were and how delusional they were.

Here are the words of Montanus during ecstasy: “I am the Lord God Almighty, abiding in man,” or: “I am the Father, and the Son, and the Paraclete,” and his prophetess Maximilla: “Do not listen to me, but listen to Christ.” According to the Montanists, through Montana the Paraclete spoke much more and even more excellently than Christ Himself in the Gospel, and his followers, accordingly, are higher than the apostles. This new prophecy, in their opinion, should replace the revelation of Christ and the apostles found in the books of the New Testament. It is impossible to assert the existence of sacred books among the Montanists, but we can still talk about the authority of their words, which were considered higher for them than the truths of Holy Scripture. Although the historian Eusebius, telling about the dispute between the learned man Gaius and the Montanist Proclus, speaks of Gaius’s mention of new writings that arose among the Montanists, for which he denounced Proclus. The 2nd century church writer Apollonius writes about a certain Montanist Themison, who imitated the apostles and, like them, composed his “epistles” for instruction. If Marcion recognized the canon of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament partially, cutting out from it what he did not like, then, probably, the Montanists would like to replace all Scripture with their new revelations in written form.

Another heretical movement of this period is Gnosticism. Unlike Marcionism and Montanism, it often spread not only within Asia Minor, but also in other territories. This movement was divided into various branches. In this case, we will not focus on individual opinions about these fractional communities, but will highlight them general attitude to the Holy Scriptures.

The Gnostics called themselves true Christians, to whom special knowledge was opened for understanding and interpreting the Holy Scriptures. “The Gnostics approached the New Testament books with their own, already established systems...”. The Gnostics distorted the Holy Scriptures with their teaching, or, better said, they adjusted it to their myths and fables. Each Gnostic branch transmitted and received the New Testament books in different ways. For example, for the Ebionites only the Gospel of Matthew was authoritative, but the Valentinians accepted only the Gospel of John. Each of them chose the Gospel that best suited their heretical ideas. We find the same thoughts in Tertullian: “Heretics do not accept some Scriptures, and those that they do accept, they distort with insertions and omissions, adapting them to their teaching. If heresy accepts the Scriptures, it does not accept them in their entirety...”

The Gnostics claimed about Christ and the apostles that everything they said about important and lofty things was from the Demiurge, and somewhere, in another case, from the middle, and sometimes from the heights. About this, Vladyka Hilarion, perplexed, writes: “What guided the Valentinians in dividing the Scriptures into these three parts is completely unknown; obviously, only by his own arbitrariness." Apparently, the Gnostics “start from the same thing” when presenting the theory of accommodation. If you follow this theory, Christ and his disciples did not speak directly in some places, since the situation itself was not always favorable for this, or, in other words, the listeners were not ready for these revelations. Based on this theory, the Gnostics began to apply an allegorical method of interpretation to the Holy Scriptures, where they could just substitute the meaning that was more suitable for their false teachings. By ambiguities that need to be interpreted, Gnostics mean parables and images in the Holy Scriptures. Christ, according to the Gnostics, with the words “Seek and you will find” (Matthew 7: 7; Luke 11: 9) indicates the search for mysterious knowledge in the Scriptures, and it can only be found with the help of allegory. Saint Irenaeus laments: “Wherever the word “age” or “age” is used... everywhere they find an indication of this eon.” And indeed, using the allegorical method of interpretation, they see everywhere in the Holy Scriptures an indication of aeons. For example, 30 years, when the Lord did not create anything, among the Gnostics means 30 eons; or the conversation of the Savior at the age of twelve with the scribes and elders is understood by them as an allusion to twelve aeons, and the falling away of Judas means the falling away of the twelfth aeon, and the like. Hieromartyr Hilarion writes on this matter: “The above examples, which are not among the worst, show how far the Gnostics went in the allegorical interpretation of the New Testament books, and one can fully agree with Tertullian that such an interpretation harmed the truth no less than the corruption of the text itself.” Although, speaking about the allegorical method of interpretation, it should be noted that the Church also used it, but everything depends not on the method, but on who uses it and for what purposes. It is in Saint Irenaeus that this method of interpretation is first encountered; he is not alien to Tertullian either. According to Hieromartyr Hilarion, “they did not consider the scientific study of the Holy Scriptures to be the highest, much less the only way to comprehend Christ’s truth; They did not think at all that living truth could be achieved by scientific methods. On principle, Tertullian even refuses to conduct a scientific dispute with heretics on the basis of Scripture... And in general, we must remember that faith saves, and not the study of Scripture. The study of the Scriptures satisfies curiosity and brings glory to learning."

“Church writers had a double task: against the Marcionites to defend the belonging of the sacred books rejected by Marcion to the New Testament, and against the Montanists to count more accurately the New Testament books and protect their composition from the invasion of the newest works of false prophecy.” And against the Gnostics - both.

While polemicizing and denouncing heretics, church writers mentioned passages of Holy Scripture from which one can judge the New Testament canon in the 2nd century. They are the ones who let us understand which books were accepted by the Church and included in its composition. True, they did not mention such letters as Philemon, Jude, the Second and Third Epistles of John the Theologian, but this does not give reason to talk about their absence in the Church; there was simply no need to quote them in polemics with heretics.

Lyons Church as successor to the Ephesian Church

For a better idea of ​​what the canon of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament was like in the Church in the 2nd century, Hieromartyr Hilarion considers the works of St. Irenaeus of Lyons, who headed the Lyons Church during this period.

Hieromartyr Hilarion already mentioned the Church of Ephesus, which was the center for the collection and storage of the books of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament. However, in the 2nd century there is little information about the fate of this Church. Therefore, Bishop Hilarion is trying to identify a Christian community that could carry out the same functions in the 2nd century as the Ephesian community in apostolic times. He puts forward the idea of ​​a connection between the Church of Ephesus and the Church of Lyons, which for this reason could have the same books of the New Testament. Thus, one can trace the further fate of the holy books.

The connection between the Christian communities of Asia Minor and those of Lyon can be seen in the letters they sent to each other. When persecution of Christians took place in Lyon in 177, the Lyon community informed the Churches of Asia Minor about the martyrs who suffered during these terrible events. And Saint Irenaeus of Lyons himself was born and lived for some time in Asia Minor. There is an assumption about his stay in the city of Smyrna, where he listened to the teachings of Saint Polycarp of Smyrna, a disciple of the Apostle John the Theologian.

You can find evidence of St. Irenaeus’s communion with the Roman Church. There is a known case in the history of the Church when a dispute arose between Pope Victor and the Christians of Asia Minor about the celebration of Easter, and Saint Irenaeus tried to reconcile both sides. Consequently, according to the works and letters of Saint Irenaeus, where he, of course, mentions passages from the Holy Scriptures, we are given reason to judge the position of the canon of the New Testament not only in the Lyons Church, but also in the Roman and Asia Minor.

Hieromartyr Hilarion singles out the work of Saint Irenaeus, “The Exposure and Refutation of False Knowledge,” written by him in the second half of the 2nd century. From this polemical work one can clearly trace how many books of the New Testament St. Irenaeus accepted. The work, according to the calculations of Hieromartyr Hilarion, contains “more than a thousand” passages taken from the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament.

From this work we notice the acceptance of only four Gospels. He talks in some detail about the symbolism of the four Gospels and their writing history. By focusing on the number four, he thereby denounces and reproaches the Ebionites, who accepted only the Gospel of Matthew; Marcion, who accepted only the Gospel of Luke; Valentinians, who wanted to use the Gospel of John, and other heretics, "who separate Jesus from Christ and say that Christ remained innocent of suffering, but Jesus suffered," and for this reason prefer the Gospel of Mark. Saint Irenaeus writes: “Without any fear they offer their writings (conscriptiones) and boast that they have more Gospels than there are. They have reached such insolence that they title their recent work “The Gospel of Truth,” although it in no way agrees with the “Gospel of the Apostles,” so that they do not even have a Gospel without blasphemy.” Particularly important is the idea of ​​Saint Irenaeus that the evangelists handed over their writings to the Church, and the Church, in turn, protected and preserved them, without reducing any of them and without adding anything to them. The Apostles, as the saint writes, “gave us in the writings as the future foundation and pillar of our faith... Thus, Matthew published the Gospel Scripture with the Jews in their own language when Peter and Paul preached in Rome and founded the Church. After their departure, Mark, Peter’s disciple and interpreter, himself, gave us in writing what Peter preached. And Luke, Paul’s companion, set out the Gospel he preached in a book. After John, a disciple of the Lord and reclining on His chest, he published the Gospel while staying in Ephesus in Asia.”

The book of the Acts of the Holy Apostles was not accepted by Marcion. To this, Saint Irenaeus says that Luke, who wrote this book, was an assistant and close person to the Apostle Paul, as the Apostle himself says about this (see: 2 Tim. 4: 10-11). And secondly, if you do not accept the book of Acts, written by the Evangelist Luke, then you must also reject the Gospel of Luke, which Marcion, as you know, recognized as true.

Despite the fact that St. Irenaeus does not name the exact number of epistles of the Apostle Paul, looking through the text, one cannot help but notice the abundant citation of epistles, as well as indications to whom they are sent. For example: “Paul explained this when he wrote to the Romans,” or: “Paul said openly in 2 Corinthians.” Of all the passages relating to the epistles of the Apostle Paul, cited by Saint Irenaeus, Hieromartyr Hilarion counted “up to 78 from the Epistle to the Romans, up to 78 from the First Epistle to the Corinthians, up to 15 from the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, up to 28 from the Epistle to the Galatians, up to 26 from the Epistle Ephesians, up to 10 from Philippians, up to 15 from Colossians, 2 from 1 Thessalonians, 9 from 2 Thessalonians, 5 from 1 Timothy, 5 from 2 and 3 from Titus." The Epistle to Philemon could not help but be in the possession of Saint Irenaeus, since it was used quite often in the Western Churches. Apparently, there was no need to quote him in polemics with heretics. Saint Irenaeus does not have the Epistle to the Hebrews, although much of it could be used in the fight against false teachings. True, there are passages similar to the text from the Epistle to the Hebrews, for example: “God, by the Word of His power, builds and creates all things visible and invisible.” These words cannot help but be reminiscent of the quotation found in the Epistle to the Hebrews: “...holding up all things by the word of His power...” (Heb. 1:3). And there are about ten such similar places. Eusebius of Caesarea says that St. Irenaeus mentions the Epistle to the Hebrews. Also, the work of Stephen Gavar talks about this message, which Saint Irenaeus did not accept as the message of the Apostle Paul. Accordingly, there were thirteen epistles for him, and he knew the Epistle to the Hebrews, but did not put it among the canonical books, since he did not consider it written by the supreme apostle.

The birth of Saint Irenaeus in Asia Minor, as well as his training in Christian principles from Polycarp of Smyrna, a disciple of the Evangelist John the Theologian, gives us reason to talk about the presence in the Lyon Church of scriptures written by the hand of the Lord’s beloved disciple. And indeed, he contains two epistles of the Apostle John, and about the third, Hieromartyr Hilarion makes the following assumption: “... it can be assumed that all three of John’s epistles were there. The third epistle of John, in its content, like the Epistle to Philemon, gives too little reason to quote texts from it; Moreover, it is so short. The absence of texts from the Third Epistle in Saint Irenaeus may be a simple coincidence. Meanwhile, it is difficult to admit that Saint Irenaeus in his New Testament had the Second Epistle of John and did not have the Third; in the history of the New Testament canon, as we will see many times later, these two epistles seem to be inextricably linked: they are either absent together, or together they are part of the New Testament of one or another Church.” The book Apocalypse is cited by him 29 times. He calls it “Revelation”. In letters to the Lyons and Vienna Churches, the book of the Apocalypse is ranked by Saint Irenaeus among the books of Holy Scripture, but in addition he tells the history of its writing, noting the best copies of this book.

From the Epistles of the Apostle Peter in St. Irenaeus one can find nine references borrowed from the First Epistle, but nothing is said about the second. At the same time, making a serious conclusion about the absence of this message is also not entirely correct.

Despite the absence of the Epistle of Jude in the work of His Grace Irenaeus, Bishop Hilarion believes that this message was familiar to him: “About the Epistle of Jude, it can still be assumed that Saint Irenaeus knew it. This can be assumed on the basis that, as we will see, this message was generally known in the West (in Rome and Carthage) among the New Testament books.”

The Epistle of James, the brother of the Lord, was not known to the Lyon Church, as well as to other Western Churches, for quite a long time.

Saint Irenaeus, in his work “Against Heresies,” also mentions the book “The Shepherd” of Hermas, placing it on a par with all other books of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. As we know, this book was not further included in the canonical corpus of New Testament books.

The reviewed works of Saint Irenaeus of Lyons give Hieromartyr Hilarion reason to conclude that the Lyon Church had all the books of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament, except for the Second Epistle of Peter and the Epistle of James. She had the Epistle to the Hebrews, but was not recognized as canonical. But among other things, it recognized the book “The Shepherd” of Hermas, which was not subsequently accepted by the Church as canonical. Thanks to the Lyon Church, one can see what books were available and protected by the Church in the 2nd century.

General conclusions

The research carried out by Hieromartyr Hilarion in the field of isagogy to study the history of the formation of the New Testament canon convincingly refutes Western scholars who have put forward various theories on this issue. He cites historical evidence proving that the Church of Ephesus in the 1st century was the most convenient place for concentrating the entire corpus of books of the New Testament. Ideally presenting the material, supported by excellent argumentation, Hieromartyr Hilarion with his work strengthened the position of Russian theology in this direction, and for the first time this idea was expressed by our learned Archpriest Alexander Gorsky. Hieromartyr Hilarion in some places complements the work of Archpriest Alexander. For example, it is very important from the point of view of philology that the Bishop noted how the epistles of the Apostle Paul, along with the Old Testament holy books, begin to be called “scriptures,” which in ancient Greek is denoted by the word Grafh. This shows the authority of the apostles and their messages. It is interesting to note how the apocrypha of the “Teachings of Addai” speaks of the book “Acts of the Twelve Apostles” sent from Ephesus by the Apostle John the Theologian, which reflects the significance of the Ephesian Church.

Based on the same idea, Hieromartyr Hilarion begins to study the history of the formation of the New Testament already in the 2nd century, where, through certain conclusions, he comes to the conclusion that it is the Church of Lyons, as the successor of the Ephesian Church, that can be considered the keeper of the set of canonical books accepted by the Church in the 2nd century.

WHAT DO WE KNOW?

For a Christian, the Bible is the most important book that exists on earth. What do we usually know about her? We know that the Bible is a collection of sacred books. We know that many authors wrote these books over several hundred years. We understand that the books of the Bible were written at different times and in different circumstances, one might even say that each of the books of the Bible had its own purpose for writing. But surprisingly, what was addressed to, say, the ancient Israelites or, for example, the Romans, turns out to be relevant for us.

What do we know about how the Bible came to us? Usually we believe something like this: “The Bible is the Word of God, and the Heavenly Father has made sure that the Scriptures come to us without distortion.” This formulation is correct to some extent. Indeed, since we all believe in God, it would be strange for us to exclude Him completely from the process of preserving, forming and communicating Scripture to us. I am convinced that the Father, in one way or another, was certainly involved in the process of bringing the Bible to us. However, it would be correct to know the subject better and understand exactly how the text that we use every day came to us.

The topic of the formation of the Bible canon is, of course, a vast one. An inquisitive reader can and should turn to more detailed works than my humble work. For example, I will not consider the formation of the Old Testament canon today (due to the vastness of the subject). But how the text of the New Testament came to us and how this collection was established—that’s what we’ll talk about.

"CANON"?

Kanon - rule (Greek).
Thus, " canonical books“—these are “correct” books. From early times, the word “canon” began to carry a rather strong ecclesiastical connotation, which gives the term “canonical” books not only “correctness” but also “churchiness.” IN modern meaning“canonical books” can be deciphered as “books recognized by the church as the revelation of God,” books that have unquestioned authority in the church.
At the same time, the following is interesting in the concept of “Canon of the New Testament”: what is the New Testament - a collection of authoritative books, or an authoritative collection of books? Is there a “canon within a canon”, i.e. Can we say that some of the text within Scripture is canonical and some is not?

No less interest Ask— Is the formation of the canon completed? What will happen if tomorrow, say, it is possible to find an autograph of the manuscript of the Gospel of John (i.e., a manuscript written directly by the apostle’s hand); will any corrections be made to the text if it seems necessary? It is also interesting what will happen if a new manuscript is found and, say, it is proven that its author is one of the apostles. Will such a “new” book be included in the New Testament?

To some extent I will try to touch on these issues too.

HISTORICAL SITUATION

This may seem surprising, but there was a time when not a single Christian held the entire Bible (or even the New Testament) in his hands - this was physically impossible. Most books of that time were kept in the form of papyrus or parchment scrolls (sometimes written on clay tablets, leather, bones, etc.). The standard length of a scroll usually did not exceed 10 meters. The large length made using the scroll difficult. The reader had to hold such a book in two hands. He unwound the scroll with one hand and wound it with the other. Most of the works of Greek authors of that time do not exceed the length of such a scroll, otherwise the work would have to be divided into parts. It is curious that the two most voluminous books of the New Testament - the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts - occupied a papyrus scroll 9.5 - 9.8 meters long. Perhaps it is precisely this circumstance that we owe to two books of Luke, and not one.
A rather interesting topic is the nature of the writing of that time, style, rules of punctuation and table of contents, features of the work of scribes, but my modest work does not pretend to reveal these rather large topics now.
Try to imagine the historical situation of that time. Try to understand how the Bible you hold in your hands became exactly like this? Let's go back hundreds of years for this.
Before us is the apostle (John, Paul), or his companion (Luke, Mark). The books of the New Testament were written in different time, separated from each other by the place and time of their writing. It is noteworthy that almost all the books of the New Testament are letters. The book reaches its recipients. If there are several of them, several copies are made at once. Then, in the destination city, more and more copies of the books are made. Books begin to have authority in the area. Someone begins to quote fragments of this message. As Christians dispersed and as they copied, the books became more and more famous.

There are territories where some books of the apostles are known and others are not known. There are territories where, in addition to New Testament books, the messages of local community leaders and teachers are known. On initial stage Perhaps in some places they distinguish the Scriptures from the scriptures, and in others they do not. Time passes. Correspondence that is of no importance to the church is eliminated from that which retains its authority even after years. Again, the oral tradition of the transmission of Scripture continues.

It was in this seething cauldron of letters, opinions, teachings that what would become known to us as the New Testament crystallized.

1. From the first days of its birth, the Christian Church possessed the canon of Jewish sacred Scriptures - the Old Testament. Yes, the canon had not yet been “officially” approved, but in fact these books were widely used (primarily in Greek translation), and the works included in the collection were called Scripture and, when quoted, were preceded by the formula “as written.” Contemporaries did not doubt his divine inspiration:

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness,
(2 Tim.3:16)

19 And moreover, we have a most sure prophetic word; and you do well to turn to him as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and rises morning Star in your hearts,
20 Knowing first of all this, that no prophecy in Scripture can be answered by oneself.
21 For prophecy was never made by the will of man, but the saints spoke it God's men, being moved by the Holy Spirit.
(2 Pet.1:19-21)

There are other passages of Scripture.

2. For the early Christians, the authority of the word of Jesus Himself was important. His sayings were transmitted orally and oral tradition carried the same authority as written down. The authority of his words was unquestionable. Jesus Himself repeatedly emphasized that His sayings were in no way inferior to the ancient law.

Examples:

2 The Pharisees came and asked, tempting Him: Is it permissible for a husband to divorce his wife?
3 He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?”
4 They said: Moses allowed a letter of divorce to be written and a divorce to take place.
5 Jesus answered and said to them, “Because of the hardness of your hearts, he wrote you this commandment.”
6 At the beginning of creation, God created them male and female.
7 Therefore a man will leave his father and mother
8 And he will cleave to his wife, and the two will become one flesh; so that they are no longer two, but one flesh.
9 Therefore, what God has joined together, let no man put asunder.
(Mark 10:2-9)

14 And he called all the people and said to them, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand:
15 Nothing that enters a person from without can defile him; but what comes from it defiles a person.
16 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!
17 And when He entered the house from the people, His disciples asked Him about the parable.
18 He said to them: Are you really so slow-witted? Don't you understand that nothing that enters a person from outside can defile him?
19 Because it does not enter into his heart, but into his belly and out, [by which] all food is purified.
(Mark 7:14-19)

21 You have heard that it was said to the ancients: Do not kill; whoever kills will be subject to judgment.
22 But I tell you that everyone who is angry with his brother without cause will be subject to judgment; whoever says to his brother: “raqa” is subject to the Sanhedrin; and whoever says, “You fool,” is subject to fiery hell.
23 So if you bring your gift to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you,
24 Leave your gift there before the altar, and go, first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
25 Make peace with your adversary quickly, while you are still on the way with him, lest your adversary hand you over to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the servant, and you be thrown into prison;
26 Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid the last coin.
27 You have heard that it was said to the ancients, “You shall not commit adultery.”
28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
29 If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away from you, for it is better for you that one of your members perish, rather than your whole body being cast into hell.
30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away from you, for it is better for you that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body should be cast into hell.
31 It is also said that if a man divorces his wife, he should give her a divorce decree.
32 But I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for the guilt of adultery, gives her cause to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
33 Again you have heard what was said to the ancients: Do not break your oath, but fulfill your oaths to the Lord.
34 But I say to you: do not swear at all: not by heaven, for it is the throne of God;
35 nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, because it is the city of the great King;
36 Do not swear by your head, because you cannot make a single hair white or black.
37 But let your word be: yea, yea; no no; and anything beyond this is from the evil one.
38 You have heard that it was said: an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
39 But I say to you: do not resist evil. But who will hit you in right cheek yours, turn the other one to him;
40 And whoever wants to sue you and take your shirt, give him your outer garment too;
41 And whoever forces you to go one mile with him, go with him two miles.
42 Give to the one who asks from you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
43 You have heard that it was said: Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who despitefully use you and persecute you,
45 May you be sons of your Father in heaven, for He makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.
46 For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Don't publicans do the same?
47 And if you greet only your brothers, what special thing are you doing? Don't the pagans do the same?
48 Therefore be ye perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.
(Matt.5:21-48)

It is not surprising that in the ancient church the words of Jesus were memorized. These words became the fundamental basis of the new Christian canon.

1 As many have already begun to compose narratives about events that are completely known among us,
2 As they who from the very beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word conveyed it to us,
3 Then it was decided for me, after carefully examining everything first, to describe to you in order, venerable Theophilus,
4 that you may know the sure foundation of the doctrine in which you have been instructed.
(Luke 1:1-4)

Regarding virginity, I do not have a command from the Lord, but I give advice as someone who has received the grace from the Lord to be faithful [to Him].
(1 Cor. 7:25)

But she will be happier if she remains like this, according to my advice; but I think that I also have the Spirit of God.
(1 Cor. 7:40)

...and that the commands come from the Lord:

If anyone considers himself a prophet or spiritual, let him understand that I am writing to you, for these are the commandments of the Lord.
(1 Cor. 14:37)

The letters of Paul, for example, began to spread and gain authority during his lifetime.

4. Early Christian authors (in particular, Clement of Rome), who were contemporaries of the apostles and their disciples, constantly refer to the apostles as authorities of the faith. It is noteworthy that the texts of the authors of this period no longer gave their words priority over the Writings of the apostles. It is clear that contemporaries distinguished what was written by the apostles and their disciples from ordinary Christian (albeit relevant) correspondence.

5. By the second century, the expression “Lord and the apostles” appeared, which included most of the canonical books known to us. At the services of the ancient church, the writings of the apostles were used on a par with the Old Testament Scriptures.

6. In the 2nd and 3rd centuries, the first translations of the Scriptures into other languages ​​appeared. The presence of translations indicates that these books were used in the practice of the early church.

Thus, in short, the formation of the canon took place. However, this process cannot be called instantaneous. There was no church leader who said, “This will now be called the Bible.” And it was not even the councils that ultimately determined the list of books. Acceptance of most books of the Bible was indeed universal, but disputes over a number of works continued for quite a long time. In fact, even today there are discussions on this matter.

I will give some examples of disputes a little later.

APOCRYPHAL AND NON-CANONICAL BOOKS

Jesus did many other miracles before His disciples that are not written in this book.
(John 20:30)

...and simple human curiosity constantly stimulated some writers of the time to try to write what Jesus' childhood might have looked like, or what Jesus was doing in Heaven. Also at that time, heretical ideas began to appear, and to justify them, some religious leaders needed confirmation on behalf of the apostle. It was common practice in ancient times to write a work on behalf of one’s teacher.

All these factors ultimately led to the appearance of various kinds of gospels “of the apostles,” acts and epistles, as well as revelations. Some of the episodes of the creation of such works became known, but some remained a mystery in history, leaving us without the name of the true author.
Characteristic all apocrypha is a fake. The author of the book is forged, the ideas are forged, sometimes even the style of the author is forged (although quite often the forgeries are done so dishonestly that the false authorship is immediately recognizable).

However, you should not immediately reject all these books. Firstly, in some of them you can find features of oral tradition and, possibly, real quotes from the Lord or the apostles. Secondly, a number of apocrypha were recognized as authoritative in a number of territories and influenced local churches, so knowledge of the apocrypha can help understand the development of certain ideas in the church. Thirdly, a number of apocrypha pose problems for modern scientists, the solution of which may still belong to future generations. For example, one of the apocrypha describes Thomas's journey to India. IN this description there is a meeting with a certain king. For many years this episode was considered legendary, because... no historical information nothing has been found about this king. This attitude has existed until then. So far, at one of the excavations, coins of the described time period with the name of this king were not found. So not everything is clear in the situation with the apocrypha.

The prevalence of a particular apocrypha in a certain territory, for example, under the name of the Gospel of Peter, does not mean that Peter was in those places and left this legacy. The situation was often exactly the opposite - apocrypha usually received greater circulation precisely in territories that had fewer connections with witnesses to the lives of the titular authors of these books.

Along with the apocrypha, the works of Christian writers, who had varying degrees of authority, were also in circulation in the ancient church. For example, one of the most famous books that has survived to this day is The Shepherd of Hermas, a collection of teachings and reflections on various topics of Christianity. These books are also important for understanding the worldviews of Christians of that time, and some of them are relevant today.

For those who are especially curious, I present those apocrypha that temporarily fell into the canon of some local churches:
Fragments of an unknown gospel
Gospel of the Jews
Gospel of the Egyptians
Gospel of Peter
Acts of Paul
Acts of John
Acts of Peter
Apostolic Epistles
Paul's third letter to the Corinthians
Epistle to the Laodiceans
Correspondence between Paul and Seneca
Apocalypse of Peter
Apocalypse of Paul

But don’t forget, all these books are apocryphal, i.e. were not written by the authors whose names they bear. But ordinary Christian works that almost made it into the canon are worth noting:
Didache
The First and Second Epistles of Clement
Epistle of Barnabas (authorship is disputed)
Shepherd Hermas

It must be admitted that this is not full list, but nonetheless representative.

FACTORS THAT INFLUENCED THE EMERGENCE OF THE CANON

What made Christians one day think about what is included in the canon and what is not?

Several factors come together here.

1. The first, as has happened more than once in the history of the church, were the heretics who entered the battle.

Perhaps one of the very first heretical movements in Christianity was Gnosticism. The Gnostics believed that they had secret knowledge handed down to them from the apostles. The aura of mystery attracted quite a lot of followers. And the church at that time, thanks in no small part to the apostolic labors, had to resist this dangerous hobby. The Gnostics actively spread their teachings. Valentine, one of the famous Gnostics, was the author of the “Gospel of Truth.”

In July 144, in Rome, a wealthy shipowner and Christian Marcion appeared before the bishops to expound his teachings. His views horrified the community and Marcion was immediately excommunicated from the church. Marcion made a distinction between the God of the Old Testament and the New. He thought it was two different gods, and, as a consequence of this, he rejected the Old Testament itself and all Old Testament quotations in the New. He considered these to be Jewish insertions and, without further ado, wrote his own version of the New Testament, including the Gospel of Luke and the Epistles of Paul, and, I repeat, deleting all quotations from the Old Testament.

The third “blow” to the church was delivered by the Montanists (second half of the 2nd century). This sect lived in anticipation of the coming of Christ. And it often contained various kinds of prophecies. The Montanists gave their writings the authority of revelations from God.

So, willingly or unwillingly, it was necessary to give your answer not only to Dim currents, but also to decide for yourself on which books of Scripture it was based. It should be noted that although the emergence of sects ultimately prompted the formation of a canon, it did not to a small extent damage the formation of the canon. The use of the Gospel of John by the Gnostics, the Revelation by the Montanists, and the Epistles of Paul by Marcion in a number of cases contributed to the mistrust of these books of the New Testament.

2. At the turn of the 1st-2nd centuries, the codex was invented - the inhabitants of the Mediterranean learned to weave the sheets of books in a way similar to the modern one. This innovation not only made it possible to fit the entire text of Scripture into one book, but also made us think about the order of books in the New Testament. Of course, if it became possible to include all the scrolls in one book, questions began to arise more often about what should be included in the collection of books of the New Testament and what should not.

3. Persecution turned out to be a very powerful resource in shaping the authority of Scripture. There had been persecutions before, but in 303, Emperor Diocletian issued a particularly cruel decree against Christians, which, among other things, ordered the confiscation of scrolls from Christians on pain of death. Few people want to die a martyr's death for some counterfeit gospel. At the same time, many tried to preserve the true Scripture at that time, even at the cost of their own lives. There were cases when community leaders gave heretical books to the Romans to burn, hiding the normal books of Scripture.

4. In the ancient environment of that time, it was customary to indicate lists of authoritative books by philosophers, authors literary works. Perhaps this tradition could also affect the appearance of the list of New Testament books.

Most likely, the combination of all these factors led the church to realize the need to clearly define the list of canonical books.

FIRST BOOK LISTS, FORMATION OF THE MODERN CANON

We must understand that we are limited only by those lists that have reached us. Earliest list of books to include modern New Testament known as the "Muratori Canon". Muratori found this list and published it in the first half of the 18th century. The Muratori Canon was probably created around the year 200. Here are the books that were included (I repeat, this is just a list):

Gospels
Acts
Epistles of Paul (13)
Other Epistles (the author mentions the Epistle of Jude and the two Epistles of John).
Apocalypse of John
Apocalypse of Peter (with the note "although some of us do not want the latter to be read in the Church")

Shepherd Hermas is mentioned separately with the indication “and it must be read.”

Eusebius of Caesarea, the first chronicler of the church, who wrote the famous “Ecclesiastical History,” gave the following classification:

Books recognized everywhere:
Four Gospels
Acts
Epistles of Paul (Eusebius, acknowledging the lack of universal acceptance of Hebrews, writes that the style of this book differs from other epistles of Paul because Paul wrote this book in Hebrew and Luke translated it into Greek)
1 Peter
1 John

“In addition to these,” writes Eusebius, the Apocalypse of John must also be considered authentic.

Controversial books, although acceptable to most church members:
Epistle of James
Epistle of Jude
2 Peter
2 and 3 John
Illegal books:
Acts of Paul
Shepherd Hermas
Apocalypse of Peter
Message of Barnabas
Teaching of the Apostles
Gospel of the Jews

It is curious that, contradicting himself, in the same list Eusebius once again (with a note that these books still have authority) mentions the Apocalypse of John, adding the Epistle to Hebrews.

Athanasius of Alexandria (296-373) is the first to list exactly those books that we now consider canonical, all 27 books, ending the list with the following words:

“These are the sources of salvation, and those who thirst will be filled with the words of life. Only in them is the divine teaching proclaimed. Let no one add anything to them or take anything away from them.” (These words are very close to supporters of the “Scripture Only” understanding).

Moreover, even in subsequent years, discussions continued in the church regarding the canon. Various lists of books were published. There was discussion about what should be included and what should not. It is curious that the first council dedicated specifically to the canon of books (Laodicea) did not leave a list itself. The list of books was added in later centuries. However, the church was coming to unity on this issue.

It may be confusing at first to realize that it was not until the third century that the church received a complete copy of the New Testament. In fact, all the key books were accepted at once (the gospels, Acts, most of Paul's letters). In some parts of the church they did not know whether to include the small epistles of the apostles in the canon, also due to the influence of the Montanists, there was a distrust of the Apocalypse of John. The authorship of the Epistle to the Hebrews was also confusing.
However, the Lord ordained that these books would become what we know as the New Testament.

WHAT ABOUT THE TEXT?

Every New Year brings more and more new manuscripts to the collection of Bible scholars. This allows you to clarify translations and correct discrepancies. We can say that the later the translation we are dealing with (if we are talking about a high-quality translation, of course), the more correctly the text is conveyed. In addition, in modern editions of the New Testament, discrepancies are usually indicated, indicating if a verse is not present (or, conversely, present) in a particular manuscript.

There is no need to be afraid of discoveries and research. Many centuries of criticism of the Scriptures have shown that it can withstand any test.

CONCLUSION

Historical facts and understanding of the processes that led to the formation of the New Testament should not obscure from us big miracle from God. And it’s hard not to call the creation of the Bible a miracle.

Someone might think, “Can I trust this text?” What if someone, long ago, forgot to include something there? Or, on the contrary, was he in a hurry and turned it on, which is not necessary?

Then we need to remember, when Jesus came, there was also no Old Testament canon in modern understanding(it was compiled around 70). However, Jesus said “it is written”, “it is said”. He referred to the Scriptures and his listeners understood what he was talking about.

In our discussion of the New Testament, we must not forget that the definition of the list by scientists and the authority of the Word of God in the church are not the same thing. The Word of God lives in us in all its diversity. And the Scriptures are an opportunity to come into contact with this Word.

2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice: Who is worthy to open this book and to open its seals?
3 And no one could, neither in heaven, nor on earth, nor under the earth, open this book, nor look into it.
4 And I wept a lot because no one was found worthy to open and read this book, or even to look into it.
5 And one of the elders said to me: Do not weep; Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome, [and can] open this book and open the seven seals thereof.
6 And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
7 And He came and took the book from the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.
8 And when he took the book, then the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
9 And they sing a new song, saying, “Thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof, for thou wast slain, and by thy blood hath redeemed us to God from every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
10 and made us kings and priests to our God; and we will reign on the earth.
(Rev.5:2-10)

Whatever difficulties, difficulties, “seals” there may be when reading the Scriptures, the Lord can help us see and understand everything. If only we remain alive in His Body.

"The Canon of the New Testament" by Bruce Metzger
"Textology of the New Testament" by Bruce Metzger
« Church history", Eusebius of Caesarea

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Christians from the very beginning possessed the Scriptures: as is known, the Bible of early Christian communities was Jewish books distributed outside Palestine in a Greek translation called the Septuagint. Christian writing itself, as we know, appears no later than the 50s of the 1st century, when the Apostle Paul sent his messages to Christian communities founded by him or falling within the sphere of his activity. However, neither Paul nor the writers of our gospels took up their pen with the intention of creating sacred or canonical books. The early Christian texts themselves make no claim to being Holy Scripture. How did it happen that part of early Christian literature, written in the 1st and 2nd centuries, received the status of Holy Scripture and constituted a separate collection from Jewish books - the canon of the New Testament? The opinions of researchers who have tried to answer these questions differ quite widely. The history of the canon remains one of the most difficult areas of New Testament scholarship.

The Greek word “canon” comes from the word “kane” (reed, reed), borrowed from the Semitic language environment. The word “canon” originally meant “rod” and then, in the order of figurative meanings, “plumb line”, “ruler for graphing”, “rule, norm”, “measure, sample”; in plural this word acquired the meaning of tables (mathematical, astronomical, chronological). Alexandrian philologists of the 2nd century BC called the lists of exemplary Greek writers they compiled (5 epics, 5 tragedians, 9 lyricists) “canons”. Thus, in the use of this word among the Alexandrians, two elements of meaning converged: “substantive norm” and “formal list”. Both of these semantic elements are also realized when the concept of “canon” is attributed to the New Testament, the collection of Holy Scriptures of the Christian Church, which was first attested in the middle of the 4th century, when this collection itself had existed for quite a long time. Thus, Canon 59 of the Council of Laodicea prohibits reading “uncanonized books” in church. As for the texts included in the New Testament, in them the word “canon” is used by Paul in the meaning of “rule” (Gal. 6:16) and “evaluation criterion” (2 Cor. 10:13). In church usage 2-3 centuries, “canon” in the sense of “verbal formulation of a norm” is included in the terms “rule of truth” and “rule of faith.” They denoted both the very basic content of the faith and the formulation of its main truths in religious texts (for example, the baptismal creed). Since the 4th century, the decisions of church councils, previously called "oroi" or "dogma", began to be called "canones". In addition, already for Council of Nicaea the use of the word “canon” in the meaning of “an official list of clergy serving in a given diocese” is attested.

The Talmud records the tradition that the holiness of each book of the Old Testament was determined by one of the prophets. In addition to them, the Men of the Great Council, members of a kind of doctrinal commission of the Second Temple period, were also recognized as fixers of the canon. This tradition is undoubtedly older than the Talmud, and many interpreters of the patristic period relied on it to one degree or another. The Christian teaching about a living, growing Organism (Body) is more consistent not with the idea of ​​a directive definition of the canon, but with the idea of ​​its gradual formation; in addition, there is no reliable historical data about a clear moment of completion of the canon in antiquity. The canon grew organically and providentially from church life itself. The inspiration of the books of the Bible was determined by their compliance with the integral primordial Tradition of the Church. S. Bulgakov notes: “In the history of the Church, the recognition of the Word of God and testimony about it is also the emergence sacred canon, which, however, does not prescribe for the first time in the form of an external law, the recognition or non-recognition of certain sacred books, but rather testifies to the already accomplished church acceptance, expresses and legitimizes it as having reached complete clarity in the Church. The role of the church authority, the council of bishops expressing the consciousness of the Church, here is only to find the correct, unwavering expression of what is already given in life and is in consciousness, given by the Holy Spirit, moving the life of the Church.” In other words, Christianity perceived the process of canonization itself as divine-human, occurring under the influence of the Spirit of God.

In addition to external influence, we should identify the criteria that guided the ancient Christians when determining the possibility of including this or that book in such a collection. The ancient fathers sometimes used more or less definite grounds for establishing canonicity. At different times and different places they were formulated in different ways, and yet most often the authors consciously referred to the following. One of the criteria was related to the theological content of the book, and the other two were historical in nature and concerned the authorship and recognition of the book in the Church. Firstly, the main prerequisite for classifying a text as canonical was its compliance with what was called the “rule of faith,” that is, the basic Christian traditions that were considered the norm in the Church. In the Old Testament, the word of the prophet had to be tested not only by the fact that it came true, but also by whether its content corresponded to the foundations of the Israeli faith; so in the New Testament, every scripture that claimed to be recognized was examined from the point of view of meaning. The compiler of the canon Muratori warned against “mixing bile with honey.” He resolutely rejects the writings of heretics, as they were rejected by Irenaeus, Tertullian and Agrippa Castor in the time of Hadrian. It seems clear that by the time 2 and 3 John appeared, strong views on the incarnation had already formed in certain circles, widespread enough to be reflected in the canon. Besides, " true stories” in the Pastoral Epistles, although they cannot be considered canon in any sense. They say that people sought to separate the true and the false. Secondly, another criterion used by a book to determine whether it could be included in the New Testament was the question of its apostolic origin. When the compiler of the canon, Muratori, protests against accepting The Shepherd into the canon, he points out that the book was written very recently and therefore cannot be placed “among the prophets, whose number has been brought to fullness, or among the apostles.” Since "prophets" here means the Old Testament, the expression "apostles" is practically equivalent to the New Testament. Thus, the apostolic origin of the book, real or imagined, created the prerequisites for it to be perceived as authoritative. It is clear that the letter attributed to the Apostle Paul had a much greater chance of such recognition than a text whose author was called, for example, the Montanist Themiso. The significance of Mark and Luke was ensured by the fact that in church tradition they were associated with the apostles Peter and Paul. Moreover, in the Muratori canon one can see a very healthy desire to see the authority of the apostle not in dogmatic infallibility. When the author speaks of the historical books of the New Testament, he refers to the personal qualities of their authors as direct witnesses or faithful chroniclers. Thirdly, the criterion for the authority of a book was that it was recognized and widely used in the Church. This was based on the principle that a book that has been accepted for a long time in many Churches has a much stronger position than one that is recognized only in a few communities, and not for a very long time. This principle was proclaimed by Augustine and reinforced by Jerome, who emphasized the importance of the eminence and antiquity of the author: “It does not matter who wrote the Epistle to the Hebrews, for in any case it is the work of a church writer, which is constantly read in churches.” In the West, the Epistle to the Hebrews was denied, The East did not accept the Apocalypse, but Jerome himself recognized both books on the basis that ancient writers cite both as canonical. These three criteria helped churches recognize books of authority for the entire church and have not been revised since the second century.

The New Testament canon developed gradually. Its clarification took place in the struggle for the gospel truth against Gnosticism and other false teachings. The early collections of the epistles of the Apostle Paul already testify (2 Peter 3:15-16), and they are placed in the category of Scriptures. Although in ancient manuscripts the order of messages is often different, its composition is constant. The first canon of the New Testament recorded in history belonged to the heretic Marcion (about 140), but this canon was considered by contemporaries as truncated; therefore the Christian world knew larger number sacred books of the New Testament (Marcion had only the abbreviated Gospel of Luke and 10 epistles of the Apostle Paul). Soon the set of 4 gospels was finally consolidated, as evidenced by Tatian, Irenaeus of Lyons, Clement of Alexandria and others. From the so-called Muratorian canon it is clear that at the end of the 2nd century the New Testament canon was already completed in general terms, although several books that were later rejected were still included in it (the letter of the Apostle Paul to the Laodiceans and Alexandrians, the Apocalypse of Peter, the Shepherd of Hermas), and Heb. , James, 1 Peter, Jude, Rev. were absent. A list of Christian scriptures compiled in Rome. (It was discovered in 1740 by the Italian researcher Muratori, therefore it is usually called the “Muratori Canon”. It does not have a beginning, but one can understand that the New Testament Gospels are included in it: the author of the list specifically stipulates that the 4 gospels agree with each other. Mentioned in the list the acts of all the apostles, which were in circulation in the 2nd century.) Clement of Alexandria not only recognized 2 Peter, Jude, Rev., but considered the Shepherd of Hermas to be canonical. Origen accepted the canonicity of Heb. But he considered his attribution controversial. We find in him references not only to the canonical books of the New Testament, but also to the Didache, the Shepherd of Hermas, and the Epistle of Barnabas, although it is difficult to understand whether he considered them as part of the New Testament canon. The most important critical work to clarify the canon was undertaken by Eusebius of Caesarea. He divided the books purporting to be included in the New Testament into three categories: generally accepted, controversial, and spurious. According to the acts of the Council of Laodicea, around 363 the reading of the Apocrypha was prohibited. In St. Athanasius the Great we find for the first time the New Testament canon in the form in which it is accepted today (Epistle 39). But even after him, some hesitations regarding the canon of the New Testament in patristic writing remained. The acts of the Council of Laodicea, Cyril of Jerusalem and Gregory the Theologian do not mention the book of Revelation in their list: St. Philaster did not include Hebrews, and Ephraim the Syrian still considered the 3rd letter of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians to be canonical. In the West, African councils of the 4th century, St. Augustine give a complete list of the canonical books of the New Testament, which corresponds to the current one.

IN modern science two sharply defined and mutually exclusive theories have emerged, designed to explain the reasons that led to the creation of the New Testament - a collection of strictly Christian sacred texts , existing alongside the Jewish Scriptures and possessing greater normative authority than the Jewish books accepted by the Church. Both of these theories arose at the end of the 19th century. Theodore Zahn, the author of fundamental studies on the history of the New Testament canon, was a proponent of early dating. Tsang formulated the point of view according to which the first versions of the New Testament canon appeared already at the beginning of the 2nd century: they arose with internal necessity as a result of the natural formation of the Christian Church. From the facts he established and analyzed, “it follows that long before the year 140, throughout the entire universal Church, along with the Scriptures of the Old Testament, a collection of 4 gospels, as well as a selection of 13 epistles of Paul, were read, and that some other texts were given the same dignity - Rev., Acts, and in certain parts of the Church and Heb., 1 Peter, James, the Epistles of John, and possibly also the Didache.” The famous church historian and theologian Adolf von Harnack entered into a discussion with Zahn. He outlined his views on the history of the New Testament canon in several works, among which his book “Marcion: The Gospel of a Strange God” is especially important. In his opinion, Marcion was the first to propose the idea of ​​a new, purely Christian Holy Scripture, and he was the first to create a two-part plan for this Scripture: the gospel and the apostle. For Harnack, Marcion's canon was new not in the sense that it replaced the collection of Christian sacred texts that the Church already possessed, but it was new because it was called upon to replace the canonical books generally recognized in the church - the Hebrew Bible. It can be noted: Tsang and Harnack, when constructing their theories, proceeded from the same factual data, but they valued them differently, since they used different concepts of canonicity. For Tsang, reading the text during worship was already equivalent to its canonical status. As for Harnack, he understood canonicity more strictly - as the belonging of a certain Christian work to a collection that has the highest normative authority in the Church. Model. Canonicity for Harnack was the status of Scripture in the Jewish community. He rightly believed that the concepts of “doctrinal authority” and “canonicity” are not identical. By the middle of the 2nd century, the Church did not possess such a purely Christian canon - modern researchers agree with Harnack on this. Harnack's conclusion that all three constitutive components of the "early Catholic Church" - the canon of the New Testament, the rule of faith and the hierarchy - arose in response to the activities of Marcion is called into question.

The first version of the “orthodox” canon of the New Testament emerged towards the end of the 2nd century, especially thanks to the efforts of Irenaeus of Lyons to combat “heresies”, primarily Marcionism and Gnosticism. Irenaeus adopted the two-part structure created by Marcion. In the “gospel” part, the canon of Irenaeus contains Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. It is in Irenaeus that we find the first clear indication of the Four Gospels as a “closed list,” a completed collection consisting of four different gospel works. Justifying this new approach, Irenaeus even tries to prove that the presence in the Church of four, and only four, gospel works is predetermined by God and follows from the very structure of the universe. Indeed, the novelty of what Irenaeus did is obvious. After all, neither Marcion nor Tatian had yet perceived the Gospel texts themselves as sacred. Therefore, Marcion decisively shortened the text of Luke, and Tatian, who knew all four of our gospels, decided to replace them with his own compilation.

The Canon of Irenaeus reflects the ecclesiastical consensus in Gaul, Rome, and probably Asia Minor, where Irenaeus was from. A reconstruction of the text of the Muratori canon shows that this list also contained our four gospels in their present sequence. The same composition and number of gospels accepted by the Church are evidenced by Tertullian for Carthage and Clement of Alexandria for Egypt (early 3rd century). In the later stages of the formation of the New Testament, in the 3rd and 4th centuries, this part of the canon was no longer subject to change.

Lezov S. “History and hermeneutics in the study of the New Testament.” M., 1999. Pp. 372.

Lezov S. “History and hermeneutics in the study of the New Testament.” M., 1999. Pp. 373. Lezov S. “History and hermeneutics in the study of the New Testament.” M., 1999. Pp. 382.

A Brief History of the New Testament Canon

The Canon of Holy Scripture is a collection of inspired sacred books collected, accepted and approved as the basis of God's truth for people, chosen people God in both the Old Testament and New Testament periods.

The New Testament canon was compiled and defined gradually with careful examination of the authenticity of the origin, the reliability of the presentation and the sacred dignity of the books.

Initially, the sacred books of Christians were the books of the Old Testament, the canon of which was received from Israel.

The history of the New Testament canon took place over a long period, when 27 inspired books of the New Testament were created (1st century), separated and collected in one collection (2nd-3rd centuries) and approved by the Church (4th century), in contrast to books which were the result only of the human mind and will, and therefore could not be fundamental in the matter of salvation. The history of the New Testament canon is usually divided into three periods.

I. The First Period of the New Testament Canon

The period of activity of Jesus Christ and the apostles (1st century AD).

The word and teachings of Jesus Christ had great power. With His word He performed miracles: He healed the sick, raised the dead, calmed storms, etc. Many sought to hear Him and draw closer to Him.

Jesus Christ taught orally and apparently did not leave His personal writings. He left His great teaching and holy command to His disciples: to continue serving with the word of preaching (Matthew 28:19), to testify about Him (Acts 1:8), to preach the good news of salvation (Mark 16:15-16).

Christ left a promise to His disciples: “When He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth; for he will not speak from himself, but he will speak what he hears, and he will tell you the future” (John 16:13). After being filled with the Holy Spirit, the apostles testified “to what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands,” “not following cunningly woven fables, but being eyewitnesses of His greatness,” and that “the Spirit gave preach to them” (1 John 1:1; 1 Peter 1:16; Acts 2:4). At first it was only oral preaching, and then the needs of numerous churches could be satisfied only by letters (epistles) and written gospels - testimonies about Christ. The Holy Spirit prompted His chosen ones to describe not only the life and death of Christ, but also the acts of the apostles in building the Church, and also gave a prophetic revelation of the future.

This is how the books of the New Testament arose, without any premeditated human plan and intentions, but by the inspiration of God of the first workers Christian churches. Evangelist Luke writes at the beginning of his Gospel that “many began to compose narratives about events that were completely known among us” (1:1), and we can assume that he had in mind Matthew, Mark, the epistles of the apostles and other books.

The books written by the apostles quickly became the property of believers. The Apostle Peter writes about all the (numerous) epistles of the Apostle Paul, without specifying their number, and in other apostolic writings (2 Peter 3:16). Apostle Paul instructs to read his epistles and collect them (Col. 4:16). As evidenced by ancient authors - Clement of Alexandria, Eusebius, Fyodor of Mopsuetsky and others, as well as the content of the Gospel of John - the Apostle John knew the first three Gospels.

We do not have firm dates for the writing of all the books of the New Testament (Acts 1:7), but learned New Testament researchers have done a lot in this regard. All the books of the New Testament were written over a period of 50-60 years, between 40 and 100 AD. according to R.H. In a relationship specified dates There are discrepancies among different authors for various reasons. One of these reasons is that the beginning of our chronology ( new era, from R.H.) does not coincide with the year of birth of Jesus Christ. It is historically substantiated that Christ was born in 4-5 years before the beginning of the accepted chronology. The monk Dionysius the Small (VI century), who is the author of this chronology, was mistaken by several years. Below we offer the most scientifically substantiated chronology of the 1st century, but some dates in it are speculative and are given only to give an idea of ​​the general order of historical events.

Chronological table of the most important events of the first century AD.

Christianity	Palestine	Rome
	Herod the Great - king 37-4. BC	Octavian Augustus, Caesar (emperor. 27 BC - 14 AD) (Luke 2:1)
Birth of John the Baptist - 5 BC. Birth of Jesus Christ - 4-5 years. BC	Archelaus, ruler of Judea 4 BC. 6 A.D.
Birth of Saul of Tarsus (ap. Paul)… around 10 AD.	Herod Antipas is the tetrarch of Galilee and Perea. 4 BC - 39 AD	Tiberius Caesar, 14-37. (Luke 3:1). The Evangelist counts the reign from 11, when he became co-emperor of Augustus.
Social activities of John the Baptist...... 27-28.	High Priests: Anna (Anan) 7-14 (Luke 3:2; John 18:13:24; Acts 4:6) Joseph Caiaphas 18-36 (Matt. 26:3.57 Luke 3:2, etc.), Ananias, son of the Nebedees 47-59. Acts 23:2; 24.1)	Caius Caligula, Caesar, 37-41.
Activity of Jesus Christ 27-30 Pentecost. Beginning of the Church (Acts 2) ..30	Roman procurators of Judea: Pontius Pilate
Saul the persecutor of the Church 25-36 (Matthew 27 after 30)	25-36 years (Matt. 27, etc.)
Saul's conversion and stay in Damascus (Acts 9) ... 32 (33) Departure for Arabia (Gal. 1:17) - ... 34
Saul's first visit to Jerusalem after his conversion was 35-36.
Compilation of the Gospel of Matthew: in Aramaic - 42-50 AD. in Greek - 60 AD. Saul's preaching in Syria, Cilicia and Antioachia... (Gal.1:21) 44-45.		Claudius Caesar, 41-54. (Acts 11:28; 18:2)
The first missionary journey of the apostle Paul (with Barnabas)…45-47.
Council in Jerusalem... 49
The third missionary journey of the Apostle Paul……..49-52.	Anthony Felix 52-60 - procurator (Acts 23:24-35; 24:1-27; 25:14).
1st and 2nd epistles to the Thessalonians from Corinth (1 Thess. 1:1; 3, 6; Thess. 1.1. Acts 18:1.5) ... 51-52.		Edict of Claudius on the expulsion of the Jews from Rome (Acts 18:2).
Third missionary journey of Apostle Paul …………53-58.		Nero, Caesar 54-68. (Acts 25.8-25; Phil. 4.22)
Galatians...54-55. 1st Epistle to the Corinthians (sent from Ephesus with Titus and others, 1 Cor. 16:8.19; Acts 18:2.18.26; 2 Cor. 12:18) ... spring 57. Apostle Paul's visit to Corinth and Macedonia ..57 g.
2nd Epistle to the Corinthians (from Macedonia with Titus and others, 2 Cor.7.5; 8.1.6.16-23; 9.2-4) ...autumn 57
Epistle to the Romans (from Corinth through the deaconess Phoebe; Rom. 15:25-26; 16:1.23; Acts 20:2-3)….. 58
Apostle Paul's journey to Jerusalem and his taking into custody....58
Sailing to Italy 60. Gospel of Mark...50-60.	Porcius Festus-procurator, 60-62. (Acts 24.27;25.1-27-26.24-25.32)
Gospel of Luke 61-63. Acts of the Apostles 62-64.	Lucretius Albinus procurator 62-64.	Great Fire of Rome 64
The Epistle of James…61 The Epistle of Jude…..62		Persecution of Christians in Rome - 64
Epistle from the bonds in Rome: to the Philippians, Colossians, Ephesians and Philemon......62-63. 1 Epistle of St. Peter……63-64. Epistle to the Hebrews 64 1st Epistle to Timothy in Ephesus......64-65. Epistle to Titus on the island of Crete….64-65
Apostle Paul's journey to Spain (Rom. 15:28) and to the east (Ephesus, Macedonia; Crete) ..... 64-65.	Gessius Florus procurator 64-66.
The second bonds of St. Paul in Rome…. 66-67 2nd Epistle to Timothy..67. 2nd Epistle of St. Peter……….66-67.
Martyrdom of the Apostles Peter and Paul...67	Christians leave Jerusalem for Pella - 68	Galba Otho Vitelius, Emperor (Caesar) 68-69
The Apostle John moves to Ephesus..69.	Revolt of the Jews Jewish War 68-72	Vespasian, Emperor. 69-79
Apostle John on the island of Patmos...81-96.	Destruction of the temple 70
Gospel of John 90-100	Sanhedrin in Jamnia.. 90s.	The triumph of victory in the Jewish War. Titus, Emperor 79-81
Revelation of St. John...95		Domitian, emperor, 81-96.
Epistles of the Ap. John...97-102		Nerva, Emperor, 96-98.
Death of St. John ca. 100-102		Trojan, emperor, 99-117.

II. Second period of the New Testament canon (2nd century AD)

The second period of the history of the New Testament is characterized by the fact that instead of the apostles, the Church began to be led by their closest collaborators and disciples, the so-called fathers and teachers of the Church in theology. Being living witnesses and collaborators of the apostles, they accepted from them the Holy Scriptures they wrote and the experience of sacred rites, and in turn they themselves wrote and confirmed what they saw, heard and witnessed.

From the writings of the direct disciples of the apostles, and then their immediate successors, the letters have been preserved: Barnabas (50-100), Clement of Rome, Ignatius the God-Bearer (bishop 60-107), Polycarp (apostle John), Irenaeus (130-202) , Papiya and others.

They were members of churches in different places, but their writings indicate that they knew the books of the New Testament, studied and revered them as sacred scriptures. They were ministers of the New Testament (see History of Christianity; lectures 2 and 3) and their works contained many excerpts from the books of the New Testament. It is not surprising that the Scottish scholar Guile, who studied the spiritual literature of the first centuries, found the entire New Testament “scattered in it,” with the exception of a few verses.

Barnabas, friend and colleague of the Apostle Paul, in his letter mentions two exact passages from Matthew: “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (11:13); “Many are called, but few are chosen” (22:14). In giving the last reference, Barnabas adds “as it is written.”

Clement of Rome was the first bishop of the Roman Church. In his writings, he repeatedly cites excerpts from the New Testament. The historian Eusebius, in his history of the Church, writes that Clement translated the Epistle to the Hebrews into Greek language.

Ignatius was Bishop of Antioch from 67 to 107. Historians Eusebius and Jerome believe that he, along with Polycarp and Papias, was a disciple of the Apostle John. During the persecution of Christians under the Emperor Trojan, he wrote several epistles while traveling to Rome for execution in 107. In these messages he very often cited excerpts from all four Gospels.

Polycarp was bishop of the Smyrna church for over forty years. Under Emperor Marcus Aurelius, he was burned at the stake. In his messages written shortly before his death, he cites excerpts: Matt.5:3.10; 6.13; Mark.14.28; Luke 6:37-38, etc.

Bishop Irenaeus of Lyons, in his fifth book against heresies, writes that Papias, Bishop of Hieropolis, wrote a book: “An Exposition of the Lord’s Sayings.” Although these books have not survived, the historian Eusebius cites some excerpts from them, which contain 120 texts.

Justin (executed in 166) writes that the Gospels were read in churches instead of the Old Testament, as a replacement for the living word of the apostles and as Holy Scripture.

Particular attention should be paid to Marcion, who is considered a heretic. According to Tertullian, he had a collection of New Testament books, consisting of ten epistles of the Apostle Paul and one Gospel. This shows that already in the first half of the 2nd century all these precious books were in the possession of a member of a small remote church in the city of Sinop, near the Black Sea, where Marcion lived.

From the second century, a sufficient number of historical documents have reached us confirming that all the books of the New Testament were known to Christians in different places of the world at that time. The following documents are very important in confirming that the New Testament canon was known in the 2nd century:

a) The Old Syriac translation of the New Testament is Peshito. It contains: 4 Gospels, Acts of the Apostles, 13 Epistles of the Apostle Paul, Epistle to the Hebrews, 1 Peter, 1 John and James. This translation contains the same books that Irenaeus, Tertullian and Clement testify with certainty.

b) An ancient catalog of canonical books in Italian (II century). This catalog, a Muratorian fragment, was found in Milan at the beginning of the last century. The scholar Muratorius considers the Roman presbyter Caius to be the author of this passage. The Muratorian canon reliably recognizes the following books: 4 Gospels, Acts of the Apostles, 13 Epistles. Paul, the epistles of St. John, Jude and the Revelation of John. As for the remaining messages, it is impossible to fully establish the contents of this ancient document, since its ending is damaged and cannot be read.

Consequently, already in the second century the canonical books of the New Testament were known to the entire Christian world and the first translations were available. "Peshito" in Syria, Irenaeus in Asia Minor, Clement in Egypt and the East, Tertullian in North Africa, the Muratorian Canon in Italy and others confirm the historically reliable knowledge of the canonical books of the New Testament.

III. Final approval of the New Testament canon (III-IV centuries AD)

The third period in the history of the New Testament canon is characterized by the conciliar church approval of the New Testament canon in its present composition.

During this period, church councils, local churches, learned theologians and ministers of the Church expressed some clarity regarding the composition of the New Testament canon.

Clement of Alexandria (150-215), an outstanding theologian, at the end of the 2nd century became the head of the famous school of Alexandria. He left behind many works, some of which have reached us, such as: “Admonition to the Gentiles”, “Teacher”, “Stromata”, “Which of the Rich Will Be Saved”. In all his works he cites numerous passages of Holy Scripture, the authenticity and truth of which cannot be doubted.

Tertullian, the famous church teacher (150-222), wrote many works in defense of Christianity. His famous Apology and other works confirm his deep knowledge of the books of the canon of Holy Scripture. His books contain about 3,000 verses of the New Testament.

Origen (185-254), a famous church teacher and learned theologian, studied the Holy Scriptures from childhood under the guidance of Clement of Alexandria. He wrote many works devoted to the interpretation of the books of the New Testament. His works “On the Beginnings”, “Interpretation of the Gospel of Matthew”, “Interpretation of the Gospel of John”, “Response to Celsus” - contain many verbatim excerpts from all the books of Holy Scripture (about 6,000).

As a theologian, Origen worked hard to justify the canon of the New Testament.

The famous church historian Eusebius of Caesarea (267-338) accepts almost all the books of the New Testament as canon.

Bishop Athanasius of Alexandria in the 39th Easter message, written by him around 365, lists all the books of the New Testament canon in full. Laodicean (363), Igshonean (393) and Carthage (397) Christian cathedrals The composition of the New Testament canon known to us was finally approved.

At that time there were many other books, also called Gospels and Epistles of the Apostles, but with a legendary account of events. If we compare the books of Holy Scripture with these apocrypha, it becomes clear that canonization was not accidental, but strictly justified. The canonical books clearly stand out from the apocrypha by their simplicity, height of thought and spirit, clarity and completeness of the narrative. The Apocrypha gives passages presented in a very vague manner (the Gnostic Gospels), representing a mixture of legend and fact. But their appearance also testifies to the antiquity of the Gospels as a primary source.

It is interesting that the very structure of the early Christian church guaranteed the thoroughness of canonization. The Church was a scattered multitude of free communities united by one spirit and one faith. Despite this, in different places far from each other, Christian communities freely and independently recognized the same Gospels and the entire canon from ancient times.

Caution is also evident from the duration of the process of canonization of the New Testament from the end of the 1st century. until the 4th century. For the Church, the New Testament canon is of the greatest importance. All the books of the New Testament represent a single whole.

The main theme of the books of the New Testament

GOSPEL: Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world (John 3:16).

EV. MATTHEW: Jesus Christ as Messiah and King (1.1; 27.37).

EV. MARK: Jesus Christ, as a servant, as a slave (U,45).

LUKE: Jesus Christ as a man, as “Son of man” (23.47).

EV. JOHN: Jesus Christ as the eternal Son of God (3.16; 20.1).

ACTS OF THE APOSTLES: Acts of the Holy Spirit in the Church (1.8).

EPISTLE OF JAMES: justification through works of faith (2:26).

I SEQ. PETER: the saints of God as a holy priesthood (2:9).

II LAST OF PETER: God's dominion over the universe (3:10-13).

I SEQ. JOHN: a life of communion with the God of love - its joy, victory and security

II SEQ. JOHN: walking in the truth, warning against false teachers

III SEQ. JOHN: Walking in Truth, Hospitality, and the Danger of Arrogant Shepherding

LAST JUDAS: keeping the faith and preserving oneself from falling in apostasy

LAST ROMANS: justification by faith apart from works of the law (3:28; 1:16-17).

I SEQ. CORINTHIANS: reproof and instruction (1,2).

II SEQ. CORINTHIANS: comfort, discipline, charity.

LAST GALATIANS: “The law was our guide to Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (3:24).

LAST EPHESIANS: Jews and Gentiles in Christ constitute one Church - the body of Christ (1:22-23; 3:6; 5:30).

LAST PHILIPPIANS: Christian unity is a necessity; the feeling of Jesus in believers (1:1-3; 3:6).

LAST COLOSSIANS: The divinity, glory and majesty of Christ (1.18; 2.6; 3.11).

I SEQ. TO THE THESSALONIANS: the coming of Jesus Christ for His own (1:10; 4:13-18).

II SEQ. TO THE THESSALONIANS: the appearance of Jesus Christ: with the angels and His people (1:7-8).

I SEQ. TIMOTHY: “How one ought to act in the house of God”; “Be an example to the faithful” (3.15; 4.12).

II SEQ. TIMOTHY: devotion to the Lord and the truth (1:8,12;16,2,15).

LAST TITUS: teachings for the church and workers (2.7-8.13-15).

LAST PHILEMON: Christian forgiveness: accept; “Count it on me” (12.15.17-18).

LAST TO THE HEBREWS: Shadow and Truth, a book of comparisons.

REVELATION: the revelation of Jesus Christ, Jesus as the Conqueror. All periods after which there will be a new heaven and new land (1,19; 21,1-2).

Gospel

Gospel - Greek word, denoting good, joyful and good news. In the New Testament this expression means: a) the good news of Christ; about the reconciliation of people with God through Him; about His teaching and kingdom (Matt. 4:23; Mark 1:15; 2 Cor. 4:4); b) all Christian teaching about the salvation of sinners through faith in the Savior and preaching about it (Rom. 1:1.16; 2.16; 1 Cor. 15:1-4; 2 Cor. 11:7; Eph. 1:14; 6 ,15, etc.)

For quite a long time, testimony about Jesus Christ - His life and teachings - was transmitted orally. The Lord and Teacher Christ Himself did not leave any records; His disciples were “unlearned and simple” (Acts 4:13), although literate, and among the first Christians there were few “wise according to the flesh, strong and noble” (1 Cor. 1.26). Therefore at first higher value had an oral sermon than a written one. But then God saw the need for eyewitnesses to compile written testimonies about Christ. The evangelists, as can be seen from John 21:25, did not intend to report all the speeches and deeds of Christ (John 20:31). Evangelist Luke reports that “many began to compose narratives” about Christ, which did not provide sufficient confirmation in the faith (Luke 1:1-4). Four Gospels are recognized as canonical: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

The first three Gospels are very similar in the selection of content and in the form of presentation. In theology they are called synoptic (Greek: weather forecasters - looking together or looking the same).

The Fourth Gospel reports other sayings and events from the life of Jesus Christ; in syllable it also differs significantly from the first ones.

Four Gospels

The early Christian church looked at the four Gospels as one Gospel, one good news about Christ in four expositions. Why did the Church accept not one Gospel, but four? To this, John Chrysostom writes: “Couldn’t one evangelist write everything that was needed. Of course he could, but when four people wrote, they wrote not at the same time, not in the same place, without talking to each other, and for all that they wrote in such a way that everything seemed to be uttered with one mouth, then this serves the strongest evidence of the truth. But you will say: there is, however, the opposite, for the four Gospels often differ in disagreement. And this is a sure sign of the truth. For if the Gospels had exactly agreed with each other in everything, even regarding individual words, then many would not have believed that they were not written by mutual agreement. Now the slight disagreement between them frees them from all suspicion. In the main thing, which forms the basis of our life and the essence of preaching, not one of them diverges from the other in anything or anywhere - that God became man, worked miracles, was crucified, resurrected, ascended into heaven" (Conversations on Ev. .Matt. 1h).

Irenaeus finds a special symbolic meaning in the Four Gospels. He writes that since the church is scattered in four directions of the world, it should have its affirmation in four pillars that breathe incorruption and revive the human race. The All-Ordering Word, seated on the cherubim (Ezek. 1 ch.), gave us the Gospel in four forms, but permeated with one spirit (Ps. 79:2).

The evangelists Matthew and John were apostles and eyewitnesses of the ministry of Christ, and Mark and Luke were apostolic disciples. Mark may have been an eyewitness of Christ's ministry during the last period of His life. Evidence has been preserved from ancient times that the Gospel of Mark was written under the personal guidance of the apostle. Petra. Evangelist Luke used the testimony of those close to Christ and the records of the life and teachings of Christ that existed before him. As a close friend and follower of the ap. Paul, Luke reflected in his Gospel the views of the greatest of the apostles.

Thus, we can say that the Gospels essentially come from the four apostles: Matthew, Peter, Paul and John.

The titles of each of the four Gospels were not given by the evangelists themselves. But they are of very ancient origin, since they were already known to Irenaeus (130-202), Clement of Alexandria (150-215) and other Christian writers of the 2nd century.

The Relationship of the Gospels

Each of the four Gospels has its own characteristics, and most of all the Gospel of John. The first three, as mentioned above, have a lot in common with each other, which is quite noticeable.

Another famous Christian historian and writer Eusebius Pamphilius (263-340), Bishop of Caesarea in the 4th century, divided the Gospels into parts and noticed that many of them are found in all three synoptic Gospels. Exegetes continued this work and found that the number of verses common to weather forecasters reaches 350.

In Matthew, 350 verses are unique to him; Mark has 68 such verses, and Luke has 541. The similarities are mainly noticeable in the rendering of the sayings of Christ, and the differences in the narratives. Some passages in all three evangelists follow the same sequence, such as: temptation and performance in Galilee; the calling of Matthew and the conversation about fasting; plucking ears of corn and healing a withered hand; comfort of the storm and healing of the Gadarene demoniac, etc.

As for the differences observed among weather forecasters, there are very few of them. Only Matthew and Luke cite the Sermon on the Mount of Jesus Christ and report the story of the birth and infancy of Jesus Christ. Luke alone speaks of the birth of John the Baptist. There is a difference in the details, expressions and form of the events described.

This phenomenon of similarities and differences in the synoptic Gospels has long attracted the attention of exegetes, as well as other students of Scripture, so that in theology this issue is highlighted separately and called the “synoptic problem.”

Jesus Christ and His disciples spoke and preached, apparently, in Aramaic, i.e. spoken language of the population of Galilee. They also knew the state language of the East of the Roman Empire of that time - Hellenic (Greek), of course, in the form of a local dialect. The evangelists conveyed in the original Greek the Aramaic pronunciation of some words (“talifah-kumi” - Mark 5:41; “ephphatha” - Mark 7:34; “or, or; lama sabachthani” - Mark 15:34).

The synoptic problem considers, first of all, that the words of Christ and the sermon about Him have gone through the path: imprinting in memory - oral narration (sermon) - translation from Aramaic into Greek - written presentation. Written storytelling is more consistent, coherent, and polished than oral storytelling. The same applies to oral and written translations.

In Greek, the Gospel of Mark was the first. Mark's Gospel consists of 661 verses, at least 610 are repeated in either Matthew or Luke, and most of them are included in both Gospels. The agreement between Matthew and Luke runs through Mark. Where there is no closeness between them and Mark, they disagree with each other.

The evangelical weather forecasters talk mainly about the activities of Christ in Galilee, about miracles, parables and external events; John is about the activity of Christ in Judea, illuminating more the spiritual essence of Jesus. But, of course, the agreement and closeness of the weather forecasters and John are clearly noticeable.

The weather forecasters do not talk about the resurrection of Lazarus, but Luke is well acquainted with his sisters in Bethany, and the character of the sisters he depicts in a few strokes is consistent with their course of action at the death and resurrection of Lazarus.

The conversations of Christ among the weather forecasters are popular, clear and consist of visual parables and examples. John's conversations are deep, mysterious, often difficult to understand, as if intended not for the crowd, but for a close circle of disciples. But one does not exclude the other: different ways of speaking could be dictated by different conditions and circumstances. Christ would not be understandable as the God-man if it were not for the mysteriously sublime conversations that are set forth in John.

Both the Synoptics and John emphasize the divine and human nature of Christ, to a greater or lesser extent. John also has the Son of God as a true Man, Who goes to the wedding feast, talks friendly with Martha and Mary, and cries at the tomb of His friend Lazarus.

Thus, the weather forecasters and John complement each other and together give a perfect image of Christ. Ancient Christian writers considered the mysterious chariot that the prophet Ezekiel saw near the Chebar River (Ezek. 1:5-26) to be a symbol of the four Gospels. The four-faced creatures of the prophetic vision represented man, lion, calf and eagle. These creatures became emblems of the Evangelists in Christian art from the 5th century.

We have the Gospel of Matthew, Mark, etc., that is, as presented by the evangelist, according to Matthew, through Matthew, etc. Before us is the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Matthew, who heard it from Jesus Christ and wrote it by inspiration from above.

The Authenticity and Reliability of the New Testament

The earthly life of Jesus, the miracles He performed, His teaching, death and resurrection, and then the selfless preaching of the apostles in different countries- were the greatest historical events, which were captured not only by the apostles, but also by other writers. Unfortunately, the Jewish wars of 66-73. and 132-135, like a hurricane raging through Palestine, swept away on their way many testimonies of Christ’s blessed stay on earth. In addition, fierce persecution of those who professed Christ and His teachings led to the death of Christians and the destruction of their holy books and all their property.

All written works of the first centuries of Christianity, which do not raise the slightest doubt about their authenticity and confirm the truth and reliability of the New Testament, can be divided into three groups:

1. Books of faithful followers of Christ. These include the books of the apostolic men and their disciples, as well as pagan philosophers and scientists who turned to Christ. The first include Barnabas, Clement of Rome, Ignatius the God-Bearer, Polycarp, Papias, etc. Among the pagan Christian writers of the 2nd century who believed in Christ in adulthood are known: Justin the philosopher, Irenaeus, Tatian, Clement of Alexandria, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Origen and etc.

2. Talmud, apocrypha, books of heretics Basilides, Carpocritus, Valentinus, Ptolemy, Marcion, etc., as well as books by opponents of Christianity, such as Celsus.

3. Works of historians and political figures: C. Tacitus (55-120), Josephus (37-96), Pliny the Younger (61-113), Suetonius (70-140) and others who wrote about Christ in their works, apostles and Christians.

So, the authenticity of the books of the New Testament, and above all the Gospels, is confirmed by witnesses from ancient times (1st and 2nd centuries): direct disciples of the apostles, pagan philosophers who turned to Christ, heretics and enemies of Christianity, historians and political figures of that time. These witnesses did not think that 18-19 centuries later their writings would be deeply studied.

If the enemies of Christianity, such as Celsus, Marcion, Valentine and others, doubted the authenticity of the Gospels, they would not refer to these books and would seek to substantiate their doubts. But their writings show that they recognize, on the basis of extensive research, that the Gospels are unquestionably the writings of famous authors.

And pagan scientists who became Christians, philosophers Justin, Tatian, Clement and others, could really, in their search for truth, accept such books, the authenticity of which was not verified after careful research!

And the direct disciples of the apostles, who saw with their own eyes the authors of the Holy Scriptures, knew them personally, heard the good news from their lips and, perhaps, copied the Scriptures for themselves from the originals - could they really have brought something else in their epistles?

There can be no doubt about the veracity of the testimony of all these witnesses in relation to the issue before us. They all testify that they recognized the Gospels as the authentic works of the apostles and their disciples, on the basis of deep, serious conviction.

Almost two thousand years of careful study of the New Testament by believers and non-believers has not disproved the reliability and authenticity of these ancient books.

The authenticity of the New Testament writings is further proven by the following data:

1. They historically correctly present the complex political situation of Palestine at that time. Historical data (especially the books of Josephus) confirm this.

2. The geographical description of the country in the New Testament truly reflects the situation of Palestine in the 1st century, before the devastating Jewish wars.

3. The description of the religious and temple life of the Jews corresponds to historical data from the period of the life of Jesus Christ.

4. The style and form of writing of the New Testament dates back to the 1st century.

5. The writings of Christ’s disciples breathe with sincerity, simplicity, and modesty. There is not a trace of deception or desire in them to gain the favor of readers, to show themselves in the best light. Here is only the testimony of eyewitnesses and other reliable witnesses (John 19:35; 1 John 1:1; Luke 1:1-3).

The New Testament writers modestly remain silent about themselves and do not reveal their own and others’ shortcomings. Apostle Paul does not hide the fact that he was a persecutor of the Church. Evangelists do not hide the fact that Christ’s disciples had a lack of faith, doubts, misunderstandings and unfaithfulness to Christ. But, having gone through these spiritual illnesses, they consciously became convinced that their Teacher Jesus Christ was truly the Son of God, the Messiah promised by the prophets. In their books they did not shine their light on Jesus, did not interpret His words and deeds. They put aside their personality, their "I", giving the opportunity to Christ Himself to act and speak. Human soul sees in the Gospel the truth, the ideal of Man, the character of Christ, His works, His teaching. His life and death give us an image of perfect holiness, sinlessness. His wisdom, surpassing human knowledge and accessible to infants; His meekness, combined with fiery zeal for the Father’s house; His love is spiritual, deeply personal, reaching from the heights of the cross of Calvary... they powerfully convince us. The everlasting gospel brings salvation to the world through Christ. The purpose of the written New Testament is to build up the living gospel in people by embodying in their hearts the character, image, and spirit of Christ.

Control questions

1. History of the New Testament canon.

2. List some major events first century.

4. Approval of the New Testament canon.

5. The main theme of several books of the New Testament.

6. Gospel. Relationships of the Gospels. Synoptic Gospels. Synoptic problem.

7. Authenticity and reliability of the books of the New Testament.

The Holy Scriptures of the New Testament consist of 27 books, written mostly in the 40s - 60s of the first century. The New Testament writings have come down to us in thousands of manuscripts, the oldest of which date back to the beginning of the second century. In addition, the books of the New Testament are mentioned and quoted by many authoritative church writers of antiquity. All these materials make it possible to build a fairly substantiated history of the origin and canonization of the New Testament.

In the second half of the first century, a whole literature was formed in the Christian environment, with its own characteristic tasks and genres, themes and techniques. However, within the framework of early Christian writing, the New Testament writings stand out in a more than obvious way. Starting from the turn of the 1st - 2nd centuries, when the later works of the Evangelist John the Theologian were created as part of the New Testament, the authority of most books is not in doubt among any Christians. These works, whose authority has become generally accepted since the end of the 1st century, include 19 books (). Another 8 books remained controversial for several centuries, and their authority was finally recognized only in the 4th century. Finally, at the turn of the 1st - 2nd centuries, a number of works appeared that can be called near-New Testament writing. Some church writers and even canonical council documents consider them authoritative and include them in the New Testament along with other texts. In fact, the separation of near-New Testament writing from the New Testament occurs in the 3rd and 4th centuries, but it is finally formalized only towards the end of the era Ecumenical Councils(7th - 8th centuries).

i. Canonical Gospels

The central part of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament are the four Gospels. The works of church writers (see below) from the beginning of the 2nd century agree that the historical authenticity and spiritual authority of the Four Gospels are unconditionally recognized by all Christian churches.

The four Gospels differ from each other in the time of writing, literary and linguistic features. Evangelists write for different readers, and this leaves an imprint on their selection of historical material. The tasks they set for themselves are not entirely identical. At the same time, the first three Gospels are characterized by a number of common features and a similar structure in presentation, and therefore they received the name synoptic (from the Greek σύνοψις, review, brief outline).

In the apostolic environment, along with preaching addressed to the hearts of people, a stable tradition about the events of the earthly life of Christ was preserved and transmitted orally. The accuracy and completeness of the preservation of this tradition were due to the Jewish origin of the apostles: preservation in memory and accurate oral transmission of the words of the teacher were commonplace in the Jewish environment. Clementines (Τά Κλημέντια), a monument of ancient Christian near-New Testament writing associated with the name of St. Clement of Rome, in the section “Meetings” (Άναγνώσεις, Recognitiones), book. II, 1, gives words attributed to the ap. Peter: “I always wake up around midnight, and sleep does not come to me because of the habit of repeating to myself the words of my Lord that I have heard, in order to remember them accurately.” These words are characteristic and truly reflect the attitude of the apostles to what they saw and heard.

The text of the Gospels is replete with Semitisms - phrases and figures of speech that are translations into Greek of Semitic (Aramaic or Hebrew) expressions. This fact, along with a number of features of the content (lack of mention of the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70; the focus of Christ’s preaching on people professing faith in the One God; the use of a number of concepts characteristic of the Jewish environment; lack of indications of the peculiarities of life church communities and much more), allows us to believe that the main source of the Gospels was the historical tradition of the Church and the testimonies of the apostles about the events of Christ’s earthly life. This Tradition undoubtedly developed in Palestine and goes back directly to the time of Christ’s earthly life.

Already in the first years of the existence of the Church, attempts were made to record this oral tradition in writing. The Evangelist Luke begins his narrative by pointing out this fact: “As many have already begun to compile narratives about events that are completely known among us, as those who from the very beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word handed them down to us...” (Luke 1:1-2). Earlier than others, according to researchers, stories about the Passion, the Resurrection, the Last Supper and the establishment of the Sacrament of the Eucharist could have been written down. In addition, collections of the sayings of Christ (Logia) seem to have been popular among the early Christians. Tradition attributes the compilation of one of these collections to the Evangelist Matthew. The term “Gospel” itself did not arise immediately, and the original name of the creations of the evangelists was, perhaps, precisely the word “Logia”.

Thus, the first three canonical Gospels were compiled from oral tradition between 40 and 70 of the first century. The Evangelist Matthew was the first to write the Gospel: it dates from the first half of the 40s (possibly 42). The Gospel of Matthew was written for Jewish Christians, which is confirmed by the abundance of Semitisms in the surviving Greek text, many references to the Old Testament and Jewish realities that are assumed to be known to the reader. The author strives to systematize the material to some extent. Tradition unanimously asserts that the Gospel of Matthew was written in Hebrew (possibly in Aramaic), but only its Greek translation has survived to our time. Evangelist Mark wrote his Gospel in the 50s for Roman Christians. Therefore, the evangelist makes little mention of the Old Testament, but is forced to explain various Jewish customs. The writing of the Gospel of Luke dates back to the first half of the 60s (possibly 61 - 62). It is quite possible that the Evangelist Luke, among other “narratives of completely known events among us,” was familiar with both the Gospels of Matthew and Mark. He addresses his Gospel primarily to a pagan audience and is especially interested in restoring the chronological sequence of events. Tradition unanimously dates the composition of the Gospel of John to the 90s of the first century. The Gospel of John largely complements the story of the weather forecasters.

ii. Historical evidence about the Four Gospels

Early Christian writing has preserved for us quite a lot of evidence about the composition of the canonical Gospels. These texts attracted attention even in ancient times; they were valued as a source of important information about the time of writing of the Gospels, their authorship and features. In addition to direct evidence, there are also quotes and references to certain New Testament writings in the works of the apostolic men and fathers of the Church of the 2nd - 4th centuries. They make it possible to trace in detail the formation of the New Testament canon. These ancient testimonies are presented in detail in the book “Ecclesiastical History” by Eusebius of Caesarea, one of the most complete and reliable sources on the history of the ancient Church. In this book, in particular, Eusebius writes about the time of Trajan (97-117): “Many of the then disciples, whose souls were struck by the word of God with great wisdom, fulfilled first of all the saving commandment: they distributed their property to the poor, and then set off to travel and carry out the work evangelists, hastening to convey the word of faith to those who have not heard of it at all, and to hand over to them the books of the Divine Gospels.” This message indicates that at the turn of the 1st - 2nd centuries the Gospels already existed and were considered by the new generation, which had not seen the apostles, as an important doctrinal source.

St. saved important information for us. Papias of Hierapolis (c. 60 - c. 130), about whom St. Irenaeus of Lyons reports that he was “a disciple of John and St. Polycarp [Smyrna]." In his work “Five Books of Expositions of the Lord’s Sayings,” Papias writes: “This is what the presbyter [John, the apostolic husband] said: “Mark was the translator of Peter; He accurately wrote down everything that he remembered from what the Lord said and did, but not in order, for he himself did not hear the Lord and did not walk with Him. Later he accompanied Peter, who taught as circumstances required, and did not intend to put the words of Christ in order. Mark made no mistake in writing everything down as he remembered it; He only cared about not missing anything or conveying it incorrectly...Matthew wrote down Jesus’ conversations in Hebrew, and translated them as best he could.” Papias's mention that Matthew recorded the Lord's conversations is the main argument in favor of the hypothesis that the Logiae were compiled before the writing of the Gospel of Matthew. It is characteristic that Papias does not use the term “Gospel”: in his time it might not have yet taken root. At the same time, it is important that the Gospel of Mark, written in Rome at the beginning of the 2nd century, is already well known in Asia Minor, where Papias was a bishop.

St. himself Irenaeus of Lyons (c. 130 - c. 202) in the book “Against Heresies”, III, 1.1 describes the history of the creation of the Four Gospels as follows: “...Matthew published the writings of the Gospel among the Jews in their own language, while Peter and Paul They preached the gospel to Rome and founded the Church. After their departure, Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, gave us in writing what was preached by Peter. And Luke, Paul's companion, set forth in a book the Gospel he preached. Then John, the disciple of the Lord, reclining on His chest, also published the Gospel during his stay in Ephesus.” St. Irenaeus was born in Asia Minor (possibly in Smyrna) and was a student of St. Polycarp, student of St. John the Theologian, which gives special value to his testimony about the authorship and place of writing of the fourth Gospel.

Another important testimony was left to us by a contemporary of St. Irenaeus St. Clement of Alexandria (150 - 215), however, the chronology he proposes differs from the majority opinion: “The Gospels, where there are genealogies, were written first. The Gospel of Mark arose under the following circumstances: Peter, being in Rome and preaching Christ's teaching, expounded, filled with the Spirit, what is contained in the Gospel. Those who listened - and there were many of them - convinced Mark, as Peter’s longtime companion, who remembered everything he said, to write down his words. Mark did so and gave this Gospel to those who asked. Peter, having learned about this, did not forbid Mark, but did not encourage him either. John, the latter, seeing that those Gospels proclaimed the earthly works of Christ, wrote, prompted by his disciples and inspired by the Spirit, a spiritual Gospel.”

At the beginning of the third century, the great Alexandrian theologian Origen (185 - 254) cites in the 1st book of his Commentaries on the Gospel of Matthew a general church tradition about the origin of the Gospels: “This is what I learned from tradition about the four Gospels, the only ones indisputable for the entire Church of God, located under heaven: the first was written by Matthew, a former publican, and then an apostle of Christ, intended for Jewish Christians and written in Hebrew; the second, from Mark, was written according to the instructions of Peter, who called Mark his son in the Catholic Epistle: “The chosen Church in Babylon and Mark my son greet you.” The third Gospel is Luke, which Paul approves, written for Gentile Christians. The Last Gospel- from John” (according to Eusebius, Church History, VI, 25.4). Origen emphasizes that, against the background of the biographical works about Christ and the apocryphal Gospels that existed in his time, the only indisputable ones for the entire Church are the four canonical Gospels.

These precious passages indicate that each of the four Gospels, from the moment of its writing, very quickly (in the absence of printing) spread throughout the Church and became the main authoritative document about the events of Christ’s earthly life and His preaching.

Over the course of the 2nd to 5th centuries, in parallel with the Four Gospels, other similar documents were preserved (especially in the Eastern Mediterranean). The most famous of them is the Diatessaron (Διά τεσσάρων, Greek “from four”), compiled at the end of the 1st half of the 2nd century by Tatian († c. 160). In the fourth century, Eusebius writes about him: “...Tatian compiled - I don’t know how - a set of four Gospels, calling it the Gospel of Four”; Some people still have it” (Church History IV, 29:6). The Diatessaron is a sequential account of the Gospel events based on the agreement of the four evangelists. In ancient times, the popularity of this first attempt at harmonization gospel history was quite large, the Diatessaron was widespread in the Syriac-speaking Churches of the Middle East even after the 5th century. From the point of view of the history of the New Testament canon, the fact that such a harmonization was compiled in the 30s - 50s of the 2nd century precisely on the basis of the canonical Four Gospels without involving additional sources testifies to the exceptional authority of the Four Gospels a few decades after its writing.

iii. Acts, Epistles and Apocalypse

Unlike the Four Gospels, direct evidence about the Acts and Epistles of the Apostles and the Apocalypse is fragmentary and very incomplete, but early Christian writing is replete with indirect evidence, primarily quotations from these books. The books of the Acts of the Apostles, 1 Epistle of Peter, 1 Epistle of John and 13 Epistles of the Apostle Paul are completely indisputable for the Church of the 2nd - 4th centuries. The authority of the remaining epistles and the Apocalypse of John remains controversial at this time: some local churches and church writers recognize this authority, but others reject it or do not use these texts.

Of the direct evidence of the messages, the testimony of Origen in the 5th book of the Commentaries on the Gospel of Matthew (according to Eusebius, Church History, VI, 25.7-10) is very characteristic: “Paul, who was given enough to become a minister of the New Testament, did not in letter, but in spirit, having saturated the lands from Jerusalem and all around Illyricum with the Gospel, he did not write to all the Churches that he instructed, and even to those to whom he wrote, he sent several lines. From Peter, on whom the Church of Christ is founded and the gates of hell will not prevail against it, only one Epistle remains, recognized by everyone. Let us, perhaps, accept the second one, although there is some debate about it. What can we say about John, who reclined on the chest of Christ? He left one Gospel, noting that the whole world could not contain what he could write; He also wrote Revelation, but he was ordered to remain silent and not write about what the seven thunders said. What remains of him is a message of a few lines. Let's accept, perhaps, the Second and Third - not everyone recognizes them as genuine; both have no more than a hundred lines.” The information given by Origen reflects the situation characteristic of the 2nd - 4th centuries.

Origen’s testimony about the Epistle to the Hebrews has also been preserved in his conversations about this Epistle (according to Eusebius, Church history, VI, 25:13-14): “If I had to speak openly, I would say: the thoughts in this Epistle belong to the apostle, and the choice of words and manner of speech - to the person who remembers what the apostle said and writes, as if explaining what the teacher said. If any Church accepts this epistle as Paul's, praise be to it for that. It was not for nothing that the ancient men considered this Epistle to be Paul’s. Who its real author was, only God knows. Even before us, some attributed it to Clement, the Bishop of Rome, others to Luke, who wrote the Gospel.” Here Origen gives a view on the authorship of the Epistle to the Hebrews, which was also common among other church writers of his era. In particular, St. Clement of Alexandria considers the Apostle Paul as the author, and the Evangelist Luke as the translator of the Epistle to the Hebrews into Greek.

It is characteristic that Origen and other church writers consider both normal the fact that the authority of a number of epistles is controversial among Christians. This is radically different from the attitude of Christians (including Origen) to the Gospels: non-recognition of their authority already at the turn of the 2nd - 3rd centuries was considered a sign of heresy. Yes, St. Irenaeus of Lyon writes: “It is impossible for the Gospels to be more or less in number than they are... vain and ignorant and, moreover, impudent, all those who distort the idea of ​​the Gospel and introduce types of the Gospel more or less than what has been said are alone in order to seem as if they found more than the truth, others to reproach the orders of God” (“Against Heresies”, III, 11:8-9).

iv. Testimonies about the canon of the New Testament 2 - beginning. 4th centuries

In the history of the Church of the 2nd - 4th centuries one can discern a number of circumstances that had a certain influence on the formation of the canon. Now we cannot say that these circumstances external to the Church served cause canonization of the text of Holy Scripture. It is quite possible that even without them this canonization would have taken place at one time or another. However, it is significant for us that the Fathers of the Church and authoritative church writers of this era, speaking about the canon of sacred books, as a rule, indicate at least some of these external circumstances.

The main one among these external motives for canonization is the desire to protect the Church from the harmful influence of numerous heresies, the founders of which tried to substantiate their teachings by including new books in Scripture and excluding from it texts they did not like. Therefore, the majority of the Church Fathers, justifying the very fact that they forced list canonical books, they say something similar, for example, to the words of St. Athanasius of Alexandria (see below): “since I write for the sake of need... Let no one add anything to these, nor take anything away from them.”

The most noticeable influences were the Gnostics, Montanists and Marcionites. The Gnostics usually added their own writings to the Four Gospels and the Epistles. The Montanists, on the contrary, added their works as a third part of the Bible, new in comparison with the Old and New Testaments (it is characteristic that for Montanism, which arose around 172, the Bible accepted by the Church already included these two parts). Marcion completely denied the Old Testament, and edited the New in the spirit of pogrom anti-Semitism, as a result of which he included in the Scriptures only the greatly truncated Gospel of Luke and the nine epistles of St. Pavel. The above statement by St. Irenaeus of Lyons about those “adding” to the Four Gospels and “taking away” from it is directly directed specifically against the Gnostics and Marcionites. It is necessary in this regard to note that the Church’s doubts regarding certain texts, including, for example, the Epistle to the Hebrews and the Apocalypse of John, are largely related to their popularity among heretics.

Perhaps it is in the polemic against heresies that the very concept of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament appears. Eusebius (Church history V, 16.3) quotes from an anonymous author who wrote against Montanus in the early 190s, in which the latter fears that the reader might think that he “inscribed something new in the Gospel of the New Testament and rearranged something there.” In the original Greek, the expression "εύαγγελίου καινής διαθήκης λόγω" literally means "the word of the gospel of the New Testament" and implies the New Testament as text, which should not be changed.

Another factor that urgently required certainty in the canon Holy books, there were persecutions of Christians, in which an important demand of the authorities was the surrender and destruction of holy books. There are known cases when bishops, instead of Scripture, handed over manuscripts of heretical works (or simply theological works), taking advantage of ignorance, and sometimes even the connivance of local authorities. However, this required a clear understanding of which books belong to Scripture and cannot be handed over, and which books do not belong to it and can be handed over for burning.

The canonization of the Old Testament by the Jamnite rabbis, which took place at the end of the 1st century, had an undoubted influence on Christians. It not only demanded certainty from the Church regarding the Jamnian Canon, which the Church accepted, but also served as an incentive to clarify the composition of its own Scripture.

Below we will consider indirect evidence about the composition of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament from various authors of the first centuries of Christianity. Among these testimonies, the Fathers of the Church and church writers of the 2nd century are characterized by quotations and references to certain texts. For the fathers and writers of the 3rd - 4th and subsequent centuries, on the contrary, lists of books that, according to their information, are included in the canon are more typical. This information is summarized in.

At the beginning of the history of the Church, the Holy Scriptures meant only the books of the Old Testament. It is fundamentally important that in the second century the attitude towards the Holy Scriptures was determined as an inspired text, similar in this regard to the sayings of the Old Testament prophets. One of the first, if not the first, to express this thought was St. Theophilus of Antioch († c. 180), famous primarily for the fact that he was the first among Christians (and, therefore, in history in general) to use the word “Trinity.” In the 3rd book “To Autolycus” (3.12) St. Theophilus writes: “the words of both the prophets and the evangelists agree with each other, because they all spoke inspired by the same Spirit of God” and further quotes the prophets and the Gospel (in this case, Matthew) as equal sacred texts.

In relation to the composition of the Holy Scriptures, it is typical for the second century, on the one hand, to challenge the authority of most of the Council Epistles (except 1 Peter and 1 John) and the Apocalypse (which is often not discussed at all) and, on the other hand, to mention them as authoritative such works that will subsequently be decisively excluded by the Church from the canon of Holy Scripture. The latter include the Gospel of the Jews, popular in the 2nd century, the Apocalypse of Peter, the Shepherd of Hermas, the Epistles of St. Clement of Rome and St. Barnabas, the Teaching of the 12 Apostles (Didache) and the Apostolic Constitutions (Clementines).

In the first half of the 2nd century, St. Papias of Hierapolis uses in texts that have not reached us, but are known to Eusebius, 1 Epistle of Peter and 1 Epistle of John. Quotes Papias and the Gospel of the Jews.

The largest apologist of the 2nd century, St. Justin the Philosopher (c. 100 - c. 165) quotes the Four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, 1 Peter, the Epistles of the Apostle Paul, including the Epistle to the Hebrews. Justin also highly appreciates the authority of the Apocalypse of John the Theologian. However, the Council Epistles (except 1 Pet) remain outside his field of vision. It is significant that speaking about the Gospels, St. Justin typically uses the title "Memoirs of the Apostles" and mentions that they are read during the Sunday Eucharist along with the writings of the prophets.

In the next generation, St. Clement of Alexandria mentions and quotes all 27 canonical books as part of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament. However, along with them, he includes many other texts in Scripture. Among them are the Gospel of the Hebrews, the Didache (Teaching of the 12 Apostles), the Shepherd of Hermas, the Epistles of Barnabas and 1 Clement, and the Apocalypse of Peter. It should be noted that St. Clement also uses non-canonical books of the Old Testament, in particular the Wisdom of Solomon and the Wisdom of Jesus, son of Sirach. In general, St. Clement offers perhaps the broadest view of the composition of Holy Scripture in the history of the Church.

An older contemporary of St. Clement, St. Irenaeus of Lyons uses a slightly different New Testament canon. In addition to the Four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles and the 13 Epistles of the Apostles, which have never been doubted by anyone. Paul (except for the Epistle to the Hebrews), he includes in the canon 1 Peter, the Epistles and Apocalypse of John, as well as the Shepherd of Hermas. St.'s position Irenea was, it seems, closer to the generally accepted one in the second half of the 2nd century.

The most important document for the history of the New Testament canon is the “Muratorian Canon” - the oldest surviving list of New Testament writings, discovered by L.A. Muratori (1672-1750). The manuscript dates back to the end of the 2nd century (170-180), since its author mentions Pius I, Hermas, Marcion, Basilides and Montanus among his contemporaries. The beginning (and possibly the end) of the manuscript has been lost. The list begins with the final words of the phrase about the Gospel of Mark, then describes the Gospels of Luke and John, numbered as the third and fourth. It is obvious that the Gospel of Mark was second in the list and there is no reason to doubt that the Gospel of Matthew came first in the lost beginning of the manuscript. The list also includes all the books of the New Testament except 1 and 2 Peter, Hebrews, and James. In addition to this, the canon includes the Apocalypse of Peter (“Of the revelations we recognize only John and Peter, which some of our people do not want to read in the Church”), as well as the Wisdom of Solomon (sic!), although with warnings. Equally important is the list of books that the Muratorian canon designates as rejected and not included in the canon. Here is Hermas the Shepherd, about whom it is said that “Hermas wrote “The Shepherd” already in our days in Rome, when his brother Pius was bishop. Therefore it must be read, but not publicly in church, neither among the writings of the apostles, nor among the prophets.” Also excluded from the canon are the letters of the Apostle Paul to the Laodiceans and Alexandrians, and a number of heretical writings. The Latin text of the Muratorian canon is replete with spelling and grammatical errors, which has given researchers reason to attribute it to a Greek-speaking author, perhaps St. Hippolyta.

The Muratorian canon reflects an important trend that strengthened in the Church in the second half of the 2nd century, namely the desire to draw a line between the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament and near-New Testament writing. This is due to the fact that it was in the middle and second half of the century that the flow of manuscripts (mostly pseudepigrapha, i.e. inscribed with authoritative apostolic names) increased, read by Christians, but originating from a heretical near-Christian environment. The desire to stop the spread of heretical works is manifested primarily in the fact that the range of books read in the Church during worship is limited. Automatically, but not immediately, this division also extends to the area of ​​home reading for Church members.

The main criterion for differentiation is the correspondence of the text of a particular book to the “accepted teaching”, i.e. that unwritten Revelation, which was transmitted to the Church through the apostles and preserved by it. In addition, church writers of this time (including the author of the Muratorian canon) pay attention to the wide distribution of texts. Other things being equal, preference is given to books that are “read everywhere.” Various authors of this time may draw the boundary of the New Testament Scripture in different ways, but the need to draw it gradually becomes more and more obvious and the broad view of St. Clement of Alexandria looks rather like an exception against this background. At this time, there is still no possibility of adoption and recognition of normative documents, which will subsequently become the rules of the Councils and St. fathers, therefore three categories of books are inevitably distinguished: generally accepted, controversial and spurious.

Origen was one of the first to propose such a division in the first half of the 3rd century. Among the generally accepted books he includes the Four Gospels, Acts, 13 Pauline Epistles, 1 Peter and 1 John, as well as the Apocalypse of John. Origen designates the remaining Council Epistles (2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, Jude and James), as well as the Epistle to the Hebrews, as controversial, although his personal opinion leans in favor of these texts. He also considers the Epistle of Barnabas controversial. The rest of the near-New Testament literature is kept silent: it is assumed that it cannot possibly be included in the canon under discussion.

At the beginning of the 4th century, Eusebius of Caesarea (260 - 340), like Origen, also divided the New Testament Scriptures into generally accepted, controversial, but accepted by many, and spurious. He writes (Church history III, 25): “... let us list the books of the New Testament already known to us. In first place let us, of course, place the holy quartet of Gospels, followed by the Acts of the Apostles; then the Epistles of Paul, immediately after them - First John and the indisputable Peter, and then, if you like, the Apocalypse of John, which we will talk about in due time. These books are undeniable. Among the disputed, but most accepted: Epistles, one called James, the other Judah, and Second Peter, also Second and Third John: perhaps they belong to the evangelist, or perhaps to some of his namesakes. The forged ones include: “The Acts of Paul”, a book called “The Shepherd”, “The Apocalypse of Peter”, “The Epistle” recognized by Barnavin, the so-called “Teaching of the Apostles” and, as I said, perhaps the Apocalypse of John, which some reject, while others classified as recognized books. Some placed among these books the “Gospel of the Jews”... All of these books are rejected, and we considered it necessary to compile a list of them, believing that we should know which books are genuine, not fabricated and accepted by church tradition, and which, on the contrary, are from the books of the New Testament excluded, although known to most church writers.”

Despite the clear rejection by Eusebius and many of his contemporaries of a number of “forged” books, they continue to be found in the texts of the New Testament of the next, Conciliar era of Church history (4th - 8th centuries), when final formation and the canonical design of the composition of the Holy Scriptures of both the Old and New Testaments.

v. The Canon of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament in the era of the Ecumenical Councils

At the beginning of the conciliar era (4th century), some geographical differences in attitude towards controversial books are clearly evident. Western church writers tend to favor the Apocalypse of John without including Hebrews in the canon of Scripture. In contrast, Eastern Christian authorities generally accept Hebrews while doubting or rejecting the Apocalypse altogether.

Thus, one of the most important documents on the composition of Scripture, the 60th canon (canon) of the Council of Laodicea ( local cathedral in Laodicea in Phrygia, which met around 363 - 364, at least after the Council of Sardis in 347 and before the Second Ecumenical Council in 381), lists the following books as part of Scripture: “It is fitting to read these books, the Old Testament: 1. Genesis of the world, 2. Exodus from Egypt, 3. Leviticus, 4. Numbers, 5. Deuteronomy, 6. Joshua, 7. Judges, Ruth, 8. Esther, 9. Kings, first and second, 10. Kings, third and fourth, 11. Chronicles, first and second, 12. Ezra, first and second, 13. Book of One Hundred and Fifty Psalms, 14. Proverbs of Solomon, 15. Ecclesiastes, 16. Song of Songs, 17. Job, 18. Twelve Prophets, 19. Isaiah, 20. Jeremiah, Baruch, Lamentations and the Message, 21. Ezekiel, 22. Daniel. The New Testament has four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John; The Acts of the Apostles, these seven cathedral epistles: James - one, Peter - two, John - three, Jude - one; Paul's epistles are fourteen: Romans - one, Corinthians - two, Galatians - one, Ephesians - one, Philippians - one, Colossians - one, Thessalonians - two, Hebrews - one, Timothy - two, to Titus - one and to Philemon - one.” The canon of the Old Testament is presented here in the traditional Eastern volume of 22 books (numbering according to the number of letters of the Hebrew alphabet emphasizes the focus specifically on the Jewish canon). The New Testament includes here all the books except the Apocalypse.

The books of the New Testament are counted in a similar way by St. Gregory the Theologian and St. Cyril of Jerusalem. List of St. Gregory becomes, thanks to his authority, church canon and is included in the Book of Rules under the title “The Rule of St. Gregory the Theologian on which books of the Old and New Testaments should be read.” In this rule of St. Gregory says: “So that your mind is not deceived by foreign books, for many counterfeit scriptures are found, written incorrectly, then accept, beloved, this correct calculation of mine... [here St. Gregory lists the usual 22 books of the Tanakh] I proposed twenty-two books of the Old Testament, equal in number to the Hebrew letters. After this, count the books and the New Sacrament. Matthew wrote about the miracles of Christ for the Jews, Mark for Italy, Luke for Achaia. For everyone - John, the great preacher and celestial leader. Then follow the Acts of the Wise Apostles, the fourteen epistles of Paul. Seven Councils, of which one is Jacob's, two are Peter's, then three are John's, the seventh is Judas - so you have everything. If there are any essences beyond these, they do not belong to the recognized ones.”

St. Cyril of Jerusalem (IV Catechetical Sermon, 36) lists the same 26 books without the Apocalypse, adding: “and let everything else be put outside, in second place. What you don’t read in church, don’t read it in private...”

However, other church authorities of the second half of the 4th century still adhered to the division of Scripture into generally accepted and controversial books. Yes, St. Amphilochius of Iconium (c. 340 - c. 395), according to some sources, a relative of St. Gregory the Theologian, lists the books of the New Testament differently. In the Book of Rules, the rule of St. Amphilochia is located immediately after the rule of St. Gregory and entitled “Saint Amphilochius the Bishop to Seleucus on what books are acceptable.” In it St. Amphilochius writes: “It is especially appropriate to know [to know] that not every book that has acquired the venerable name of Scripture is reliable. For sometimes there are books with false names, others - average and, so to say, [so to speak], close to the words of truth, and others - counterfeit and deceptive, like counterfeit and counterfeit coins, which, although they have a royal inscription, but, in their substance, turn out to be false. Therefore, I will name for you each of the inspired books. But so that you may know separately, first, the named books of the Old Testament... [see. above] Time to name [name] me the books of the New Testament: they accepted only four evangelists: Matthew, then Mark, adding the third Luke, John numbered fourth in time, but first in the height of dogmas, for I righteously call him the son of thunder, who majestically proclaimed God Word. We also accepted the second book of Luke - the conciliar Acts of the Apostles. To these add the vessel of election, the preacher and apostle of the tongues, Paul, who wisely wrote fourteen epistles to the churches: one to the Romans, to which should be numbered two to the Corinthians, to the Galatians, to the Ephesians [Ephesians]; for this - to those living in Philippi, then written to the Colossians, two to the Thessalonians, two to Timothy, one to Titus and Philemon, and one to the Hebrews. Some call this inauthentic [incorrectly], for in it is true grace. What is my final message about the Council Epistles? Some say that seven of them should be accepted, and others - only three: one of James, one of Peter and one of John. Some accept the three Johns, and besides these, the two Peters and the seventh Judas. Others classify the Revelation of John among the sacred books, and many call it inauthentic. Let this be the most unfalse canon of the Inspired Scriptures.” What St. Amphilochius includes a listing of controversial books in the “most false canon” of Scripture, rather typical of the Church of the previous, 3rd century.

A different position is held by an older contemporary of St. Gregory, Cyril and Amphilochius, one of the greatest theologians of the 4th century, St. Athanasius of Alexandria. In the 39th message on the Holidays (367), he gives a list of Holy Books, which was also later included in the Book of Rules and became a normative church document. St. Athanasius writes: “... I also deigned, prompted by the true brothers and having learned first, to set out in series which books were accepted into the canon, transmitted and believed to be Divine [i.e. according to Tradition, they are revered as God-inspired]..." and then gives a complete list of 27 books of the New Testament, adding then: "... in these only the teaching of piety is preached. Let no one add anything to these, nor take anything away from them. About these the Lord, shaming the Sadducees, said: “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God” (Matthew 22:29).” Here for the first time with such clarity St. Athanasius formulates the attitude of the Church to the books of the New Testament as Holy Scripture and applies to them the words spoken by Christ about the Holy Scripture of the Old Testament. Continuing, St. Athanasius writes: “For the sake of greater accuracy, since I write for the sake of need, I add this, which is, besides these, other books that are not included in the canon, but appointed by the Fathers for reading by newcomers and those who wish to proclaim themselves in the word of piety: Wisdom of Solomon, Wisdom of Sirach , Esther, Judith, Tobiah and the so-called Teaching of the Apostles [Didache, or perhaps Clementine], and the Shepherd. However, beloved, in addition to these readable and canonical ones, there is no mention of apocryphal ones anywhere, but this is the intention of the heretics...” So St. Athanasius distinguishes books no longer into generally accepted, controversial and spurious, but into canonical, “readable” (for edification) and apocryphal (i.e. heretical).

In fact, this rule completes the formation of the canon of the Holy Scriptures of both the Old and New Testaments, however, the position of St. Athanasia receives conciliar approval and does not immediately become generally recognized. In the East, disagreements about the Apocalypse continue for some time, while in the West, not without the influence of the blessed one. Jerome, the position of St. Athanasius, eliminating the difference in the composition of Scripture for the West and the East, is quickly becoming generally accepted. It should be noted, however, that in a number of manuscripts of this era, such as the Codex Sinaiticus (Codex Sinaiticus, a Greek manuscript of the Bible of the mid-4th century), the Epistle of Barnabas and the Shepherd of Hermas are included at the end of the New Testament without any distinction, and in the Codex Alexandrinus (Codex Alexandria, Α, Greek manuscript of the Bible of the early 5th century) following the Apocalypse, also without distinction, are the 1st and 2nd Epistles of St. Clement of Rome.

Since the displacement of books not included in the canon from church use occurred slowly and not without resistance, conciliar decisions on this were also required. The main thing here is the 33rd rule of the Council of Carthage (419), which reads: “It is also decreed that nothing should be read in the church under the name of Divine Scriptures, except the canonical Scriptures. The canonical Scriptures are these: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Kings - four books, Chronicles - two, Job, Psalms, Solomon's books - four, Prophetic books - twelve, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Tobiah, Judith, Esther, Ezra - two books. The New Testament - four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles - one book, the epistles of Paul - fourteen, Peter the Apostle - two, John the Apostle - three, James the Apostle - one, Jude the Apostle - one, the Apocalypse of John - one book...”

This, in fact, ends the history of the formation and canonical design of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament. The decision of the Council of Carthage and the rule of St. Athanasius ultimately determined the position of the Church in both the East and the West, where it was further confirmed at the Council of Trent in 1546. Even Luther, being unsure of the authority of a number of books (Hebrews, James and Jude, and the Apocalypse), did not go against tradition and placed these books at the end of his Bible. Although replacement lists of the New Testament into versions corresponding to the canons stretched on for centuries, the general church discussion about the composition of Scripture after the Council of Carthage subsided.

But in fact, there is another not entirely clear page in this story, namely the inclusion and exclusion from the canon of documents related to the name of St. Clement of Rome. The Epistles of Clement are mentioned by St. Clement of Alexandria as canonical. Sometimes they are considered among the controversial texts. Many ancient New Testament manuscripts include them. All this does not distinguish them from such non-canonical texts as the Epistle of Barnabas or the Epistle of Paul to the Laodiceans. The 85th Apostolic Canon and the 2nd Canon of the VI Ecumenical Council (Trullo, 681), which corrects it, give a special character to the history of these documents.

The Apostolic Rules, consisting of 85 canons, constitute the last part of the Apostolic Constitutions and at the same time the first section of the Book of Rules. According to most researchers, they were compiled at the end of the 4th century. This is evidenced by both the themes of most of the canons and the close similarity of many of them with the decrees of the Council of Antioch in 341. At the same time, some sections of the Apostolic Rules (and Decrees) may also be based on a very ancient church tradition. The first 50 of the Apostolic Rules were in the 6th century. translated into Latin by Dionysius the Small (author of the chronology “from the Nativity of Christ”) and entered into canon law Western Church. Dionysius himself did not really believe in the apostolic origin of the document he was translating and entitled it “canones qui dicuntur apostolorum”. In the East, the authority of all 85 rules was confirmed by the VI Ecumenical Council, which simultaneously rejected the Apostolic (Clementine) decrees.

In form, the Apostolic Rules are a pseudepigraph falsely attributed to St. Clement of Rome. The last, 85th rule of this collection lists the canonical books of Holy Scripture as follows: “For all of us, belonging to the clergy and laity, let the following books of the Old Testament be revered and holy: Mosaic - five: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy ; Jesus, son of Nun - one, Judges - one, Ruth - one, Kings - four, Chronicles (that is, the remnants of the book of days) - two, Ezra - two, Esther - one, Maccabees - three, Job - one, Psalms - one , Solomon - three: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs; books of the prophets - twelve, Isaiah - one, Jeremiah - one, Ezekiel - one, Daniel - one. In addition to this, let it be added to your admonition that your young ones study the wisdom of the many-learned Sirach. Ours, that is, the New Testament, are four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John; Paul's epistles - 14, Peter - two epistles, John - three, James - one, Jude - one, Clement - two epistles. And the decrees for you, bishops, by me, Clement, spoken in eight books (which should not be made public to everyone because of what is mysterious in them), and our Apostolic Acts.” This document excludes the Apocalypse from the New Testament (which indicates its composition, most likely, somewhere in the Eastern part of the Church), but includes both letters of Clement, and the Apostolic Constitutions as a whole, allegedly transmitted through Clement and therefore called Clement's. This addition contrasts sharply with the structure of Holy Scripture generally accepted since the late 4th century, which required a special ecclesiastical decision that followed more than two and a half centuries later.

By the time of the convening of the VI Ecumenical Council in 681, the question of the canon of the New Testament, generally speaking, had long been resolved. However, the existence of the Apostolic Rules as an authoritative church document introduced confusion, if not contradiction, into it. Therefore, the Council, with its 2nd rule, decided the following: “This Holy Council recognized this as excellent and worthy of extreme diligence, so that from now on, for the healing of the soul and for the healing of the passions, those accepted and approved by the holy and blessed Fathers who were before us should remain firm and inviolable, and Also, the eighty-five rules handed down to us in the name of the holy and glorious Apostles. Since in these rules we are commanded to accept the same decrees of the holy Apostles, transmitted through Clement, into which those who once thought differently, to the detriment of the Church, introduced something counterfeit and alien to piety, and which has darkened the splendid beauty for us Divine teaching, then we, for the sake of the edification and protection of the most Christian flock, have prudently set aside those Clementine decrees, in no way allowing the creation of heretical falsehood and not interfering with them in the pure and perfect Apostolic teaching...” The status of Clement's Epistles in this part of the rule, strictly speaking, does not change. However, further in the same rule, the council confirms the authority and effectiveness of many rules of Local and Ecumenical Councils, including Laodicea and Carthage, as well as the rules of St. Athanasius, Gregory and Amphilochius concerning the composition of the Holy Scriptures. And this really puts an end to the history of the canon of Holy Books.

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