Canonicity of the Book of Revelation of John the Apostle
by Art Bulla
It turns out Eusebius had access to libraries no longer extant: a well-stocked library in Caesarea, as well as by visiting the Christian library at Jerusalem.
Howver, a certain apostate clique within the Mormon church comprised of persons who may have the outward habilaments of the Priesthood, but whose core is liberalism (the tax-supported religion), the foundation of which is Darwinism (who is an antichrist after the order of Korihor spoken of in the book of Mormon). These persons typified by a broadcaster whom I debate with, use the teachings of such liberal theologians as Bruce Metzger, et al. to attempt to destroy the credibility of the Scriptures. The root of this problem seems to be the complete and total rejection of anything supernatural. Therefore this broadcaster, recently used Metzger on his program to attempt to destroy the canonicity of the Revelation of John! This person also misrepresented and stated that no one in the first two centuries of Christianity accepted the Book of Revelation as canonical. This is proven false by the following quoteof the many that I have:"Irenæus expressly quotes the Revelation, and ascribes it to John the apostle. And in one place, he says, "It (the Revelation,) was seen no long time ago in our age, at the end of the reign of Domitian." And in the passage preserved by Eusebius, he speaks of the exact and ancient copies of this book; which he says, "was confirmed, likewise, by the concurring testimony of those who had seen John."" Archibald Alexander; 1851 "The Revelation of John is often quoted by Clement of Alexandria. judging the people, as John says in the Revelation." That Clement believed it to be the work of the apostle John is manifest, because in another place he expressly cites a passage, as the words of an apostle; and we have just seen that he ascribes the work to John." ibid.
Regarding Eusebius and the New Testament canon, we will use the well-known passage in his Ecclesiastical History (3.25.1-7). We also use an earlier passage (3.3.5-7) in the same book regarding the Epistle to the Hebrews and Shepherd of Hermas, where both are classified as 'disputed'. In the absence of any official list of the canonical writings, Eusebius finds it simplest to count the votes of his witnesses, and by this means to classify all the writings into four categories:
| Class | writings | symbol |
|---|---|---|
| homologoumena (recognized) |
... the holy quaternion of the Gospels, which are followed by the book of the Acts of the Apostles. After this must be reckoned the Epistles of Paul; next in order the extant former Epistle of John, and likewise the Epistle of Peter must be recognized. After these must be put, if it really seems right, the Apocalypse of John, .....
The Development of the Canon of the New Testament
Cross Reference Table: Writings and Authorities
| Each symbol in the large table below corresponds to a specific authority and a specific writing. The symbols summarize the opinion of the authority about the writing. If the symbol is blue, select it with the mouse to jump to the evidence. The symbols have this meaning: | |
| Symbol | Opinion of Authority |
|---|---|
 | accepted; true; scriptural; or quoted from very approvingly |
 | possible approving quotation or allusion |
 | acceptable, but only with changes |
 | dubious; disputed; or useful for inspiration |
 | spurious (in the classification of Eusebius) |
 | false; heretical; heterodox; quoted from very disapprovingly |
| · | not mentioned or quoted from; opinion unknown |
| Ig | Po | M | Va | JM | Ir | C | T | MC | O | E | CS | A | D | P | V | |
| Gospel according to Matthew | ||||||||||||||||
| Gospel according to Mark | · | | · | |||||||||||||
| Gospel according to Luke | ||||||||||||||||
| Gospel according to John | · | · | ||||||||||||||
| Acts | · | · | ||||||||||||||
| Romans | · | |||||||||||||||
| I Corinthians | · | |||||||||||||||
| II Corinthians | · | · | ||||||||||||||
| Galatians | · | · | ||||||||||||||
| Ephesians | · | |||||||||||||||
| Philippians | · | · | ||||||||||||||
| Colossians | | · | · | |||||||||||||
| I Thessalonians | · | · | ||||||||||||||
| II Thessalonians | · | · | · | |||||||||||||
| I Timothy | · | · | · | |||||||||||||
| II Timothy | · | · | · | |||||||||||||
| Titus | · | · | | · | · | |||||||||||
| Philemon | · | · | | · | · | · | · | · | ||||||||
| Hebrews | · | | · | · | · | · | ||||||||||
| James | · | · | · | · | · | | · | · | · | |||||||
| I Peter | · | | · | | · | · | ||||||||||
| II Peter | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | | |||||
| I John | · | | · | | · | |||||||||||
| II John | · | · | · | · | · | | · | · | · | | ||||||
| III John | · | | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | | |||||
| Jude | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | | ||||||||
| Revelation of John | · | · | · | · | | |||||||||||
| Gospel of Thomas | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | ||
| Gospel of Truth | · | · | · | | · | | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · |
| Gospel of the Twelve | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | | · | · | · | · | · | · |
| Gospel of Peter | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | ||
| Gospel of Basilides | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | ||
| Gospel of the Egyptians | · | · | · | · | · | · | | · | · | | · | · | · | · | · | · |
| Gospel of the Hebrews | · | · | · | · | · | · | | · | · | · | · | | · | · | ||
| Gospel of Matthias | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | ||
| Traditions of Matthias | · | · | · | · | · | · | | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · |
| Preaching of Peter | · | · | · | | · | · | | · | · | | · | · | · | · | · | · |
| Acts of Andrew | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | | · | · | · | · | · |
| Acts of Paul | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | | · | · | · | · | · | · | ||
| Acts of John | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | | · | · | · | · | · |
| Epistle to the Laodiceans | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | | · | · | · | · | · | · | |
| I Clement | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | | · | · | · | | · | · | ||
| Epistle of Barnabas | · | · | · | · | · | · | | · | · | · | | · | · | |||
| Didache | · | · | · | · | · | · | | · | · | · | · | · | ||||
| Shepherd of Hermas | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | |||||||||
| Apocalypse of Peter | · | · | · | · | · | · | | · | | · | | · | · | · | · | · |
| Ig | Po | M | Va | |||||||||||||
posted by Unknown at
6:35 PM
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