Monday, April 28, 2008

Scoring the books of the canon: the Muratorian Canon fragment

This post builds on the previous ones outlining a system for evaluating early Christian writings and an initial evaluation of the canon lists I will be reviewing. This post continues with a review of the Muratorian Canon fragment. The most likely date for the Muratorian Canon fragment is in the late 100's A.D., placing it in the 100-199 A.D. range for the purposes of this evaluation system and giving a weight of 3.0 to the list as seen in the calculations of the right column of the table.
Early Christian writingClassification in current listRaw scoreList weighted score
MatthewAccepted without reservation*55 x 3.00 = 15.00
MarkAccepted without reservation*55 x 3.00 = 15.00
LukeAccepted without reservation55 x 3.00 = 15.00
JohnAccepted without reservation55 x 3.00 = 15.00
ActsAccepted without reservation55 x 3.00 = 15.00
RomansAccepted without reservation55 x 3.00 = 15.00
1 CorinthiansAccepted without reservation55 x 3.00 = 15.00
2 CorinthiansAccepted without reservation55 x 3.00 = 15.00
GalatiansAccepted without reservation55 x 3.00 = 15.00
EphesiansAccepted without reservation55 x 3.00 = 15.00
PhilippiansAccepted without reservation55 x 3.00 = 15.00
ColossiansAccepted without reservation55 x 3.00 = 15.00
1 ThessaloniansAccepted without reservation55 x 3.00 = 15.00
2 ThessaloniansAccepted without reservation55 x 3.00 = 15.00
1 TimothyAccepted without reservation55 x 3.00 = 15.00
2 TimothyAccepted without reservation55 x 3.00 = 15.00
TitusAccepted without reservation55 x 3.00 = 15.00
PhilemonAccepted without reservation55 x 3.00 = 15.00
HebrewsNot mentioned00 x 3.00 = 0.00
JamesNot mentioned00 x 3.00 = 0.00
1 PeterNot mentioned00 x 3.00 = 0.00
2 PeterNot mentioned00 x 3.00 = 0.00
JudeAccepted without reservation55 x 3.00 = 15.00
1 JohnAccepted without reservation55 x 3.00 = 15.00
2 JohnAccepted without reservation55 x 3.00 = 15.00
3 JohnNot mentioned00 x 3.00 = 0.00
RevelationAccepted without reservation55 x 3.00 = 15.00
Acts of PaulNot mentioned00 x 3.00 = 0.00
Acts of PeterNot mentioned00 x 3.00 = 0.00
Apocalpyse of PeterAccepted with reservations11 x 3.00 = 3.00
Epistle of BarnabasNot mentioned00 x 3.00 = 0.00
Letter to the AlexandrinesRejected without reservations-5-5 x 3.00 = -15.00
Letter to the Laodiceans*Rejected without reservations-5-5 x 3.00 = -15.00
Shepherd of HermasSuitable reading but not authoritative00 x 3.00 = 0.00
Teachings of the ApostlesNot mentioned00 x 3.00 = 0.00

* Matthew / Mark: Probable; the list is fragmentary. While the beginning of the list is missing, the book of Luke is listed as "the third book of the gospel". Other lists from the same century naming the four gospels typically list them in the order Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, so it is a reasonable supposition that if the third was Luke, the first two were Matthew and Mark. If anyone considered that to be in doubt, it would be possible to adjust the score accordingly.



Note on the list of books: the list here contains all of the books named on any of the five canon lists I am reviewing in this series, regardless of whether the mention is positive or negative. The order of the books is for the convenience of the reader: since the books are listed in different orders on the various lists, the books are listed here in common canonical order for the canonical books, followed by an alphabetical listing of the non-canonical books mentioned.

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