This seems to be a problem that cannot be solved. How to trace how this or that work of ancient Christian literature was or was not included in the New Testament. Why was such an abundance of different texts initially reduced to 27, as they are now in the canon of New Testament books? I will try to show that the canon of New Testament books was revealed in several stages, each stage having its own characteristics. At first it appeared as a kind of agreement between various local Churches of the ancient Mediterranean. The various local Churches that arose in the first centuries A.D. had somewhat different opinions about which scriptures were indisputably doctrinal. To do this, we will describe how this canon developed in different early Christian Churches: in Rome, in Carthage (in Africa), in the Gallic Northwestern Local Church (the territory of modern France), in Alexandria (in North Africa it occupies an intermediate position between the ancient East and West ), as well as in the early Byzantine Church of the 4th century (the city of Constantinople on the Bosphorus). This is the coverage from the very North of the ancient civilized world to the East.

Let's start with the Roman Church. The famous monument, the so-called, gives us an idea of ​​what kind of canon the ancient Roman Church used. fragment of Muratori.

This is a fragment of a Latin text “accidentally” found in the 18th century by the Italian scientist Muratori, after whom it received its name. It was found by Muratori in the library of Milan, where St. Ambrose of Milan (the ancient name of the city of Milan is Mediolan), therefore the library is called Ambrosinsky. It is a fragment because it is without beginning and without end. The original was written in Greek (I won’t say how this was proven), but the Latin work has come down to us. The fragment, or, as it is also called, the Muratori canon, was written in the West, but it was originally written in Greek, because before the 3rd century. The Christian language of the Roman Church was Greek. This is evidenced by inscriptions in the Roman catacombs; epitaphs are also written in Greek. This monument was written shortly after the death of Pope Pius, who lived in the middle of the 2nd century, i.e., it dates back to the middle or end of the 2nd century. It has come down to us in a Latin translation manuscript of the 8th century. This is not just a catalog of New Testament books; it also contains 23 books of the New Testament. The Muratori Canon includes the Four Gospels in their present sequence and also contains historical accounts. The fragment notes that the Acts of the Apostles were written by the Evangelist Luke on the basis of what he personally saw, thus the Evangelist Luke did not write about what happened to the apostle. Paul in Spain, because, apparently, their paths diverged after the first bond. And so the book of Acts, following the Four Gospels, ends unexpectedly with the description of the arrival of St. Paul to Rome, but we don’t know what happened next from the Acts. 13 messages indicated. Paul, excluding Hebrews (note this). This is the first ancient evidence that the ancient Western Roman Church did not include the Epistle to the Hebrews in its canon. There is a remark that app. Paul was acquitted at the trial of Nero in 64 and managed to carry out his long-standing plans - to reach the border of the empire - Spain. This is where we learn confirmation of the fact that was briefly stated by Ap. Paul in the canonical Epistle to the Romans, which speaks of his intention to visit Spain. The Muratori canon confirms this tradition. There are also the 1st and 2nd Council Epistle of St. John and one Catholic Epistle of Jude, as well as two Apocalypses - John the Theologian and Apostle. Petra. From this list it is clear that the dispute begins about the Epistle to the Hebrews, about some of the Council Epistles (one of the 3 John the Theologian, Apostle Peter, Apostle James). A new monument is added - an Apocalypse unknown to us, now considered an apocryphal Apocalypse. Petra. So, we have confirmation that the listed Epistles, which are recognized as canonical in this famous fragment, will almost unanimously be recognized as canonical in all other Churches of this time, that is, from the 2nd century.

So, the Four Gospels, Acts, Epistles. Paul for the most part (13 Epistles) are not disputed even at this time, as a selected list of New Testament canonical texts. The dispute will be between the various local Mediterranean Churches over 6-7 books, they will be in dispute for approximately two centuries. This list mentions the now considered canonical New Testament work "The Shepherd" of Hermas. This book is called an exception to the liturgical canon, but recommended for reading. It remains so now, this is the Scripture of the Apostolic men (Hermas is called an apostolic man, that is, one who replaced the apostles in the ancient Church), and it is recommended to read his work.

A warning is given against forged writings. The Epistle to the Laodiceans is called a forged work. Paul and the Epistle to the Alexandrians (you will hear about the Epistle to the Laodiceans). So, in this text for the first time we encounter the classification of handwritten sources. In its completed form, this classification is found in the early Byzantine monument, namely, in Eusebius of Caesarea.

In the Muratori canon, a division is visible: on the one hand, books that are considered indisputable, on the other, the “Shepherd” of Hermas, which is considered useful, but not for liturgical use.

Let us trace how this classification was developed in the Church in the future. Here, in the Roman Church, the heretic Marcion, the famous Gnostic, compiled his famous canon of Holy Books, the so-called Marcionian Canon of Holy Books. It is known that Marcion at first recognized all the Four Gospels, but then in his madness he began to recognize only, as they think, the Gospel of Luke, and in an abbreviated version. He, apparently, was the first to propose the idea of ​​a two-part New Testament - the Gospel and the Apostle. We have maintained this system to this day. This classification was continued by St. Irenaeus of Lyon in his famous essay “Against Heresies,” which is an essay against the Gnostics.

Marcion arrived in Rome from Asia Minor at the beginning of the 2nd century and considered himself a successor to St. Pavel. The basis of his teaching is the contrast between the teachings of the Old Testament and the Christian Gospel. In his opinion, the Law has lost its force, that is, the Old Testament Scriptures have lost their normative meaning. Having rejected the Hebrew Bible, Marcion, according to the testimony of Tertullian (this is the turn of the 2nd-3rd centuries, the famous essay “Against Marcion”), proposed a new Holy Scripture - the Gospel of Luke and the 10 Epistles of the Apostle. Pavel. Marcion edited the texts, clearing them of motives that contradicted his theology. He threw out the story of the Nativity of the Lord Jesus Christ, His genealogy, and quotes from the Old Testament, which he considered a secondary church addition. Marcion is, in a sense, the godfather of Luther's reformation, and Marcion turned out to be necessary for the Protestants. In particular, the famous learned historian, Protestant Harnack, a scientist of the last century who wrote a major work on Marcion, expressed the opinion that it was Marcion who found himself on the main path of development of the Church (the “big” Church as Protestants call Orthodoxy, i.e. the Universal Church, developed along the wrong path, which was reflected in the canon of New Testament books). Protestants need this for an obvious reason - in order to justify the Reformation of Luther, who fell away from the Church. They need to show that he had predecessors. And the new, invented by Luther, is actually the forgotten old, Marcionian. Marcion himself, soon after he appeared in Rome in the 40s of the 2nd century, was excommunicated from the Roman Church; information about his canon has come to us from writings that are directed against Marcion, in particular, from the writings of Tertullian. Following this, as a consequence, anti-Marcionian prologues in the Gospels appeared in the Church, that is, introductions to the Gospels, which were compiled for polemics with the heretic. This false canon of Marcion influenced the fact that the Ecumenical Orthodox Church hastened to create its own, closed, generally accepted list of New Testament books. One cannot, of course, consider Marcion to be the culprit for creating this list.

When it became clear that the recognized books were being corrected haphazardly, as Marcion did with the Gospel of Luke, the problem of fixing these texts arose. In this way, the Lord used bad things for good. The Church thought about it and declared this list. Keep in mind that Marcion created a parallel hierarchy, and the Marcionite Church continued to exist for centuries. It was such a shock. Now about the information that has come to us from the Syrian Church (on the easternmost edge of the Mediterranean Sea). The canon of the Eastern Church can be judged by the so-called. Peshito's translation, i.e. the generally accepted translation. This is a Syriac manuscript dating back to the 4th or 5th century AD. It contains 22 New Testament books, missing the Epistle of St. Peter, 2nd and 3rd Council Epistles of St. John, the Epistles of Jude and the Apocalypse, i.e. 4 more books are added to the controversial ones. This speaks of the independence of the canon of the Syrian Church from the canon of the Roman Church, since there is a serious discrepancy. But note that in everything else there is complete unanimity.

Now information from the Carthaginian Church (northwest Africa). The writings of Tertullian, a teacher at the end of the 2nd century, who crossed from Rome to Africa, testify to the Carthaginian Church. He considers the Epistle to the Hebrews to belong to St. Barnabas (new motive). And in Muratori, and in the Syrian Church, and in Tertullian, this is a stumbling block. There is no indication of the Catholic Epistle of James, 2nd Epistle of Peter, but Tertullian speaks of the authenticity of the Apocalypse and the Epistle of Jude. Tertullian has a negative attitude towards the “Shepherd” of Hermas, which we heard about from the Muratori canon (again, a fresh stream), as a work that justifies the acceptance of the fallen into the Church. This is remarkable evidence of the path that Tertullian himself took. Towards the end of his life, he fell away from the Church, this talented, brilliant teacher of the Church and fell into extreme puritanism, that is, into an attitude towards the Church as a sectarian organism, where only the “pure” can exist, and the covenant of the Lord: "I want mercy, not sacrifice" such people become close. about the north-west of Europe, according to information from the Gallic Church. This information is mentioned in the writings of St. Irenaeus of Lyons (late 2nd century). He lists all the books, with the exception of the 2nd Epistle of Peter, the Epistle of Jude. In the composition of the canon of St. Irenaeus of Lyon played an absolutely exceptional role. Why is this author important to us? Because in his example we see how the ancient Church, which had not yet bound itself with any special regulations, special lists, carried out the transmission of tradition. As can be seen in the example of St. Irenaeus of Lyons? He is a third generation disciple of the most beloved John the Theologian. Irenaeus of Lyons came from the school of St. Polycarp of Smyrna, Bishop of Asia Minor, martyr of the early 2nd century, who was, in turn, an interlocutor and follower of Ignatius the Theologian, Bishop of Asia Minor. John the Theologian - Ignatius the God-Bearer - Polycarp of Smyrna - Irenaeus of Lyons, such a clearly visible continuity, from mouth to mouth, from saint to saint. Irenaeus of Lyon also knew the Epistle to the Hebrews, used it in his famous essay “Against Heresies,” but for some reason did not include it in his list of canonical books.

We move east, to Alexandria from Gaul, moving, as they say, crosswise. The Gospels symbolize east-west, north-south, in four parts, and I tried to show you the crosshairs: from east to west, from north to south. In Alexandria, the famous Clement of Alexandria (the turn of the 2nd-3rd centuries) in his work also quotes all the New Testament books, including the 2nd Epistle of Peter. Unfortunately, we do not have the original; this is an indirect quotation from the book of Eusebius of Caesarea (IV century). Eusebius of Caesarea, in his classic History of the Church, quotes Clement of Alexandria. We do not have a direct quotation from Clement of Alexandria. About the Epistle to the Hebrews, Clement says that it belongs to Peter and was written by him to the Jews in the Hebrew language, but the Evangelist Luke carefully translated it and published it for the Greeks. Here is indirect evidence through Eusebius of Caesarea from Clement of Alexandria. As for the apocrypha, Clement of Alexandria used the already mentioned Apocalypse of Peter from the canon of Muratori, the epistle of St. Barnabas, which he attributed and we now attribute to the writings of the apostolic men, also the epistle of Clement of Rome (which also now refers to the writings of the apostolic men), the “Shepherd” of Hermas, the “Didache,” but did not consider these books to be Holy Scripture. There is also already a certain gradation of the New Testament books: canonical ones are one thing, useful ones are another thing. A follower of Clement of Alexandria, the famous teacher of the Church Origen (first half of the 3rd century), who, unfortunately, did not preserve his unity with the Universal Church until his death, considered the Four Gospels, the 13 Epistles of the Apostle to be generally recognized by the Church. Paul, Acts, 1st Peter, 1st John, Apocalypse. Origen considered the Epistle to the Hebrews to be Paul's, often quoted it and considered it canonical. Here is his wonderful formulation: “And who exactly wrote the Epistle to the Hebrews, only God truly knows about this.”

And all the attempts of modern scientists to resolve the problem of authorship with the help of textual, philological analysis, when they see that there is some kind of discrepancy with Paul’s Epistles, do not move beyond the phrase spoken by Origen. So, by the 3rd century, the Epistle to the Hebrews is considered Paul's, but only God knows who exactly wrote it. But we know that the Epistle to the Hebrews ends with the remark: “And Tertius wrote this,” that is, the secretary of St. Pavel. Secretaries Ap. Paul, of course, put his stamp on Paul's texts, but the author was Paul. And let Tertius write, and he, obviously, was an outstanding writer, but Paul dictated.

Of 2 Peter, Origen says that it is disputed, but uses it in his commentaries. Origen expresses himself rather hesitantly about the 2nd and 3rd Epistles of John; he writes: “He left perhaps the 2nd and 3rd books on the list, although not all of them are recognized as authentic.” Regarding James. Origen uses the expression: “appealing under the name of Jacob is also indefinite.” He speaks about the Epistle of Jude in the subjunctive mood: “If anyone accepts the Epistle of Jude...”. Nevertheless, he himself considers the 2nd and 3rd Epistles of John and the Epistle of Jude to be apostolic and authentic. This tendency is not to give the last word to who wrote it, but to consider them genuine - to recognize their authenticity, it does not matter which hand led. So, in the time of Origen in the Alexandrian Church, the 2nd Epistle of Peter, the 2nd and 3rd Epistles of John, the Epistles of James, Jude and Hebrews were controversial.

A follower of Clement of Alexandria and Origen (the famous Alexandrian school), Dionysius of Alexandria (late 3rd century), in a polemic against the heresy of the chilimasts, denies that the Apocalypse belongs to John the Theologian, since it was from this book that the heretics drew imaginary confirmation of their error. He says that the author of the Apocalypse is not the same one who wrote the fourth Gospel and the Catholic Epistle of John. It is obvious that these doubts subsequently influenced another representative of the ancient Church - Eusebius of Caesarea.

Let us move on to the final part of the characterization of the opinions of the local ancient Christian Churches, to the early Byzantine Church. The famous Eusebius of Caesarea writes: “In the first place we must put the Holy Quaternary of Gospels, followed by the Epistle of the Acts of the Apostles, after which we must include in the list the Epistles of the Apostle Paul, after which we must give place to the converting 1 John and 1 Pet., and, finally, place the Apocalypse of John." These writings are universally accepted (in Greek, homologumene, as opposed to aptilegomene, i.e., controversial messages). The ambivalent and indecisive attitude towards the authenticity of the Apocalypse, placed at the end of this list, which was already recognized by both Clement and Origen, is apparently explained by the doubts expressed by Dionysius of Alexandria, who questioned the authorship and authenticity of the Apocalypse. And so, in Eusebius we finally meet the established classification of sources. Eusebius gives 3 categories of New Testament books.

The first is the same “homologumene”, generally recognized (already listed above).

The second class is divided into those prophesied, however, accepted by many. According to Eusebius, this includes the 2nd Epistle of Peter, the 2nd and 3rd Epistles of John, the Epistles of James and Jude. The category of controversial books also includes books of the second subclass, clearly not included in the canon, although known to church writers: the Acts of Paul (now apocryphal), “The Shepherd” of Hermas, the Apocalypse of Peter (now apocryphal), the epistle of St. Barnabas, Didache.

So, the controversial ones are divided into 2 classes: prophesied, accepted by many and clearly not included in the canon, but venerable books by famous church writers.

The third category is what we now consider apocrypha, and according to Eusebius these are “absurd and impious books” that no church writer mentions (the Gospel of Peter, the Gospel of Thomas, the Acts of Andrew, the Acts of John, the Acts of Peter).

In addition to this classification, Eusebius was commissioned by Constantine the Great to organize the correspondence of 50 copies of the Bible for the Church of Constantinople; this Bible does not contain the Apocalypse due to Eusebius’s hesitant attitude towards its universal acceptance. Thus, the New Testament canon according to Eusebius consisted of 26 books. By the time the Bible was rewritten, some messages, in particular those prophesied, were accepted by many and were included in the list of books compiled by Eusebius, leaving the only book of the Apocalypse that was not included in the Bible. From the Constantinople Bible, this incomplete list of New Testament books was borrowed by Saint Cyril of Jerusalem (80s of the 4th century). Kirill himself used the Apocalypse, but did not recognize it. This list was also used by St. Gregory the Theologian (late 4th century), he also used the Apocalypse. In the famous 85th Rule of the Apostolic Rules (the book “Apostolic Rules” dates back to the 4th century, i.e., a manuscript of the 4th century, and obviously dates back to an older tradition), as well as in the 60th Rule of the Laodicean Council ( mid-4th century) contains this list, and also without the Apocalypse for now. Finally, at the local Council of the North African Carthaginian Church (419), decrees were adopted that were included in the “Book of Rules”; this book was reprinted several times. This is a complete list of the 27 New Testament books. At the Fifth-Sixth Council of Trulla, which took place after the 6th Ecumenical Council at the end of the 7th century. (692), the decisions of the Council of Laodicea were confirmed, but the list already contained the Apocalypse. The Trullo Council recognized the list of canonical books of St. Athanasius the Great (mid-IV century). This is the famous list contained in the 39th Epistle of St. Artemy the Great, and contains 27 New Testament books. In the 4th century. we have a juxtaposition of a complete list and an incomplete one; they exist equally in different local Churches. It was so difficult to compile this generally accepted list. Finally, in the 17th century (1654), the Patriarch of Constantinople Cyril Lucaris, in response to doubts expressed by Calvinists about some New Testament books (this Patriarch had a discussion with Protestants), solemnly repeated the list of Sacred Books of the New Testament Canon with the inclusion of the Apocalypse. But fluctuations continued in the 17th century.

Two local Councils, Constantinople and Jerusalem, in 1672 did not speak definitely about the authority of the Apocalypse. This hesitation was inherited historically in the Russian Church. In the Law of God, the Apocalypse is not taught or read at services. But this is not silence; this is a completely fair and reasonable church attitude towards this especially mysterious book of the New Testament.

Let's summarize some results. In the West, for quite a long time, if we put aside specifics, the Epistle to the Hebrews (Remember!), 2 Epistle of Peter, Epistle of James remained controversial until the 4th century. In the East, people doubted the authenticity of the Apocalypse for a long time. Thus, the entire history of the New Testament canon is based on two dynamic, in a sense, moments. Firstly, local Churches tested the New Testament books, which were unknown or controversial in some private Churches and among individual fathers and teachers. This concerned the 2nd and 3rd Epistles of Peter, the Epistles of James and Jude and the Apocalypse - in the East, the Epistle to the Hebrews - in the West.

And the second point: the elimination of books that illegally claimed to be canonical (Apocalypse of Peter) or close to canonical books (epistles of Clement, epistle of Barnabas, “The Shepherd” of Hermas, Didache).

Tradition has always been alive in the Church, this will never be understood by Protestant historians, Protestant scientists who see this process very schematically, see it tendentiously, that some are accepted for the sake of the “big” (Orthodox) Church, others for the sake of this “big” calloused Church are cut off.

Protestants do not understand this, and this is the dead end of their scientific method. The church is not a mechanism that can be easily dissected: this muscle moves this way, this one moves this way, and this one moves differently. The Church is a living organism; it cannot be placed in an anatomical theater. The New Testament canon is not a random product; from ancient times it was stored throughout the Mediterranean, and this storage is visible already in the 2nd century. And the Church simply took careful care to preserve what should be preserved, to accept it together, and to cut off what should not remain there. This happened through a grace-filled process of the Church recognizing or not recognizing itself. One's own was recognized, someone else's was not recognized and was discarded. Given the care that the Church took to preserve these Scriptures, it becomes absolutely incomprehensible why a certain number of these New Testament Scriptures could disappear without a trace. If the Church has preserved for us the Epistles of the Apostles, written to individuals - Philip, Timothy, which had a completely private reason and purpose, all the more would it have handed over to us, for example, the Epistles of St. Paul to the Laodiceans (which the Muratori canon rejects) or 2 Philippians, if such a thing existed. Protestants view the canon as something accidental, they say, when establishing the canon there was no firm criterion, and along with the apostolic works, the canon also included non-apostolic works, depending on the local church practice for the liturgical use of a particular book. In reality, as we see, it was not at all like that. Some books, firstly, remained temporarily unknown to some local Churches, and secondly, some books were controversial, since, apparently, they were either rarely read or had too general a purpose, like the Epistle to the Hebrews, so their apostolic origin is not could be certified by the voice of any one authoritative Church that would keep this Message. The Epistle to the Hebrews, indeed, has a very general character, unlike, say, the Epistle to the Ephesians, the Epistle to the Galatians, which have a specific addressee - the Church of Asia Minor and the specific situation in this Church.

The formation of the New Testament canon is a great critical church work, but this work is creative in the sense that it critically tested and affirmed what the Church initially owned as its unchanging property, and not an inventive work (I will leave this, but I will take this and not leave because it doesn't suit me). The Church, of course, has always had a criterion when establishing the New Testament canon - this is the origin of this or that scripture from the apostles or directly from an apostolic disciple, for example. Evangelist Mark recorded the oral sermon of St. Peter, or the Evangelist Luke, according to legend, wrote his Gospel under the guidance of St. Pavel. And the apostolic origin of the document was determined by historical tradition, the consent of all Churches and, secondly, by dogmatic tradition, that is, the purity of the revealed teaching, in agreement with the teaching invariably preserved in the Church by the Holy Spirit.

So:

Characteristics of the 1st period.

There is no exact information about which Church used which books. Only in 2 Pet. 3.16 speaks of the epistles of St. Pavel. In Col. 4.16 app. Paul instructs the Colossians to read this letter and send it to Laodicea. And some message from the ap. Paul to Laodicea was read to the Colossians. Christians exchanged messages and may have kept lists of these messages.

Clement of Alexandria, according to Eusebius, claims that the Christians of Asia Minor, having read the first 3 Gospels, testified to the truth of these Gospels, but, finding some lack in them, turned to St. John with a request to write a Gospel that would complement the teachings of Christ. Ap. John approved the three Gospels and wrote the fourth. Ephesian Christians were concerned about the identity of Jesus Christ. Ephesus was at the junction of east and west. There were different rumors, different opinions and people. For example, the disciples of John the Baptist. (The cult of John the Baptist still exists). Therefore ap. John emphasized the Divinity of Jesus Christ.

Characteristics of the 2nd period.

Apostolic men: St. Barnabas, Clement of Rome, Ignatius the God-Bearer, Polycarp of Smyrna, Papias of Hierapolis quoted the NT books, but did not give a list of NT books. At that time, tradition was strong, and there was no particular need for NT books. But since later, already in the 3rd century, heretics appeared who quoted the NT books, to combat them it was necessary to compile a canon of NT books. Heretics: Basilides, Marcion, Carpocrates. Justin the Philosopher's student Tatian compiled the first consolidated Gospel (diatessaron).

Characteristics of the 3rd period.

Clement of Alexandria, Irenaeus of Lyons, Tertullian. These teachers of the Church in their writings listed almost all the books of the New Testament, except 2 Pet., 2 John, 3 John, James, Heb., Apoc. In the Milan library in 1740, the librarian Muratorius discovered an excerpt from a Christian work of the 2nd century, which lists books recommended for reading during divine services. It lacks: James, 2 Pet., and the relation to 1 John is not entirely clear. and 2Jn.

The translation of the NT books into Syriac also dates back to this period, some call it “Peshito”. This translation lacks 2 Pet., 2 John, 3 John, Jude, Apoc. The second translation already has all the NT books (beginning of the 6th century). The second translation is called "Philoxenes".

Characteristics of the 4th period (III-IV centuries).

Origen, Eusebius of Caesarea, Dion of Alexandria.

Origen recognized as indisputable: 4 Ev., the book of Acts, 13 epistles of St. Paul, 1 Pet., 1 John. and Apoc. His successor Dion of Alexandria recognized 2 John. and 3 John, but doubted the canonicity of Apoc. Eusebius divided all the NT books into:

1. Generally recognized: 4Heb., Acts, 14 Epistles. Paul, 1 Pet., 1 John. and Apoc. (perhaps).

2. Controversial: James, Jude, 2 Pet., 2 John, 3 John.

3. Fake: Acts Paul, Apoc. Peter, Barnabas, Apoc. John (perhaps).

4. Wicked: Ev. Petra, Ev. Thomas, Acts. Andrew, Acts. John.

Eusebius of Caesarea (263-340) was the last one who would not recognize the canon of NT books in the amount of 27. After him: Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, Athanasius the Great, Blessed. Jerome and Ephraim the Syrian recognized all 27 NT books. At this time, at some Local Councils this number was approved.

Council of Laodicea 360-364 (missed the Apocalypse).

Ippon Council of 393.

Council of Carthage 397.

Conclusion: Thus, at the end of the 4th century, the process of compiling the canonical list ended.

2. Brief history of the text of the New Testament books:

a) structural changes in the text;

The plain text needed reform. The first attempts relate to the compilation of agreed Gospels (harmonized). Tatian compiled a set of four Gospels in the 2nd century. Tatian's work was continued by a certain Ammonius. He also compiled the Gospel from the other four Gospels. This work was continued and improved by Eusebius of Caesarea. When Ammonius and Eusebius compiled the code, they divided it into chapters (Greek kephalia), but these are not our chapters. Compared to ours, those chapters were much smaller.

Later our Gospels were divided into conceptions. In terms of their volume of reading (conceived) or “peri, cops” they were larger than the chapters of Ammonius or Eusebius. The conceptions were, to some extent, closer to our chapters. The division into origins occurred in the 6th century. The division into verses appeared in the 5th century. It is attributed to the deacon of the Alexandrian Church, Euphalios. He later became a bishop. He divided it into verses in such a way that each verse contained as many words as he could pronounce without interrupting his natural breathing. A little later, these verses began to be separated from one another by a dot. It is generally accepted that punctuation marks began to appear in the 7th century.

Punctuation marks came into general use with the advent of printing.

The word division appeared in the 9th century.

The modern chapters (previously attributed to Hugon, +1263) are now generally believed to have been divided by Archbishop of Canterbury Stephen Langton (1228). The division into modern poems is due to Robert Stephen, Theodore Beza (French) (XV).

b) reasons for errors in texts;

There are more than five thousand ancient New Testament manuscripts. And in these five thousand manuscripts there are many discrepancies. Four families of these editions have been conventionally identified.

I. First edition Egyptian or Egyptian version of the text. It is also sometimes called Alexandria. This edition is based on the texts that are included in the manuscripts: Sinaiticus, Vaticanus, Ephraim and other codes that we have not studied. Origen and Athanasius the Great are guided by this family when quoting.

II. Another option is called edition Western. The Bazovsky Code belongs to this family as a prominent representative. This family is recognized by the Old Latin translation

III. The next family, the so-called Caesarea from Caesarea in Palestine, where apparently editorial work on this family took place. This group of texts was referred to by Eusebius of Caesarea and Cyril of Jerusalem.

IV. The last family is called by different names - sometimes Byzantine, Sometimes Koine. This family was edited in Antioch, which is why it is also sometimes called Antioch. These are mainly late lectionaries, that is, liturgical texts, codices, which include liturgical passages of Holy Scripture intended for reading in church. From some manuscript of this family, a Slavic translation was made by Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius; secondly, this text formed the basis of the so-called Printed Bible “Textus receptus”.

c) ancient manuscripts (codes, papyri, translations);

For a textual critic of the New Testament or a philologist dealing with this topic, it is important to have on hand:

1. Ancient manuscripts (copies)

2. Ancient translations.

There are currently about 5,000 copies. About 50 of them contain all the books of the New Testament. Based on the material on which the copies are written, they are divided into 2 types:

1. papyrus,

2. parchment.

Papyrus copies. These are the most ancient, but not the most reliable. These are excerpts.

1. Papyrus of John Raymond. It is believed to have been written around 130 or 120. Was discovered in Egypt. Contains an excerpt from the 18th chapter of the Gospel of John. This is a small excerpt (8*6 cm) stored in Manchester. This papyrus was purchased in 1920 when it was discovered. It is important for dating the Gospel of John, because this passage suggests that the traditional date for writing the Gospel of John (late 1st - early 2nd centuries) is beyond doubt. Indeed, if this passage was found among the warrior's other belongings, then it would take time to spread from Asia Minor to Egypt. Before this discovery, the Tübingen school, however, believed (along with atheists) that the Gospel of John was written at the end of the 2nd - beginning of the 3rd centuries.

2. Chester Beatta Papyrus- This is a papyrus from the 3rd century. Contains excerpts from the Old Testament in Greek, part of the Four Gospels and almost all of the epistles of St. Pavel. This is already a lot for papyrus. Partly stored in London, Michigan and Dublin.

3. Bodmer 2– written around 200. Contains chapter 2 of the Gospel of John. Small size. For a long time it was kept in the library of the Sinai Monastery of St. Catherine. It was purchased by Bodmer for his library near Geneva. The library is called the Coligny Library.

There are about 80 other papyri.

Parchment copies.

1. Codex Sinaiticus(manuscript). Time of writing: IV century. This is the first in the list of parchment copies. Contains excerpts from the OT, almost all the books of the NT. Messages have also been added there. Barnabas, part of the "Shepherd" of Hermas. Codex Sinaiticus was discovered by Tischendorf (German). Some believe that it was discovered by Archimandrite Porfiry (Uspensky). He may have seen it first, but made no effort to buy it from the authorities. Porfiry saw him later than Tischendorf. Teschendorf went there in 1844 and acquired something for himself. These parts that he bought are kept in Leipzig, but the main part continued to be kept in this monastery in Sinai. Then the leadership of this monastery decided to donate this passage to the Russian Tsar, and Tischendorf played the role of mediator in this matter. In the second half of the 19th century, this code came to St. Petersburg. In 1933, the Soviet government sold it to the British Museum library for £100,000. It is now kept in the British Museum.

2. Vatican Code. Nothing is known about the origin of this codex. It is known that since 1475 it has been kept in the Vatican. Only Napoleon took him away for a while. Time of writing: IV century. Contains almost all NT books. There are no epistles to Timothy, Titus, Philemon, not the entire epistle to the Hebrews, no Apocalypse. It was first published by Tischendorf, who received permission from the Roman Catholic authorities to work on the codex but not to rewrite anything. In the end, Tischendorf criminally issues this code.

3. Codex Alexandrinus. Written around the 5th century. It is known that in the 11th century it was donated or ended up in Alexandria, but who gave it is unknown, but it is known that in 1628 the Patriarch of Constantinople Cyril (Lucaris) presented it to the English king Charles I.

Since 1753 it has been kept in the library of the British Museum. Contains OT and NT, with the exception of some flaws and omissions. There is a legend that this code was rewritten by the hand of the martyr Thekla.

4. Codex of Ephraim the Syrian. Time of writing – 5th century. Contains parts OT and NT. In the XII-XIII centuries. someone erases the biblical text and writes the works of St. Ephraim the Syrian. Manuscripts erased and rewritten are called "palimpsest".

5. Bez's Code. Theodore Beza discovered it in the Lyon monastery. Time of writing – 5th century. At one time it was donated to the University of Cambridge.

6. Code Purple. Time of writing: end of the 6th century. Contains the Four Gospels. Written in gold and silver letters on parchment painted purple. Stored in the public library of St. Petersburg.

The third group of handwritten texts - minuscules. These are codices written in a type of Greek script that can be called cursive, when the letters are written coherently, when word division and punctuation marks appear. This letter appeared around the 9th century. In the 12th century. for minuscules, paper replaces ancient parchment. Most of the minuscules contain a later edition of the texts, but, nevertheless, this is an important source for us. Some of these minuscules contain ancient readings that are of interest for the study of the early stages of the history of the texts.

Eastern translations.

1. Syriac translations. Syria is one of the first countries where the Gospel was preached. Thomas, Bartholomew, Thaddeus and other apostles preached there. In Antioch, the Greek language was very widespread, and in the north and northeast, Greek culture took root poorly. The center of resistance to Greek culture was the city of Edessa (present-day Urfa, Turkey). The Edessa theological school was founded by a Gnostic heretic. Later, this school was glorified by the works of St. Ephraim the Syrian. Therefore, it is believed that in Edessa the first translation of Scripture from Greek into Syriac appeared, which is called " Pescito "("simple, faithful, literal"). There is a legend that this translation was started by Apostle Thaddeus, therefore Syrian Christians believe that this translation is an apostolic one (late 1st - early 2nd century). In the 4th century, St. Ephraim the Syrian calls this translation “our" translation. From the point of view of specialists, this translation is very important in that it is a literal copy of the Greek text.

Second Syriac translation - Philoxenos . The bishop of the city of Hierapolis, Philoxenus, commissioned his chorebishop named Polycarp to translate the Scriptures. But Philoxenus was a Monophysite; Polycarp completed the translation in 508, using the Peshitta. This translation already contains the entire NT with the exception of the Apocalypse. This translation is literal.

Third Palestine-Syrian or Jerusalem translation. The time of translation is the 6th century. This translation was made from some Greek lectionary. Similar in language to the language of the Jerusalem Talmud. This translation contains the Gospels.

2. Egyptian translations. Evangelist Mark preached in Egypt. It is believed that he preached in Greek. Therefore, in the beginning there was no need for translation. On the outskirts lived the Copts, who preserved their culture and fought against Greek expansion. The Coptic language is divided into:

1. Upper Egyptian dialect or Theban dialect.

2. Lower Egyptian dialect or Memphis dialect.

3. Bashmur or Basmur dialect.

- Upper Egyptian translation. Theban. Made from Greek in the middle of the 3rd century. The full text of the translation has not reached us.

- Lower Egyptian translation. Memphis. This is the Coptic translation. This translation was known even in the West. Made from Greek in the 10th century.

- Bashmursky. Made from the Theban translation.

- Abyssinian or Ethiopian translation. Greek culture did not penetrate into the territory of Ethiopia. It is officially believed that Ethiopians adopted Christianity in the 4th century. The brothers Frumentius and Edesius preached Christianity. The translation was made from Greek by these brothers into the Aksun dialect. Later translations into Amharic appeared.

- Armenian translation. St. is considered the enlightener of Armenia. Gregory, who lived at the end of the 3rd - beginning of the 4th century. Until the 5th century, Armenians did not have their own alphabet or alphabet. They used Syriac translations or used Syriac or Persian letters for their writing. Mesrob Mashtots invented the Armenian alphabet. Catholicos Isaac the Great translated the Bible. The appearance of the Armenian alphabet - 410. After the 5th century, Armenian translations appeared. In the 13th century, another Armenian translation appeared, made under the influence of the Latin Vulgate.

3. Arabic translations. By the 8th century, the Arabs had established their dominance in the Middle East. The Arabs prohibited other peoples from using languages ​​other than Arabic. Therefore, Syriac, Coptic and other languages ​​in the Middle East became dead. It was necessary to translate it into Arabic. Arabic translations are divided into 2 categories: translations from Greek And translations from other languages . The first translation is believed to have appeared in the 640s.

4. Persian translations. Before the advent of Islam in Persia, a Persian translation was known, but, alas, it has not survived. At a later time, 2 translations of the Four Gospels appeared (VI-VII centuries).

5. Georgian translation. The enlightener of Georgia - St. Equal to the Apostles Nina. It is believed that the same Armenian Mesrob also invented the Georgian alphabet. The first Georgian translation is believed to have appeared in the 6th century. Was made from Greek.

Western translations.

The oldest is the Italian translation ( Itala). St. Augustine calls this translation “the best.” This translation is believed to have been made in the 2nd century. Tertullian calls Itala a "common" translation.

Vulgate. By the middle of the 4th century, many began to believe that Itala was outdated. The Pope commissions the learned hieromonk Jerome to make a new translation. He began in 383 and after some time completed a new translation into Latin. Jerome took Itala as a basis and corrected it. The Pope immediately wanted to use this translation, but due to protests, this translation was distributed only in the 6th century. The Catholic Council of Trent in 1546 recognized this translation as the only correct, the only inspired one. "Vulgata" means "simple". Following the example of the Council of Trent, there was an attempt in the Russian Orthodox Church to “canonize” the Slavic text, but the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church rejected this proposal. Catholics have now recognized the canonization of the Vulgate as a mistake.

Anglo-Saxon translations of the X, XI, XII centuries. Eat Romanesque, Frankish translations. Gothic translation. It is the most ancient. The Goths adopted Christianity in the 3rd century. In the middle of the 4th century, Bishop Wulfila emerged from the Goths. In the middle of the 4th century, he invents the Gothic alphabet and translates the Bible from Greek, but skips those places in the Old Testament where the Jewish people are at war with neighboring countries. The translation is stored in Sweden in the city of Uppsala. This translation is important for Slavists (people who study Slavic languages).

Slavic translation. The Slavic alphabet appeared either in 862 or 864. The creators are the holy brothers Cyril and Methodius. In 865, the Bulgarians converted to Christianity. In this regard, both the Slavic alphabet and translation appeared. At the beginning, the Greek liturgical books, the Psalter, the Gospel and the Apostle were translated, and then the entire Bible. The OT was translated from Hebrew, and the NT from Greek. Cyril and Methodius, according to most researchers, were Greeks. After the adoption of Christianity in Rus' in 988, this translation came to us. This translation has not survived, but now they are trying to recreate the translation of Saints Methodius and Cyril from ancient manuscripts. At the end of the 15th century in 1499, for the first time in Rus', all the books of the Bible were published by Archbishop Gennady of Novgorod. This is the first handwritten Bible in the Slavic language. In 1570, the first printed Bible appeared in Prague. In 1581, through the works of Prince Konstantin Ostrozhsky, the Ostrog Bible was published. With his money, Ivan Fedorov printed the complete Slavic Bible.

In 1564, the first Apostle was printed in Moscow. In 1574, Deacon I. Fedorov repeated the Moscow edition in Lvov. The first complete Slavic Bible appeared in Moscow in 1663. At that time, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich ruled. This edition was made on the basis of the Ostroh Bible. Under Peter I, a new edition of the Bible was prepared in 1723, but it was not published.

In 1744, Tsarina Elizabeth Petrovna issued a decree on the republication of the Bible. In 1751, under her leadership, the Bible was published in 2 large format volumes (in folio). Two years later, a second revised edition was published. Then the Bible was published many times without changes. This Bible is sometimes called the "Elizabethan" Bible, sometimes the "Peter-Elizabethan" Bible.

Russian translation. The first book in Russian translation is the Psalter. It was translated in 1683 by translator Abram Firsov. At the end of the 17th - beginning of the 18th century, the German pastor Ernst Gluck made an attempt to translate the entire Bible into Russian. The second wife of Peter I, Catherine, was raised by Pastor Gluck along with his daughters. Gluck was a pastor in Marinburg (Latvia). When Peter took Marinburg, they took both Martha and Gluck. With the help of an Orthodox monk, they say, Gluck translated the entire Bible. After the capture of Marinburg, Peter sent Gluck to Moscow to translate the Bible. Gluck is dying in Moscow, nothing can be done. Things stopped.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the British Bible Society was founded in England in 1804. In 1812-13, the St. Petersburg Bible Society was formed in St. Petersburg. In 1814, the St. Petersburg BO began to be called the Russian BO. The goal of the society: translation of the Bible into the languages ​​of the peoples inhabiting the Russian Empire. In 1815-16, the question arose about translation into Russian. In March 1816, the rector of SPbDA was instructed to head the commission for translating the Bible into Russian. In March 1816, the rector of SPbDA was instructed to head the commission for translating the Bible into Russian. We started with NC. The rector, Archimandrite Philaret (Drozdov), translated the Gospel of John. From Matthew - Prof. Gerasim Pavsky, from Mk. - Archimandrite Polycarp, Lk. - Archimandrite Moses. In 1818, the Four Gospels were published in Russian for the first time. In 1819 - Acts. In 1821 - all of New Zealand. All these publications are published in parallel with the Church Slavonic language. In 1824, already under the editorship of prof. Pavsky comes out with the entire NT in Russian translation without the Slavic parallel. In 1824, during the life of the Emperor. Alexy I, Metropolitan of St. Petersburg Seraphim (Glagolevsky) was appointed president of the RBO. He was against translations. In 1825, an unknown person issued a decree in St. Petersburg, according to which it was ordered to burn printed copies of the Pentateuch of Moses. In 1826, he also closed the RBO. Many people think that M. Seraphim also contributed to this. In 1844, an attempt was made, proposed by Chief Prosecutor Protasov, to declare the Church Slavonic text the only canonical and inspired one. But the Synod rejected this proposal. At the same time, in St. Petersburg, prof. Pavsky made an attempt to translate the Bible completely into Russian. He translated almost the entire OT (he translated for 10-12 years together with students from St. Petersburg), and only 500 copies were published. For this, Pavsky lost his professorship. Later, almost all copies were burned. Recently they released the Bible in the translation of Pavsky and Met. Macarius (Glukharev), Altai missionary. He was engaged in translation in Altai. It was published by Jehovah's Witnesses; apparently because he kept the name of God “Jehovah” without translation. In 1856, Metropolitan dies. Seraphim, and immediately after this the Synod decides to resume the translation of the entire Bible into Russian, and entrusts this task to 4 Academies: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kyiv and Kazan. Professors were transferred, and the translations were sent to the Synod. The Synod ordered someone to check again. In 1876, the entire Bible was published in Russian translation for the first time, and since this translation was carried out under the leadership of the Holy Synod, it is customary to call it the “Synodal” translation. After this, the Bible was published several times, but all editions were based on the Synodal translation.

In 1914, a decision was made to establish a biblical commission for the scientific publication of the Bible at St. Petersburg. In 1918, the commission moved from the Academy to the Academy of Sciences under the department of Russian language and literature, and existed until 1927. Since then, there have been no new translations and the Bible has not been published. Only in 1951-65 in Paris under the leadership of Bishop. Cassian (Bezobrazov) a new translation of the Four Gospels from the Greek original was carried out. In 1970, the entire NZ was published. This translation was made in Paris. Later the Four Gospels came out. The ZhMP published an article by Prof. Ivanov, his review of this translation was negative: “...In general, Bishop Cassian (Bezobrazov) did not like the translation. Almost a tabloid translation language.” Bishop Cassian is the last exegete bishop in the West. But this translation is private, and the attitude towards it is appropriate. In 1956, a new synodal edition of the Bible was published for the first time. Publishers replaced some Slavic words with Russian words. One of the editors was prof. Osipov. In 1968, another edition of the Bible was published. In 1976, a commemorative edition of the Bible was published to mark the 100th anniversary of the Russian translation. In 1988 - for the 1000th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus'.

Before the revolution, there were private translations: of the poet Zhukovsky (translated NT abroad from a Slavic translation, and was published in 1855) in Berlin by Archpriest. Maltseva, L.N. Tolstoy (translated the Four Gospels). In the 19th century, the translation of Chief Prosecutor Pobedonostsev, published in 1906, was known.

Modern translations. In 1990, first in the magazine "Literary Studies", and then in 1991, the priest's translation was published Leonid Ludkovsky. It was made with the blessing of Patriarch Alexy II. Some even said that it was a “Russian vulgate,” but there were also negative opinions. This translation is very free, does not say which Greek original it was translated from, has no systematicity in translation, treats the original very arbitrarily, and in some places does not even understand the text.

Translation by Logachev(taught Greek at SPbDA, now works at the University). The translation is based on the majority text. According to experts, this text is the latest. Critics also received this text negatively. Allegedly, the author ignored all the achievements of recent times. The translation is not clear, sometimes even funny.

Word of Life. NT in modern translation. First published in Stockholm (first the Four Gospels, then the entire NT). At first it was thought of as a retelling, but after publication in 1991 it was called a translation. Experts note that the translator did not look at the original, the retold retelling.

Good News– new translation from Greek. First published in America by the World Bible Translation Center. It was published in 1990, and in 1992 published in Moscow. Experts respond negatively: this is a retelling, and a bad one at that. The publication of the Bible “New Translation of the Holy Scriptures” is also known, but Baptists rejected it.

Ancient editions of the Slavic translation. Now a reconstructed text of the translation of the Gospel of John to Sts has appeared. Cyril and Methodius. The Slavic lists of the 11th century already differed from the translation of Cyril and Methodius, as experts say. There are 4 editions:

South Slavic edition of the 11th century;

South Russian edition of the 11th-12th centuries;

Edited by St. Alexy of Moscow - XIV century;

South Slavic-Russian translation, otherwise Moscow edition. It is believed that it appeared in the Balkans, then migrated to Moscow, where the translation continued - in the 14th century. It is to this latest edition that the complete handwritten Gennadiev Bible of 1499 belongs.

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Let us trace the history of the formation of the canon of books of the New Testament. The word itself " canon " means rule, norm, catalog, list. In contrast to the 27 books written by the holy apostles and recognized by the Church as divinely inspired, other books claiming the same dignity, not recognized by the Church, are called apocryphal .

Consideration of the stages or periods during which the books that were included in the canon of the New Testament and received churchwide recognition were created allows us to more clearly imagine the process of its formation. It is customary to distinguish four periods that span four centuries. This:

1. Apostolic - I century.

2. Apostolic men - from the end of the 1st century to the middle of the 2nd century.

3. From 150 to 200 .

4. 3rd and 4th centuries .

1st period. Fulfilling the commandment of their Divine Teacher, the holy apostles preached the Gospel to the whole world, bringing the light of the teachings of Christ to the people. For the first Christians, they were messengers of Christ. That is why every word of the apostles was perceived as a revelation from a heavenly messenger, as the word of Christ Himself.

Christian communities not only listened with reverence, but also read the words of the apostles addressed to them, as evidenced by the very existence of the sacred books, as well as their wide distribution. Christians copied and exchanged the apostolic epistles. The newly received ones were added to those already available in the Church, and thus a collection of apostolic writings was compiled.

The Apostle Paul in his letter to the Colossians writes: “ When this epistle has been read among you, order that it be read in the Laodicean church; and the one from the Laodicean church, read it too" In the primal (Jerusalem) Church, it became a practice to read the apostolic writings during divine services, and they read the sacred writings addressed to other Churches.

By the end of the 1st century, the Gospels of the apostles Matthew, Mark and Luke became widespread in Christian communities. As ancient church tradition tells, the Apostle John, having read the first three Gospels at the request of the Ephesian Christians, confirmed their truth with his testimony. By then writing his Gospel, he filled in the gaps that already existed in other Gospels.

If the first three Gospels were not known in the Apostolic Church, or were not respected, then Saint John the Theologian would not have written additions to them, but would have composed a new Gospel repeating the events already set forth by the first three evangelists.

2nd period. According to the testimony of the apostolic men, direct disciples of the apostles, church teachers and writers of the first half of the 2nd century, at that time there were only separate New Testament books that had not yet been compiled into a single set. They cite in their writings passages from the sacred books of both the Old Testament and the New Testament, without at all indicating the names of the books and their authors. In their messages they quote passages from the Gospel and the Apostolic Epistles, but they do this arbitrarily from memory. Do this and that, say the apostolic men, “as the Lord says in the Gospel: if you do not save the little things, who will give you the great things? I tell you: he who is faithful in little will also be faithful in much. This means: keep your flesh pure and your seal undamaged in order to receive eternal life” (Clement of Rome. 2 Cor. 10). At the same time, they do not indicate where they took the quote from, but speak of it as if it had been known for a long time. Having conducted textual studies of the writings of the apostolic men, theologians came to the conclusion that they had all the books of the New Testament at their disposal. They knew the New Testament well and freely quoted from it without making references. Therefore, it can be assumed that the text of the Holy Scriptures was known to the readers of their messages.

In particular, references to the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament are found in the conciliar letter of the Apostle Barnabas, written no later than the 80s; in Clement of Rome in 1 Corinthians, written in 97; from Ignatius the God-Bearer in his epistle to various Churches; in the monument “Teaching of the 12 Apostles”, discovered in the 19th century, written around the year 120; in the "Shepherd" of Hermas (135–140); by Polycarp of Smyrna in the only letter to the Philippians that has reached us, written immediately after the death of Ignatius the God-Bearer (107-108); Papias of Hieropolis, a disciple of John the Theologian (1st half of the 2nd century), according to the testimony of the historian Eusebius, who wrote an explanation of the speeches of the Lord.

3rd period. The most important source for studying the composition of the sacred New Testament books of this period is the so-called Muratoriancanon , or excerpt. This monument was found in the Milan library by a professor at the University of Vienna, after whom it was named Moratorium. This document, which dates from the second half of the 2nd century, contains a list of the books of the New Testament that were read in the Western Church. These include: 4 Gospels, the book of Acts, 13 epistles of the Apostle Paul (except for the epistles to the Hebrews), the epistle of the Apostle Jude, the first epistle of John the Theologian and the Apocalypse. The epistles of the Apostle John the Theologian and the Apostle Peter are only mentioned, and there is no indication at all of the epistle of the Apostle James.

Another important document from this period is the Syriac translation of the holy books of the New Testament entitled " Pescito "(accessible, folk), widespread in the second half of the 2nd century in the Asia Minor and Syrian Churches. In it, the list of New Testament books of the Moratorium Canon is supplemented by the Epistle to the Hebrews and the Epistle of James, but the 2nd Epistle of the Apostle Peter, the 2nd and 3rd Epistle of the Apostle John, the Epistle of Jude and the Apocalypse are missing.

We find the richest historical information in the works of such remarkable church writers of this period as Irenaeus , bishop Lyonsky , Tertullian And Clement of Alexandria , as well as in the set of four canonical Gospels « Diatessaron» Tatiana , which arranged the texts in chronological order.

4th period. The most important source of this period is the writings of the outstanding student of Clement of Alexandria, teacher of the Church Origen. As a theological scholar, he devoted his entire life to the study of the Holy Scriptures, being an exponent of the traditions of the Alexandrian Church. According to the testimony of Origen, which is based on the tradition of the entire Church, all four Gospels, the book of the Acts of the Apostles, and all 14 epistles of the Apostle Paul are recognized as indisputable. In the Epistle to the Hebrews, the apostle, in his opinion, owns the very train of thought, while its expression and the composition of the speech refers to another person, who owns the record of what he heard from Paul. Origen speaks with praise of those Churches where this epistle is received as Paul's. “Because,” he says, “the ancients, not without reason, handed it down to us as Paul’s.”1 Recognizing the truth of the first epistle of Peter and the 1st epistle of John, as well as the Apocalypse, he does not consider other epistles generally accepted, although he recognizes them as divinely inspired. At this time, there were conflicting opinions about their authenticity, and they had not yet become widespread.

The testimony of a church historian is of extreme interest Eusebius of Caesarea , since he specifically studied the question of the authenticity of the New Testament books. He divided all the books he knew into 4 categories:

generally recognized- four Gospels, the book of the Acts of the Apostles, the “epistles of Paul,” 1st Peter, 1st John and, “if you wish,” the Apocalypse of John;

controversial- the epistles of James and Jude, second Peter, second and third epistle of John;

counterfeit- The Acts of Paul, the Apocalypse of Peter and, “if you like,” the Apocalypse of John, “The Shepherd” of Hermas, the Epistle of Barnabas;

absurd, profane, heretical- The Gospels of Peter, Thomas, Andrew and other texts.

Eusebius distinguishes between truly apostolic and ecclesiastical books - non-apostolic and heretical.

By the second half of the 4th century, the fathers and teachers of the Church, in the rules of Local Collections, recognized all 27 books of the New Testament as truly apostolic.

A list of books of the New Testament canon is available from Saint Athanasius the Great in his 39th Easter Epistle, in the 60th canon of the Council of Laodicea (364), the definitions of which were approved by the VI Ecumenical Council.

Valuable historical evidence is the heretical writings of Basilides, Ptolemy, Marcion and others, as well as the work of the pagan philosopher Celsus, filled with hatred of Christ, entitled “The True Word”. He borrowed all the material for attacks on Christianity from the texts of the Gospels, and verbatim extracts from them are often found.

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All topics in this section:

The concept of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament
The sacred books of the New Testament are books written by the holy apostles or their disciples at the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. They are the main awareness of Christian faith and morality, containing

A Brief History of the Sacred New Testament Text
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Concept of the Gospels
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Gospel of Matthew
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Gospel of Mark
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Gospel of Luke
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Gospel of John
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(John 3:22-36; 4:1-3) The Lord taught that without holy Baptism one cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. From Jerusalem He set out for Judea,

Conversation with the Samaritan woman
(John 4:1-42) After the imprisonment of John, Jesus Christ leaves Judea and goes to Galilee. The path of the Lord lay through Samaria, which was formerly part of the kingdom of Israel.

Healing the son of a courtier
(John 4:46-54) Returning to Galilee, Jesus again came to Cana of Galilee. Having learned about His arrival, a certain courtier from Capernaum

Sermon at the Nazareth Synagogue
(Luke 46-30; Matt. 13:54-58; Mark 6:1-6) The path of Jesus Christ through Galilee ran through the city of Nazareth, where He spent His childhood. It was Saturday afternoon

Election of four disciples
(Matthew 4:13-22; Mark 1:16-21; Luke 4:31-32; 5:1-11) After preaching in the Nazareth synagogue, Jesus Christ went to Capernaum and settled

Healing of a demoniac in the Capernaum synagogue
(Luke 4:31-37; Mark 1:21-28) In Capernaum, Jesus Christ performed many miracles, among which special mention should be made of the healing of demoniacs

Healing of Simon's mother-in-law and other sick people in Capernaum
(Matt. 8, 14-17; Mark 1, 29-34; Luke 4, 38-44) From the synagogue, Jesus Christ and His disciples went to the house of Simon Peter, where he healed him

Healing a leper
(Matt. 8:1-4; Mark 1:40-45; Luke 5:12-16) Of particular relevance to the public ministry of the Savior is His healing of the leper, who,

Healing of the paralytic in Capernaum
(Matt. 9:1-8; Mark 2:1-12; Luke 5:17-26) The journey through Galilee came to an end, and Jesus returned to Capernaum. He was alone in the house

Jesus Christ about His Sonship of God
(John 5:1-47) It was already the second Easter of the public ministry of Jesus Christ. The evangelists Matthew and Mark narrate that the disciples of Christ

The Teaching of the Sabbath and the Healing of a Withered Hand
(Mk. 2, 23-28; 3, 1-12; Matt. 12, 1-21; Luke 6, 1-11) The miracle of healing of the withered man in the synagogue is closely related to the teaching of Jesus Christ about honoring the Sabbath. Scribes

Sermon on the Mount
(Luke 6, 17-49; Matt. 4, 23-7, 29) After Jesus Christ chose twelve apostles and descended with them from the place where he had previously prayed, he

Saying from the salt of the earth, about the light of the world
(Matt. 5:13-16; Mark 9:50; Luke 14:34-35; Mark 4:21; Luke 8:16, 11, 33) Jesus Christ compares the apostles, closest disciples and all Christians with salt. "IN

The attitude of Jesus Christ to the Old Testament
(Matthew 5:17-20; Luke 16-17) Jesus Christ did not come to take away the power of the law, but to fulfill all its requirements, to put into practice what the prophets predicted

Alms
“Be careful not to do your alms before people,” says Christ. It does not follow from this, however, that He forbids doing alms and other good deeds in the presence of people. Refusal

About prayer
Vanity and pride surround us even when we pray, especially if we are in church. This does not mean, however, that prayer meetings should be avoided: Christ forbids such prayer.

About the post
During the days of fasting, the Pharisees did not wash, comb or oil their hair; they put on old clothes and sprinkled themselves with ashes; in a word, they did everything to give the appearance of fasting. The people believed them

Don't judge
Reproach and condemnation of one's neighbors is a very common sin. A person infected with this sin takes pleasure in reviewing all the actions of his acquaintances, seeing in them the slightest sins or

Healing of the centurion's servant. Miracles in Capernaum and Nain
(Matthew 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10) Soon after the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus Christ entered Capernaum. Here He was met by an embassy from the centurion in charge of

Resurrection of the son of the Nain widow
(Luke 7:11-18) “After this (that is, after the healing of the centurion’s servant), ¾ says the Evangelist, ¾ Jesus went to a city called Nain, and

And the testimony of the Lord about John
(Matthew 11:2-19; ​​Luke 7:18-35) The resurrection of the son of the widow of Nain, as the Evangelist Luke testifies, became the reason for John the Baptist to send to Jesus

Supper in the house of Simon the Pharisee
(Luke 7:36-50) Around the same time as the Baptist’s embassy to Christ, one of the Pharisees named Simon invited

Healing the demon-possessed blind and dumb
(Matthew 12:22-50; Mark 3:20-35; Luke 11:14-36; 8:19-21) The miracles performed by the Lord increasingly turned the hearts of ordinary people to Him. This worried the Pharisee

Teaching in Parables
(Matthew 13:1-52; Mark 4:1-34; Luke 8:4-18) After His travels through Galilee, Jesus Christ returned each time to Capernaum, located on the northern coast of

Parable of the Sower
(Matthew 13:1-23; Mark 4:1-20; Luke 8:5-15) Sailing from the shore, Christ taught the people, telling them the parable of the sower. “Behold, a sower went out to sow.” The seed here means

Parable of the Wheat and Tares
(Matthew 13:24-30; 36-43) The Kingdom of God is spreading throughout the world, it is growing like wheat sown in a field. Each member of this Kingdom is like an ear of corn

Mustard seed1
It is likened to a mustard seed, which, although small, if it falls into good soil, grows to a huge size. So the word of God about the Kingdom of Heaven, sown in the hearts of people

A treasure hidden in a field. Pearl of Great Price
The meaning of these parables is this: the Kingdom of God is the highest and most precious gift for a person, for the acquisition of which a person should not spare anything.

Miraculous cessation of a storm at sea
(Matt. 8:23-27; Mark 4:35-41; Luke 8:22-25) Soon after leaving Capernaum, tired from the day's labors, Jesus fell asleep at the stern of the ship. And at this time

Healing of the Gadarene demoniacs
(Matt. 8, 28-34; Mark 5, 1-20; Luke 8, 26-40) In the land of Gadarene or Gergesin (interpreters believe that the latter name was included in the manuscripts of Origen

Resurrection of the Synagogue Leader's Daughter
(Matt. 9, 26 - 36; Mark 5, 22; Luke 8, 41 - 56) The Lord performed these two miracles, which the weather forecasters talk about, upon his return to Capernaum. The beginning of a miracle

Healing in Galilee
(Matthew 9: 27 - 38) Jesus Christ had just left Jairus’s house when two blind men followed Him, asking to heal them. In response to their request, Christ asks:

Apostleship
(Luke 9, 1 - 6; Mark 6, 7 - 13; Matt. 9, 35 - 38; 10, 1 - 42) Before sending his disciples to preach the Gospel, Christ gave them the power to heal

In this miracle, as in all miracles, God's mercy towards people was demonstrated
Having performed this miracle before His disciples, Christ not only showed His mercy and saved them from death, revealed to them His omnipotence, but also showed that by faith in the God-man and Ruler of the world and to them

Discourse on the Bread of Life
In the morning, the people who remained in the place where the blessing, breaking and multiplication of bread had taken place the day before found neither Jesus nor His disciples there. Taking advantage of the boat that came from Tiberias

Reply to the Pharisees
(Matthew 15:1-20; Mark 7:1-23; John 7:1) The miraculous feeding of the people, according to the testimony of the Evangelist John, took place shortly before Easter. "After this Jesus moved

Healing the demon-possessed daughter of a Canaanite woman
(Matthew 15:21-28; Mark 7:24-30) Christ was forced to leave Capernaum and retire from Galilee to the borders of Tire and Sidon in order to stop the indignation and murmur that

Healing the deaf and tongue-tied
(Mark 7:31-35) “Coming out of the borders of Tire and Sidon, Jesus again went to the Sea of ​​Galilee through the borders of the Decapolis. A deaf and tongue-tied man was brought to Him

Response to the Pharisees and Sadducees to the demand for a sign
(Matthew 15:9-16; Mark 8:10-12) After the miraculous feeding of 4000 men, which took place on the eastern side of the Sea of ​​Galilee, Jesus Christ crosses to

Healing of the blind man in Bethsaida
(Mark 8:22-26) While in Bethsaida - Julia, Christ healed a blind man. After the first laying of the hands of the Savior on him, the blind man, who was not born as such,

Confession of Peter
(Matt. 16, 13-28; Mark 8, 27-38; 9.1; Luke 9, 18-27) Evangelists Matthew and Mark agree in the description of this event, which took place in the vicinity of Caesarea Philippi (so he

His suffering, death and resurrection
(Matt. 16:21-23; Mark 8:31-33; Luke 9:22) From that time on, Jesus spoke openly to His disciples, explaining by what kind of death He must die. He still

Doctrine of the Way of the Cross
(Matthew 16:24-28; Mark 8:34-38; Luke 9:23-26) After these words, the Lord called the people to Himself, and to all those gathered He said: “Whoever wants to come after Me has opened

Transfiguration of the Lord
(Matthew 17:1-13; Mark 9:2-13; Luke 9:28-36) Evangelists testify that this event occurred six days after the confession of the Apostle Peter. Preobra

Conversation with students during the descent from the Mount of Transfiguration
(Matt. 17:9-13; Mark 9:9-13; Luke 9:36) The morning of the next day came, and the Lord, together with the disciples, eyewitnesses of His glorious Transfiguration, returned to the village where they

Healing a demon-possessed lunatic youth
(Matthew 17, 14-21; Mark 9, 14-29; Luke 9, 37-42) Evangelist Matthew describes this event as follows: “When they (that is, Christ and those who accompanied Him to Tabor Pet

About humility, love and mercy
(Matthew 18:1-35; Mark 9:33-50; Luke 9:46-50) The earthly life of Jesus Christ was coming to an end. In a manifestation of spirit and power, His Kingdom was soon to be revealed.

Instructions to the Seventy Apostles
(Luke 10:2-16; Matthew 11:20-24) The instructions given to the Seventy Apostles are very similar to the instructions given to the Twelve Apostles, which is explained

Return of the Seventy Apostles
(Luke 10:17-24) Returning from the sermon, the apostles rushed to the Teacher, to whom they hastened to inform about its successful completion, and also that the demons were obeying them.

Jesus Christ's answers to the lawyer who tempted Him
(Luke 10:25-37) A certain lawyer came to Jesus Christ, having heard the Lord’s conversation about the saving burden. He tried to find out if Jesus X was in this teaching

Jesus Christ in Bethany in the house of Mary and Martha
(Luke 10:38-42) From the narrative of the Evangelist John we learn that the village in which Martha and Mary lived and where Jesus came

Sample prayer and teaching about its power
(Luke 11:1-13; Matt. 6:9-13; 7:7-11) At the request of the disciples, Jesus Christ gives them a second example of prayer (the “Our Father” prayer). Persistent prayer

Refutation of the Pharisees and lawyers at a dinner with a Pharisee
(Luke 11:37-54) A certain Pharisee invited Jesus Christ to his place for dinner. According to Eastern custom, sanctified by legend, one had to wash oneself before and after eating.

Teaching about covetousness and wealth
(Luke 12:13-59) Someone from the crowd of people surrounding Jesus Christ, listening to his denunciation of the Pharisees, turned to Him with a question about how he could share with his brother what he had inherited.

Stay of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem
(John 7:10-53) Jesus Christ came to Jerusalem “not openly, but as if secretly,” that is, not in a solemn atmosphere. If only He had listened to the advice brother

Sinner before the Judgment of Christ
(John 8:1−11) After spending the night in prayer on the Mount of Olives, in the morning the Lord again came to the temple and taught. The scribes and Pharisees, wanting to find a reason to accuse Him, brought women

Conversation of Jesus Christ with the Jews in the Temple
(John 8:12-59) The Savior begins this conversation with the words: “I am the light of the world.” Just as the pillar of fire in the Old Testament showed the Jews the way from Egypt to a better place.

Jesus Christ healing a man born blind on Saturday
(John 9:1-41) Coming out of the temple, Jesus Christ saw a man blind from birth. The disciples asked him about the reason for this man's blindness: were they his personal sins or

Conversation on the Good Shepherd
(John 10:1-21) Palestine has been a land of cattle breeders since ancient times. The entire way of life of the Jewish people was connected with shepherd life. It is no coincidence that the Lord chooses for

Healing a woman in the synagogue on Saturday
(Luke 13:1-17) One day they told the Lord about the Galileans, whose blood Pilate mixed with their sacrifices. Jews often opposed Roman rule and it was probably

Conversation on the holiday of Renewal
(John 10:22-42) This holiday was established by Judas Maccabee 160 years before the Nativity of Christ in memory of the renewal, cleansing and consecration of the Jerusalem Temple, desecrated

And the teaching of Christ in the house of the Pharisee
(Luke 14:1-35) At a dinner with one of the leaders of the Pharisees, a man suffering from water sickness approached Jesus. Then Christ asked the Pharisees if it was possible to heal in dry

About the small number of those being saved
(Luke 13:23-30) On the way back from the Trans-Jordan country to Jerusalem, someone asked Jesus: “Are there really few who are being saved?” He replied: “Strive to enter through the narrow

Trial of the Pharisees
(Luke 13:31-35) When the dinner at the Pharisee's house was drawing to a close, those present reported that Herod Antipas, who reigned in this area, intended to kill Him. But even here from the State

Parables of the Pharisees
(Luke 15:1-32) Among the crowd that followed Jesus Christ were publicans and sinners. The fact that the Lord entered into communication with them tempted the Pharisees, for whom even touching

Advice to Students
(Luke 16:1-13) Having denounced the Pharisees, Christ turns to His followers with the parable of the steward. A certain gentleman had a housekeeper to whom everything was entrusted

Healing of ten lepers
(Luke 17:11-19) The days of the taking of the Son of God from the world were approaching. “He wanted to go to Jerusalem,” says the Evangelist Luke. His path lay through the villages that were found

Answer to the Pharisees about the time of the coming of the Kingdom of God
(Luke 17:20-21) During one of the rest stops, the Pharisees approached Jesus Christ and asked Him when the Kingdom of God would come? According to their concepts, the coming of this kingdom

Marriage and the high dignity of virginity
(Matt. 19:1-12; Mark 10:1-12) Apparently, the teaching of Jesus Christ on marriage, which He sets out as an answer to the tempting question of the Pharisee, should also be attributed to this journey

Blessing of children
(Matt. 19, 13-16; Mark 10, 13-16; Luke 18, 15-17) Believing that God fulfills the prayers of holy people, many mothers brought their children to Jesus Christ so that He would pray for them

Reply to the rich young man
(Matt. 19, 16-26; Mark 10, 17-27; Luke 18-27) On the way to Jerusalem, a rich young man approached Jesus, who led a pious life, fulfilled the commandments of Moses, but did so outwardly

Answer of the Apostle Peter
(Matthew 19:27-20; Mark 10:29-30; Luke 18:28-30) Hearing these words, the disciples were greatly amazed and said: “So who can be saved?” This is impossible for a person, answer

Raising Lazarus
(John 11:1-44) While Jesus was in the Trans-Jordan country, Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary, who lived in Bethany, fell ill. Saddened, they sent to Christ so that

Removal of Jesus Christ to Ephraim
(John 11:45-57) The resurrection of Lazarus had such a strong impact, since many eyewitnesses of this miracle spread the news of it to all ends of Judea, that, having learned about it,

Prediction of Jesus Christ about His death and resurrection
(Matthew 20:17-28; Mark 10:32-45; Luke 18:31-34) Jesus Christ walked ahead, but the disciples followed Him in fear and trembling. Having recalled the apostles, He told them that in Jerusalem

Healing two blind men
(Matt. 20, 29-34; Mark 10, 46-52; Luke 18, 35-43) This miracle, according to the testimony of the evangelists Matthew and Mark, took place when leaving the city of Jericho, and, according to the testimony of the Gospel

Visit to Zacchaeus' house
(Luke 19:1-10) Zacchaeus was the chief of the publicans of the Jericho district and had great wealth, acquired by unrighteous means; The Jews hated tax collectors, including Zacchaeus.

The Parable of the Mines
(Luke 19:11-28) Jesus Christ was approaching Jerusalem. Those who accompanied Him expected that in Jerusalem He would declare Himself the King of Israel, and that what the Jews had expected would finally come

Supper at the House of Simon the Leper
(John 12:1-11; Matt. 26:6-13; Mark 14:3-9) Six days before Easter, Jesus Christ arrived in Bethany. Here in the house of Simon the leper a supper was prepared for Him, at which

Path to Jerusalem
(Matt. 21, 1-9; Mark 11, 1-10; Luke 12, 29-44; John 12, 12-19) The next day after the supper in the house of Simon the leper, Jesus Christ went from Bethany to Jerusalem. Settlement,

Entrance to the Jerusalem Temple
(Matthew 21:10-11; 14-17; Mark 11:11) The Lord’s entry into Jerusalem was accompanied by great celebration. Having entered the city, He goes to the temple and here heals the sick. Frightened Pharisee

The Greeks' Desire to See Jesus
(John 12:20-22) Among those who came to the holiday in Jerusalem were Hellenes (i.e. Greeks). They turned to the disciples of Jesus Christ, expressing a desire to see Him. To faith in Him they would

Barren fig tree. Expulsion of merchants from the temple
(Mark 11:12-29; Matt. 21:12-13; 18-19; Luke 19:45-48) The next morning, Jesus Christ was walking to Jerusalem and got hungry along the way. Not far away He saw fig trees

Disciple about the withered fig tree
(Mark 11:20-26; Matt. 21:20-22) On the third day, Jesus went to Jerusalem with his disciples. And so the disciples, passing by the fig tree cursed by Him, saw that

About His power to do what He does
(Matt. 21, 23-22; Mark 11, 27-12; Luke 20, 1-19) The next day, Tuesday, Jesus Christ was again in the temple, and while He was teaching the people, people came to Him

Parable of the obedient and disobedient son
(Matthew 21:28-32) In it, Jesus Christ condemns the unbelief of the scribes and high priests. The parable is about a man who had two sons. One of them boldly opens

Parable of the Evil Vinegrowers
(Matt. 21:33-46; Mark 12:1-12; Luke 20:9-19) In this parable, the Lord shows even more clearly the unbelief of the scribes and high priests. From the first parable it follows,

Parable about the marriage of the king's son
(Matthew 22:1-14) In terms of content and edifying thought, this parable is similar to the parable of those invited to the supper and stands in direct connection with the parable of the evil grapes

Reply to the Pharisees and Herodians
(Mark 12:14; 18-21) The high priests and Pharisees were only looking for an excuse to seize and kill Jesus Christ. This time they asked the Savior this question:

Reply to the Sadducees
(Matt. 22, 23-33; Mark 12, 18-27; Luke 20, 27-40) After the Pharisees and Herodians, the Sadducees, who denied the resurrection of the dead, approached Jesus Christ. Based on

Reply to the lawyer
(Matthew 22:34-40; Mark 12:28-34) After this, the Pharisees again tried to tempt Jesus Christ, and asked Him the following question through a lawyer: “what is the most

Defeat of the Pharisees
(Matt. 22, 41-46; 22, 1-39; Mark 12, 35-40; Luke 20, 40-47) Despite three unsuccessful attempts to catch Jesus Christ at his word, the Pharisees did not leave Him. Then

Praise for the Widow's Diligence
(Mark 12:4-44; Luke 21:1-4) After an accusatory speech against the Pharisees and scribes, Jesus Christ left the temple and, stopping at the door of the so-called two

And about the second coming
(Matthew 24:1-25; Mark 13:1-37; Luke 21:5-38) The prophecy of Jesus Christ about the destruction of the Jerusalem temple was incomprehensible to the disciples of the Lord, for they could not

About being awake
(Matt. 24, 42-25, 46; Mark 13, 34; Luke 21, 34-38) Jesus Christ calls His followers to constant vigilance. On this occasion He says three

Last Supper
(Matt. 26, 17-29; Mark 14, 12-25; Luke 22, 7-30; John 13, 1-30) All four evangelists tell about the last Easter Supper of the Lord with His disciples on the eve of His Cross

Farewell conversation of Jesus Christ with his disciples
(Matt. 26, 30-35; Mark 14, 26-31; Luke 22, 31-39; John 13, 31-16, 33) All four evangelists talk about it, and the first three convey only a prediction about

High Priestly Prayer of Jesus Christ
(John 17:1-26) Having finished his farewell conversation with his disciples, Jesus Christ approached the stream of Kidron. To cross this stream ¾ meant to betray oneself into the hands of

Betrayal of Judas
The Lord and his disciples returned to the place where they had left the other disciples. At this time, Judas the traitor entered the garden with soldiers and servants of the Sanhedrin, who walked, lighting the way with lanterns and

Taking Jesus Christ into custody
The unexpectedness of such an answer and the power of the Spirit of the Savior struck the warriors, they retreated and fell to the ground. At this time, students approached the crowd and wanted to protect their Teacher. Someone even asked:

Jesus Christ before the court of the Sanhedrin
(Matt. 26:59-75; Mark 14:53-72; Luke 22:54-71; John 18:13-27) Under guard, Jesus was taken to Jerusalem to the retired high priest Annas, Caiaphas’ father-in-law. From afar

Jesus Christ at the trial of Pilate and Herod
(Matt. 27, 1-2; 11-30; Mark 15, 1-19; Luke 23, 1-25; John 18, 28-19, 16) 1) The first trial of Pilate From the time

Second trial before Pilate
Referring to the fact that Herod did not find anything in Jesus worthy of death, Pilate invites the high priests, scribes and people to release Him after punishment. So he will calculate

Suffering on the cross and death of Jesus Christ
(Matt. 27, 31-56; Mark 15, 20-41; Luke 23, 26-49; John 19, 16-37) “And when they mocked him, they took off the scarlet robe from him and clothed him in his garments , and they led Him

Attaching guards to the tomb
(Matthew 27:62-66) On Friday, the day of the Lord’s death, His enemies could not take care to assign a guard to the tomb, for the burial was too late

Morning of the first Sunday
(Matt. 28:1-15; Mark 16:1-11; Luke 24:1-12; John 20:1-18) After the Sabbath, on the morning of the first day of the week, the Angel of the Lord descended from heaven and rolled away the stone from

First Sunday evening
(Luke 24, 12-49; Mark 16, 12-18; John 20, 19-25) That same day in the evening, two disciples (one of whom was Cleopas), not included in the group

Second appearance of the risen Christ to the apostles and Thomas
(John 20:24-29) During the first appearance of the Lord to the disciples, the Apostle Thomas was not among them, who experienced the death of the Teacher on the cross more than the other apostles. The decline of his spirit

The appearance of the risen Lord to the disciples in Galilee
(Matt. 28, 16-20; Mark 16, 15-18; Luke 24, 46-49) “The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus commanded them, and when they saw Him, they worshiped Him, and And

Ascension of the Lord
(Luke 24, 49-53 Mark 16, 19-20) The last appearance of the risen Christ the Savior, which ended with His ascension into heaven, is described in more detail by the Evangelist Luke. This is JAV

About the eternal birth and incarnation of the Son of God. Prophecies about the birth of the Messiah: prophets Micah, Isaiah
3. 1.A brief history of the text of the New Testament books. Ancient manuscripts. 2. Events leading up to the Nativity of Christ; Annunciation of Elizabeth, Nativity of John the Baptist. Etc

Christians from the very beginning possessed the Scriptures: as is known, the Bible of early Christian communities was Jewish books distributed outside Palestine in a Greek translation called the Septuagint. Christian writing itself, as we know, appears no later than the 50s of the 1st century, when the Apostle Paul sent his messages to Christian communities founded by him or falling within the sphere of his activity. However, neither Paul nor the writers of our gospels took up their pen with the intention of creating sacred or canonical books. The early Christian texts themselves make no claim to being Holy Scripture. How did it happen that part of early Christian literature, written in the 1st and 2nd centuries, received the status of Holy Scripture and constituted a separate collection from Jewish books - the canon of the New Testament? The opinions of researchers who have tried to answer these questions differ quite widely. The history of the canon remains one of the most difficult areas of New Testament scholarship.

The Greek word “canon” comes from the word “kane” (reed, reed), borrowed from the Semitic language environment. The word “canon” originally meant “rod” and then, in the order of figurative meanings, “plumb line”, “ruler for graphing”, “rule, norm”, “measure, sample”; in the plural, this word acquired the meaning of tables (mathematical, astronomical, chronological). Alexandrian philologists of the 2nd century BC called the lists of exemplary Greek writers they compiled (5 epics, 5 tragedians, 9 lyricists) “canons”. Thus, in the use of this word among the Alexandrians, two elements of meaning converged: “substantive norm” and “formal list”. Both of these semantic elements are also realized when the concept of “canon” is attributed to the New Testament, a collection of the Holy Scriptures of the Christian Church, which was first attested in the middle of the 4th century, when this collection itself had existed for quite a long time. Thus, Canon 59 of the Council of Laodicea prohibits reading “uncanonized books” in church. As for the texts included in the New Testament, in them the word “canon” is used by Paul in the meaning of “rule” (Gal. 6:16) and “evaluation criterion” (2 Cor. 10:13). In church usage 2-3 centuries, “canon” in the sense of “verbal formulation of a norm” is included in the terms “rule of truth” and “rule of faith.” They denoted both the basic content of the faith and the formulation of its main truths in religious texts (for example, the baptismal creed). Since the 4th century, the decisions of church councils, previously called "oroi" or "dogma", began to be called "canones". In addition, already for the Council of Nicaea the use of the word “canon” in the meaning of “an official list of clergy serving in a given diocese” is attested.

The Talmud records the tradition that the holiness of each book of the Old Testament was determined by one of the prophets. In addition to them, the Men of the Great Council, members of a kind of doctrinal commission of the Second Temple period, were also recognized as fixers of the canon. This tradition is undoubtedly older than the Talmud, and many interpreters of the patristic period relied on it to one degree or another. The Christian teaching about a living, growing Organism (Body) is more consistent not with the idea of ​​a directive definition of the canon, but with the idea of ​​its gradual formation; moreover, there is no reliable historical data about a clear moment of completion of the canon in antiquity. The canon grew organically and providentially from church life itself. The inspiration of the books of the Bible was determined by their compliance with the integral primordial Tradition of the Church. S. Bulgakov notes: “In the history of the Church, the recognition of the Word of God and testimony about it is also the emergence of the sacred canon, which, however, does not prescribe for the first time in the form of an external law the recognition or non-recognition of certain sacred books, but rather testifies to the already accomplished church acceptance, expresses and legitimizes it as having reached complete clarity in the Church. The role of the church authority, the council of bishops expressing the consciousness of the Church, here is only to find the correct, unwavering expression of what is already given in life and is in consciousness, given by the Holy Spirit, moving the life of the Church.” In other words, Christianity perceived the process of canonization itself as divine-human, occurring under the influence of the Spirit of God.

In addition to external influence, we should identify the criteria that guided the ancient Christians when determining the possibility of including this or that book in such a collection. The ancient fathers sometimes used more or less definite grounds for establishing canonicity. They have been formulated differently at different times and in different places, and yet most often the authors consciously referred to the following. One of the criteria was related to the theological content of the book, and the other two were historical in nature and concerned the authorship and recognition of the book in the Church. Firstly, the main prerequisite for classifying a text as canonical was its compliance with what was called the “rule of faith,” that is, the basic Christian traditions that were considered the norm in the Church. In the Old Testament, the word of the prophet had to be tested not only by the fact that it came true, but also by whether its content corresponded to the foundations of the Israeli faith; so in the New Testament, every scripture that claimed to be recognized was examined from the point of view of meaning. The compiler of the canon Muratori warned against “mixing bile with honey.” He resolutely rejects the writings of heretics, as they were rejected by Irenaeus, Tertullian and Agrippa Castor in the time of Hadrian. It seems clear that by the time 2 and 3 John appeared, strong views on the incarnation had already formed in certain circles, widespread enough to be reflected in the canon. In addition, the “true stories” in the Pastoral Epistles, although they cannot be considered canon in any sense. They say that people sought to separate the true and the false. Secondly, another criterion used by a book to determine whether it could be included in the New Testament was the question of its apostolic origin. When the compiler of the canon, Muratori, protests against accepting The Shepherd into the canon, he points out that the book was written very recently and therefore cannot be placed “among the prophets, whose number has been brought to fullness, or among the apostles.” Since "prophets" here means the Old Testament, the expression "apostles" is practically equivalent to the New Testament. Thus, the apostolic origin of the book, real or imagined, created the prerequisites for it to be perceived as authoritative. It is clear that the letter attributed to the Apostle Paul had a much greater chance of such recognition than a text whose author was called, for example, the Montanist Themiso. The significance of Mark and Luke was ensured by the fact that in church tradition they were associated with the apostles Peter and Paul. Moreover, in the Muratori canon one can see a very healthy desire to see the authority of the apostle not in dogmatic infallibility. When the author speaks of the historical books of the New Testament, he refers to the personal qualities of their authors as direct witnesses or faithful chroniclers. Thirdly, the criterion for the authority of a book was that it was recognized and widely used in the Church. This was based on the principle that a book that has been accepted for a long time in many Churches has a much stronger position than one that has been accepted only in a few communities, and not for a very long time. This principle was proclaimed by Augustine and reinforced by Jerome, who emphasized the importance of the eminence and antiquity of the author: “It does not matter who wrote the Epistle to the Hebrews, for in any case it is the work of a church writer, which is constantly read in churches.” In the West, the Epistle to the Hebrews was denied, The East did not accept the Apocalypse, but Jerome himself recognized both books on the basis that ancient writers quote both as canonical. These three criteria helped churches recognize books of authority for the entire church and have not been revised since the second century.

The New Testament canon developed gradually. Its clarification took place in the struggle for the gospel truth against Gnosticism and other false teachings. The early collections of the epistles of the Apostle Paul already testify (2 Peter 3:15-16), and they are placed in the category of Scriptures. Although in ancient manuscripts the order of messages is often different, its composition is constant. The first canon of the New Testament recorded in history belonged to the heretic Marcion (about 140), but this canon was considered by contemporaries as truncated; consequently, the Christian world knew a larger number of sacred books of the New Testament (Marcion had only the abbreviated Gospel of Luke and 10 epistles of the Apostle Paul). Soon the set of 4 gospels was finally consolidated, as evidenced by Tatian, Irenaeus of Lyons, Clement of Alexandria and others. From the so-called Muratorian canon it is clear that at the end of the 2nd century the New Testament canon was already completed in general terms, although several books that were later rejected were still included in it (the letter of the Apostle Paul to the Laodiceans and Alexandrians, the Apocalypse of Peter, the Shepherd of Hermas), and Heb. , James, 1 Peter, Jude, Rev. were absent. A list of Christian scriptures compiled in Rome. (It was discovered in 1740 by the Italian researcher Muratori, therefore it is usually called the “Muratori Canon”. It does not have a beginning, but one can understand that the New Testament Gospels are included in it: the author of the list specifically stipulates that the 4 gospels agree with each other. Mentioned in the list the acts of all the apostles, which were in circulation in the 2nd century.) Clement of Alexandria not only recognized 2 Peter, Jude, Rev., but considered the Shepherd of Hermas to be canonical. Origen accepted the canonicity of Heb. But he considered his attribution controversial. We find in him references not only to the canonical books of the New Testament, but also to the Didache, the Shepherd of Hermas, and the Epistle of Barnabas, although it is difficult to understand whether he considered them as part of the New Testament canon. The most important critical work to clarify the canon was undertaken by Eusebius of Caesarea. He divided the books purporting to be included in the New Testament into three categories: generally accepted, controversial, and spurious. According to the acts of the Council of Laodicea, around 363 the reading of the Apocrypha was prohibited. In St. Athanasius the Great we find for the first time the New Testament canon in the form in which it is accepted today (Epistle 39). But even after him, some hesitations regarding the canon of the New Testament in patristic writing remained. The acts of the Council of Laodicea, Cyril of Jerusalem and Gregory the Theologian do not mention the book of Revelation in their list: St. Philaster did not include Heb. , and Ephraim the Syrian still considered the 3rd letter of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians to be canonical. In the West, African councils of the 4th century, St. Augustine give a complete list of the canonical books of the New Testament, which corresponds to the current one.

In modern science, two sharply defined and mutually exclusive theories have emerged, designed to explain the reasons that led to the creation of the New Testament - a collection of Christian sacred texts that exists alongside the Jewish scripture and has greater normative authority than the Jewish books accepted by the Church. Both of these theories arose at the end of the 19th century. Theodore Zahn, the author of fundamental studies on the history of the New Testament canon, was a proponent of early dating. Tsang formulated the point of view according to which the first versions of the New Testament canon appeared already at the beginning of the 2nd century: they arose with internal necessity as a result of the natural formation of the Christian Church. From the facts he established and analyzed, “it follows that long before the year 140, throughout the entire universal Church, along with the Scriptures of the Old Testament, a collection of 4 gospels, as well as a selection of 13 epistles of Paul, were read, and that some other texts were given the same dignity - Rev., Acts, and in certain parts of the Church and Heb., 1 Peter, James, the Epistles of John, and possibly also the Didache.” The famous church historian and theologian Adolf von Harnack entered into a discussion with Zahn. He outlined his views on the history of the New Testament canon in several works, among which his book “Marcion: The Gospel of a Strange God” is especially important. In his opinion, Marcion was the first to propose the idea of ​​a new, purely Christian Holy Scripture, and he was the first to create a two-part plan for this Scripture: the gospel and the apostle. For Harnack, Marcion's canon was new not in the sense that it replaced the collection of Christian sacred texts that the Church already possessed, but it was new because it was called upon to replace the canonical books generally recognized in the church - the Hebrew Bible. It can be noted: Tsang and Harnack, when constructing their theories, proceeded from the same factual data, but they valued them differently, since they used different concepts of canonicity. For Tsang, reading the text during worship was already equivalent to its canonical status. As for Harnack, he understood canonicity more strictly - as the belonging of a certain Christian work to a collection that has the highest normative authority in the Church. Model. Canonicity for Harnack was the status of Scripture in the Jewish community. He rightly believed that the concepts of “doctrinal authority” and “canonicity” are not identical. By the middle of the 2nd century, the Church did not possess such a purely Christian canon - modern researchers agree with Harnack on this. Harnack's conclusion that all three constitutive components of the "early Catholic Church" - the canon of the New Testament, the rule of faith and the hierarchy - arose in response to the activities of Marcion is called into question.

The first version of the “orthodox” canon of the New Testament emerged towards the end of the 2nd century, especially thanks to the efforts of Irenaeus of Lyons to combat “heresies”, primarily Marcionism and Gnosticism. Irenaeus adopted the two-part structure created by Marcion. In the “gospel” part, the canon of Irenaeus contains Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. It is in Irenaeus that we find the first clear indication of the Four Gospels as a “closed list,” a completed collection consisting of four different gospel works. Justifying this new approach, Irenaeus even tries to prove that the presence in the Church of four, and only four, gospel works is predetermined by God and follows from the very structure of the universe. Indeed, the novelty of what Irenaeus did is obvious. After all, neither Marcion nor Tatian had yet perceived the Gospel texts themselves as sacred. Therefore, Marcion decisively shortened the text of Luke, and Tatian, who knew all four of our gospels, decided to replace them with his own compilation.

The Canon of Irenaeus reflects the ecclesiastical consensus in Gaul, Rome, and probably Asia Minor, where Irenaeus was from. A reconstruction of the text of the Muratori canon shows that this list also contained our four gospels in their present sequence. The same composition and number of gospels accepted by the Church are evidenced by Tertullian for Carthage and Clement of Alexandria for Egypt (early 3rd century). In the later stages of the formation of the New Testament, in the 3rd and 4th centuries, this part of the canon was no longer subject to change.

Lezov S. “History and hermeneutics in the study of the New Testament.” M., 1999. Pp. 372.

Lezov S. “History and hermeneutics in the study of the New Testament.” M., 1999. Pp. 373. Lezov S. “History and hermeneutics in the study of the New Testament.” M., 1999. Pp. 382.

Consists of 27 books. The concept of “New Testament” was first used in the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah. The Apostle Paul spoke about the New Testament in the First and Second Epistles to the Corinthians. The concept was introduced into Christian theology by Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian and Origen.

Gospels and Acts

Council Epistles:

Epistles of the Apostle Paul:

Revelation of the Apostle John the Theologian:

The books of the New Testament are strictly classified into four categories:

• Legal books.(All Gospels)
• Historical books.(Acts of the Holy Apostles)
• Educational books.(Conciliar Epistles and all the Epistles of the Apostle Paul)
• Prophetic books.(Apocalypse or Revelation of John the Theologian)

The time of creation of the texts of the New Testament.

The time of creation of the books of the New Testament - middle1st century – end of 1st century. The books of the New Testament are not arranged in chronological order. The epistles of the holy Apostle Paul were written first, the works of John the Theologian were the last.

The language of the New Testament.

The texts of the New Testament were written in the common language of the eastern Mediterranean - KOINE Greek. Later, the texts of the New Testament were translated from Greek into Latin, Syriac and Aramaic. In the II-III centuries. It was believed among early textual scholars that the Gospel of Matthew was written in Aramaic and the Epistle to the Hebrews in Hebrew, but this view has not been confirmed. There is a small group of modern scholars who believe that the texts of the New Testament were originally written in Aramaic and then translated into Koine, but many textual studies say otherwise.

Canonization of the Books of the New Testament

The canonization of the New Testament lasted almost three centuries. The Church became concerned with the canonization of the New Testament in the middle of the 2nd century. There was a specific reason for this - it was necessary to resist the widespread Gnostic teachings. Moreover, there was no talk of canonization in the 1st century due to the constant persecution of Christian communities. Theological reflection begins around 150.

Let's define the main milestones of the canonization of the New Testament.

Canon Muratori

According to the Muratori canon dating back to the year 200, the New Testament did not include:

• Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews
• Both Epistles of Peter
• Third Epistle of John
• Epistle of James.

But the Apocalypse of Peter, which is now considered an apocrypha, was considered the canonical text.

By the end of the 3rd century, the Canon of the Gospels was adopted.

The books of the New Testament were canonized by the Christian Church at the Ecumenical Councils. Only two books from the New Testament were accepted into the canon, with some problems:

• Revelation of John the Theologian (due to the mystical nature of the narrative);
• One of the Epistles of the Apostle Paul (due to doubts about authorship)

The Church Council of 364 approved the New Testament in the amount of 26 books. The Apocalypse of John the Evangelist was not included in the canon.

The canon took shape in its final form in 367. Athanasius the Great in his 39th Easter Epistle lists 27 books of the New Testament.

It should certainly be mentioned that, in addition to certain theological characteristics of the texts included in the canon, the canonization of the New Testament was influenced by a geographical factor. Thus, the New Testament included writings that were kept in the churches of Greece and Asia Minor.

A large number of works of Christian literature of the 1st-2nd centuries. were considered apocryphal.

Manuscripts of the New Testament.

Interesting fact: the number of manuscripts of the New Testament is many times greater than that of any other ancient text. Compare: about 24 thousand handwritten texts of the New Testament are known and only 643 manuscripts of Homer’s Iliad, which ranks second in the number of manuscripts. It is also interesting that the time difference between the actual creation of the text and the date of the extant manuscript is very small (20 - 40 years) when we are talking about the New Testament. The earliest manuscripts of the New Testament date back to the year 66 - this is a fragment of the Gospel of Matthew. The oldest complete list of New Testament texts dates back to the 4th century.

Manuscripts of the New Testament are usually classified into 4 types:

Alexandrian type. It is considered the closest to the original. (Vatican Codex, Codex Sinaiticus, Bodmer Papyrus)

Western type. Voluminous texts, which are largely retellings of the Biblical texts of the New Testament. (Beza Code, Washington Code, Claremont Code)

Caesarea type. Something in common between the Alexandrian and Western types (Code Corideti)

Byzantine type. Characterized by « improved" style, the grammatical forms here are close to the classical language. This is already the result of the work of an editor or group of editors of the 4th century. Most of the New Testament manuscripts that have come down to us belong to this type. (Alexandrian Codex, Textus Receptus)

The essence of the New Testament.

The New Testament is a new agreement between God and people, the essence of which is that humanity was given the Divine Savior Jesus Christ, who founded a new religious teaching - Christianity. By following this teaching, a person can come to salvation in the Kingdom of Heaven.

The main idea of ​​the new teaching is that you need to live not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. The New Testament represents the relationship between God and man, according to which man is granted redemption from original sin through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. Now a person living according to God’s covenant can achieve moral perfection and enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

If the Old Covenant was concluded exclusively between God and God's chosen Jewish people, then the proclamation of the New Covenant concerns all humanity. The Old Testament was expressed in the Ten Commandments and the moral and ritual decrees that accompanied them. The quintessence of the New Testament is expressed in the Sermon on the Mount, the commandments and parables of Jesus.

In the Moscow studio of our TV channel - a conversation with a teacher of the Moscow Theological Academy, dean of the churches of the Trinity Deanery of the North-Eastern Vicariate, Archpriest Georgy Klimov.

(Transcribed with minimal editing of spoken language)

The topic of today's broadcast is the canon of Holy Scripture of the New Testament. Please tell us what the concept of the New Testament canon means, how it was formed and what its significance is.

If we are talking about the canon of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament and trying to imagine what it is, then the easiest way is to say: this is the collection that we traditionally call the New Testament - a collection of apostolic writings in the amount of twenty-seven books, which can be conditionally divided by topic into legal books (four Gospels), a historical book (Book of Acts), teaching books, and there is one prophetic book - the Apocalypse, or the Revelation of John the Theologian. But if we are talking about such a concept as canon, and asking the question of what it means, then here, perhaps, we can glide through history.

Actually, the Greek word “canon” means “rule, standard.” Accordingly, if the Church calls this collection a canon, then the question arises: is this a canon of what? In this case, turning, one might say, already to the time of the formation of the canon (this is the second half of the fourth century), we will find, for example, in St. Athanasius the Great such words regarding what this collection is. In one of his Easter messages, addressing his flock, the holy father says: “Here are the springs of living water; he who thirsts, come and drink.” And then he adds: “Let no one add or subtract anything from these books. Let him who has done this be anathema."

And similar words almost forty years later (maybe a little less) are repeated by St. John Chrysostom. That is, it is clear to them that this collection is a certain standard, a standard of teaching about salvation. St. John Chrysostom, arguing that this is really the standard of how we can be saved, says: we cannot change the measure of length, volume, weight, and so on, that is, by changing the standard, we will change the idea of ​​the world; we cannot do the same with the canon of sacred books. By adding or subtracting something, we will distort the true, faithful and, one might say, saving teaching about eternal life that the Holy Church gives us.

However, probably, speaking about how the canon was formed, we will have to say that it took quite a long time for the canon to be formed, or closed, as biblical scholars say. Naturally, it began to take shape at the time when the apostles wrote their Gospels, epistles, letters, as they are sometimes called (this is the second half of the first century). Traditionally it is said that perhaps the first book was the Gospel of Matthew. According to Eusebius of Caesarea (Eusebius Pamphilus, Bishop of Caesarea), we find this statement in his “Church History”, and he is sometimes called the father of church history. He says that Matthew wrote his Gospel in the eighth year after the Ascension. That is, this is somewhere in the forties, early forties. And the last books of the New Testament of these twenty-seven, of course, are traditionally considered to be the Gospel of John and the three Epistles. This is the milestone: 98 - 102 years after the Nativity of Christ. This, in essence, was the time when books were written and, accordingly, a canon began to form.

Then passes the era of the apostolic men, then the era of the so-called apologists, who quite abundantly begin to quote us the books of the holy apostles, refer to them, assert that in various Local Churches these books are known and revered as divinely inspired, almost on a par with the biblical books of the Old Testament. Well, the last stage is, of course, the second half of the 4th century, which, as we said, is the time of the so-called closing of the canon. Then representatives of various Local Churches (in this case, Athanasius the Great from the Alexandrian Church, such saints as Blessed Jerome and Blessed Augustine - from the Western Church, then, if we take the Cappadocian Fathers, Saints Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian (Cappadocia Church), and here we can refer to the so-called Laodicean Local Council, which took place around 363) - all of them, in the number of 27 books, list them as inspired books, undoubtedly apostolic, in other words - testifying that the Church in the second half of the fourth century the collection that we traditionally call the New Testament already has.

But if we delve, perhaps, more deeply into the reasons why the canon was formed, then, naturally, these reasons are quite serious. As often happens in the history of the Church, when the life, existence of believers or the Church itself is already caught between the question “to be or not to be,” holy church teachers and religious leaders rise to the defense of the Church. Something similar happened, in general, with the formation of the canon. The fact is that starting somewhere in the second half of the second century (this is already the era of church apologists), we see that serious progress is taking place in the life of the Church.

The progress, of course, is positive, when the Church begins a victorious march through the universe, when not only the lower strata of society come to Christ (slaves, freedmen), but, one might say, people from the upper classes and estates accept Christianity. In the pagan world, in fact, there is a realization that the last times of paganism are coming. Paganism stands up to defend the faith of the fathers. And how to do it? Well, here, of course, by hook or by crook, paganism tried to defend its faith, but often this was connected precisely with direct accusations, with blasphemy of the Church of Christ.

Of course, the Church begins to consciously understand that if at the moment we do not have something at hand, referring to which, it will be possible to say: what we are accused of is not ours, here is our teaching - then, one might say, this battle will be lost. And then the Church was concerned precisely with collecting into a single sacred catalog those books that truly belonged to the apostles and were truly inspired by God. That is, this is right around the turn of the 2nd and 3rd centuries.

And here the Church, too, is already beginning to see the need to fence itself off, to dissociate itself from the Gnostics and their so-called apocrypha. And she begins to form a canon. That is, in fact, we have the very core of the canon as such in the depths of the Church of Christ already in the first half of the third century. This is already about twenty-two books, and we find evidence of this in such apologists as Tertullian, the Hieromartyr Irenaeus of Lyons, and a little later it will be Origen. That is, in this case, the third century was indeed the most fruitful in this sense.

A few questions regarding what was said above. First: what is the inspiration of Holy Scripture?

In general, I must say that this is a very serious question. If, for example, we look at the Orthodox encyclopedia (the article “Inspiration”), then, having read a lot there, at the end we will see a note that this is a teaching that both Catholics and Protestants have, and the Orthodox adhere to it, but as such the Orthodox teaching on inspiration The church does not. And here the question arises: why? It does not have a definition of inspiration, but rather a teaching as such. And it seems to me that here we can argue that in general the Holy Scripture (it is not by chance that we call it the word of God) as the word of the Living God bears, of course, the divine stamp. One of the divine properties is the impossibility of fully comprehending God - as He is for man.

And of course, this property also lies in the word of God, in the Holy Scriptures, in the books of the New Testament, which we are talking about today. Therefore, here we are forced to say that reading the Holy Scripture as such is a kind of sacrament, that is, just as when participating in the sacraments of the church, we know and believe that grace operates in them, but we cannot describe the mechanism itself, something similar happens with reading the Holy Scriptures. A person who seeks salvation, who thirsts for salvation, who prays to the Lord to open the way to salvation for him, who reads the Scriptures, truly comprehends the teaching that he needs. But that's it in general.

And if we talk about inspiration as a property of Holy Scripture, then, perhaps, the working definition here can be the following: inspiration is a special influence of God the Holy Spirit, therefore the term is correctly pronounced “inspiration” and not “inspiration.” More precisely the first. This is a special influence of the Holy Spirit on a prophet or apostle (we are talking about the New Testament - on an apostle), in which the influence of the apostle, while retaining its personal properties, becomes an instrument of Divine revelation, which is given to the apostle precisely for the purpose of revealing the doctrine of salvation to a believer . And you and I, perhaps, can find two very important aspects in this definition.

Firstly, this is the influence of God the Holy Spirit on the apostles. Who is an apostle? In general, if we talk about the books of the New Testament, what kind of books are they, how do they differ from the books of the Old Testament? Traditionally we say: these are books that were written after the Nativity of Christ, but it seems to me that this is not entirely true or correct. The books of the New Testament are the books written by the apostles after Pentecost. That is, when they have already become temples for God the Holy Spirit, in this state they write these books.

That is, they are co-editors with God the Holy Spirit, on the one hand. But on the other hand, look, we say that they retain their personal properties, abilities, maybe even character traits. Perhaps the most important thing here is that they do not lose the gift of free will. That is, they do not fall into a trance, they do not become, in a mechanical sense, a cane in the hand of a scribe, as we read in Scripture. No. With the free expression of their will, they subordinate their will to the will of the Divine, revealing to us how we need to be saved. That is, there is also a very important point here: of course, God is omniscient, He knows everything. Naturally, He can reveal absolutely all the secrets to man - both the microcosm and the macrocosm, but the apostles write down only what we need to know for salvation.

And having said this, perhaps we can go further in our conclusions, answer the question why so many sometimes accuse the Church of the fact that the apostles Not wrote in their writings. After all, they (or the prophets in the books of the Old Testament) could, for example, write about parallel worlds, about the secrets of the microcosm, and so on. But we say: everything we need to know for salvation is revealed in the Holy Scriptures. Everything that we can do without or, moreover, that will complicate us (due to the fact that we will only waste time on it), the apostles omit.

I'll give a clear example here to make it clear what I mean. If we turn to the gospel history, we see that the gospel narratives do not tell us anything about the longest period of time in the life of our Lord. That is, according to the Gospel of Matthew, we find evidence (this is the end of the second chapter) that Christ returns from Egypt as a baby, “childhood,” that is, the righteous Joseph returns from Egypt and settles in Nazareth. That is, Christ the Child. And then in the same Gospel in the next verse (the beginning of the third chapter) it is said that John comes to the banks of the Jordan and baptizes Christ. That is, Christ is already thirty years old. A period of time of at least 25-26 years from the life of our Savior is completely closed to us, with the exception of one event, when Christ is 12 years old (Gospel of Luke, second chapter) - remember the events where Christ is lost, the Mother of God loses Him and then found in the Jerusalem Temple? That's probably all.

So, perhaps, we can ask an interesting question: where is the narrative about the longest period of time in the life of our Lord? Here we say this: since the apostles did not write anything to us about this, it means that our salvation does not depend on our knowledge or ignorance of what happened with Christ at that time. Maybe, of course, this even sounds somehow cruel at first glance, but on the other hand, the Church says that for salvation we are allocated minute by minute, moment by moment, and to waste time on what we can do without Of course, we shouldn’t save ourselves.

You said that even some character traits and free will remained in the apostles. Is it possible to see in their works (Gospels, epistles) just manifestations of their characters, are there any examples?

I think we can see. And here, just with such direct evidence (during analysis, this is especially visible, for example, with the Four Gospels, when we have the opportunity to compare one with another), of course, the very features of each Gospel express, one might say, obvious worldviews. Let's say Matthew, who writes for the Jerusalem community, since he himself grew up in this worldview of the need to fulfill the Old Testament legislation, quotes the Old Testament prophets very abundantly. He clearly gives his reader concepts of numerical symbolism, for example in the genealogy of our Lord. That is, all this is visible.

The Evangelist Mark, who writes for the Roman community, often uses Latin terms, that is, words of Latin origin, in his Gospel. If we turn to the Tradition of the Church and say that behind the Evangelist Mark stands the authority of the Apostle Peter (indeed, in the person of the most ancient testimonies or witnesses, such as Papias of Hierapolis, the year of his death 165th, Justin Martyr, Hieromartyr Irenaeus of Lyons), we find, that Mark wrote his Gospel with the blessing of Peter; in the Gospel of Mark, for example, we will find abundant manifestations of the character traits of the Apostle Peter, they are obvious. The Apostle Peter is an emotional, simple, perhaps not bookish, but very attentive person. And in the Gospel of Mark we find, for all the brevity of this Gospel, for example, amazing descriptions of miracles, very colorful.

For example, let us remember the healing of a deaf man who was tongue-tied, as the Gospel of Mark gives it to us. Unlike Matthew and Luke, who, speaking about such healings, will simply say: he heals him or lays on his hand, Mark will describe: behold, Christ takes this man, leads him outside the village, spits on the ground, blows, anoints his eyes , looks at the sky, says: “Ephphatha” (which means “open”)... These are all, in a sense, the emotions of the Apostle Peter. If we talk about Luke, of course, we most often cite the education of the Evangelist Luke as an example. This is obvious, because the language in which the Gospel of Luke is written is, according to the canons of, say, world fiction, definitely a masterpiece. But the Apostle Paul, for example, calls Luke “the beloved physician,” and in the third Gospel we find medical terms that neither Matthew nor Mark use in similar descriptive events. For example, the healing of Petrova’s mother-in-law. Matthew and Mark use a term that, in general, is translated into Slavic and Russian as “fever,” and Luke uses a term that has the exact medical name - tropical fever. All this leaves an imprint, all this is seen, in principle.

But speaking about these manifestations of character traits, education, perhaps some personal properties associated with worldview or attitude, we cannot help but come to another point, which is also probably very closely related to the concept of inspiration. If we look, comparing the miracles that all three have, or the narratives, we will be forced to admit that they do not agree everywhere. The classic example, which I think our viewers are aware of, is the Gadarene demoniac. Matthew describes two demoniacs in the Gadarene side, and Mark and Luke will talk about one.

Of course, the interpreters have long ago laid everything out for us, agreed, saying that Matthew speaks of two, since there really were two of them, and Mark and Luke mention one, because he was especially fierce. But in fact, if you look at it with an open mind, Mark is talking about one thing, Luke is talking about one thing, and Matthew is talking about two. Who is right, who is wrong, who is wrong? Or another classic example, when Matthew and Mark describe the Lord’s stay on the cross and say that both thieves mocked and mocked Him, and Luke says that one repented, confessed Him as the Son of God, recognized Him as righteous, and even heard from the Lord these greatest promises: “Today you will be with Me in paradise.”

So, if Luke (and we can give preference to Luke here) at the beginning of his Gospel says that he writes everything down according to careful research in order (look, first chapter, third verse), then it turns out that Matthew and Mark are mistaken, and the question of inerrancy Holy Scripture appears here in all its “beauty.” What to do about it? Should we admit that Matthew and Mark are wrong? And if they make mistakes, they sin. And if they sin, then the Holy Scriptures are in error. Then we pose the question: in what sense is Holy Scripture infallible? And it is infallible precisely in terms of the fact that it conveys to us in full, in perfection, in complete objectivity the teaching about salvation that we need.

But the question of how to deal with the disagreements of the evangelists, of course, was also raised in their time by our most famous church teachers. Among them, of course, was St. John Chrysostom. Here he argues approximately in this way (I will quote from memory): “If the evangelists absolutely agreed with each other on all the little things (and we will say- in particular), then the enemies of the Church would undoubtedly have the opinion that these Gospels were written by evangelists who came together and agreed.” That is, they came to one office and decided: one writes to the Jerusalem community, the other to the Roman one, and Luke writes to the Antioch community.

- That is, this just indicates that they are genuine; it is the discrepancies that speak of authenticity.

Absolutely right. Chrysostom continues: “But since these Gospels differ in small things, in particulars, all this brilliantly testifies in favor of the independence of those who wrote.” What does it mean? Christ himself in the Gospel of John says that the truth is testified by two or three witnesses. If there is only one witness, then there is no reliability. How then can one believe that there was a gospel story? “And now,” says Chrysostom, “everything is brilliantly testifying.”

And here we just come to the amazing property of Holy Scripture, or, better to say, to Divine wisdom, because there is such a moment: God the Holy Spirit, with His omnipotence, makes this weak human work to affirm, confirm the truth of the doctrine of salvation that we have . And it is better, of course, not to abuse this term, but sometimes biblical scholars talk about such a property of the Holy Scripture (we have just discussed it) as the divine humanity of the Holy Scripture. But the term is not very correct, since we have one God-man - our Lord Jesus Christ. There is also the so-called dynamic method of inspiration - when a sacred writer, in collaboration with God the Holy Spirit, without losing the gift of his free will, gives us a very valuable revelation about our salvation.

There are various examples. The media often say that they have found some lists, scrolls that one way or another refute the Holy Scriptures. They are trying in every possible way to prove that Christ lived, perhaps not in His time, or this is an invention of a later time. Please tell me, have any canonical monuments from the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament been preserved from ancient times, where are they stored?

Yes, the monuments of ancient Christian writing relate specifically to the sacred New Testament texts. If we are talking about this, then yes, this is generally a whole branch of biblical studies, this is textual criticism, which has its own specific goals as a science. But if we are talking about the antiquity of the lists of New Testament books, then, of course, at the moment the most ancient list is considered to be a fragment of the Gospel of John - a papyrus dating back to about one hundred and twenty years after the Nativity of Christ. Nothing is ancient. Of course, there are hypotheses put forward by texts, papyri that could be dated to the seventies and eighties, but this is not yet the common property of biblical scholarship. And if we are already talking about the universal distribution of New Testament collections as such, then, of course, this is already the second half of the 2nd century, or better, more reliably, the beginning of the 3rd century. Before, in principle, there was nothing.

Sometimes, of course, our “well-wishers” say: “Look, one hundred and twenty years, when did Christ live?” That is, it is clear that this difference of tens of years, perhaps, calls into question the historicity of everything that the evangelists describe. But it seems to me that this is a very biased attitude towards the Christian Church and the monuments of ancient Christian writing. For example, no one doubts the fact that Homer once lived, that the texts “Odyssey” or “Iliad” came out of his hand. But if you turn, for example, to the most ancient copies of these works, they will be dated to the 7th or 88th century after the birth of Christ. But we have no doubt. And here for some reason several decades - and doubts. That is, in this case, we, as believers, of course, accept the teaching of the Church that everything was like this and nothing else.

You know, we are talking about the inspiration of the books of Holy Scripture (in this case, the New Testament) and we should probably say something else about this. At one time, this, one might say, was very clearly and beautifully outlined by one of the outstanding modern theologians - Hieromartyr Hilarion of the Trinity (Hilarion, Archbishop of Verei). As you know, he was also a teacher at the Department of Biblical Studies of the New Testament at the Moscow Theological Academy; he wrote excellent works on the relationship between the Church, Church Tradition and Holy Scripture.

And in these works, Hieromartyr Hilarion conveys a very important idea, which we, as believers of the Orthodox Church, of course, must adhere to. He says (can you imagine how?) that the Holy Scripture is the property of the Church, it is the property, the property of the Church. The Church created texts of the Holy Scriptures for itself, to teach its faithful children salvation. Therefore (further we come to a very important point) the Holy Scripture can be correctly understood only in the Church of Christ. Here neither the second nor the third is given. If someone who is outside the Church of Christ, the Orthodox Church, the bearer of the true teaching, tries to talk about how, who, where, when he wrote, without being guided, without being inspired in the good sense of the word by Church Tradition, then should we do this? pay attention?

But here we reveal another very important aspect, in fact. If we say that the books in this case (again, say, the New Testament) were written in a state of inspiration by holy authors, then what are the criteria for us to correctly understand what they wrote? If the text is inspired. We have only one opportunity to understand correctly - if we are in the same Spirit as those who wrote these texts. But how many of us can say that we are in the same Spirit? This is not given to us.

Then what should we do, what should we do? And here, of course, the Church tells us that we can understand any sacred inspired text correctly, but with the help of the one who explained it - from those church teachers who achieved and acquired the same Spirit as the holy apostles. These are our church teachers, for example St. John Chrysostom, St. Basil the Great, who explain these texts to us. Therefore, here we are precisely saying that, turning to an attempt to correctly understand the inspired text, never be too lazy to turn to someone who, by the same Spirit, correctly understood it, read it and left it to us. This cannot be neglected.

- That is, it is very important to contact them.

The time for the formation of the canon, as we have already found out, is quite long. As we know, there were other books that were called apocrypha. What are apocrypha? We know that there are also apocryphal gospels. For example, Dan Brown’s book also talks about this...

Yes, there is an entire industry dedicated to studying these books. In general, if we talk about the term “apocrypha”, it is translated as “hidden”, “hidden”. In general, this is, of course, a neutral, as usual, term, which, as we understand, probably in the very first decades, when apostolic books appeared, Christians could designate them, the apostolic writings, as apocrypha, that is, kept secret from everyone not shown to others.

But we, again, must say that over time, somewhere from the middle of the second century, when Gnosticism began to flourish (and the Gnostics, as is known, already in the context of discussions about the apocrypha, began to boast of some of their special, hidden knowledge, when this esotericism begins, and the faithful, or better yet, believers, begin to be told that if they do not have access to their special secrets, they will not be able to be saved, since the Gospel, the messages are all for the simpletons, simply exciting the minds and nothing more, and they begin to pass off their writings as apostolic or misinterpret them), the Church here begins to appropriate this term “apocrypha”, accordingly, a negative meaning.

And then we must outline the most important, fundamental difference between the apocrypha and the genuine apostolic New Testament book, as we would say. It seems to me that here we can reason according to two criteria - dogmatic and historical. An apocrypha is a book written by anyone but an apostle. This is the first point. But from a historical point of view (or a dogmatic one too) we can say that the apocrypha cannot add anything to the doctrine of salvation. Moreover, he necessarily distorts this teaching. Although in the Church of Christ there are apocrypha, which the Church treats quite calmly, that is, these are books that could well be included in the pious disclosure of the doctrine of salvation.

One of the few such apocryphal books is the Proto-Gospel of James. But on the other hand, even reading this book, we involuntarily still come across descriptions that cannot quite be included in the paradigm of the teaching about the miracles of Christ. That is, when it is said that Christ, as a youth, for example, sculpted birds from sand and clay, which then took off and fluttered, of course, here we must think about the legitimacy of such statements from this book.

But if we talk about the apocrypha in general, they are really classified according to the categories of New Testament books, there are also apocryphal gospels, and acts, and epistles. But it seems to me that apocrypha in general in the history of the Church most often appears due to such excessive curiosity, perhaps even the sinful curiosity of a believer about what we already talked about at the beginning of the program: where was Christ at a time that is not described by the Gospel, - when He was a boy, a youth, a young man. We don’t know, but we really want to find out. And against the backdrop of this “I really want to know”, of course, such books appear.

We are talking about apocrypha. Is it right to call some such pious apocryphal works Sacred Tradition, or is it a mistake?

Well, it’s better to answer this question by defining this moment as follows. Indeed, believers often ask this question. Let us assume that for what is indisputably written down for us by the Tradition of the Church (it is expressed in the form of lives, canons, akathists), we cannot find confirmation anywhere that it was, except in the apocrypha. I'll try to remember an example right off the bat. Akathist to the Sweetest Jesus. There we read (I don’t remember which ikos or kontakion) that when Christ finds himself in Egypt, “for idols, our Savior, did not endure Your strength, fell,” that is, when Christ, as a baby, finds himself in Egypt with Joseph, then Egyptian idols fall and are destroyed. The akathist tells us about this. But in general, the Proto-Gospel of James also speaks about this. And then the believer says: excuse me, but does the akathist borrow evidence that this happened to idols from the apocrypha? Then should we accept the apocrypha or should we not?

Or there is perhaps a more serious example that we can also refer to. For example, the epistle of the Apostle Jude is a small epistle; you can open it while I speak and see this moment. It mentions that the Archangel Michael and the devil argued about the body of Moses. Where does the Apostle Jude get this point? It turns out that there is a Jewish, non-Christian, apocrypha dating back to the middle of the 2nd century (the earliest dating), and generally the beginning of the 3rd century, which is called “The Ascension of Moses.” And then it turns out that the Apostle Jude borrows the fact about the dispute about the body of Moses from the Jewish apocrypha, which even dates back to the 3rd century. And here rational criticism says: excuse me, then the epistle of the Apostle Jude was written no earlier than the middle of the 3rd century.

But we, reasoning sensibly, say (and, in principle, no one bothers us to assume and even assert) that, for example, both the Proto-Gospel of James and the Akathist to Jesus the Sweetest, which is also considered the most ancient, go back to one more an ancient legend that has not survived. The same is the message of the Apostle Jude and the Jewish apocrypha “The Ascension of Moses”. They also turn to some ancient Old Testament tradition that has not survived. But if it has not been preserved, this does not mean that we must necessarily turn truly apostolic texts into dependence on the apocrypha. That is, it seems to me that here we can reason precisely in this direction - the Tradition of the Church.

Tell me, please, how do evangelists learn about those events in the life of Christ that they did not witness? For example, temptation in the desert.

In fact, this question is often asked, and it may be incomprehensible or difficult to answer if we really abandon such a concept as Tradition, from the inspiration of sacred authors and imagine that the authors of the Gospels are really in some kind of absolute isolation from the rest of the Orthodox world or the Churches write their Gospels. But here, in general, the answer to the question is quite simple. Regarding even the temptation in the desert. If we turn, for example, to the beginning of the Book of Acts, it will be said there that the resurrected Christ, who appeared to the apostles for forty days, taught them the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven. What does it mean? This means that the risen Christ, teaching the apostles the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, of course, could reveal to them everything that was connected with His, one might say, preparation for public service or with public service itself, at a time when the apostles were not present with Him . We can immediately attribute the same thing to, say, the Gethsemane prayer. How did the apostles know how it was and what, why the angel appeared, why the drops of sweat were like blood?.. Christ Himself could tell about it.

But there is also one rather difficult point with your question - something that is connected, for example, with the beheading of John the Baptist. Here we really cannot say that the risen Christ told the apostles how the beheading took place, since Christ was not there either. Although the Lord, as the Omniscient God, of course, could have known about this. But here the answer to the question may lie in another plane. If we, for example, look at the Gospel, which describes the beheading of John the Baptist, it turns out that two evangelists write about this - Matthew and Mark. Moreover, despite the fact that the Gospel of Mark is very short, the story of the beheading is very detailed and colorful.

How does Mark know how John the Baptist suffered martyrdom? But it seems to me that here we can follow this line of reasoning. For example, from the Gospel of Luke we know that Susanna, one of the Myrrh-Bearing Wives, was the wife of Herod’s steward named Chuza. This means that at the celebration of the birth of Herod Antipas, Chuza, whose wife was the Myrrh-Bearing Wife, should have been present, at least (as his steward). Or maybe she herself, unknown. But in any case, Susanna could have learned first-hand from Khuza how everything happened, and then she told in detail, for example, to other Myrrh-Bearing Wives. Remember in whose house the apostles gather? Peter comes from prison - this is the story about the house of Mary, this is exactly the mother of Mark. That is, Mark in this way could find out how everything happened, even without resorting to the help of the apostles and Christ Himself. That is, there is no doubt that the apostles “let us down” somewhere and gave us the wrong story.

- Tell me, how do Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition relate?

If we talk about Tradition with a capital T, then, of course, we must say that Holy Scripture is part of Holy Tradition. We can say that Sacred Tradition is expressed in various forms. There is an iconographic legend - these are our icons; there is liturgical tradition - these are our liturgical texts; there is a graphic (that is, written down) tradition, which we call precisely our Holy Scripture. But due to the fact that it is Tradition, and not Scripture, that is primary, we, of course, say that Scripture is subordinate to Tradition; Moreover, we affirm that we can correctly understand Scripture only by relying on Holy Tradition. Here we are not given a third option. What is Tradition? It seems to me that Saint Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow, gave a universal formulation or definition to Tradition, saying that Sacred Tradition is the life of God the Holy Spirit in the Church. That is, the Church is revived by God the Holy Spirit. God the Holy Spirit gives us life in the Church, and this is Tradition.

The transmission time is coming to an end. I have several questions that would probably be very useful to our TV viewers: which holy fathers, besides John Chrysostom and Basil the Great, could you recommend to our TV viewers for a greater and better understanding of the Holy Scriptures?

If we are talking about a believer entering into the Spirit, developing in himself the intuition of a correct understanding of the texts of the Holy Scriptures, of course, it seems to me that, in addition to St. John Chrysostom, a great help could be, for example, Blessed Theophylact, Archbishop of Bulgaria. He lived at the turn of the 11th and 12th centuries, but left for us very good, on the one hand, compact, and on the other, very specific interpretations. He, of course, depends on St. John Chrysostom, but the value of Chrysostom lies in the fact that, in addition to direct exegesis, that is, explanations of sacred texts, he always gives very important moral applications. That is, he updates the sacred text, an application to how we should live.

And if we are talking about such a help as reference books for the correct understanding of texts (especially, of course, the Four Gospels), here I would like to recommend our pre-revolutionary biblical theologians who gave wonderful aids to the Christian Orthodox Russian world. Among them can be named Dmitry Pavlovich Bogolepov, Boris Ilyich Gladkov and his explanatory Gospel, Bishop Mikhail (Luzin) and his explanatory Gospel. In this case, turning to these works, I think we will always have a very verified, correct attitude towards the sacred New Testament texts.

Based on your parish and pastoral life, don’t you consider it a very big problem now that people stop reading the Holy Scriptures? They don’t find time, they find various “excuses”.

Probably, we can state this fact. It is difficult to say what it is connected with. In part, perhaps, this is due to the colossal, most powerful flow of other literature, also interesting and very important, relevant for a believing Orthodox person, which is completely Orthodox, but perhaps, by wasting time on these books, we, of course, have only one need we miss it very often. On the other hand, a believer may often reason like this: The Holy Scriptures are always at hand, I will always have time to read them. And what has come out now or will come out a little later would be in time... But it seems to me that this is a dangerous path, because after all, we can understand everything correctly, something that is not connected with Holy Scripture, only under one condition: if we know the Holy Scripture - what is given to us directly as a primary source. Without knowing this, everything else can turn out to be tempting and dangerous for us, of course.

- I would like to hear some advice on how to read the Holy Scriptures correctly, because these are sacred texts...

Here I would like to recall the recommendations that St. Theophan the Recluse once gave. He, it seems to me, spoke very universally about the fact that Holy Scripture cannot help but teach us salvation. But, accordingly, our salvation also depends on our prayer, on the prayerful spirit, and in general on the ability to pray correctly. And so Saint Theophan recommended: in addition to the fact that you include the reading of the Holy Scriptures in your prayer rule (and he said, you don’t need to read a lot, at least ten verses in a row that you have according to the Gospel), be sure to force yourself, after reading, to remember, what you read about, but it’s even better to be sure to give birth to some kind of thought from what you read.

At first, this can be very difficult to do. Everything disappears, as if the seed is sown along the road or there, according to the Gospel parable, where the devil steals. But as you force yourself to remember, and then give birth to some other thought (and then you can also check it: do our holy fathers reason in the same way?) - this all leads precisely to the spirit of prayer of a believer, develops in He has this spiritual intuition, a correct understanding of the sacred texts, and in general the revelation of the will of God as such, which we really need, of course.

- Thank you for a very informative conversation. I think, undoubtedly, it will find a response among our TV viewers.

Presenter Sergey Platonov
Recorded by Margarita Popova