The origins and formation of the canon go back in history to a period of dramatic implications in which many Christian groups struggled to overcome its rivals by imposing their teachings and beliefs over the others. People nowadays simply ignore the fact that many were the Christian groups and claims relevant to the New Testament. Personally speaking, I believed from the very beginning Christianity and the canon itself had been limited since its early days, although I knew the New Testament had been written over many centuries. However, after reading this chapter it is quite interesting how the main four groups of early Christianity provided certain common-ground thoughts that eventually transformed all twenty seven books into what we know today. Jewish- Christian Adoptionists, who believed “ Jesus in fact was adopted at his baptism”[1], Marcionite Christians, Gnostic Christians, who “ were located in major urban areas throughout much of the Mediterranean” [2], and Proto – Orthodox Christians were all significant and to a certain extent tools that partook in the evolution of the canon. It would be certainly thought-provoking to find out more about the books not present in the canon and to know more in-depth about the historical implications that also provided a suitable ground for the development of Christianity, hence the formation of the canon.
1. B. D. Ehrman, The New Testament (3; New York; Oxford; 2004), 3.
2. B. D. Ehrman, The New Testament (3; New York; Oxford; 2004), 5.
Ehrman, Bart D. The New Testament. Third Edition. New York: Oxford, 2004.
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