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 Athanasius (296-373) was born in Alexandria and trained there as a theologian. In 325, he accompanied his bishop to Nicea, and distinguished himself at the Church Council by refuting Arianism. Three years later he became the bishop of Alexandria. He was banished five times throughout his life because of his opposition to Arianism, but he did more than anyone to bring about the triumph of the orthodox Nicene faith over the Arian heresy.
When he wrote his letter in 367, it was not to decree which books of the New Testament were divinely inspired, but to document the books that the churches had already agreed upon as apostolic and authoritative.
After his letter, two church councils, the Synod of Hippo (393) and the Synod of Carthage (397), confirmed the twenty-seven books that compose our New Testament.
“When the Synod of Hippo listed the twenty-seven books of the New Testament, it did not confer upon then any authority which they did not already possess, but simply recorded their previously established canonicity.” (F.F. Bruce, The Books and the Parchments, p. 113)
The final form of the New Testament Canon developed gradually as the result of 350 years of prayer and research. The following are some of the many forces that contributed to its final form.
There was a need for an authoritative voice to sound the message of the apostles who were all dead by the end of the first century. Oral tradition would continue to deteriorate over the years, and they needed a written canon for accurate instruction.
There was a need to know which books were authoritative for doctrine, and which were merely edifying. For example, what should be done with Clement’s letter to the Corinthians, written in 95 AD? A number of the churches reasoned that since Clement was a disciple of Paul (Philippians 4:3), the letter should be authoritative. However, in the end, Clement’s letter was considered merely edifying and not canonical.
There was a need for a true canon to answer the false ones developing. For example, around the middle of the second century, the arch-heretic Marcion taught that there were two gods, the stern god of the Old Testament, and the merciful God of the New Testament. He rejected the Old Testament entirely, keeping only ten of Paul’s letters and a heavily edited Luke and Acts. There was also a proliferation of spurious writings claiming to be inspired – especially the Gnostics documents of the second and third century.
There was a need to establish finality in revelation. The Gnostics and Montanists propagated ideas of continuing revelation and new messages coming from God.
And finally, there was a need to decide which books to die for. In 303, the emperor Diocletian issued an edict to uproot Christianity by burning Bibles and destroying churches. Christians caught with the sacred books could be killed. Therefore, it was important to know if your copy of Clement’s letter (fro example) was divinely inspired or merely edifying. Your life was dependent upon it.
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