The NEW TESTAMENT CANON 1. CANON - KANON – a straight rod, a rule, the standard 2. Written in “KOINE” Greek (spoken by the common people) 3. Earliest books written were the letters of Paul (Epistles) to give spiritual guidance to and counter false teachings in the early churches. 4. The Gospels (Matt/Mark/Luke/john) were written second to record the life and ministry of Jesus as eyewitnesses began to die off. *Mark is thought to be the first gospel written. 5. The New Testament was formed slowly and piece by piece over time to meet needs/issues as they arose in the early churches, not all at once chosen by one person or group. 6. Bishop Marcion wanted the Hebrew Bible (TANAK) eliminated and the Christian Bible to be Paul’s Letters and a shortened version of Luke. He was opposed and defeated.

The NEW TESTAMENT CANON cont… 4 Requirements for inclusion in the New Testament: A) Apostle Origins – must be based on teachings of the 12 Apostles who were with Jesus in person. B) General Acceptance – must be accepted and used by the early Christian churches/communities C) Public Use – must be read publicly in early Christian community gatherings D) Consistent Content – must be consistent with other accepted Christian writings (Not contradict them). 8. Tertullian was the first to use words: “New Testament” 9. 367 AD/CE – “Athanasius”, bishop of Alexandria (Egypt), was first to list the 27 books of the New Testament in a letter. 10. 397 AD/CE – Council of Carthage made the 27 books of the New Testament the official list AND closed it off.

THE NEW TESTMENT CANON CREATE MINI-POSTER, GRAPHIC NOTESHEET. Find pics, clip art, etc. online and put captions with them to identify what it is. Use textbox to include information. Use Google Draw from Google drive. Share it with Mr. Dye when finished: Michael.dye@apps.Cabarrus.k12.nc.us INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING: - Title (see top of this slide) - Definition of the word Canon in this context - List of the 27 NT Books (text box, pic, scroll…) - List of Authors of the NT and books they wrote - Date/Location the NT books list was finalized - Criteria for a book to be included in the NT list - Materials Used to Write the books (pen, ink, paper?) - First/Last NT book to be written & the dates *Include a caption with each pic to describe what it is. *Use text boxes for the info for flexibility/moving them around *Use your notes to get info BEFORE the web