The scholarly literature on the New Testament books is (of course) huge and easily accessible. There is no attempt here to discuss them individually. Here is their approximate order of composition:
I and II Thessalonians
~50 CE
I and II Corinthians
54-56
Galatians
~56
Romans
56-57
Colossians
~61
Philemon
~61
Philippians
~62
Gospel according to Mark
65-70
Gospel according to Matthew
80-85
Acts and Gospel according to Luke
85-90
Hebrews
85-90
Gospel according to John
90-100
Revelation of John
~95
Ephesians, James, and I Peter
95-100
I, II, and III John
100-110
I and II Timothy and Titus
110-130
Jude, II Peter
130-150
An early Christian authority is included in this survey if he or it gives important evidence on the development of the canon of the New Testament (perhaps even having some influence on it) and did so before ~400 CE, when the first complete manuscripts of the Vulgate were issued. The early 'authorities' fall into these categories:
| Authority | Date CE | Form of evidence provided on the development of the canon of the New Testament |
|---|---|---|
| Ignatius of Antioch | ~110 | 7 letters with quotations and allusions to Christian writings as scripture. There are no citations by name. |
| Polycarp of Smyrna | ~110 | 1 letter with ~100 quotations and allusions to Christian writings as scripture. There are no citations by name. |
| Marcion | ~140 | founded a sect with its own "New Testament" collection. There was one Gospel, based mostly on the Gospel according to Luke |
| Valentinus | 140-150 | Valentinus and his followers - Heracleon, Ptolemy, Marcus - were Gnostic heretics so their doctrines mostly survive in the writings of the orthodox, such as Irenaeus, who summarized the Valentinian views before attacking them. The Gospel of Truth from Nag Hammadi probably derives from the Valentinians, but this is not certain. |
| Justin Martyr | 150-160 | many of his writings survive; he was the most prolific Christian writer up to his time. |
| Irenaeus | ~180 | two of his writings survive in translations (Latin and Armenian). There are quotations and allusions to Christian writings as scripture, and citations by name. |
| Clement | 180-200 | many of his writings survive; in them are about 8000 citations - over 1/3 of them from pagan sources. There are citations by name. |
| Tertullian | 200-210 | Tertullian was the most prolific writer of the Latin Fathers in pre-Nicene times (before 325 CE). There are citations by name. |
| Muratorian Canon | 200-300 | a manuscript discovered in the Ambrosian Library in Milan with a catalogue (in Latin) of the New Testament writings with comments |
| Origen | 220-350 | only a small part of his works survives, but this fills volumes There are citations by name. |
| Eusebius | 300-330 | much of the works of Eusebius survives, but here we only use his famous classification in [Eusebius] |
| codex Sinaiticus | ~350 | a manuscript discovered in 1859 containing a 4th-century New Testament |
| Athanasius | ~367 | his 39th Festal Epistle of 367 CE has a list of canonical books |
| Didymus the Blind | 350-398 | some of his exegetical writings have survived, including six commentaries discovered in 1941 |
| Peshitta | ~400 | a series of manuscripts of the Bible in Syriac including 22 New Testament books |
| Vulgate | ~400 | a series of manuscripts (over 10,000) of the Bible in Latin, whose New Testament coincides (more or less) with the present one |
But, But, But ... you mean it is God's word and we don't even know when it was written? And in what order?