Disagreement in the early Church about the NT canon?

[GuibertOfNogent]

Hello everyone,

I’m currently in an e-mail discussion with a fundamentalist relative about the Bible. My relative began the discussion with “both guns blazing” on how nothing can be added/subtracted from scripture, sola scriptura as the basis for practically everything, etc. The relative included what they called “dire warnings from the Bible” about modifying scriptures. Thanks to the information on this site and forum, I’ve replied by politely showing out how the protestants have altered the canon. I have also pointed out that if all versions of the Bible prior to Luther were “incorrect,” then what assurance does this fundamentalist have that THEIR version is correct? I’m also using all of Mr. Keating’s standard arguments. This has really taken the wind out of this person’s sails and they are now writing with much less pompous vindiction.

In their most recent e-mail to me, however, they made the (rather weak) argument that the seven books and two passages from the Old Testament “had always been contested” unlike the rest of the Bible.

My question to all of you - can you help me out and give me sources/references for disagreements over the New Testament canon? I’m not looking for references to wacky gnostics or early Christians who obviously went over the loony-cliff, but rather, solid Christians who argued about Revelation, John II, etc., up until the time that the canon was officially put together.

Many thanks!

 

[germys9]

You should try the book entitled “Where We Got the Bible, our debt to the Catholic Church.” I know you can buy it from the Catholic answers website. I read it and it does go into explaining exactly what you are wanting.

 

[Tantum_ergo]

You could also point out that the reference to “nothing being added to or removed from” scripture is found in the book of Revelation, not in every single book from Genesis on.

And that the book of Revelation, along with the rest of the Bible, was not “written down” in 33 A.D., or indeed the Bible itself COMPILED, until approximately the 4th century A.D.

And that there are several hundred works (The Didache, the Gospel of Thomas, the Protoevangelium of James, various letters attributed to Peter, Andrew, Paul, etc.) which were NOT “added to” or “removed from” the Bible, even though their authors might have written other works which WERE part of the Bible, because those works were judged “not inspired.”

Who judged them not inspired?
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.

Who actually DID REMOVE books from the Bible?
The Protestant Churches, i.e. Lutheran, Episcopalian. . .

Who actually ADDED books to the Bible?
The Mormons.

Who “adapted” books of the Bible with other “scripture”?
The Muslims.

Whose Bible would be recognizable to every Christian person from St. John the Evangelist through Martin Luther himself?
The CATHOLIC Bible.

Food for thought?