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Do not fill this in! {{Short description|Texts regarded as part of the Bible}} {{redirect|Books of the Bible|the edition of the Bible without chapters and verses|The Books of the Bible (book)}} {{For|a law promulgated by a synod, an ecumenical council, or an individual bishop|Canon (canon law)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}} {{Bible-related |CB}} A '''biblical canon''' is a set of texts (also called "books") which a particular [[Jewish]] or [[Christian]] religious community regards as part of the [[Bible]].<!--For the RfC defining the scope of this article and therefore the first paragraph of the lead, see [[Talk:Biblical canon/Archive 6#RfC on article scope]].--> The English word ''canon'' comes from the [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] {{lang|grc|κανών}} {{lang|grc-Latn|kanōn}}, meaning "[[ruler|rule]]" or "[[measuring stick]]". The use of the word "canon" to refer to a set of religious scriptures was first used by [[David Ruhnken]], in the 18th century.{{sfnp|McDonald|Sanders |2002|loc=Introduction|ps=—"We should be clear, however, that the current use of the term 'canon' to refer to a collection of scripture books was introduced by David Ruhnken in 1768 in his ''Historia critica oratorum graecorum'' for lists of sacred scriptures. While it is tempting to think that such usage has its origins in antiquity in reference to a closed collection of scriptures, such is not the case."|pp=11–13}} Various biblical canons have developed through debate and agreement on the part of the religious authorities of their respective faiths and denominations. Some books, such as the [[Jewish–Christian gospels]], have been excluded from various canons altogether, but many [[Antilegomena|disputed books]] are considered to be [[biblical apocrypha]] or [[Deuterocanonical books|deuterocanonical]] by many, while some denominations may consider them fully canonical. Differences exist between the [[Hebrew Bible]] and Christian biblical canons, although the majority of manuscripts are shared in common. Different religious groups include different books in their biblical canons, in varying orders, and sometimes divide or combine books. The Jewish [[Tanakh]] (sometimes called the Hebrew Bible) contains 24 books divided into three parts: the five books of the ''[[Torah]]'' ("teaching"); the eight books of the ''[[Nevi'im]]'' ("prophets"); and the eleven books of ''[[Ketuvim]]'' ("writings"). It is composed mainly in [[Biblical Hebrew]], with portions in [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]]. The [[Septuagint]] (in [[Koine Greek]]), which closely resembles the Hebrew Bible but includes additional texts, is used as the Christian Greek Old Testament, at least in some [[Christian liturgy|liturgical contexts]]. The first part of Christian Bibles is the [[Old Testament]], which contains, at minimum, the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible but divided into 39 ([[Protestant Bible|Protestant]]) or 46 ([[Catholic Bible|Catholic]]) books (including deuterocanonical works) and ordered differently. The second part is the [[New Testament]], almost always containing 27 books: the four [[canonical gospels]], [[Acts of the Apostles]], 21 [[Epistle#New Testament epistles|Epistles]] or letters and the [[Book of Revelation]]. The [[Catholic Church]] and [[Eastern Christianity|Eastern Christian]] churches hold that certain [[deuterocanonical books|deuterocanonical books and passages]] are part of the [[development of the Old Testament canon|Old Testament canon]]. The [[Eastern Orthodox]], [[Oriental Orthodox]], and [[Assyrian Church of the East|Assyrian]] churches may have differences in their lists of accepted books. Some Christian groups have [[List of religious texts#Additional and alternative scriptures|other canonical books]] which are considered holy scripture but not part of the Bible. ==Jewish canons== {{Main|Development of the Hebrew Bible canon}} ===Rabbinic Judaism=== {{Judaism|state=collapsed}} [[Rabbinic Judaism]] ({{Lang-he|יהדות רבנית}}) recognizes the twenty-four books of the [[Masoretic Text]], commonly called the ''Tanakh'' ({{lang|he|תַּנַ"ךְ}}) or [[Hebrew Bible]].<ref>For the number of books of the Hebrew Bible see: {{cite book |author-last=Darshan |author-first=G. |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/7021817 |chapter=The Twenty-Four Books of the Hebrew Bible and Alexandrian Scribal Methods |editor-last=Niehoff |editor-first=M. R. |title=Homer and the Bible in the Eyes of Ancient Interpreters: Between Literary and Religious Concerns |location=Leiden |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |year=2012 |pages=221–244}}</ref> Evidence suggests that the process of canonization occurred between 200 BC and 200 AD, and a popular position is that the [[Torah]] was canonized {{Circa|400 BC}}, the [[Neviim|Prophets]] {{Circa|200 BC}}, and the [[Ketuvim|Writings]] {{Circa|100 AD}}{{sfnp|McDonald|Sanders|2002|p=4}} perhaps at a hypothetical [[Council of Jamnia]]—however, this position is increasingly criticised by modern scholars.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/jts/026_347.pdf |title=The Jamnia Period in Jewish History |first=Christie |last=W. M. |journal=Journal of Theological Studies |year=1925 |volume=os-XXVI |issue=104 |pages=347–364|doi=10.1093/jts/os-XXVI.104.347 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author-first=Jack P. |author-last=Lewis |author-link=Jack P. Lewis |journal=Journal of Bible and Religion |volume=32 |issue=2 |date=April 1964 |title=What Do We Mean by Jabneh? |pages=125–132 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |jstor=1460205}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Freedman |editor-first=David Noel |year=1992 |title=[[Anchor Bible Dictionary]], Vol. III |location=New York |publisher=Doubleday |pages=634–637}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=McDonald |editor-first1=L. M. |editor-last2=Sanders |editor-first2=J. A. |year=2002 |last=Lewis |first=Jack P. |title=The Canon Debate |chapter=Jamnia Revisited |publisher=Hendrickson Publishers}}</ref>{{sfnp|McDonald|Sanders|2002|p=5}}<ref>Cited are Neusner's ''Judaism and Christianity in the Age of Constantine'', pp. 128–145, and ''Midrash in Context: Exegesis in Formative Judaism'', pp. 1–22.</ref> According to [[Marc Zvi Brettler]], the Jewish scriptures outside the Torah and the Prophets were fluid, with different groups seeing authority in different books.<ref>{{cite book |author-last=Brettler |author-first=Marc Zvi |author-link=Marc Zvi Brettler |title=How To Read The Bible |publisher=Jewish Publication Society |year=2005 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=39nQafdJ_ssC&pg=PA274 |isbn=978-0-8276-1001-9 |pages=274–275}}</ref> [[File:Scroll.jpg|thumb|left|250px|alt=Scroll with the text of the Book of Esther in Hebrew|A [[scroll]] of the [[Book of Esther]], one of the [[five megillot|five ''megillot'']] of the [[Tanakh]]]] The [[Book of Deuteronomy]] includes a prohibition against adding or subtracting ({{bibleverse-nb||Deut|4:2}}, {{bibleverse-nb||Deut|12:32}}) which might apply to the book itself (i.e. a "closed book", a prohibition against future [[scribe|scribal]] editing) or to the instruction received by [[Moses]] on [[Biblical Mount Sinai|Mount Sinai]].<ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=McDonald |editor-first1=L. M. |editor-last2=Sanders |editor-first2=J. A. |year=2002 |author-last=Blenkinsopp |author-first=Joseph |title=The Canon Debate |chapter=The Formation of the Hebrew Canon: Isaiah as a Test Case |publisher=Hendrickson Publishers |page=60}}</ref> The book of [[2 Maccabees]], itself not a part of the Jewish canon, describes [[Nehemiah]] ({{Circa|400 BC}}) as having "founded a library and collected books about the kings and prophets, and the writings of David, and letters of kings about votive offerings" ({{bibleverse-nb||2Macc|2:13–15|NRSV}}). The [[Book of Nehemiah]] suggests that the priest-scribe [[Ezra]] brought the Torah back [[Babylonian exile|from Babylon]] to [[Jerusalem]] and the [[Second Temple]] ({{bibleverse-nb||Nehemiah|8–9}}) around the same time period. Both 1 and 2 Maccabees suggest that [[Judas Maccabeus]] ({{Circa|167 BC}}) likewise collected sacred books ({{bibleverse-nb||1Macc|3:42–50|NRSV}}, {{bibleverse-nb||2Macc|2:13–15|NRSV}}, {{bibleverse-nb||2Macc|15:6–9|NRSV}}), indeed some scholars argue that the [[Hasmonean dynasty]] (140 BCE to 37 BCE) fixed the Jewish canon.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=McDonald |editor-first1=L. M. |editor-last2=Sanders |editor-first2=J. A. |year=2002 |author-last=Davies |author-first=Philip R. |title=The Canon Debate |chapter=The Jewish Scriptural Canon in Cultural Perspective |publisher=Hendrickson Publishers |page=50 |quote=With many other scholars, I conclude that the fixing of a canonical list was almost certainly the achievement of the Hasmonean dynasty.}}</ref> ===Samaritan canon=== {{Main|Samaritan Pentateuch}} Another version of the Torah, in the [[Samaritan alphabet]], also exists. This text is associated with the [[Samaritans]] ({{lang-he|שומרונים}}; {{lang-ar|السامريون}}), a people of whom the ''[[Jewish Encyclopedia]]'' states: "Their history as a distinct community begins with the taking of Samaria by the Assyrians in 722 BC."<ref name="Samaritans">{{cite book |chapter-url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=110&letter=S&search=Samaritan |chapter=Samaritans |title=Jewish Encyclopedia |year=1906 |publisher=JewishEncyclopedia.com}}</ref> [[File:Samaritan Pentateuch (detail).jpg|thumb|250px|The Abisha Scroll, the oldest scroll among the Samaritans in Nablus]] The Samaritan Pentateuch's relationship to the Masoretic Text is still disputed. Some differences are minor, such as the ages of different people mentioned in genealogy, while others are major, such as a commandment to be monogamous, which appears only in the Samaritan version. More importantly, the Samaritan text also diverges from the Masoretic in stating that Moses received the [[Ten Commandments]] on [[Mount Gerizim]]—not [[biblical Mount Sinai|Mount Sinai]]—and that it is upon Mount Gerizim that sacrifices to God should be made—not in Jerusalem. Scholars nonetheless consult the Samaritan version when trying to determine the meaning of text of the original Pentateuch, as well as to trace the development of text-families. Some scrolls among the [[Dead Sea scrolls]] have been identified as proto-Samaritan Pentateuch text-type.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=McDonald |editor-first1=L. M. |editor-last2=Sanders |editor-first2=J. A. |year=2002 |author-last=VanderKam |author-first=James C. |title=The Canon Debate |chapter=Questions of Canon through the Dead Sea Scrolls |publisher=Hendrickson Publishers |page=94}} Citing private communication with Emanuel Tov on ''biblical manuscripts'': Qumran scribe type c. 25%, proto-Masoretic Text c. 40%, pre-Samaritan texts c. 5%, texts close to the Hebrew model for the Septuagint c. 5% and nonaligned c. 25%.</ref> Samaritans consider the Torah to be inspired scripture, but do not accept any other parts of the Bible—probably a position also held by the [[Sadducees]].<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=40&letter=S&search=Sadducees |title=Jewish Encyclopedia |chapter=Sadducees |publisher=JewishEncyclopedia.com |year=1906 |quote=With the destruction of the Temple and the state the Sadducees as a party no longer had an object for which to live. They disappear from history, though their views are partly maintained and echoed by the Samaritans, with whom they are frequently identified (see Hippolytus, "Refutatio Hæresium", ix. 29; Epiphanius, l.c. xiv.; and other Church Fathers, who ascribe to the Sadducees the rejection of the Prophets and the Hagiographa; comp. also Sanh. 90b, where "Ẓadduḳim" stands for "Kutim" [Samaritans]; Sifre, Num. 112; Geiger, l.c. pp. 128–129), and by the Karaites (see Maimonides, commentary on Ab. i. 3; Geiger, "Gesammelte Schriften", iii. 283–321; also Anan ben David; Karaites).}}</ref> They did not expand their canon by adding any Samaritan compositions. There is a [[Book of Joshua (Samaritan)|Samaritan Book of Joshua]]; however, this is a popular chronicle written in Arabic and is not considered to be scripture. Other non-canonical [[Samaritans#Religious texts|Samaritan religious texts]] include the ''Memar Markah'' ("Teaching of Markah") and the ''Defter'' (Prayerbook)—both from the 4th century or later.<ref>{{cite book |title=Samaritan Documents, Relating To Their History, Religion and Life |editor-last=Bowman |editor-first=John |translator-last=Bowman |translator-first=John |series=Pittsburgh Original Texts & Translations Series No. 2 |year=1977}}</ref> The people of the remnants of the Samaritans in modern-day [[Israel]]/[[State of Palestine|Palestine]] retain their version of the Torah as fully and authoritatively canonical.<ref name=Samaritans/> They regard themselves as the true "guardians of the Law". This assertion is only re-enforced by the claim of the Samaritan community in [[Nablus]] (an area traditionally associated with the ancient city of [[Shechem]]) to possess the oldest existing copy of the Torah—one that they believe to have been penned by Abisha, a grandson of [[Aaron]].<ref>Crown, Alan D. (October 1991). "The Abisha Scroll – 3,000 Years Old?". ''Bible Review''.</ref> ==Christian canons== {{Christianity}} The canon of the [[Catholic Church]] was affirmed by the [[Council of Rome]] (AD 382), the [[Synod of Hippo]] (AD 393), two of the [[Council of Carthage|Councils of Carthage]] (AD 397 and 419), the [[Council of Florence]] (AD 1431–1449) and finally, as an article of faith, by the [[Council of Trent]] (AD 1545–1563). Those established the [[Catholic Bible|Catholic biblical canon]] consisting of 46 books in the Old Testament and 27 books in the New Testament for a total of 73 books.{{sfn|Rüger|1989|p=302}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent |url=http://www.bible-researcher.com/trent1.html |website=www.bible-researcher.com |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110805122857/http://www.bible-researcher.com/trent1.html |archive-date=5 August 2011}}</ref>{{efn|The Council of Trent confirmed the identical list/canon of sacred scriptures already anciently approved by the [[Synod of Hippo]] (Synod of 393), [[Council of Carthage (397)|Council of Carthage, 28 August 397]], and [[Council of Florence|Council of Florence, 4 February 1442]];<ref>{{cite web |title=Council of Basel 1431–45 A.D. Council Fathers |url=http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Councils/ecum17.htm |website=Papal Encyclicals |language=en |date=14 December 1431 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130424112748/http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Councils/ecum17.htm |archive-date=24 April 2013}}</ref> – [[Bull of Union with the Copts]] ''seventh paragraph down''.}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://taylormarshall.com/2008/08/decree-of-council-of-rome-ad-382-on.html |title=Decree of Council of Rome (AD 382) on the Biblical Canon |date=19 August 2008 |website=Taylor Marshall |access-date=1 December 2019}}</ref> The canons of the [[Church of England]] and English [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterians]] were decided definitively by the [[Thirty-Nine Articles]] (1563) and the [[Westminster Confession of Faith]] (1647), respectively. The [[Synod of Jerusalem (1672)|Synod of Jerusalem]] (1672) established additional canons that are widely accepted throughout the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]]. Various forms of [[Jewish Christianity]] persisted until around the fifth century, and canonized very different sets of books, including [[Jewish–Christian gospels]] which have been lost to history. These and many other works are classified as [[New Testament apocrypha]] by Pauline denominations. The Old and New Testament canons did not develop independently of each other and most [[primary source]]s for the canon specify both Old and New Testament books. For the biblical scripture for both Testaments, canonically accepted in major traditions of [[Christendom]], see [[#Canons of various Christian traditions|§ Canons of various traditions]]. ===Early Church=== ====Earliest Christian communities==== The [[Early Church]] used the [[Old Testament]], namely the [[Septuagint]] (LXX)<ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=McDonald |editor-first1=L. M. |editor-last2=Sanders |editor-first2=J. A. |year=2002 |author-last=Sanders |author-first=J. A. |title=The Canon Debate |chapter=The Issue of Closure in the Canonical Process |publisher=Hendrickson Publishers |page=259 |quote= ... the so-called Septuagint was not in itself formally closed.}} Attributed to Albert Sundberg's 1964 Harvard dissertation.</ref> among Greek speakers, with a canon perhaps as found in the [[Development of the old testament canon#Bryennios List|Bryennios List]] or [[Melito's canon]]. The [[Apostles in the New Testament|Apostles]] did not otherwise leave a defined set of new [[scriptures]]; instead, the [[New Testament]] developed over time. Writings attributed to the apostles circulated among the earliest [[Christians|Christian]] communities. The [[Pauline epistles]] were circulating in collected forms by the end of the 1st century AD. [[Justin Martyr]], in the early 2nd century, mentions the "memoirs of the Apostles", which Christians (Greek: Χριστιανός) called "[[gospel]]s", and which were considered to be authoritatively equal to the Old Testament.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=McDonald |editor-first1=L. M. |editor-last2=Sanders |editor-first2=J. A. |year=2002 |author-last=Ferguson |author-first=Everett |title=The Canon Debate |chapter=Factors leading to the Selection and Closure of the New Testament Canon |publisher=Hendrickson Publishers |pages=302–303 |postscript=none }}; cf. Justin Martyr. ''[[First Apology]]''. 67.3.</ref> ====Marcion's list==== [[Marcion of Sinope]] was the first Christian leader in recorded history (though later considered [[heresy|heretical]]) to propose and delineate a uniquely Christian canon{{sfnp|Metzger|1997|p=98|ps=. "The question whether the Church's canon preceded or followed Marcion's canon continues to be debated."}} (c. 140). This included 10 epistles from [[Paul the Apostle|Paul]], as well as an edited version of the [[Gospel of Luke]], which today is known as the [[Gospel of Marcion]]. By doing this, he established a particular way of looking at [[religious text]]s that persists in Christian thought today.<ref name="Harnack">{{cite book |author-last=von Harnack |author-first=Adolf |chapter-url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/harnack/origin_nt.v.vi.html |chapter=Appendix VI |title=Origin of the New Testament |year=1914}}</ref> After Marcion, Christians began to divide texts into those that aligned well with the "[[canon (basic principle)|canon]]" (meaning a measuring line, rule, or principle) of accepted theological thought and those that promoted heresy. This played a major role in finalizing the structure of the collection of works called the Bible. It has been proposed that the initial impetus for the [[Proto-orthodox Christianity|proto-orthodox Christian]] project of canonization flowed from opposition to the list produced by Marcion.<ref name="Harnack"/> ====Apostolic Fathers==== A four-gospel canon (the ''Tetramorph'') was asserted by [[Irenaeus]] (c. 130 – c. 202 AD) in the following quote:<ref>{{harvp|Ferguson|2002|p=301}}; cf. Irenaeus. ''[[On the Detection and Overthrow of the So-Called Gnosis|Adversus Haereses]]''. 3.11.8.</ref>{{Blockquote|It is not possible that the gospels can be either more or fewer in number than they are. For, since there are four-quarters of the earth in which we live, and four universal winds, while the church is scattered throughout all the world, and the 'pillar and ground' of the church is the gospel and the spirit of life, it is fitting that she should have four pillars breathing out immortality on every side, and vivifying men afresh [...] Therefore the gospels are in accord with these things ... For the living creatures are quadriform and the gospel is quadriform [...] These things being so, all who destroy the form of the gospel are vain, unlearned, and also audacious; those [I mean] who represent the aspects of the gospel as being either more in number than as aforesaid, or, on the other hand, fewer.}} Irenaeus additionally quotes from passages of all the books that would later be put in the New Testament canon except the [[Letter to Philemon]], [[II Peter]], [[III John]], and the [[Epistle of Jude]] in ''Against Heresies'', refers to the [[Shepherd of Hermas]] as "scripture"{{sfnp|Metzger|1997|p=155}} and appears to regard [[I Clement]] as authoritative. [[File:P46.jpg|thumb|left|250px|alt=Folio from Papyrus 46, containing 2 Corinthians 11:33–12:9 in Greek|A manuscript page from [[Papyrus 46|P46]], an early 3rd-century collection of [[Pauline epistles]]]] By the early 3rd century, Christian theologians like [[Origen of Alexandria]] may have been using—or at least were familiar with—the same 27 books found in modern New Testament editions, though there were still disputes over the canonicity of some of the writings (see also [[Antilegomena]]).<ref>Both points taken from {{cite book |author-last=Noll |author-first=Mark A. |year=1997 |title=Turning Points |publisher=Baker Academic |pages=36–37}}</ref> Likewise by 200, the [[Muratorian fragment]] shows that there existed a set of Christian writings somewhat similar to what is now the New Testament, which included four gospels and argued against objections to them.<ref>{{cite book |author-last=de Jonge |author-first=H. J. |chapter=The New Testament Canon |editor-last1=de Jonge |editor-first1=H. J. |editor-last2=Auwers |editor-first2=J. M. |title=The Biblical Canons |publisher=Leuven University Press |year=2003 |page=315}}</ref> Thus, while there was a good measure of debate in the Early Church over the New Testament canon, the major writings were accepted by almost all Christians by the middle of the 3rd century.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=Ackroyd |editor-first1=P. R. |editor-last2=Evans |editor-first2=C. F. |year=1970 |title=The Cambridge History of the Bible, Vol. 1 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |page=308 }}</ref> ===Eastern Church=== ====Alexandrian Fathers==== [[Origen of Alexandria]] (184/85–253/54), an early scholar involved in the codification of the biblical canon, had a thorough education both in Christian theology and in pagan philosophy, but was posthumously condemned at the [[Second Council of Constantinople]] in 553 since some of his teachings were considered to be heresy. Origen's canon included all of the books in the current New Testament canon except for four books: [[Epistle of James|James]], [[Second Epistle of Peter|2nd Peter]], and the [[Second Epistle of John|2nd]] and [[Third Epistle of John|3rd epistles of John]].<ref>Prat, Ferdinand (1911). [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11306b.htm "Origen and Origenism"]. ''The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 11''. New York: Robert Appleton Company. According to Eusebius' Church History [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.xi.xxv.html 6.25]: a 22 book OT [though Eusebius does not name Minor Prophets, presumably just an oversight?] plus 1 deuterocanon ["And outside these are the [[Books of the Maccabees|Maccabees]], which are entitled S<ph?>ar beth sabanai el."] and 4 Gospels but on the Apostle "Paul ... did not so much as write to all the churches that he taught; and even to those to which he wrote he sent but a few lines." </ref> He also included the [[Shepherd of Hermas]] which was later rejected. The religious scholar [[Bruce Metzger]] described Origen's efforts, saying "The process of canonization represented by Origen proceeded by way of selection, moving from many candidates for inclusion to fewer."{{sfnp|Metzger|1997|p=141}} In his Easter letter of 367, Patriarch [[Athanasius of Alexandria]] gave a list of exactly the same books that would become the [[New Testament]]–27 book–proto-canon,<ref name="Lindberg 2006 15">{{cite book|title=A Brief History of Christianity |url=https://archive.org/details/briefhistorychri00lind |url-access=limited |author-first=Carter |author-last=Lindberg |page=[https://archive.org/details/briefhistorychri00lind/page/n26 15] |year=2006 |publisher=[[Blackwell Publishing]] |isbn=1-4051-1078-3}} </ref> and used the phrase "being canonized" (''kanonizomena'') in regard to them.<ref> {{cite journal |author-last=Brakke |author-first=David |title=Canon Formation and Social Conflict in Fourth Century Egypt: Athanasius of Alexandria's Thirty Ninth Festal Letter |journal=[[Harvard Theological Review]] |volume=87 |issue=4 |date=1994 |pages=395–419 |doi=10.1017/s0017816000030200|s2cid=161779697 }} </ref> ====Fifty Bibles of Constantine==== {{main|Fifty Bibles of Constantine}} In 331, [[Constantine I and Christianity|Constantine I]] commissioned [[Eusebius]] to deliver fifty Bibles for the [[Church of Constantinople]]. [[Athanasius]]<ref>''Apol. Const. 4''</ref> recorded [[Early centers of Christianity#Alexandria|Alexandrian]] scribes around 340 preparing Bibles for [[Constans]]. Little else is known, though there is plenty of speculation. For example, it is speculated that this may have provided motivation for canon lists, and that [[Codex Vaticanus]] and [[Codex Sinaiticus]] are examples of these Bibles. Those codices contain almost a full version of the [[Septuagint]]; Vaticanus lacks only 1–3 [[Books of the Maccabees|Maccabees]] and Sinaiticus lacks 2–3 Maccabees, [[1 Esdras]], [[Book of Baruch|Baruch]] and [[Letter of Jeremiah]].<ref>{{citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LUmGZ0NiweAC |title=Septuagint As Christian Scripture |author-first=Martin |author-last=Hengel |publisher=A&C Black |year=2004 |isbn=978-0567082879 |page=57}}</ref> Together with the [[Peshitta]] and [[Codex Alexandrinus]], these are the earliest extant Christian Bibles.<ref>''The Canon Debate'', pp. 414–415, for the entire paragraph</ref> There is no evidence among the [[First Council of Nicaea#Biblical canon|canons of the First Council of Nicaea]] of any determination on the canon; however, [[Jerome]] (347–420), in his ''Prologue to Judith'', makes the claim that the [[Book of Judith]] was "found by the Nicene Council to have been counted among the number of the Sacred Scriptures".<ref>{{CathEncy|wstitle=Book of Judith}}: Canonicity: "..."the Synod of Nicaea is said to have accounted it as Sacred Scripture" (Praef. in Lib.). It is true that no such declaration is to be found in the Canons of Nicaea, and it is uncertain whether St. Jerome is referring to the use made of the book in the discussions of the council, or whether he was misled by some spurious canons attributed to that council"</ref> ====Eastern canons==== The Eastern Churches had, in general, a weaker feeling than those in the West for the necessity of making sharp delineations with regard to the canon. They were more conscious of the gradation of spiritual quality among the books that they accepted (for example, the classification of Eusebius, see also [[Antilegomena]]) and were less often disposed to assert that the books which they rejected possessed no spiritual quality at all. For example, the [[Quinisext Council|Trullan Synod of 691–692]], which [[Pope Sergius I]] (in office 687–701) rejected<ref>{{cite book |author-last=Ekonomou |author-first= Andrew J. |year=2007 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zomZk6DbFTIC&pg=PA222 |title=Byzantine Rome and the Greek Popes |publisher=Lexington Books |isbn=978-0-73911977-8 |page=222}}</ref> (see also [[Pentarchy]]), endorsed the following lists of canonical writings: the [[Canons of the Apostles|Apostolic Canons]] (c. 385), the [[Synod of Laodicea]] (c. 363), the [[Council of Carthage (397)|Third Synod of Carthage]] (c. 397), and the [[Easter letter|39th Festal Letter of Athanasius]] (367).<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3814.htm |chapter=Council in Trullo |title=Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. 14 |editor-last1=Schaff |editor-first1=Philip |editor-last2=Wace |editor-first2=Henry }}</ref> And yet, these lists do not agree. Similarly, the New Testament canons of the [[Syriac Orthodox Church|Syriac]], [[Armenian Apostolic Church|Armenian]], [[Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria|Egyptian Coptic]] and [[Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church|Ethiopian]] Churches all have minor differences, yet five of these Churches are part of the [[Oriental Orthodoxy|same communion]] and hold the same theological beliefs.{{sfnp|Metzger|1997}} ====Peshitta==== {{main|Peshitta}} The [[Peshitta]] is the standard version of the Bible for churches in the [[Syriac Christianity|Syriac tradition]]. Most of the [[deuterocanonical books]] of the Old Testament are found in the Syriac, and the [[Wisdom of Sirach]] is held to have been translated from the [[Hebrew]] and not from the [[Septuagint]].<ref>[http://www.bible-researcher.com/syriac-isbe.html Syriac Versions of the Bible by Thomas Nicol]</ref> This New Testament, originally excluding certain [[Antilegomena|disputed books]] (2 Peter, 2 John, 3 John, Jude, Revelation), had become a standard by the early 5th century. The five excluded books were added in the [[Harklean Version]] (616 AD) of [[Thomas of Harqel]].<ref>Geoffrey W. Bromiley ''The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: Q–Z'' 1995. p. 976 "Printed editions of the Peshitta frequently contain these books in order to fill the gaps. D. Harklean Version. The Harklean version is connected with the labors of Thomas of Harqel. When thousands were fleeing Khosrou's invading armies, ..."</ref> The standard [[United Bible Societies]] 1905 edition of the New Testament of the Peshitta was based on editions prepared by Syriacists [[Philip E. Pusey]] (d. 1880), [[George Gwilliam]] (d. 1914) and [[John Gwynn (professor)|John Gwyn]].<ref>''Corpus scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium: Subsidia'' Catholic University of America, 1987 "37 ff. The project was founded by Philip E. Pusey who started the collation work in 1872. However, he could not see it to completion since he died in 1880. Gwilliam,</ref> All twenty seven books of the common western [[#New Testament|New Testament]] are included in this British & Foreign Bible Society's 1905 Peshitta edition. ===Western Church=== {{main|Latin Church|Catholic Bible}} ====Latin Fathers==== The first Council that accepted the present Catholic canon (the [[Canon of Trent]] of 1546) may have been the [[Synod of Hippo|Synod of Hippo Regius]], held in North Africa in 393. A brief summary of the acts was read at and accepted by the [[Council of Carthage (397)]] and also the [[Council of Carthage (419)]].{{sfnp|McDonald|Sanders|2002|loc=Appendix D-2, Note 19|ps=. "Revelation was added later in 419 at the subsequent synod of Carthage."}} These Councils took place under the authority of [[Augustine of Hippo]] (354–430), who regarded the canon as already closed.<ref>{{harvp|Ferguson|2002|p=320}}; {{cite book |author-first=F. F. |author-last=Bruce |title=The Canon of Scripture |publisher=Intervarsity Press |year=1988 |page=230 }}; cf. Augustine. ''De Civitate Dei''. 22.8.</ref> [[Augustine of Hippo]] declared without qualification that one is to "prefer those that are received by all Catholic Churches to those which some of them do not receive" (On Christian Doctrines 2.12). In the same passage, Augustine asserted that these dissenting churches should be outweighed by the opinions of "the more numerous and weightier churches", which would include Eastern Churches, the prestige of which Augustine stated moved him to include the [[Book of Hebrews]] among the canonical writings, though he had reservation about its authorship.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ntgreek.org/SeminaryPapers/ChurchHistory/Criteria%20for%20Development%20of%20the%20NT%20Canon%20in%20First%20Four%20Centuries.pdf |title=Corey Keating, The Criteria Used for Developing the New Testament Canon.}}</ref> [[Philip Schaff]] says that "the council of Hippo in 393, and the third (according to another reckoning the sixth) council of Carthage in 397, under the influence of Augustine, who attended both, fixed the catholic canon of the Holy Scriptures, including the Apocrypha of the Old Testament, ... This decision of the transmarine church however, was subject to ratification; and the concurrence of the [[Roman see]] it received when [[Innocent I]] and [[Gelasius I]] (414 AD) repeated the same index of biblical books. This canon remained undisturbed till the sixteenth century, and was sanctioned by the [[council of Trent]] at its fourth session."<ref name="Schaff">{{citation |title=History of the Christian Church |chapter=Chapter IX. Theological Controversies, and Development of the Ecumenical Orthodoxy |author-first=Philip |author-last=Schaff |publisher=CCEL |chapter-url=http://www.ccel.org/s/schaff/history/3_ch09.htm}}</ref> According to Lee Martin McDonald, the [[Book of Revelation|Revelation]] was added to the list in 419.{{sfnp|McDonald|Sanders|2002|loc=Appendix D-2, Note 19|ps=. "Revelation was added later in 419 at the subsequent synod of Carthage."}} These councils were convened under the influence of [[Augustine of Hippo]], who regarded the canon as already closed.<ref name="Ferguson, Everett">Ferguson, Everett. "Factors leading to the Selection and Closure of the New Testament Canon", in ''The Canon Debate'', eds. L. M. McDonald & J. A. Sanders (Hendrickson, 2002) p. 320</ref><ref>F. F. Bruce, ''The Canon of Scripture'' (Intervarsity Press, 1988) p. 230</ref><ref>cf. Augustine, ''De Civitate Dei'' 22.8.</ref> [[Pope Damasus I]]'s [[Council of Rome]] in 382 (if the ''[[Decretum Gelasianum|Decretum]]'' is correctly associated with it) issued a biblical canon identical to that mentioned above.<ref name="Lindberg 2006 15" /> Likewise, Damasus' commissioning of the Latin [[Vulgate]] edition of the Bible, {{circa}} 383, proved instrumental in the fixation of the canon in the West.{{sfnp|Bruce|1988|p= 225}} In a letter ({{circa}} 405) to [[Exuperius|Exsuperius of Toulouse]], a Gallic bishop, [[Pope Innocent I]] mentioned the sacred books that were already received in the canon.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bible-researcher.com/innocent.html |title=Innocent I |publisher=Bible Research |access-date=21 May 2016}}</ref> When bishops and Councils spoke on the matter of the Biblican canon, however, they were not defining something new, but instead "were ratifying what had already become the mind of the Church".{{sfnp|Ferguson|2002|pp=319–320}} Thus from the 4th century there existed unanimity in the [[Western Christianity|West]] concerning the New Testament canon as it is today,{{sfnp|Bruce|1988|p= 215}} with the exception of the [[Book of Revelation]]. In the 5th century the [[Eastern Christianity|East]] too, with a few exceptions, came to accept the Book of Revelation and thus came into harmony on the matter of the New Testament canon.<ref>{{harvp|Ackroyd|Evans|1970|p=305}}; cf. {{cite book |author-last=Reid |author-first=George |title=Catholic Encyclopedia |publisher=Robert Appleton Company |year=1908 |chapter=Canon of the New Testament |chapter-url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03274a.htm}}</ref> As the canon crystallised, non-canonical texts fell into relative disfavour and neglect.<ref>{{cite book |author-last1=Rohmann |author-first1=Dirk |title=Christianity, Book-Burning and Censorship in Late Antiquity: Studies in Text Transmission |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ie7CDAAAQBAJ |series=Arbeiten zur Kirchengeschichte |volume=135 |publisher=[[Walter de Gruyter]] GmbH & Co KG |date=2016 |isbn=9783110485554 |access-date=11 April 2018 |quote=Prudentius [348–{{circa}} 410] ... intends to demonstrate the superiority of Christianity and was likely aware that at this time the Bible has not replaced other books as much as he wants to think. This passage also presents a possible hint that old Latin translations were replaced with a new canonical version, perhaps alluding to the Vulgate, written by Jerome at the end of the fourth century. By implication, this suggests that uncanonical texts were unlikely to be transcribed—an ideologically and authoritatively endorsed selection process that comes close to modern understandings of censorship.}}</ref> ====Council of Florence==== [[File:KJV 1769 Oxford Edition, vol. 1.djvu|page=21|thumb|The contents page in a complete 80 book [[King James Bible]], listing "The Books of the Old Testament", "The Books called Apocrypha", and "The Books of the New Testament"]] Before the [[Protestant Reformation]], the [[Council of Florence]] (1439–1443) took place. With the approval of this [[ecumenical council]], Pope [[Eugenius IV]] (in office 1431–1447) issued several [[papal bulls]] ([[Decree (Catholic canon law)|decrees]]) with a view to restoring the [[Eastern churches]], which the Catholic Church considered as [[schism]]atic bodies, into [[Full communion|communion with Rome]]. Catholic theologians regard these documents as [[infallible]] statements of [[Catholic theology|Catholic doctrine]]. The ''Decretum pro Jacobitis'' contains a complete list of the books received by the Catholic Church as inspired, but omits the terms "canon" and "canonical". The Council of Florence therefore taught the inspiration of all the Scriptures, but did not formally pronounce itself on canonicity.<ref>{{cite book |author-last1=Gigot |author-first1=Francis Ernest Charles |author-link1=Francis Gigot |chapter=The Canon of the Old Testament in the Christian Church: Section II. From the Middle of the Fifth Century to our Day |title=General Introduction to the Study of the Holy Scriptures |year=1900 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n3kQAQAAIAAJ |volume=1 of Introduction to the study of the Holy Scriptures |edition=3 |location=New York |publisher=Benziger |publication-date=1900 |page=71 |access-date=1 February 2021 |quote=[...] the bull of Eugenius IV did not deal with the ''canonicity'' of the books which were not found in the Hebrew Text, but simply proclaimed their ''inspiration'' [...].}}</ref><ref> {{CathEncy|wstitle= Canon of the Old Testament}} section titled "The Council of Florence 1442"</ref> ====Luther's canon and apocrypha==== {{Main|Luther's canon}} [[Martin Luther]] (1483–1546) moved seven Old Testament books (Tobit, Judith, 1–2 Maccabees, Book of Wisdom, Sirach, and Baruch) into a section he called the "[[Biblical apocrypha|Apocrypha]], that are books which are not considered equal to the Holy Scriptures, but are useful and good to read".<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rl3lcbLkHV0C&pg=PA521 |title=The Popular and Critical Bible Encyclopædia and Scriptural Dictionary, Fully Defining and Explaining All Religious Terms, Including Biographical, Geographical, Historical, Archæological and Doctrinal Themes |page=521 |editor-first=Samuel |editor-last=Fallows |publisher=The Howard-Severance co |orig-year=1901 |year=1910 |display-editors=etal}}</ref> All of these apocrypha are called [[Biblical Apocrypha#Anagignoskomena|''anagignoskomena'']] by the Eastern Orthodox Church per the [[Synod of Jerusalem (1672)|Synod of Jerusalem]]. As with the [[Lutheran Church]]es,<ref name="GeislerMacKenzie1995">{{cite book |author-last1=Geisler |author-first1=Norman L. |author-last2=MacKenzie |author-first2=Ralph E. |title=Roman Catholics and Evangelicals: Agreements and Differences |date=1995 |publisher=Baker Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-8010-3875-4 |page=171 |language=English |quote=Lutherans and Anglicans used it only for ethical / devotional matters but did not consider it authoritative in matters of faith.}}</ref> the [[Anglican Communion]] accepts "the Apocrypha for instruction in life and manners, but not for the establishment of doctrine",<ref>{{cite book|author-last=Ewert |author-first=David |title=A General Introduction to the Bible: From Ancient Tablets to Modern Translations |date=2010 |publisher=[[Zondervan]] |isbn=978-0310872436 |page=104}}</ref> and many "lectionary readings in [[The Book of Common Prayer]] are taken from the Apocrypha", with these lessons being "read in the same ways as those from the Old Testament".<ref>{{cite book|author-last1=Thomas |author-first1=Owen C. |author-last2=Wondra |author-first2=Ellen K. |author-link2=Ellen Wondra |title=Introduction to Theology|edition =3rd|date=2002 |publisher=Church Publishing, Inc. |isbn=978-0819218971 |page=56}}</ref> The Protestant Apocrypha contains three books (3 Esdras, 4 Esdras and the Prayer of Manasseh) that are accepted by many Eastern Orthodox Churches and Oriental Orthodox Churches as canonical, but are regarded as non-canonical by the Catholic Church and are therefore not included in modern Catholic Bibles.<ref>{{cite book|author-last1=Henze |author-first1=Matthias |author-last2=Boccaccini |author-first2=Gabriele |title=Fourth Ezra and Second Baruch: Reconstruction after the Fall |year=2013 |publisher=[[Brill Publishing]] |isbn=978-9004258815 |page=383}}</ref> [[Anabaptists]] use the [[Luther Bible]], which contains the intertestamental books; [[Amish]] wedding ceremonies include "the retelling of the marriage of Tobias and Sarah in the Apocrypha".<ref name="Wesner">{{cite web |author-last1=Wesner |author-first1=Erik J. |title=The Bible |date=8 April 2015 |url=https://amishamerica.com/bible/#apocrypha |publisher=Amish America |access-date=23 May 2021 |language=English}}</ref> The fathers of Anabaptism, such as [[Menno Simons]], quoted "them [the Apocrypha] with the same authority and nearly the same frequency as books of the Hebrew Bible" and the texts regarding the martyrdoms under Antiochus IV in [[1 Maccabees]] and [[2 Maccabees]] are held in high esteem by the Anabaptists, who historically faced persecution.<ref name="deSilva2018">{{cite book |last1=deSilva |first1=David A. |title=Introducing the Apocrypha: Message, Context, and Significance |date=2018 |publisher=Baker Books |isbn=978-1-4934-1307-2 |language=English}}</ref> Lutheran and Anglican lectionaries continue to include readings from the Apocrypha.<ref name="Forward1981">{{cite book|title=Readings from the Apocrypha |year=1981 |publisher=Forward Movement Publications |page=5}}</ref> ====Council of Trent==== {{main|Canon of Trent}} In response to [[Martin Luther]]'s demands, the [[Council of Trent]] on 8 April 1546 approved the present [[Catholic Bible]] canon, which includes the [[deuterocanonical books]], and the decision was confirmed by an [[anathema]] by vote (24 yea, 15 nay, 16 abstain).{{sfnp|Metzger|1997|p=246|ps=. "Finally on 8 April 1546, by a vote of 24 to 15, with 16 abstentions, the Council issued a decree (''De Canonicis Scripturis'') in which, for the first time in the history of the Church, the question of the contents of the Bible was made an absolute article of faith and confirmed by an anathema."}} The council confirmed the same list as produced at the [[Council of Florence]] in 1442,<ref>{{cite web|title=Council of Basel 1431–45 A |date=14 December 1431 |url=http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Councils/ecum17.htm |website=Papalencyclicals.net |access-date=7 January 2015}}</ref> Augustine's 397–419 [[Councils of Carthage]],<ref name="Schaff"/> and probably Damasus' 382 [[Council of Rome]].<ref name="Lindberg 2006 15" /><ref name="Cross">{{citation |title=The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church |edition=2nd |editor-first1=F.L. |editor-last1=Cross |editor-first2=E.A. |editor-last2=Livingstone |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=1983 |page=232}}</ref> The Old Testament books that had been rejected by Luther were later termed "deuterocanonical", not indicating a lesser degree of inspiration, but a later time of final approval. The [[Sixto-Clementine Vulgate]] contained in the Appendix several books considered as apocryphal by the council: [[Prayer of Manasseh]], [[1 Esdras|3 Esdras]], and [[2 Esdras|4 Esdras]].<ref name="BSVxx">Praefatio, ''Biblia Sacra Vulgata'', Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart 1983, p. xx. {{ISBN|3-438-05303-9}}</ref> ====Protestant confessions==== {{see also|Protestant Bible}} Several [[Protestant confessions of faith]] identify the 27 books of the New Testament canon by name, including the [[French Confession of Faith]] (1559),<ref>[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/creeds3/Page_361.html Schaff, Philip. ''Creeds of the Evangelical Protestant Churches'', French Confession of Faith, p. 361]</ref> the [[Belgic Confession]] (1561), and the [[Westminster Confession of Faith]] (1647). The [[Second Helvetic Confession]] (1562), affirms "both Testaments to be the true Word of God" and appealing to [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]]'s ''[[De Civitate Dei]]'', it rejected the canonicity of the Apocrypha.<ref>The [[Second Helvetic Confession]], Chapter 1, Of The Holy Scripture Being The True Word of God</ref> The [[Thirty-Nine Articles]], issued by the Church of England in 1563, names the books of the Old Testament, but not the New Testament. The Belgic Confession<ref>[http://creeds.net/belgic/ Belgic Confession 4. Canonical Books of the Holy Scripture]</ref> and the Westminster Confession named the 39 books in the Old Testament and, apart from the aforementioned New Testament books, expressly rejected the canonicity of any others.<ref>The Westminster Confession rejected the canonicity of the Apocrypha stating that "The books commonly called Apocrypha, not being of divine inspiration, are no part of the canon of the Scripture, and therefore are of no authority in the Church of God, nor to be any otherwise approved, or made use of, than other human writings." [[s:The Confession of Faith of the Assembly of Divines at Westminster#Chapter 1|Westminster Confession of Faith, 1646]]</ref> The Lutheran [[Epitome of the Formula of Concord]] of 1577 declared that the prophetic and apostolic Scriptures comprised the Old and New Testaments alone.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://bookofconcord.org/fc-ep.php |title=The Epitome of the Formula of Concord – Book of Concord |access-date=19 August 2020 |archive-date=31 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031063041/http://bookofconcord.org/fc-ep.php |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Luther's canon|Luther himself did not accept the canonicity of the Apocrypha]] although he believed that its books were "Not Held Equal to the Scriptures, but Are Useful and Good to Read".<ref>Brecht, Martin. Martin Luther. Volume 3, p. 98 James L. Schaaf, trans. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1985–1993. {{ISBN|0-8006-2813-6}}</ref> Lutheran and Anglican lectionaries continue to include readings from the Apocrypha.<ref name="Forward1981"/> ====Other apocrypha==== {{main|Biblical apocrypha|New Testament apocrypha}} Various books that were never canonized by any church, but are known to have existed in antiquity, are similar to the New Testament and often claim apostolic authorship, are known as the [[New Testament apocrypha]]. Some of these writings have been cited as [[Bible|scripture]] by early Christians, but since the fifth century a widespread consensus has emerged limiting the New Testament to the [[Development of the New Testament canon|27 books of the modern canon]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Van Liere |first=Frans |date=2014 |title=An Introduction to the Medieval Bible |pages=68–69 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0521865784 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dwd-AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA68}}</ref><ref name="Ehrman2003">{{cite book |last=Ehrman |first=Bart D. |author-link=Bart Ehrman |date=2003 |title=Lost Christianities: Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew |pages=230–231 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0199756681 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HHDNe8KmMAIC&pg=PA230}}</ref> Thus Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Protestant churches generally do not view these New Testament apocrypha as part of the Bible.<ref name=Ehrman2003/> ==Canons of various Christian traditions== Final dogmatic articulations of the canons were made at the [[Council of Trent]] of 1546 for Roman Catholicism.{{sfnp|Reid|1908}} === Old Testament === {{Main|Development of the Old Testament canon}} {{See also|Reception of the book of Enoch in antiquity and Middle Ages}} Another set of books, largely written during the [[intertestamental period]], are called the [[deuterocanon]] ("second canon") by Catholics, the deuterocanon or ''[[anagignoskomena]]'' ("worthy of reading") by Eastern Orthodox Churches, and the biblical apocrypha ("hidden things") by Protestants. These are works recognized by the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox Churches as being part of scripture (and thus deuterocanonical rather than apocryphal), but Protestants do not recognize them as [[Biblical inspiration|divinely inspired]]. Some Protestant Bibles—especially the English King James Bible and the [[Lutheran Bible]]—include an "Apocrypha" section. Many denominations recognize deuterocanonical books as good, but not on the level of the other books of the Bible. [[Anglicanism]] considers the apocrypha worthy of being "read for example of life" but not to be used "to establish any doctrine".<ref name="39articles">The foundational [[Thirty-Nine Articles]] of [[Anglicanism]], in [[wikisource:Book of Common Prayer (1863)/Articles of Religion|Article VI]], asserts that these disputed books are not (to be) used "to establish any doctrine," but "read for example of life." Although the biblical apocrypha are still used in [[Christian liturgy#Anglican Communion|Anglican Liturgy]], ("Two of the hymns used in the American Prayer Book office of Morning Prayer, the [[Benedictus (Song of Zechariah)|Benedictus es]] and [[Benedicite]], are taken from the Apocrypha. One of the offertory sentences in Holy Communion comes from an apocryphal book (Tob. 4: 8–9). Lessons from the Apocrypha are regularly appointed to read in the daily, Sunday, and special services of Morning and Evening Prayer. There are altogether 111 such lessons in the latest revised American Prayer Book Lectionary [The books used are: II Esdras, Tobit, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, Three Holy Children, and I Maccabees.]" – [http://orthodoxanglican.net/downloads/apocrypha.pdf The Apocrypha, Bridge of the Testaments] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090205074449/http://orthodoxanglican.net/downloads/apocrypha.pdf|date=5 February 2009}}), the modern trend has been to not even print the Old Testament Apocrypha in editions of Anglican-used Bibles.</ref> [[Luther's canon|Luther]] made a parallel statement in calling them "not considered equal to the Holy Scriptures, but [...] useful and good to read."<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rl3lcbLkHV0C&q=luther+%22are+useful+and+good+to+read%22&pg=PA521|title=The Popular and Critical Bible Encyclopædia and Scriptural Dictionary, Fully Defining and Explaining All Religious Terms, Including Biographical, Geographical, Historical, Archæological and Doctrinal Themes |page=521|editor=[[Samuel Fallows]]|publisher=The Howard-Severance company|orig-year=1901|year=1910|display-editors=etal}}</ref> Additionally, while the books of [[Jubilees]] and [[Book of Enoch|Enoch]] are fairly well known among western scholars, 1, 2, and 3 [[Meqabyan]] are not. The three books of Meqabyan are often called the "Ethiopian Maccabees", but are completely different in content from the [[books of Maccabees]] that are known or have been canonized in other traditions. Finally, the Book of Joseph ben Gurion, or [[Josippon|Pseudo-Josephus]], is a history of the Jewish people thought to be based upon the writings of [[Josephus]].<ref group="note">Josephus's ''[[The Jewish War]]'' and ''[[Antiquities of the Jews]]'' are highly regarded by Christians because they provide valuable insight into 1st century Judaism and early Christianity. Moreover, in ''Antiquities'', Josephus made two extra-Biblical references to Jesus, which have played a crucial role in establishing him as a historical figure.</ref> The Ethiopic version (Zëna Ayhud) has eight parts and is included in the [[Orthodox Tewahedo biblical canon#Broader biblical canon|Orthodox Tewahedo broader canon]].<ref group="note">The Orthodox Tewahedo broader canon in its fullest form—which includes the narrower canon in its entirety, as well as nine additional books—is not known to exist at this time as one published compilation. Some books, though considered canonical, are nonetheless difficult to locate and are not even widely available in Ethiopia. While the narrower canon has indeed been published as one compilation, there may be no real ''emic'' distinction between the broader canon and the narrower canon, especially in so far as divine inspiration and scriptural authority are concerned. The idea of two such classifications may be nothing more than [[Emic and etic|etic]] taxonomic conjecture.</ref><ref>[http://www.ethiopianorthodox.org/english/canonical/books.html "The Bible"]. Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. 2003. Retrieved 20 January 2012.</ref> Some ancient copies of the [[Peshitta]] used in the [[Syriac Christianity|Syriac tradition]] include [[2 Baruch]] (divided into the Apocalypse of Baruch and the Letter of Baruch; some copies only include the Letter) and the non-canonical [[Psalms 152–155]]. The [[Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church|Ethiopian Tewahedo church]] accepts all of the deuterocanonical books of Catholicism and anagignoskomena of Eastern Orthodoxy except for the four Books of Maccabees.<ref>According to some enumerations, including Ecclesiasticus, Judith, Tobit, 1 Esdras, 4 Ezra (not including chs. 1–2 or 15–16), Wisdom, the rest of Daniel, Baruch, and 1–2 Maccabees</ref> It accepts the 39 protocanonical books along with the following books, called the "[[Bible translations into Amharic#New Haile Selassie I Bible (1962)|narrow canon]]".<ref>These books are accounted pseudepigrapha by all other Christian groups, Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox (Charlesworth's Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Introduction)</ref> The enumeration of books in the Ethiopic Bible varies greatly between different authorities and printings.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.islamic-awareness.org/Bible/Text/Canon/ethiopican.html |title=The Biblical Canon of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church Today |publisher=Islamic-awareness.org |access-date=2012-08-14}}</ref> Protestants and Catholics<ref name="CDWDS_(2001)">{{cite web|author=Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments|date=7 May 2001|title=Liturgiam Authenticam|url=https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20010507_liturgiam-authenticam_en.html|access-date=18 January 2012|location=Vatican City|language=la, en|quote=Canon 24. 'Furthermore, it is not permissible that the translations be produced from other translations already made into other languages; rather, the new translations must be made directly from the original texts, namely ... the Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek, as the case may be, as regards the texts of Sacred Scripture.'}}</ref> use the [[Masoretic Text]] of the Jewish Tanakh as the textual basis for their translations of the [[protocanonical books]] (those accepted as canonical by both Jews and all Christians), with various changes derived from a multiplicity of other ancient sources (such as the [[Septuagint]], the [[Vulgate]], the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]], etc.), while generally using the Septuagint and Vulgate, now supplemented by the ancient Hebrew and Aramaic manuscripts, as the textual basis for the [[deuterocanonical books]]. Eastern Orthodoxy uses the [[Septuagint]] (translated in the 3rd century BCE) as the textual basis for the entire Old Testament in both protocanonical and deuteroncanonical books—to use both in the Greek for [[liturgical]] purposes, and as the basis for translations into the [[vernacular]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Ware|first=Timothy|title=The Orthodox Church: New Edition|year=1993|publisher=Penguin Books|isbn=978-0-14-014656-1|page=368}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Orthodox Study Bible|year=2008|publisher=Thomas Nelson|location=Nashville, TN|isbn=978-0-7180-0359-3|page=1824|edition=Annotated|chapter=Introduction}}</ref> Most of the quotations (300 of 400) of the Old Testament in the New Testament, while differing more or less from the version presented by the Masoretic text, align with that of the Septuagint.<ref>{{cite book|last=McLay|first=R. Timothy|title=The Use of the Septuagint in New Testament Research|year=2004|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdman's|isbn=978-0-8028-6091-0|page=222}}</ref> [[Marcionism]] rejects the Old Testament entirely; Marcion considered the Old Testament and New Testament gods to be different entities. ==== Old Testament table ==== The order of some books varies among canons. {{sticky header}}{{sort under}} {| class="wikitable sortable sticky-header-multi sort-under" |- ! style="width:90px;"| !| [[Judaism]] ! colspan=4 | [[Western Christianity|Western]] tradition ! colspan=3 | [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] tradition ! colspan=4 | [[Oriental Orthodoxy|Oriental Orthodox]] tradition ! |- ! style="width:90px;"| Books ! style="width:109px;"| [[Hebrew Bible]]<br /><ref group="O" name="Hebrew">The canon followed by the Masoretic Text is adhered to by modern Jews and is known as the Protocanon among Christians, but "it is now recognized that only 2 Maccabees, and additions to Esther (13,1) were written in Greek. And the notion of Greek: diaspora/Hebrew: Palestine in matters of canon has been controverted by clear evidence of the circulation of the Septuagint in Palestine..." see: Sundberg Jr, Albert C. "The" Old Testament": A Christian Canon." ''The Catholic Biblical Quarterly'' (1968): 143-155, p.145.</ref> ! style="width:109px;"| [[Protestant]]<br /><ref group="O" name="Protestant">The term "Protestant" is used loosely here to include most Western non-Roman Catholic churches but not Anglicans. Most Christians in this category include only the protocanon, but there are "churches that include the Apocrypha or Deuterocanonical writings in their Bibles [which] ''generally'' follow the R-H LXX edition", see: Lee Martin McDonald, "A Canonical History of the Old Testament Apocrypha." ''The Oxford Handbook of the Apocrypha'' (2021): 24, p.45.</ref> ! style="width:109px;"| [[Martin Luther|Luther's]] [[Luther's canon|1534 Canon]]<br /><ref group="O" name="Luther">Edmon L. Gallagher and John D. Meade. ''The biblical canon lists from early Christianity: Texts and analysis.'' (Oxford: OUP, 2017), pp.xx-xxii.</ref> ! style="width:109px;"| [[Anglican Communion|Anglican]]<br /><ref group="O" name="Anglican">''Articles of Religion'' 1571, The Church of England. Available at: https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/book-common-prayer/articles-religion#VII (Accessed: 07 November 2023).</ref> ! style="width:109px;"| [[Latin Church|Latin Catholicism]]<ref name=":0"/><br /><ref group="O" name="Catholic">The Roman Catholic Canon as represented in this table reflects the Latin tradition. Some Eastern Rite churches who are in fellowship with the Roman Catholic Church may have different books in their canons.</ref> ! style="width:109px;"| [[Greek Orthodox Church|Greek Orthodox]]<ref group="O" name="GrOrthodox">Edmon L. Gallagher and John D. Meade. ''The biblical canon lists from early Christianity: Texts and analysis.'' (Oxford: OUP, 2017), pp.xx-xxii.</ref> ! style="width:109px;"| [[Russian Orthodox Church|Russian Orthodox]]<ref group="O" name="ROrthodox">"The Old Testament, as it functions in the Russian Orthodox Church, contains the thirty-nine books which are part of what other traditions call the Protocanon, as well as eleven other books...[:] "2 Ездры" (3 Esdras in the Vulgate; 'Εσδρας Α' in the Septuagint), Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), Letter of Jeremiah, Baruch, 1, 2, and 3 Maccabees, and finally "3 Ездры" (4 Esdras in the Vulgate). To these books should be added the non-canonical sections of Daniel (i.e., Song of the Three Young Men, Susanna, Bel and the Dragon), Esther, Psalms (i.e., Ps 151), and the Prayer of Manasseh placed at the end of 2 Chronicles. These sections are not included separately, but as part of these respective books." See: Lénart J. De Regt, "Canon and Biblical Text in the Slavonic Tradition in Russia." ''The Bible Translator'' 67.2 (2016): 223-239, pp.223-224.</ref> ! style="width:109px;"| [[Georgian Orthodox Church|Georgian Orthodox]]<ref group="O" name="GeOrthodox">Anna Kharanauli, "The Georgian Canon." ''Textual history of the Bible; Volume 2A: The deuterocanonical scriptures: Overview articles'' (2020): 258-268.</ref> ! style="width:109px;"| [[Armenian Apostolic Church|Armenian Apostolic]]<ref group="O" name="Armenian">The growth and development of the Armenian Biblical canon is complex. Extra-canonical Old Testament books appear in historical canon lists and recensions that are either exclusive to this tradition, or where they do exist elsewhere, never achieved the same status. See: Michael E. Stone, "Armenian Canon Lists I—the Council of Partaw (768 CE)." ''Harvard Theological Review'' 66.4 (1973): 479-486; Michael E. Stone, "Armenian Canon Lists II—The Stichometry of Anania of Shirak (c. 615-c. 690 CE.)." Harvard Theological Review 68.3-4 (1975): 253-260. Michael E. Stone, "Armenian Canon Lists III—The Lists of Mechitar of Ayrivankʿ (c. 1285 CE)." ''Harvard Theological Review'' 69.3-4 (1976): 289-300 Michael E. Stone, "Armenian Canon Lists IV—The List of Gregory of Tatʿew (14th Century)." ''Harvard Theological Review'' 72.3-4 (1979): 237-244; Michael E. Stone, "Armenian Canon Lists V—Anonymous Texts." ''Harvard Theological Review'' 83.2 (1990): 141-161; Michael E. Stone, "Armenian Canon Lists VI—Hebrew Names and Other Attestations." ''Harvard Theological Review'' 94.4 (2001): 477-491. Michael E. Stone, "Armenian Canon Lists VII: The Poetic List of Aṙak 'el of Siwnik '(d. 1409)." ''Harvard Theological Review'' 104.3 (2011): 367-379.</ref> ! style="width:109px;"| [[Syriac Orthodox Church|Syriac Orthodox]]<ref group="O" name="SOrthodox">"The disputed books are often grouped together at the end of their OT canon (cf. ms. Sinai Syr. 10) including 1-4 Maccabees, Judith, Wisdom, 3 Esdras, and Ben Sirach, but the Syrian canon varies in the three Bibles from which subsequent editions are based." See: Lee Martin McDonald, "A Canonical History of the Old Testament Apocrypha." ''The Oxford Handbook of the Apocrypha'' (2021): 24, p.45.</ref> ! style="width:109px;"| [[Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria|Coptic Orthodox]]<ref>{{cite web |title=The Deuterocanonical Books |url=https://www.lacopts.org/orthodoxy/our-faith/the-holy-bible/the-deuterocanonical-books/| publisher= Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Los Angeles|access-date=23 January 2012 }}</ref> ! style="width:109px;"| [[Orthodox Tewahedo]]<ref>{{cite web |title=The Bible |url=http://www.ethiopianorthodox.org/english/canonical/books.html |publisher=Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church |access-date=23 January 2012}}</ref> ! style="width:109px;"| [[Church of the East]]<ref group="O" name="Babaism">The Church of the East "persisted in using the shorter canon" and the Syriac Deuterocanonicals were not included in Lamsa's translation, though he admitted that "Apocryphal books are [usually] included in the text, they are looked upon as a sacred literature, even though they are not as_commonly used as the others." See: Ron Grove, ''Canon and community: authority in the history of religions'' University of California, Santa Barbara, 1983, p.160. It should also be noted that "...conversion to Christianity started after most books were translated, but before the translation of Ezra, Nehemiah and Chronicles... When later converts brought the last books, "there were those in the church who considered that the limits of the Old Testament in Syriac had already been defined" (Weitzman, 1999, p.261). These last books never attained the same status in the Church of the East as the earlier books of the Old Testament." See: Henk Prenger, "The History of the Church of the East." ''Biola ISCL 742'' (2010), p,54</ref> |- | | style="text-align:center;"| ''Torah'' | colspan="12" style="text-align:center;" | ''[[Pentateuch]]'' |- | [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]] || {{Yes}}|| {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Book of Exodus|Exodus]] || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Leviticus]] || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Book of Numbers|Numbers]] || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Deuteronomy]] || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | | style="text-align:center;" | ''[[Nevi'im]]'' | colspan="12" style="text-align:center;" | ''[[Historical books]]'' |- | [[Book of Joshua|Joshua]] || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}<br />Josue || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Book of Judges|Judges]] || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Book of Ruth|Ruth]] || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Books of Samuel|1 and 2 Samuel]] || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}<br />1 and 2 Kings || {{Yes}}<br />1 and 2 Kingdoms || {{Yes}}<br />1 and 2 Kingdoms || {{Yes}}<br />1 and 2 Kingdoms || {{Yes}}<br />1 and 2 Kingdoms || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Books of Kings|1 and 2 Kings]] || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}<br />3 and 4 Kings || {{Yes}}<br />3 and 4 Kingdoms || {{Yes}}<br />3 and 4 Kingdoms || {{Yes}}<br />3 and 4 Kingdoms || {{Yes}}<br />3 and 4 Kingdoms || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Books of Chronicles|1 and 2 Chronicles]] || {{Yes}}<br />(part of Ketuvim) || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}<br />1 and 2 Paralipomenon || {{Yes}}<br />1 and 2 Paralipomenon || {{Yes}}<br />1 and 2 Paralipomenon || {{Yes}}<br />1 and 2 Paralipomenon || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Prayer of Manasseh]] || {{No}} || style="background:#FFA6C9; text-align:center;"| No − inc. in some mss. (Apocrypha) || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No <br />(Apocrypha)<ref group="O" name="Apocrypha">The English Apocrypha includes the Prayer of Manasseh, 1 & 2 Esdras, the Additions to Esther, Tobit, Judith, 1 & 2 Maccabees, the Book of Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, the Letter of Jeremiah, and the Additions to Daniel. The Lutheran Apocrypha omits from this list 1 & 2 Esdras. Some Protestant Bibles include 3 Maccabees as part of the Apocrypha. However, many churches within Protestantism—as it is presented here—reject the Apocrypha, do not consider it useful, and do not include it in their Bibles.</ref>|| style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;" | No <br />(Apocrypha)<ref group=O name=Apocrypha/> || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No – (inc. in Appendix in Clementine Vulgate) || {{Yes}} (?)<br />(part of Odes)<ref group=O name=Manasseh>The Prayer of Manasseh is included as part of the [[Book of Odes (Bible)|Book of Odes]], which follows the Psalms in Eastern Orthodox Bibles. The rest of the Book of Odes consists of passages found elsewhere in the Bible. It may also be found at the end of 2 Chronicles (2 Paralipomenon)</ref> || {{Yes}} (?)<br />(part of Odes)<ref group=O name=Manasseh/> || {{Yes}} (?)<br />(part of Odes)<ref group=O name=Manasseh/> || {{Yes}} (?) || {{Yes}} (?) || {{Yes}}<ref>read at Easter Saturday vigil</ref> || {{Yes}} <br /> (part of 2 Chronicles) || {{Yes}} (?) |- | [[Book of Ezra|Ezra<br />(1 Ezra)]] || rowspan=2 {{Yes}}<br />(part of Ketuvim) || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} <br />1 Esdras || {{Yes}} <br />Esdras B' || {{Yes}} <br />1 Esdras || {{Yes}}<br />1 Ezra || {{Yes}}<br />1 Ezra || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Book of Nehemiah|Nehemiah<br />(2 Ezra)]] || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} <br />2 Esdras || {{Yes}} <br />Esdras Γ' or Neemias || {{Yes}}<br />Neemias || {{Yes}}<br />Neemias || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[1 Esdras]]<br />(3 Ezra) || {{No}} || style="background:#FFA6C9; text-align:center;"| No − inc. in some mss. (Apocrypha) || {{No}} || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No<br />1 Esdras<br />(Apocrypha) || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No – (inc. in Appendix in Clementine Vulgate as 3 Esdras.)<ref name="Esdras">{{cite web|url=https://www.catholic.com/qa/are-1-and-2-esdras-non-canonical-books|title=Are 1 and 2 Esdras non-canonical books?|publisher=[[Catholic Answers]]|access-date=29 August 2020}}</ref>|| {{Yes}} <br />Esdras A' || {{Yes}} <br />2 Esdras || {{Yes}}<br />2 Ezra || style="background:#1CAC78; text-align:center;"| Yes<br />2 Ezra<ref group="O" name="exc">2 Ezra, 3 Ezra, and 3 Maccabees are included in Bibles and have an elevated status within the Armenian scriptural tradition, but are considered "extra-canonical".</ref>|| style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;" | No (?) – inc. in some mss. || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No – inc. in some mss. || {{Yes}}<br />Ezra Kali || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No (?) – inc. in some mss. |- | [[2 Esdras]] 3–14<br />(4 Ezra or Apocalypsis of Esdras)<ref group="O" name="esdras">In many eastern Bibles, the Apocalypse of Ezra is not an exact match to the longer Latin Esdras–2 Esdras in KJV or 4 Esdras in the Vulgate—which includes a Latin prologue (5 Ezra) and epilogue (6 Ezra). However, a degree of uncertainty continues to exist here, and it is certainly possible that the full text—including the prologue and epilogue—appears in Bibles and Biblical manuscripts used by some of these eastern traditions. Also of note is the fact that many Latin versions are missing verses 7:36–7:106. (A more complete explanation of the various divisions of books associated with the scribe Ezra may be found in the Wikipedia article entitled "[[Esdras]]".)</ref> || {{No}} || style="background:#FFA6C9; text-align:center;" | No − inc. in some mss. (Apocrypha) || {{No}} || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No<br />2 Esdras<br />(Apocrypha) || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No – (inc in Appendix in Clementine Vulgate as 4 Esdras.) || {{No}}<br />(Greek ms. lost)<ref group=O name=lost>Evidence strongly suggests that a Greek manuscript of 4 Ezra once existed; this furthermore implies a Hebrew origin for the text.</ref> || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No <br />3 Esdras<br />(appendix) || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No<br />3 Ezra<br />– inc. as noncanonical<ref group="O" name="Georgian">In Eastern Orthodox Churches, including the Georgian Orthodox Church, Ecumenical Councils are the highest written determining church authority on the lists of Biblical books. Canon 2 of the Quintsext Council, held in Trullo and affirmed by the Eastern Orthodox Churches, listed and affirmed Biblical Canon lists, such as the list in Canon 85 of the Canons of the Apostles. Trullo's Biblical Canon lists affirmed documents such as 1-3 Maccabees, but neither Slavonic 3 Esdra/Ezra (AKA Vulgate "4 Ezra/Esdras"), nor 4 Maccabees. Source: Canon 2, Council of Trullo, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3814.htm Georgian Orthodox Bibles apparently tend to include Slavonic 3 Esdra/Ezra and 4 Maccabees (both apocryphal). Contemporary Georgian Orthodox Bibles may mark them and the Deuterocanonical Books (eg. 1-3 Maccabees) as "noncanonical." See eg. "The Old Testament in Modern Georgian Language" on the following Georgian Orthodox website: http://www.orthodoxy.ge/tserili/biblia/sarchevi.htm</ref> || style="background:#1CAC78; text-align:center;" | Yes<br />3 Ezra<ref group=O name=exc/> || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No (?) – inc. in some mss. || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No – inc. in some mss. || {{Yes}}<br />Ezra Sutu'el || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No (?) – inc. in some mss. |- | [[2 Esdras]] 1–2; 15–16<br />(5 and 6 Ezra or Apocalypsis of Esdras)<ref group=O name=esdras/> || {{No}} || style="background:#FFA6C9; text-align:center;"| No − inc. in some mss. (Apocrypha) || {{No}} || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No<br />(part of 2 Esdras apocryphon) || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No – (inc. in Appendix in Clementine Vulgate as 4 Esdras.) || {{No}}<br />(Greek ms.)<ref group=O name=6ez>An early fragment of 6 Ezra is known to exist in the Greek language, implying a possible Hebrew origin for 2 Esdras 15–16.</ref> || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} |- | [[Book of Esther|Esther]]<ref group="O" name="Esther">Esther's placement within the canon was questioned by Luther. Others, like Melito, omitted it from the canon altogether.</ref> || {{Yes}}<br />Ester (part of Ketuvim) || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Additions to Esther]] || {{No}} || style="background:#FFA6C9; text-align:center;"| No − inc. in some mss. (Apocrypha) ||style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No <br />(Apocrypha) ||style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No <br />(Apocrypha) || {{Yes}} (Deuterocanonical) || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Book of Tobit|Tobit]] || {{No}} || style="background:#FFA6C9; text-align:center;"| No − inc. in some mss. (Apocrypha) || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No <br />(Apocrypha) || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No <br />(Apocrypha) || {{Yes}}<br />Tobias (Deuterocanonical) || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Book of Judith|Judith]] || {{No}} || style="background:#FFA6C9; text-align:center;"| No − inc. in some mss. (Apocrypha) || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No <br />(Apocrypha) || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No <br />(Apocrypha) || {{Yes}} (Deuterocanonical)|| {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[1 Maccabees]]<ref name="maccabees" group="O">The [[Latin Vulgate]], [[Douay–Rheims Bible|Douay–Rheims]], and [[Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition]] place First and Second Maccabees after Malachi; other Catholic translations place them after Esther.</ref> || {{No}} || style="background:#FFA6C9; text-align:center;" | No − inc. in some mss. (Apocrypha) || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No <br />(Apocrypha) || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No <br />(Apocrypha) || {{Yes}}<br />1 Machabees (Deuterocanonical) || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{No}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[2 Maccabees]]<ref name="maccabees" group=O /> || {{No}} || style="background:#FFA6C9; text-align:center;"| No − inc. in some mss. (Apocrypha) || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No <br />(Apocrypha) || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No <br />(Apocrypha) || {{Yes}}<br />2 Machabees (Deuterocanonical) || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{No}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[3 Maccabees]] || {{No}} || style="background:#FFA6C9; text-align:center;"| No − inc. in [[Revised Standard Version|RSV]] and [[New Revised Standard Version|NRSV]] (Apocrypha) ||style="background:#FFA6C9; text-align:center;"| No − inc. in some mss. (Apocrypha) || style="background:#FFA6C9; text-align:center;"| No − inc. in some mss. (Apocrypha) || {{No}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || style="background:#1CAC78; text-align:center;"| Yes<ref group=O name=exc/>|| {{Yes}} || style="background:#FFA6C9; text-align:center;"| No || {{No}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[4 Maccabees]] || {{No}} || style="background:#FFA6C9; text-align:center;"| No − inc. [[Revised Standard Version|RSV]] and [[New Revised Standard Version|NRSV]] (Apocrypha) || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No <br />(appendix) || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No <br />(appendix) || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No – inc. as noncanonical<ref group=O name=Georgian /> || style="background:#FFA6C9; text-align:center;"| No<br />(early tradition)|| style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No (?) – inc. in some mss. ||style="background:#FFA6C9; text-align:center;"| No<br />(Coptic ms,) || {{No}} || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No (?) – inc. in some mss. |- | [[5 Maccabees]] || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}}|| {{Yes}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} |- | [[Jubilees]] || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{Yes}} || {{No}} |- | [[Book of Enoch|1 Enoch]] || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{Yes}} || {{No}} |- | [[2 Enoch]] || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} |- | [[3 Enoch]] || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} |- | [[Meqabyan|1 Ethiopic Maccabees]]<br />(1 Meqabyan) || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{Yes}} || {{No}} |- | [[Meqabyan|2 and 3 Ethiopic Maccabees]]<ref group="O" name="Meqabyan">2 and 3 Meqabyan, though relatively unrelated in content, are often counted as a single book.</ref><br />(2 and 3 Meqabyan) || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{Yes}} || {{No}} |- | [[Josippon|Ethiopic Pseudo-Josephus]] (Zëna Ayhud) || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || style="background:#40E0D0; text-align:center;"| Yes<br />(broader canon)<ref group="O" name="Jossipon">Some sources place Zëna Ayhud within the "narrower canon".</ref>|| {{No}} |- | [[The Jewish War|Josephus' ''Jewish War VI'']] || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No – inc. in some mss.<ref group="O" name="Josephus">A Syriac version of Josephus's ''Jewish War VI'' appears in some Peshitta manuscripts as the "[[5 Maccabees#Title|Fifth Book of Maccabees]]", which is clearly a misnomer.</ref>|| {{No}} || {{No}} || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No – inc. in some mss.<ref group=O name=Josephus/> |- | [[Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs]] || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}}<br />(Greek ms.) || {{No}} || {{No}} || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No – inc. in some mss. || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} |- | [[Joseph and Asenath]] || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No – inc. in some mss. || {{No}} || {{No}} || style="background:#FFA6C9; text-align:center;"| No<br />(early tradition?)<ref group="O" name="ethasenath">Several varying historical canon lists exist for the Orthodox Tewahedo tradition. In one particular [http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/harden_ethiopic_literature.htm#CHAPTER_IV list] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060810221758/http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/harden_ethiopic_literature.htm#CHAPTER_IV |date=10 August 2006 }} found in a British Library manuscript (Add MS 16188), a book of [[Asenath|Assenath]] is placed within the canon. This most likely refers to the book more commonly known as ''Joseph and Asenath''. An unknown book of [[Uzziah]] is also listed there, which may be connected to the lost [[Acts of Uzziah]] referenced in 2 Chronicles 26:22.</ref>|| {{No}} |- | | style="text-align:center;"| ''[[Ketuvim]]'' | colspan="12" style="text-align:center;" | ''[[Wisdom literature#Biblical wisdom literature and Jewish texts|Wisdom literature]]'' |- | [[Book of Job]] || {{Yes}}<br />Iyov || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Psalms|Psalms 1–150]]<ref group="O" name="psb">Some traditions use an alternative set of liturgical or metrical Psalms.</ref> || {{Yes}}<br />Tehillim || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Psalm 151]] || {{No}} || style="background:#FFA6C9; text-align:center;"| No − inc. in [[Revised Standard Version|RSV]] and [[New Revised Standard Version|NRSV]] (Apocrypha) || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Psalm 152-155|Psalms 152–155]] || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No (?) – inc. in some mss. || {{No}} || {{No}} || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No (?) – inc. in some mss. |- | [[Psalms of Solomon]]<ref group="O" name="OSO">In many ancient manuscripts, a distinct collection known as the [[Odes of Solomon]] is found together with the similar Psalms of Solomon.</ref> || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No – inc. in some mss. || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No – inc. in some mss. || {{No}} || {{No}} || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No – inc. in some mss. |- | [[Book of Proverbs|Proverbs]] || {{Yes}}<br />Mishlei || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}<br />(in 2 books) || {{Yes}} |- | [[Ecclesiastes]] || {{Yes}}<br />Qohelet || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Song of Songs]] || {{Yes}}<br />Shir Hashirim || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}<br />Canticle of Canticles || {{Yes}}<br />Aisma Aismaton || {{Yes}}<br />Aisma Aismaton || {{Yes}}<br />Aisma Aismaton || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Book of Wisdom]] or Wisdom of Solomon || {{No}} || style="background:#FFA6C9; text-align:center;"| No − inc. in some mss. (Apocrypha) || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No <br />(Apocrypha) || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No <br />(Apocrypha) || {{Yes}} (Deuterocanonical) || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Wisdom of Sirach]] or Sirach (1–51)<ref group="O" name="prologue">The book of Sirach is usually preceded by a non-canonical prologue written by the author's grandson.</ref> || {{No}} || style="background:#FFA6C9; text-align:center;" | No − inc. in some mss. (Apocrypha) || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No <br />(Apocrypha) || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No <br />(Apocrypha) || {{Yes}}<ref group=O name=sir51>In the Latin Vulgate and Douay-Rheims, chapter 51 of Ecclesiasticus appears separately as the "Prayer of Joshua, son of Sirach".</ref><br />Ecclesiasticus (Deuterocanonical) || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Prayer of Solomon]]<br />(Sirach 52)<ref group="O" name="Solomon">A shorter variant of the prayer by King Solomon in 1 Kings 8:22–52 appeared in some medieval Latin manuscripts and is found in some Latin Bibles at the end of or immediately following Ecclesiasticus. The two versions of the prayer in Latin may be viewed online for comparison at the following website: [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Sirach%2052;1%20Kings%208:22-52&version=VULGATE BibleGateway.com: Sirach 52 / 1 Kings 8:22–52; Vulgate]</ref> || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{ No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} |- | | style="text-align:center;" | ''[[Nevi'im]]'' | colspan="12" style="text-align:center;" | ''[[Major prophet]]s'' |- | [[Book of Isaiah|Isaiah]] || {{Yes}}<br />Yeshayahu || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}<br />Isaias || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Ascension of Isaiah]] || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || style="background:#FFA6C9; text-align:center;"| No – <br /> liturgical (?)<ref group="O" name="Martyrdom">The "Martyrdom of Isaiah" is prescribed reading to honor the prophet Isaiah within the Armenian Apostolic liturgy. While this likely refers to the account of Isaiah's death within the Lives of the Prophets, it may be a reference to the account of his death found within the first five chapters of the Ascension of Isaiah, which is widely known by this name. The two narratives have similarities and may share a common source.</ref>|| {{No}} || {{No}} || style="background:#FFA6C9; text-align:center;"| No –<br />Ethiopic mss.<br />(early tradition?)<ref group="O" name="Ascension">The Ascension of Isaiah has long been known to be a part of the Orthodox Tewahedo scriptural tradition. Though it is not currently considered canonical, various sources attest to the early canonicity—or at least "semi-canonicity"—of this book.</ref>|| {{No}} |- | [[Book of Jeremiah|Jeremiah]] || {{Yes}}<br />Yirmeyahu || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}<br />Jeremias || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Book of Lamentations|Lamentations (1–5)]] || {{Yes}}<br />Eikhah (part of Ketuvim) || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}<ref group=O name=lam5>In some Latin versions, chapter 5 of Lamentations appears separately as the "Prayer of Jeremiah".</ref> || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}<br />(part of [[Paralipomena of Baruch|Säqoqawä Eremyas]])<ref group=O name=ethlam>Ethiopic Lamentations consists of eleven chapters, parts of which are considered to be non-canonical.</ref> || {{Yes}} |- | [[Paralipomena of Baruch|Ethiopic Lamentations (6; 7:1–11:63)]] || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{Yes}}<br />(part of Säqoqawä Eremyas)<ref group=O name=ethlam/> || {{No}} |- | [[Book of Baruch|Baruch]] || {{No}} || style="background:#FFA6C9; text-align:center;"| No − inc. in some mss. (Apocrypha) || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No <br />(Apocrypha) || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No <br />(Apocrypha) || {{Yes}} (Deuterocanonical) || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}<ref group=O name=ebar>The canonical Ethiopic version of Baruch has five chapters, but is shorter than the LXX text.</ref><ref group=O name=ebar6>Some Ethiopic translations of Baruch may include the traditional Letter of Jeremiah as the sixth chapter.</ref>|| {{Yes}} |- | [[Letter of Jeremiah]] || {{No}} || style="background:#FFA6C9; text-align:center;"| No − inc. in some mss as Baruch Chapter 6. (Apocrypha) || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No <br />(Apocrypha) || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No <br />(Apocrypha) || {{Yes}}<br />(chapter 6 of Baruch) (Deuterocanonical) || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}<br />(part of Säqoqawä Eremyas)<ref group=O name=lam6>The "Letter to the Captives" found within Säqoqawä Eremyas—and also known as the sixth chapter of Ethiopic Lamentations—''may'' contain different content from the Letter of Jeremiah (to those same captives) found in other traditions.</ref><ref group=O name=ethlam/><ref group=O name=ebar6/> || {{Yes}} |- | Syriac Apocalypse<br />of Baruch<br />([[2 Baruch]] 1–77)<ref group=O name=Baruch2/> || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No (?) – inc. in some mss. || {{No}} || {{No}} || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No (?) – inc. in some mss. |- | [[Letter of Baruch]]<br />([[2 Baruch]] 78–87)<ref group="O" name="Baruch2">The Letter of Baruch is found in chapters 78–87 of 2 Baruch—the final ten chapters of the book. The letter had a wider circulation and often appeared separately from the first 77 chapters of the book, which is an apocalypse.</ref> || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No (?) – inc. in some mss.<ref name="apoc-in-e-chart">The Apocrypha in Ecumenical Perspective : The Place of the Late Writings of the Old Testament Among the Biblical Writings and their Significance in the Eastern and Western Church Traditions, p. 160</ref> || {{No}} || {{No}} || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No (?) – inc. in some mss.<ref name="apoc-in-e-chart" /> |- | Greek Apocalypse<br />of Baruch<br />([[3 Baruch]])<ref group="O" name="Greeka">Included here for the purpose of disambiguation, 3 Baruch is widely rejected as a pseudepigraphon and is not part of any Biblical tradition. Two manuscripts exist—a longer Greek manuscript with Christian interpolations and a shorter Slavonic version. There is some uncertainty about which was written first.</ref> || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} <br />(Greek ms.) || {{No}} <br />(Slavonic ms.) || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} |- | [[4 Baruch]] || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{Yes}}<br />(part of Säqoqawä Eremyas) || {{No}} |- | [[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]] || {{Yes}}<br />Yekhezqel || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}<br />Ezechiel || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Book of Daniel|Daniel]] || {{Yes}}<br />Daniyyel (part of Ketuvim) || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Additions to Daniel]]<ref group="O" name="Daniel">[[Bel and the Dragon]], [[Susanna (Book of Daniel)|Susanna]], and [[The Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Holy Children]].</ref> || {{No}} || style="background:#FFA6C9; text-align:center;" | No − inc. in some mss. (Apocrypha) || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No <br />(Apocrypha) || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No <br />(Apocrypha) || {{Yes}} (Deuterocanonical) || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | | style="text-align:center;" | ''Trei Asar'' | colspan="12" style="text-align:center;" | ''[[Twelve Minor Prophets]]'' |- | [[Book of Hosea|Hosea]] || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}<br />Osee || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Book of Joel|Joel]] || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Book of Amos|Amos]] || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Book of Obadiah|Obadiah]] || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}<br />Abdias || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Book of Jonah|Jonah]] || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}<br />Jonas || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Book of Micah|Micah]] || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}<br />Micheas || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Book of Nahum|Nahum]] || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Book of Habakkuk|Habakkuk]] || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}<br />Habacuc || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Book of Zephaniah|Zephaniah]] || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}<br />Sophonias || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Book of Haggai|Haggai]] || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}<br />Aggeus || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Book of Zechariah|Zechariah]] || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}<br />Zacharias || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Book of Malachi|Malachi]] || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}<br />Malachias || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |} ===== Old Testament table notes ===== The table uses the spellings and names present in modern editions of the Bible, such as the [[New American Bible Revised Edition]], [[Revised Standard Version]] and [[English Standard Version]]. The spelling and names in both the 1609–1610 [[Douay–Rheims Bible|Douay]] Old Testament (and in the 1582 Rheims New Testament) and the 1749 revision by [[Bishop Challoner]] (the edition currently in print used by many Catholics, and the source of traditional Catholic spellings in English) and in the Septuagint differ from those spellings and names used in modern editions that derive from the Hebrew Masoretic text.<ref>Generally due to derivation from transliterations of names used in the Latin Vulgate in the case of Catholicism, and from transliterations of the Greek Septuagint in the case of the Orthodox (as opposed to derivation of translations, instead of transliterations, of Hebrew titles) such [[Ecclesiasticus]] (DRC) instead of [[Sirach]] (LXX) or [[Ben Sira]] (Hebrew), [[Paralipomenon]] (Greek, meaning "things omitted") instead of [[Books of Chronicles|Chronicles]], Sophonias instead of [[Zephaniah]], Noe instead of [[Noah]], Henoch instead of [[Enoch (ancestor of Noah)|Enoch]], [[Messias]] instead of [[Messiah]], Sion instead of [[Zion]], etc.</ref> The King James Version references some of these books by the traditional spelling when referring to them in the New Testament, such as "Esaias" (for Isaiah). In the spirit of [[ecumenism]] more recent Catholic translations (e.g., the [[New American Bible]], [[Jerusalem Bible]], and ecumenical translations used by Catholics, such as the [[Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition]]) use the same "standardized" (King James Version) spellings and names as Protestant Bibles (e.g., 1 Chronicles, as opposed to the Douay 1 Paralipomenon, 1–2 Samuel and 1–2 Kings, instead of 1–4 Kings) in the [[Protocanonical books|protocanonicals]]. The [[Talmud]] in [[Bava Batra]] 14b gives a different order for the books in ''Nevi'im'' and ''Ketuvim''. This order is also quoted in [[Mishneh Torah]] Hilchot [[Sefer (Hebrew)|Sefer]] [[Torah]] 7:15. The order of the books of the Torah are universal through all denominations of Judaism and Christianity. <references group="O" /> === New Testament === {{Main|Development of the New Testament canon|New Testament apocrypha|Antilegomena}} Other New Testament works that are generally considered apocryphal nonetheless appear in some Bibles and manuscripts. For instance, the [[Epistle to the Laodiceans]] was included in numerous Latin Vulgate manuscripts, in the eighteen German Bibles prior to [[Martin Luther|Luther's]] translation, and also a number of early English Bibles, such as Gundulf's Bible and John Wycliffe's English translation—even as recently as 1728, [[William Whiston]] considered this epistle to be genuinely Pauline. Likewise, the [[Third Epistle to the Corinthians]]<ref group="note">The Third Epistle to the Corinthians can be found as a section within the [[Acts of Paul]], which has survived only in fragments. A translation of the entire remaining Acts of Paul can be accessed online at [http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/actspaul.html Early Christian Writings].</ref> was once considered to be part of the Armenian Orthodox Bible,<ref>{{cite web |last=Saifullah |first=M. S. M. |title=Canons & Recensions of the Armenian Bible |publisher=Islamic Awareness |url=http://www.islamic-awareness.org/Bible/Text/Canon/armenianlist.html |access-date=25 January 2012}}</ref> but is no longer printed in modern editions. Within the Syriac Orthodox tradition, the Third Epistle to the Corinthians also has a history of significance. Both [[Aphrahat]] and [[Ephraem of Syria]] held it in high regard and treated it as if it were canonical.<ref>{{harvp|Metzger|1997|loc=pp. 219, 223; cf. 7, 176, 182}}. Cited in {{cite book |editor-last1=McDonald |editor-first1=L. M. |editor-last2=Sanders |editor-first2=J. A. |year=2002 |last=Epp |first=Eldon Jay |title=The Canon Debate |chapter=Issues in the Interrelation of New Testament Textual Criticism and Canon |publisher=Hendrickson Publishers |page=492 }}</ref> The [[Didache]],<ref group="note">Various translations of the Didache can be accessed online at [http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/didache.html Early Christian Writings].</ref> [[The Shepherd of Hermas]],<ref group="note">A translation of the Shepherd of Hermas can be accessed online at the [http://sacred-texts.com/bib/lbob/lbob26.htm Internet Sacred Texts Archive].</ref> and other writings attributed to the [[Apostolic Fathers]], were once considered scriptural by various early [[Church fathers]]. They are still being honored in some traditions, though they are no longer considered to be canonical. However, certain canonical books within the Orthodox Tewahedo traditions find their origin in the writings of the Apostolic Fathers as well as the [[Ancient Church Orders]]. The Orthodox Tewahedo churches recognize these eight additional New Testament books in its broader canon. They are as follows: the four books of Sinodos, the two books of the Covenant, Ethiopic Clement, and the Ethiopic Didascalia.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Cowley |first=R. W. |year=1974 |title=The Biblical Canon of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church Today |journal=Ostkirchliche Studien |volume=23 |pages=318–323 |url=http://www.islamic-awareness.org/Bible/Text/Canon/ethiopican.html}}</ref> ==== New Testament table ==== {{sticky header}} {| class="wikitable sortable sticky-header" |- ! style="width:124px;"| Books ! style="width:123px;"| Protestant tradition<ref group="N" name="LutherNew">Edmon L. Gallagher and John D. Meade. ''The biblical canon lists from early Christianity: Texts and analysis.'' (Oxford: OUP, 2017), pp.xx-xxii.</ref> ! style="width:123px;"| Roman Catholic tradition<ref name=":0">{{cite web|access-date=29 August 2020|publisher=[[United States Conference of Catholic Bishops]]|title=Books of the Bible|url=https://bible.usccb.org/bible}}</ref> ! style="width:123px;"| Eastern Orthodox tradition<ref group="N" name="GrOrthodox">Edmon L. Gallagher and John D. Meade. ''The biblical canon lists from early Christianity: Texts and analysis.'' (Oxford: OUP, 2017), pp.xx-xxii.</ref> ! style="width:123px;"| Armenian Apostolic tradition<ref group="N" name="Armenian">The growth and development of the Armenian Biblical canon is complex. Extra-canonical New Testament books appear in historical canon lists and recensions that are either distinct to this tradition, or where they do exist elsewhere, never achieved the same status. Some of the books are not listed in this table. These include the Prayer of [[Euthalius]], the Repose of [[St. John the Evangelist]], the [[Doctrine of Addai]] (some sources replace this with the [[Acts of Thaddeus]]), a reading from the [[Gospel of James]] (some sources replace this with the [[Apocryphon of James]]), [[Apostolic Canons|the Second Apostolic Canons]], the Words of [[Joseph Barsabbas|Justus]], [[Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite|Dionysius Aeropagite]], the [[Acts of Peter]] (some sources replace this with the [[Preaching of Peter]]), and a Poem by [[Ghazar Parpetsi|Ghazar]]. (Various sources also mention undefined Armenian canonical additions to the Gospels of Mark and John, however, these may refer to the general additions—Mark 16:9–20 and John 7:53–8:11—discussed elsewhere in these notes.) A possible exception here to canonical exclusivity is the Second Apostolic Canons, which share a common source—the [[Apostolic Constitutions]]—with certain parts of the Orthodox Tewahedo New Testament broader canon. The correspondence between King Agbar and Jesus Christ, which is found in various forms—including within both the Doctrine of Addai and the Acts of Thaddeus—sometimes appears separately. It is noteworthy that the Prayer of Euthalius and the Repose of St. John the Evangelist appear in the appendix of the 1805 Armenian Zohrab Bible. However, some of the aforementioned books, though they are found within canon lists, have nonetheless never been discovered to be part of any Armenian Biblical manuscript. See: Michael E. Stone, "Armenian Canon Lists I—the Council of Partaw (768 CE)." ''Harvard Theological Review'' 66.4 (1973): 479-486; Michael E. Stone, "Armenian Canon Lists II—The Stichometry of Anania of Shirak (c. 615-c. 690 CE.)." Harvard Theological Review 68.3-4 (1975): 253-260. Michael E. Stone, "Armenian Canon Lists III—The Lists of Mechitar of Ayrivankʿ (c. 1285 CE)." ''Harvard Theological Review'' 69.3-4 (1976): 289-300 Michael E. Stone, "Armenian Canon Lists IV—The List of Gregory of Tatʿew (14th Century)." ''Harvard Theological Review'' 72.3-4 (1979): 237-244; Michael E. Stone, "Armenian Canon Lists V—Anonymous Texts." ''Harvard Theological Review'' 83.2 (1990): 141-161; Michael E. Stone, "Armenian Canon Lists VI—Hebrew Names and Other Attestations." ''Harvard Theological Review'' 94.4 (2001): 477-491. Michael E. Stone, "Armenian Canon Lists VII: The Poetic List of Aṙak 'el of Siwnik '(d. 1409)." ''Harvard Theological Review'' 104.3 (2011): 367-379.</ref> ! style="width:123px;"| Coptic Orthodox tradition<ref name="lacopts.org">{{Cite web |title=The Canonization of Scripture {{!}} Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Los Angeles |url=https://www.lacopts.org/orthodoxy/our-faith/the-holy-bible/the-canonization-of-scripture/ |access-date=2022-04-02 |language=en-US}}</ref> ! style="width:123px;"| [[Orthodox Tewahedo]] traditions ! style="width:123px;"| [[Syriac Christianity|Syriac Christian]] traditions<ref group="N" name="Syriac">The Peshitta excludes 2 John, 3 John, 2 Peter, Jude, and Revelation, but certain Bibles of the modern Syriac traditions include later translations of those books. Still today, the official [[lectionary]] followed by the Syriac Orthodox Church and the Assyrian Church of the East, present lessons from only the twenty-two books of Peshitta, the version to which appeal is made for the settlement of doctrinal questions.</ref> |- | colspan="8" style="text-align:center;"| ''[[Canonical gospels]]''<ref group="N" name="infancy">Though widely regarded as non-canonical, the Gospel of James obtained early liturgical acceptance among some Eastern churches and remains a major source for many of Christendom's traditions related to [[Mary, the mother of Jesus]].</ref> |- | [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]] || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}<ref group=N name=Tatian>The [[Diatessaron]], [[Tatian]]'s [[gospel harmony]], became a standard text in some Syriac-speaking churches down to the 5th century, when it gave-way to the four separate gospels found in the Peshitta.</ref> |- | [[Gospel of Mark|Mark]]<ref group="N" name="Addition">Parts of these four books are not found in the most reliable ancient sources; in some cases, are thought to be later additions; and have therefore not historically existed in every Biblical tradition. They are as follows: [[Mark 16|Mark 16:9–20]], [[Jesus and the woman taken in adultery|John 7:53–8:11]], the [[Comma Johanneum]], and portions of the [[Acts of the Apostles#Manuscripts|Western version of Acts]]. To varying degrees, arguments for the authenticity of these passages—especially for the one from the Gospel of John—have occasionally been made.</ref>|| {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}<ref group=N name=Tatian/> |- | [[Gospel of Luke|Luke]] || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}<ref group=N name=Tatian/> |- | [[Gospel of John|John]]<ref group=N name=Addition/><ref group="N" name="Goth">[[Skeireins]], a commentary on the Gospel of John in the [[Gothic language]], was included in the [[Wulfila Bible]]. It exists today only in fragments.</ref>|| {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}<ref group=N name=Tatian/> |- | colspan="8" style="text-align:center;"| ''[[Acts of the Apostles (genre)|Acts of apostles]]'' |- | [[Acts of the Apostles|Acts]]<ref group=N name=Addition/> || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Acts of Paul and Thecla]]<ref group="N" name="AoP">The Acts of Paul and Thecla and the Third Epistle to the Corinthians are portions of the greater [[Acts of Paul]] narrative, which is part of a stichometric catalogue of New Testament canon found in the [[Codex Claromontanus]], but has survived only in fragments. Some of the content within these individual sections may have developed separately, however.</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Burris |first1=Catherine |last2=van Rompay |first2=Lucas |year=2002 |title=Thecla in Syriac Christianity: Preliminary Observations |journal=Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=225–236 |doi=10.31826/9781463214104-012 |url=http://www.bethmardutho.org/index.php/hugoye/volume-index/143.html |access-date=21 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160701092506/http://www.bethmardutho.org/index.php/hugoye/volume-index/143.html |archive-date=1 July 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Carter |first=Nancy A. |year=2000 |title=The Acts of Thecla: A Pauline Tradition Linked to Women |url=https://gbgm-umc.org/umw/corinthians/theclabackground.stm |publisher=Conflict and Community in the Christian Church |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120213054326/http://gbgm-umc.org/umw/corinthians/theclabackground.stm |archive-date=13 February 2012}}</ref>|| {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || style="background:#FFA6C9; text-align:center;"| No<br />(early tradition) || {{No}} || {{No}} || style="background:#FFA6C9; text-align:center;"| No<br />(early tradition) |- | colspan="8" style="text-align:center;"|''[[Pauline epistles]]'' |- | [[Epistle to the Romans|Romans]] || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[First Epistle to the Corinthians|1 Corinthians]] || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Second Epistle to the Corinthians|2 Corinthians]] || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Third Epistle to the Corinthians|3 Corinthians]]<ref group=N name=AoP/><ref group="N" name="Corinthians">The Third Epistle to the Corinthians always appears as a correspondence; it also includes a short letter from the Corinthians to Paul.</ref>|| {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| No − inc. in some mss. || {{No}} || {{No}} || style="background:#FFA6C9; text-align:center;"| No<br />(early tradition) |- | [[Epistle to the Galatians|Galatians]] || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Epistle to the Ephesians|Ephesians]] || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Epistle to the Philippians|Philippians]] || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Epistle to the Colossians|Colossians]] || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Epistle to the Laodiceans|Laodiceans]] || style="background:#FFA6C9; text-align:center;"| No − inc. in Wycliffe and Quaker Bibles.<ref group="N" name="Laodiceans">The Epistle to the Laodiceans is present in some western non-Roman Catholic translations and traditions. Especially of note is [[John Wycliffe]]'s inclusion of the epistle in his English translation, and the [[Quakers]]' use of it to the point where they produced a translation and made pleas for its canonicity ([https://books.google.com/books?id=uN0XAQAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false Poole's ''Annotations'', on Col. 4:16]). The epistle is nonetheless widely rejected by the vast majority of Protestants.</ref>|| style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;" | No − inc. in some mss. || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} |- | [[First Epistle to the Thessalonians|1 Thessalonians]] || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Second Epistle to the Thessalonians|2 Thessalonians]] || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[First Epistle to Timothy|1 Timothy]] || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Second Epistle to Timothy|2 Timothy]] || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Epistle to Titus|Titus]] || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Epistle to Philemon|Philemon]] || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | colspan="8" style="text-align:center;"|''[[Catholic epistles]] ([[General epistles]])'' |- | [[Epistle to the Hebrews|Hebrews]] || style="background:#1CAC78; text-align:center;"| Yes<ref group="N" name="Luther">These four works were questioned or "[[Antilegomena|spoken against]]" by [[Martin Luther]], and he changed the order of [[Luther Bible|his New Testament]] to reflect this, but he did not leave them out, nor has any [[Lutheranism|Lutheran]] body since. Traditional German Luther Bibles are still printed with the New Testament in this changed "Lutheran" order. The vast majority of Protestants embrace these four works as fully canonical.</ref>|| {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Epistle of James|James]] || style="background:#1CAC78; text-align:center;"| Yes<ref group=N name=Luther/> || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[First Epistle of Peter|1 Peter]] || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Second Epistle of Peter|2 Peter]] || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || style="background:#1CAC78; text-align:center;"| Yes<ref group="N" name="Syriac"/> |- | [[First Epistle of John|1 John]]<ref group=N name=Addition/> || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |- | [[Second Epistle of John|2 John]] || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || style="background:#1CAC78; text-align:center;"| Yes<ref group=N name=Syriac/> |- | [[Third Epistle of John|3 John]] || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || style="background:#1CAC78; text-align:center;"| Yes<ref group=N name=Syriac/> |- | [[Epistle of Jude|Jude]] || style="background:#1CAC78; text-align:center;"| Yes<ref group=N name=Luther/> || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || style="background:#1CAC78; text-align:center;"| Yes<ref group=N name=Syriac/> |- | colspan="8" style="text-align:center;"| ''[[Apocalypse]]''<ref group="N" name="ApocPeter">The [[Apocalypse of Peter]], though not listed in this table, is mentioned in the [[Muratorian fragment]] and is part of a stichometric catalogue of New Testament canon found in the Codex Claromontanus. It was also held in high regard by [[Clement of Alexandria]].</ref> |- | [[Book of Revelation|Revelation]] || style="background:#1CAC78; text-align:center;"| Yes<ref group=N name=Luther/> || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || style="background:#1CAC78; text-align:center;"| Yes<ref group=N name=Syriac/> |- | colspan="8" style="text-align:center;"| ''[[Apostolic Fathers]]<ref group="N" name="Fathers">Other known writings of the Apostolic Fathers not listed in this table are as follows: the seven [[Epistles of Ignatius]], the [[Epistle of Polycarp]], the [[Martyrdom of Polycarp]], the [[Epistle to Diognetus]], the fragment of [[Quadratus of Athens]], the fragments of [[Papias of Hierapolis]], the Reliques of the Elders Preserved in [[Irenaeus]], and the [[Apostles' Creed]].</ref> and [[Ancient Church Orders|Church Orders]]''<ref group="N" name="Apostloic">Though they are not listed in this table, the [[Apostolic Constitutions]] were considered canonical by some including [[Alexius Aristenus]], [[John of Salisbury]], and to a lesser extent, [[Grigor Tatevatsi|Grigor Tat'evatsi]]. They are even classified as part of the New Testament canon within the body of the Constitutions itself. Moreover, they are the source for a great deal of the content in the Orthodox Tewahedo broader canon.</ref> |- | [[1 Clement]]<ref group="N" name="ApFa">These five writings attributed to the Apostolic Fathers are not currently considered canonical in any Biblical tradition, though they are more highly regarded by some more than others. Nonetheless, their early authorship and inclusion in ancient Biblical codices, as well as their acceptance to varying degrees by various early authorities, requires them to be treated as foundational literature for Christianity as a whole.</ref><ref name="lacopts.org"/>|| colspan="7" style="background:#FFA6C9; text-align:center;" | No<br>(Codices [[Codex Alexandrinus|Alexandrinus]] and [[Codex Hierosolymitanus|Hierosolymitanus]]) |- | [[2 Clement]]<ref group=N name=ApFa/><ref name="lacopts.org"/> || colspan="7" style="background:#FFA6C9; text-align:center;"| No<br>(Codices Alexandrinus and Hierosolymitanus) |- | [[Shepherd of Hermas]]<ref group=N name=ApFa/> || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || style="background:#40E0D0; text-align:center;"| No<br />(early tradition)<ref name=":EthHermas">Adrian Hastings, ''The Church in Africa, 1450-1950.'' Clarendon Press, 1995.</ref> || {{No}}<br />([[Codex Siniaticus]]) |- | [[Epistle of Barnabas]]<ref group=N name=ApFa/> || colspan="7" style="background:#FFA6C9; text-align:center;"| No<br />(Codices Hierosolymitanus and Siniaticus) |- | [[Didache]]<ref group=N name=ApFa/> || colspan="7" style="background:#FFA6C9; text-align:center;"| No<br />(Codex Hierosolymitanus) |- | [[Ethiopian Biblical canon#Sinodos|Ser'atä Seyon]]<br />(Sinodos) || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || style="background:#40E0D0; text-align:center;"| Yes<br />(broader canon) || {{No}} |- | [[Ethiopian Biblical canon#Sinodos|Te'ezaz]]<br />(Sinodos) || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || style="background:#40E0D0; text-align:center;"| Yes<br />(broader canon) || {{No}} |- | [[Ethiopian Biblical canon#Sinodos|Gessew]]<br />(Sinodos) || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || style="background:#40E0D0; text-align:center;"| Yes<br />(broader canon) || {{No}} |- | [[Ethiopian Biblical canon#Sinodos|Abtelis]]<br />(Sinodos) || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || style="background:#40E0D0; text-align:center;"| Yes<br />(broader canon) || {{No}} |- | [[Ethiopian Biblical canon#The Book of the Covenant|Book of the<br />Covenant 1]]<br />(Mäshafä Kidan) || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || style="background:#40E0D0; text-align:center;"| Yes<br />(broader canon) || {{No}} |- | [[Ethiopian Biblical canon#The Book of the Covenant|Book of the<br />Covenant 2]]<br />(Mäshafä Kidan) || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || style="background:#40E0D0; text-align:center;"| Yes<br />(broader canon) || {{No}} |- | [[Ethiopian Biblical canon#Ethiopic Clement|Ethiopic Clement]]<br />(Qälëmentos)<ref group="N" name="Ethiopic">Ethiopic Clement and the Ethiopic Didascalia are distinct from and should not be confused with other ecclesiastical documents known in the west by similar names.</ref>|| {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || style="background:#40E0D0; text-align:center;"| Yes<br />(broader canon) || {{No}} |- | [[Ethiopian Biblical canon#Ethiopic Didascalia|Ethiopic Didescalia]]<br />(Didesqelya)<ref group=N name=Ethiopic/> || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || style="background:#40E0D0; text-align:center;"| Yes<br />(broader canon) || {{No}} |- | [[Kebra Nagast]] || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || style="background:#40E0D0; text-align:center;"| Yes<br />(broader canon) || {{No}} |} ===== New Testament table notes ===== <references group="N" /> ==See also== {{Portal|Religion}} * [[Canon (fiction)]] * [[List of religious texts]] * '''Related to the Bible''' ** [[Biblical criticism]] ** [[Canonical criticism]] ** [[Jewish apocrypha]] ** [[List of Old Testament pseudepigrapha]] ** Non-canonical gospels include: *** [[Gospel of Barnabas]] *** [[Gospel of Bartholomew]] *** [[Gospel of Basilides]] *** [[Gospel of Thomas]] *** [[List of Gospels]] ** [[New Testament apocrypha]] ** [[Pseudepigrapha]] ** [[Non-canonical books referenced in the Bible]] * '''Canons of other religions''' ** [[Islamic holy books]] ** [[Canonization of Islamic scripture]] ** [[Avesta]] or Zoroastrian scriptures ** [[Yazidism#Yazidi sacred texts|Yazidi holy texts]] ** [[Hindu scriptures]] ** [[Sikh scriptures]] or Adi Granth aka Guru Granth Sahib ** [[Tripiṭaka]] or Buddhist canon *** [[Pāli Canon]] *** [[Mahayana Canon (disambiguation)|Mahayana Canon]]s ** [[Chinese classics]] ** [[Thirteen Classics]] or Confucian canon *** [[Ruzang]] ** [[Daozang]] or Taoist canon ==Notes== {{Reflist|group=note|2}} ==References== ===Notes=== {{notelist}} ===Citations=== {{reflist}} {{reflist|group=O}} ===Bibliography=== * {{cite book |last=Beckwith |first=R. T. |year=1986 |title=The Old Testament Canon of the New Testament Church and Its Background in Early Judaism |publisher=Eerdmans Publishing Company |isbn=978-0-8028-3617-5}} * {{cite book |last=Davis |first=L. D. |year=1983 |title=The First Seven Ecumenical Councils (325-787): Their History and Theology |publisher=Liturgical Press |isbn=978-0-8146-5616-7 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/firstsevenec_davi_1990_000_6702418 }} * {{cite book |last=Ferguson |first=Everett |title=Encyclopedia of Early Christianity}} * {{cite book |last=Fox |first=Robin Lane |title=The Unauthorized Version: Truth and Fiction in the Bible |publisher=Penguin Books |year=1992}} * {{cite book |last=Gamble |first=Harry Y. |author-link=Harry Y. Gamble|year=2002 |title=The New Testament Canon: Its Making and Meaning |publisher=Wipf & Stock Publishers |isbn=1-57910-909-8}} * {{cite book |last=Jurgens |first=W. A. |title=Faith of the Early Fathers|year=1970 |place=Collegeville, Minn. |publisher=Liturgical Press |url=https://archive.org/details/faithofearlyfath00jurg |url-access=registration }} * {{cite book |editor1=Lightfoot, Joseph |editor2=Harmer, John |editor3=Holmes, Michael |year=1992 |title=The Apostolic Fathers |publisher=Barker Book House |isbn=978-0-8010-5676-5}} * {{cite book |last1= McDonald |first1= L. M. |last2= Sanders |first2= J. A. |year= 2002 |title= The Canon Debate |chapter= Introduction |publisher= Hendrickson Publishers }} * {{cite book |title=The Canon of the New Testament: Its Origin, Development, and Significance |first=Bruce M. |last=Metzger |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=13 March 1997 |isbn=0-19-826954-4 }} * {{cite book |last=Nersessian |first=V. |chapter=The Armenian Canon of the New Testament |title=The Bible in the Armenian Tradition |location=Los Angeles, CA |publisher=J. Paul Getty Museum |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-89236-640-8 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7tSkalMzNvkC&pg=PA29 }} * {{cite journal |last1=Rüger |first1=Hans Peter |title=The Extent of the Old Testament Canon1 |journal=The Bible Translator |date=July 1989 |volume=40 |issue=3 |pages=301–308 |doi=10.1177/026009358904000301 |s2cid=164995721}} * {{cite book |last=Sundberg |first=Albert |title=The Old Testament of the Early Church |publisher=Harvard Press |year=1964}} ==Further reading== * Armstrong, Karen (2007) ''The Bible: A Biography''. Books that Changed the World Series. Atlantic Monthly Press. {{ISBN|0-87113-969-3}} * Barnstone, Willis (ed.) (1984). ''The Other Bible: Ancient Alternative Scriptures''. HarperCollins. {{ISBN|978-0-7394-8434-0}}. * [[Brevard Childs|Childs, Brevard S.]] (1984). ''The New Testament as Canon: An Introduction''. SCM Press. {{ISBN|0-334-02212-6}}. *{{Cite book|last1=Gallagher|first1=Edmon L.|author-link1=Edmon L. Gallagher|url=|title=The biblical canon lists from early Christianity: texts and analysis|last2=Meade|first2=John D.|date=2017|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=978-0-19-879249-9|edition=|location=Oxford, United Kingdom|oclc=987346634}} * Schneemelcher Wilhelm (ed). Hennecke Edgard, ''New Testament Apocrypha'', 2 vol. Original title: ''Neutestamentliche Apokryphen'' * McDonald, Lee Martin (2009). ''Forgotten Scriptures. The Selection and Rejection of Early Religious Writings''. Westminster John Knox Press. {{ISBN|978-0-664-23357-0}}. * McDonald, Lee Martin (2000). ''Early Christianity and Its Sacred Literature''. Hendrickson Publishers. {{ISBN|1-56563-266-4}}. * McDonald, Lee Martin (2007). ''The Biblical Canon: Its Origin, Transmission, and Authority''. 3rd ed. Hendrickson Publishers. {{ISBN|978-1-56563-925-6}}. * {{Cite book |editor-last1=Pentiuc |editor-first1=Eugen J. |editor-link=Eugen J. Pentiuc |title=The Oxford Handbook of the Bible in Orthodox Christianity |date=2022 |url=https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190948658.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780190948658 |language=en |isbn=978-0-19-094868-9 |publisher=Oxford University Press }} * [[Alexander Souter|Souter, Alexander]] (1954). ''The Text and Canon of the New Testament''. 2nd ed. Studies in Theology, No. 25. London: Duckworth. * Stonehouse, Ned Bernhard (1929). ''The Apocalypse in the Ancient Church: A Study in the History of the New Testament Canon''. Oosterbaan & Le Cointre. * Taussig, Hal (2013). ''A New New Testament: A Bible for the 21st Century Combining Traditional and Newly Discovered Texts''. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. * Wall, Robert W.; Lemcio, Eugene E. (1992). ''The New Testament as Canon: A Reader in Canonical Criticism''. JSOT Press. {{ISBN|1-85075-374-1}}. * Westcott, Brooke Foss. (1875). ''A General Survey of the History of the Canon of the New Testament''. 4th ed. London: Macmillan. ==External links== * {{Commons category-inline|Biblical canon}} * [http://www.bible-researcher.com/canon.html The Canon of Scripture] – contains multiple links and articles * [http://www.crosswire.org/wiki/OSIS_Book_Abbreviations Cross Wire Bible Society] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305131428/https://crosswire.org/wiki/OSIS_Book_Abbreviations |date=5 March 2016 }} * [https://reading-rooms.tyndale.ca/old-testament/ Old Testament Reading Room] and [https://reading-rooms.tyndale.ca/new-testament/ New Testament Reading Room] – Online resources referenced by Tyndale Seminary * [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03274a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia: Canon of the New Testament] * [http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=1025&letter=B Jewish Encyclopedia: Bible Canon] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20040611134128/http://www.tau.ac.il/humanities/bible/Pdf/books%20of%20the%20bible.htm Table of Tanakh Books] – includes Latin, English, Hebrew and abbreviated names (from [[Tel Aviv University]]). * [https://web.archive.org/web/20080513222152/http://www.sain.org/Armenian.Church/Bible.txt ''The Bible in the Armenian Church''] (an essay, with full official canon at the end) * H. Schumacher, [https://archive.org/stream/handbookofscript01schuuoft#page/n105/mode/2up ''The Canon of the New Testament''] (London 1923), pp. 84–94. * {{citation |url=http://oyc.yale.edu/religious-studies/introduction-to-new-testament |title=Introduction to New Testament History and Literature" course materials |others=Open Yale course |publisher=Yale University |author=Dale B. Martin |access-date=2016-01-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100815203224/http://oyc.yale.edu/religious-studies/introduction-to-new-testament |archive-date=2010-08-15 |url-status=dead }} * [https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20080102012808/http://www.wels.net/cgi-bin/site.pl?1518&cuTopic_topicID=939&cuItem_itemID=13407 ''WELS Topical Q&A'': Canon – 66 Books in the Bible], by [[Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod]] ([[Confessional Lutheran]] perspective) {{The Bible}} {{Biblical canon}} {{Books of the Bible}} {{History of the Catholic Church}} {{Christianity footer}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Biblical Canon}} [[Category:Bible|Canon]] [[Category:Christian terminology]] [[Category:Development of the Christian biblical canon]] Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. 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