Canonization of the New Testament Anonymous College

The New Testament canon is the collection of different books by different authors that were compiled together to create a larger, singular text. Today, the New Testament serves as a justification to the existence of Christianity and a reference on how to fulfill one’s role as a follower of Jesus. However, the authority given to the New Testament canon is unfounded because the canonization of the New Testament by the church, a seemingly complex process to establish law for humankind and offer a sense of authority and legitimacy to Christian teachings, was, in reality, assumed from the subjective selection by two late second century Christian authors Irenaeus and Clement.

The canonization of the New Testament can be divided between two different time periods. John C. Peckham, an Associate Professor of Theology at Andrews University describes the first round of canonization as a time when “Christian scripture” served as “an authority or standard” but retained “fluidity” and the second round was when the New Testament became “a closed and fixed list of authoritative books” (Peckham 232). Michael W. Holmes, the former Chair of the Department of Biblical and Theological Studies at Bethel University, finds that during the first round,...