“Nothing, however, in Pontus is so barbarous and sad as the fact that Marcion was born there [Euxine], fouler than any Scythian, more roving than the wagon-life of the Sarmatian . . . colder than its winter, more brittle than its ice, more deceitful than the Ister, more craggy than Caucasus. Nay more, the true Prometheus, Almighty God, is mangled by Marcion’s blasphemies.”[1] These words of Tertullian do well to express the seriousness of Marcion’s blasphemies, that which served as the catalyst for officiating the list of authoritative scriptures. From the Muratorian Canon to the Council of Carthage, Christian leaders worked diligently to defend the sanctity of Christ and His legomena.
Marcion was a wealthy ship owner from the Euxine territory that was inhabited by the “fiercest of nations”, described by Tertullian as a carnal and barbaric society.[2] His beliefs greatly differed from the doctrine of the apostles. He held that the God of the Old Testament, creator God, and the God of the New Testament, redeemer God, was a separate deity. Jesus Christ was not the promised messiah of the Old Testament, but the God of Love. He had manifested on earth as a self-revelation during the fifteenth year of the rein of Tiberius[3], seemed to suffer and die, and then resurrected himself. After all but one of Christ’s disciples had failed to accurately perpetuate the Gospel, Marcion chose to step in and address what he felt was false doctrine.[4]
Marcion intended on creating a new canon when he approached the church with new doctrine and a large sum of money; it would disbar the Old Testament while including Marcion’s version of the New Testament. The Church tried to silence him by returning his money and “dis-fellowshipping” him, only to have him use his wealth and administrative abilities to set up a rival church. His followers, known as Marcionites, carried on the church as it spread in Italy, Egypt, North Africa, Cyprus, and Syria; furthermore, it lasted as late as the tenth century.3
While the heretics of Marcion prompted the Christian church to begin developing a NT Canon, the self-proclaimed profit, Montanus, gave the church a sense of urgency. Originally a pagan priest, the newly converted Christian began claiming that Jesus would soon return to Pepuza. Initially, his message was accepted by the Church and had acquired an accomplished following, including Tertullian. Two prophetesses, Prisca and Maximilla, which claimed that their new revelations superseded scripture, also accompanied him.[5] These teachings, called “the new prophecy”, went against Jewish scripture and apostolic teachings. They were extremely ascetic in nature, requiring an all-dry diet, no remarrying of widows, and denying post-baptismal forgiveness of more serious sins. Furthermore, the prophecy failed to meet the standard of a prophet, 100 percent accuracy. (Deuteronomy 13:1) After the Roman Church denounced Marcion, the movement went underground. After Tertullian’s death, the movement quickly died.[6]
The Church knew that it had to act quickly with an authoritative listing of New Testament Scripture. After Montanism had claimed that opposition to its prophecy was blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, many churches split.[7] Pronounced Christians such as Tertullian were being led astray. The church was becoming disorderly and desperately needed something to bring the central message of the Gospel to the forefront of the current narrative. The best way to do this was to make the apostolic writings authoritative, such that all future conflicts could be measured against this central point of reference.
It seems, as evidenced by a list of ecclesiastical documents dated around A. D. 170, that the community attempted to collaborate on a New Testament Cannon. The Muratorian Canon is the earliest known document listing the generally accepted canonical books dated from the second century, as it contains several references to Marcion.[8] The fragment was discovered inside of a manuscript in Milan and appears to be missing the beginning and the end. It is written in rudimentary Latin, is 85 lines in length, and contains general comments regarding each book. Church leadership had not yet published an official list; however, that would soon change.
Athanasius, born in Alexandria, Egypt, actively and courageously fought against heretical movements, and would eventually be the Bishop of Alexandria.[9] He is best known for his appologetical work against Arianism in the Council of Nicaea, A. D. 325. In A. D. 367, he produced and circulated his Easter Letter declaring which religious writings were to be considered Christian Scripture. This list included all 27 books seen in todays New Testament.[10] Although this was not an official proclamation, the list would become more accepted over time. Twenty-six years later, Augustin, with the help of Aurelius (new bishop of Carthage) would lead the first of two Synods officiating the authorized New Testament Canon.[11]
Augustine and Aurelius would meet under the most unusual circumstances. Augustine and Alypius (bishop of Thagaste) were on a return trip back to Thagaste when they decided to tarry a few days in Carthage. They stayed at a fellow Christian’s house named Innocent. He was scheduled for a medical procedure for hemorrhoids during their stay. Ecclesiastical members and friends gathered around the bedside before the surgery and prayed over him, and as a result, he was miraculously healed. One of the members present was none other than Aurelius.[12] The two African Synods that followed would be the result of at least a year’s worth of correspondence between the two, developing a course of action that would bring Christ and the apostolic teachings back to the forefront of the Church. The New Testament would soon be solidified.
Two councils were held in Northern Africa, one in Hippo (393CE) and one in Carthage (397CE), to clarify what is considered Christian scripture. The Council of Carthage officiated the New Testament Cannon and recorded the findings. According to Towns, there are six criteria that the church followed as a standard for including a book in the canon. It must be written by a prophet, it must be authoritative, it must be authentic, it must have had life-transforming power, it was widely recognized as the Word of God, and it was reliable.[13] The NT Canon would list all 27 books that are currently used and was organized into two sections, the Gospels and the Epistles. The Gospels consisted of Mathew, Mark, Luke, John, and then the Apostolic Acts, while the Epistles consisted of the general or Catholic Epistles and the Pauline Epistles.[14] A final remark was made to send Boniface, a fellow bishop, along with others in the area, a copy of the canon so that they could confirm the findings.[15]
Over the course of 227 years, heretics constantly challenged the purity of the gospel. The church was finding itself in dis array and needed something to bring Christ and the Apostolic teachings back to the forefront while providing a standard by which heretics could be measured. In A. D. 397, the New Testament Canon was adjudicated by the Council of Carthage; thereby, providing the church with the solution.
[1] Philip Schaff, Ante-Nicene Fathers Volume 3 – Enhanced Version (early Church Fathers), 1.1 ed. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Classics Ethereal Library, 2009), 272.
[2] Ibid., 271
[3] Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, 3rd ed. (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 2006), 2: 486 – 487.
[4] Walter A. Elwell, ed., Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2001), 735.
[5] E. Michael and Sharon Rusten, The Complete Book of When and Where: in the Bible and Throughout History (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2005), 104 – 5.
[6] Walter A. Elwell, ed., Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2001), 790.
[7] Bruce L. Shelley, Church History in Plain Language, 2nd ed. (Dallas, TX: Thomas Nelson, 1996), 65.
[8] F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone, eds., The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, USA, 2005), 1133.
[9] Ted Cabal, The Apologetics Study Bible (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2012), 1783.
[10] E. Michael and Sharon Rusten, The Complete Book of When and Where: in the Bible and Throughout History (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2005), 124.
[11] Jane Merdinger, “On the Eve of the Council of Hippo, 393: The Background to Augustine’s Program for Church Reform”, Augustinian Studies 40, no. 1 (2009): 27-36.
[12] Ibid., 31.
[13] Elmer L. Towns, Theology for Today, 2nd ed. (Mason: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 2001), 79.
[14] Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, 3rd ed. (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 2006), 2: 519 – 20.
[15] Alexander Roberts et al., eds., Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Second Series (the Early Church Fathers, Second Series, So14) (Grand Rapids, MI: Hendrickson Pub, 1996), 14: 453 – 4.
Brandon Frank 