In this penultimate article, we will explore the final quality of canonicity, which is corporate reception. This states that Christians will hear the voice of God speaking through his Word and will receive it as such. Thus, Christians will know what is God’s Word and what is not. As Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27).
Despite the truth of corporate reception, we must make a few qualifications. This does not mean that there will be immediate, universal consensus on what is God’s Word, which is something that the early church did not have. A myriad of factors are in play, including false teachers, false believers, and resistance to the Spirit. Additionally, God has given us the canon through normal historical processes. For many books that we take for granted today, there was much discussion and debate as to their validity in the early church. That being said, we can still see a consensus arise, even in the New Testament itself.
When examining Paul’s epistles, we can see that he declares his writings to be authoritative and to be read as Scripture. In his letter to Thessalonica, he writes, “I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers” (1 Thessalonians 5:27). Having this read publicly in the church indicates that it was intended to be read and received as authoritative and from God. Further, Peter acknowledges Paul’s writings as authoritative in his own. “Our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them…” (2 Peter 3:15b-16a). Already, there is an immediate reception of writings that are now in our New Testament.
We can also see that in the 2nd century, early Christians were similarly receiving the New Testament books as God’s Word. Many declared Paul’s writings to be authoritative. Other leaders referred to the four Gospels, as well as Revelation. One of the early church Fathers, Clement, considered the canon closed and quotes from nearly all the New Testament writings, including the four Gospels, accepting 23 of the 27 New Testament books. There is even a canonical list, the Muratorian Fragment, dated around 180 AD, listing 22 of the 27 New Testament books.1
By looking at later New Testament books and early church history, it is clear that there was an immediate and strong consensus on what books were God’s Word. All four Gospels, all of Paul’s epistles, and others were received by the early church. As much as skeptics may claim that there were multiple Gospels and books all fighting for acceptance among a wide variety of sects, history tells a very different story. A majority of our New Testament was unquestioningly accepted, with only a few still being debated.
In our final article in this series, we will conclude with an overview of a variety of early Christian writings – canonical books that initially struggled for acceptance among Christians, orthodox books that were rejected as Scripture, and heretical books.