Original Language: Greek

Testament(s): Old

This work was written by Josephus, a Jewish aristocrat, as a response to critical writings of Israel by an Egyptian named Apion. Josephus set to address Apion’s claims by demonstrating how the Jewish religion and philosophy was greater in antiquity than Greek tradition. He argues that the Jews have a concise list of 22 books, compared to the thousands of books the Greeks use. In doing this, he provides evidence of a Jewish canon at the time, useful for the Christian in determining the canon of the Old Testament.

Original Language: Semitic & Greek

Testament(s): Old

This canon list was discovered within a manuscript that also contained the Didache, 1 & 2 Clement and Letters of Ignatius of Antioch.

Original Language: Latin, believed to be translated originally from Greek

Testament(s): New Testament + Single OT Reference

This is a Latin document from the 7th or 8th century, believed to be translated from Greek originating in the late 2nd century. The beginning of the document is missing, and it ends brusquely. This is one of the most significant and well-known canon lists due to it's antiquity.

Original Language: Greek

Testament(s): Old

This list of the Old Testament books was originally denoted by Melito of Sardis but recorded in Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History. Melito was a bishop in Sardis and was writing a collection which is now lost that has to do with messianic prophecies – this Old Testament list was originally in that work and republished by Eusebius.

Original Language: Greek

Testament(s): Both

Various comments on canonical books were given by Origen in his commentaries on Psalm 1, Matthew 1, John 5 and Joshua. These were lost yet Eusebius has recorded them in his Ecclesiastical History. However, we don’t know if the Old Testament list was just a list of him describing the Hebrew canon, or whether he was prescribing the list as the church’s Old Testament. Origen was so thorough in his theological work that he was nicknamed “Adamantios” meaning “man of steel”, and Jerome even said of him, “Who could ever read as much as he has written!”

Original Language: Greek

Testament(s): Both

This is possibly the oldest extant copy of what was intended to be a full bible. It is made from vellum, a high-quality parchment, and resides at the Vatican Library. It has substantial textual differences from the Textus Receptus, which was a later Greek text of the New Testament. Westcott & Hort relied significantly on this codex when producing The New Testament in Original Greek in 1881. The Codex Vaticanus is an example of an early Greek manuscript that does not contain certain new testament passages, such as Pericope Adulterae: the woman caught in adultery in John 8.

Original Language: Latin

Testament(s): Both

This was a Greek and Latin Codex of the Pauline Epistles which has a Latin list of books inserted between Hebrews and Philemon. The list of books was not the same scribe who copied out the actual epistles and it is believed that the list was an earlier work than the rest of the codex. (Although this list was contained within a codex, it is the list that is denoted here, not the full texts found within the codex).

Original Language: Greek

Testament(s): New

Eusebius was a major church historian – perhaps the most significant one of the early church – as well as a bishop of Caesarea Maritima. His collections preserve earlier church fathers’ writings including canon lists. He gives a list of “the writings of the New Testament” in his work Ecclesiastical History, Book 3, Chapter 25.

Original Language: Greek

Testament(s): Both

Next to the Codex Vaticanus, this is one of the oldest extant Greek full bible manuscript. Due to it’s age and lack of preservation, it contains only fragments of most of the Torah. Although damaged, most scholars believe it to have contained the entire Old Testament (Septuagint), but what is listed here is what is still preserved in the codex.

Original Language: Greek

Testament(s): Both

Cyril of Jerusalem was a bishop and doctrinal heavyweight, having had his position taken from him by a synod due to his Christological position which was controversial at the time. This list was pulled out of his Catechetical Lectures from 350 AD, part of his collection of instructional writings.

Original Language: Latin

Testament(s): Old

Hilary was a bishop of Poitiers in Gaul for a brief time but was exiled by Arians to Phrygia due to his Christology, which was in agreement with the Nicene Creed. In one of his commentaries on the Psalms he included a canonical list of the Old Testament.

Original Language: Latin

Testament(s): Both

This list was discovered by a scholar in 1886 at the end of a 10th century text known as Liber generationis (The Book of Generation), which was a manual for Bible study. This list of books given at the end is believed to be dated around 360-365.

Original Language: Greek

Testament(s): Both

This council was a synod of about 30 church leaders where they determined 60 "canons" which were essentially rules to follow, including, to establish the Lord’s Day as Sunday and to specifically work on Saturday in direct opposition to “judaizing” which promoted rest on Saturday. Canon 59 said that no private psalms or uncanonical books were to be read in church, and Canon 60 was the one that listed the approved Biblical canon; however it is missing from some manuscripts, so it was either omitted in some on purpose, or added afterwards.

Original Language: Greek

Testament(s): Both

Every year preceding Easter, the bishop of Alexandria would write a Festal Letter which announced what date Easter would fall on. The 39th Festal Letter is the most notable of these as within it Athanasius provided a canon list including both the Old and New Testament. This list is particularly significant among the lists as it is the first time that the final New Testament canon appears in its current form. Many modern teachers erroneously refer to this date as the time where the canon was settled; however, this is incorrect as subsequent lists continue to differ, not to mention the Old Testament. Athanasius was one of the 4th century’s greatest theologians, and he adds to this letter: “Let no one add to these. Let nothing be taken away.”

Original Language: Greek

Testament(s): Both

The document is pseudepigraphal and purports to be from the Apostles. It is useful to show what Syrian churches from the 4th century accepted. It references the feast of Christmas and also has a different pneumatology from the Council of Constantinople, which confidently places it between 375 - 380 AD.

Original Language: Greek

Testament(s): Both

Bishop Gregory served as Bishop of Sasima first then Constantinople for a short time. He was a defender of the orthodox faith and made theological contributions to the doctrine of the Trinity as well as Christology. He was a poet, with about 19,000 of his lines of poetry extant today. He gave a canon list in the form of a poem, and stated that any “beyond this” were not genuine; however, he has quoted many deuterocanonical books in his writings such as Wisdom, Sirach, 2 Maccabees and allusions to many others.

Original Language: Greek

Testament(s): Both

This was a poem written by Amphilochius, who served as Bishop of Iconium (Galatia) from 373-394. Amphilochius was a cousin of Bishop Gregory of Nazianzus, who is actually the one who preserved this poem in his writings where it was attributed to Amphilochius. The poem, called Iambi ad Seleucum, discusses a godly lifestyle, devotion, studying scripture, doctrinal topics such as the Trinity as well as a list of scriptural books.

Original Language: Greek

Testament(s): Both

This was a writing by Epiphanius, bishop of Salamis, which was written as an attack against certain heretical factions within the faith. Epiphanius was an extremely well-educated scholar who had deep knowledge of ancient languages - even Jerome referred to him as pentaglōssos: a five-tongued man.

Original Language: Latin

Testament(s): Both

This council was believed to be called by Augustine and was convened in the city of Hippo in Northern Africa. The council was not primarily to decide biblical canon but it was one of the items on the agenda along with topics such as the ordination process and status of clergy as well as other matters dealing with the liturgy.  The summary of what was decided, called the Brevarium Hipponense, was accepted and reaffirmed at subsequent councils.

Original Language: Greek

Testament(s): Both

This list is a combination of in Jerome’s two lists Prologus Galeatus and Epistle 53.  Jerome was one of the greatest scholars in the Christian West in the 4th and 5th centuries. He was responsible for most of the Vulgate translation (the bible in Latin) which would then go on to be the primary language of the scriptures in the West for the next millennium.  Jerome advocated for reliance on the original languages for doctrinal development (more specifically applicable to the Old Testament), pushing for the Old Testament to reflect the Hebrew Bible and demoting the deuterocanonicals to a secondary status. His works are currently one of the strongest arguments in favour of a narrower Protestant Old Testament canon from the early church.

Original Language: Latin

Testament(s): Both

Augustine, who is one of the most recognized theologians of early Christianity, wrote a handbook on interpreting and teaching from the bible called On Christian Doctrine (Latin De Doctrina Christiana). In this book he outlines the biblical canon.

Original Language: Latin

Testament(s): Both

Innocent I (or Pope Innocent I as recognized by Catholics) was the Bishop of Rome at the beginning of the 5th century. He was known for his endeavour to adjudicate theological differences in the church, specifically between the Eastern and Western church. This list was given in a letter to a fellow bishop, Exsuperius of Toulouse, and is particularly significant as it is the first time that full biblical canon list is given that is consistent with the canon ratified at the Council of Trent (1546), and being that Innocent I was the bishop of Rome, it is all the more significant for Roman Catholic Christians.

Original Language: Greek

Testament(s): Both

Similarly to the other great codices, it has sustained a significant amount of loss, but less than the Codex Sinaiticus as it still contains almost the entire Old Testament (Septuagint). This codex is named Alexandrinus as its origins can be traced back as far as Alexandria, Egypt, and is written on vellum.

Original Language: Latin

Testament(s): Both

This document was written by an anonymous scholar sometime between the year 519 - 550 AD. Although its anonymity precludes it from having a high degree of authority, it is still highly useful as evidence of what was accepted as the canon of the Roman Church.

Original Language: German

Testament(s): Both

As a product of the Protestant Reformation, the Luther Bible was translated from the Greek Textus Receptus, Latin Vulgate, Greek Septuagint and Hebrew Masoretic Texts into the German language. Luther took the liberty to criticize the inclusion of many of the books previously held as canonical and separated the Old Testament Deuterocanon as well as disputed books (Luther's Antilegomena) from the New Testament.

Original Language: Latin

Testament(s): Both

The Council of Trent's fourth session which occurred on April 4th, 1546, issued a decree known as De Canonicis Scripturis which affirmed the Deuterocanonical books as on-par with the other canonical books. It was an ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church in response to the Protestant Reformation to clarify doctrinal statements and heresies.