Did the canonization of the New Testament have to wait until
the 4th century when the 27 books of the New Testament were approved
by a church council? According to Norman L. Geisler and William E. Nix, the
canonization process started immediately. One indication of this are the authoritative
citations from these 27 books by the Church Fathers:
·
By the end of the first century some fourteen
books of the New Testament were cited. By A.D. 110 there were nineteen books
recognized by citation. And within another forty years (A.D. 150) some twenty-four
New Testament books were acknowledged. Before the century ended, which is about
one hundred years after the New Testament was written, twenty-six books were
cited.
·
Not only did the early Fathers cite all
twenty-seven books of the New Testament, they also quoted virtually all of the
verses in all of these twenty-seven books. (From
God to us: How we Got our Bible, 157)
Other indications of an early canonization process were the
early lists and manuscripts containing the approved New Testament books.
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