A fascinating instance of how this exclusive position was attained by the four Gospels that are a part of the Canon of the New Testament (NT), is presented in the story of Serapion, bishop of Antioch (ca 190 CE). Serapion discovered that in Rhossus people read the Gospel of Peter, but he forbade them to use it because he found Docetist heresy in it. This story illustrates two things: First, the public reading of the Gospels, particularly in the Liturgy, was one of the factors that won acceptance for them in the Church, and church authorities became very sensitive if a gospel not known to them was being read. Second, the use of apocryphal gospels by heretics was a factor in narrowing the canon to four gospels. Also, the attitude of the archheretic Marcion in accepting only Luke, may have been influential in causing the Church to preserve the four Gospels. From ca 200 the four Gospels had an assured place in the Greek and Western churches. As Oregin puts it, there are four Gospels, “which are undeniably authentic in the Church of God on earth.” The Syrian church, however, preferred the use of the Diatessaron in the 3rd and 4th centuries, adopting the four Gospels only in the 5th century.

As I have attempted to present, the Pauline letters and the Gospels – two separate bodies of early Christian literature, were included in the Canon of the NT for a variety of reasons. Perhaps the thought that both types of literature stemmed from apostolic witnesses was a factor in causing them to be joined in the canon of the NT. The first instance of such a joining appears in the work of Marcion, who made ten epistles and Luke the basis of his theology.
We are fortunate to have at least some knowledge, however sketchy, about the formation of the Pauline and Gospel collections, but we are very poorly informed about the collections of the remainder of the NT works. This lack of information presents a difficulty similar to that presented by the third group of Old Testament (OT) works – the writings – in the study of the OT canon (this refers to the Wisdom Literature).

But let me continue with the NT canon. The first work considered is ACTS.
The traditional view of ACTS is that Luke composed the Gospel and ACTS at the same time (i.e., 80’s CE – though some scholars prefer the 60’s). However, Luke and ACTS were not preserved as a unit. Marcion accepted only the Gospel, and it is interesting that ACTS really came into frequent use after Marcion’s error. Some scholars believe that ACTS was written much later than Luke’s Gospel.

More to follow!