Disputed Books of the New Testament

The resurrection of Jesus circa 30 A.D. set off a flurry of writings that later became the New Testament. Books deemed authentic had to be written by an apostle of Jesus– preferably eyewitnesses–and produced before the turn of the first century. The gospels of Matthew and John were purportedly written by the disciples of Jesus. Mark and Luke were written by associates of the apostles: Mark, an interpreter of Peter, and Luke, a companion of Paul. Luke also authored Acts. Neither Mark nor Luke was an eyewitness of Jesus or His ministry. The Apostle Paul is credited with writing 13 of the 27 books of the New Testament. Two years after resurrection, his encounter with the risen Lord prompted his epistles to the early churches. The New Testament canon contains 27 books.

In the early Christian church, some books were accepted, and some were rejected. The rejected books were called “Disputed Books.” Among the disputed books were Hebrews (authorship uncertain), James (not written by a disciple of Jesus; it advocated salvation by works in opposition to Paul’s doctrine of salvation by faith), II Peter (likely written by a student of Peter), II and III John (attributed to the unknown John the Elder, not the disciple John), Jude (includes a quotation from the rejected Book of Enoch), and Revelation (its unusual style and imagery, and its author thought to be John the Elder, not the disciple John).

It is important to know that none of the four gospels name its author; however, the early church assigned the names Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John as the most probable writers. Neither does the book of Acts identify its author, but church leaders ascribed the book to a non-Jewish physician named Luke, who traveled with Paul. 

Differences of opinion existed among the early church fathers as to what books constituted inspired scripture. Origen (225 A.D.) rejected James, I and II John, II Peter, and Jude. Irenaeus (130-200 A.D.) did not recognize Philemon, II Peter, II & III John, Hebrews and Jude. Origen (A.D. 230) excluded Hebrews, II Peter, II & III John, James, and Jude. The Muratorian Fragment, dated around A.D. 200, was discovered in Milan, Italy, by L.A. Muratori, who published it in 1740. Its list omits I & II Peter, Hebrews, James and III John. In the 16th century, Martin Luther excluded Hebrews, James, Jude, II Peter, II and III John, and Revelation. Although modern Lutheran churches consider the seven books previously excluded by Martin Luther as canonical, they impose the caveat that they are not equally inspired and should be used with caution.

However, an official church synod canonized the seven rejected books in 393 A.D. All books included in the New Testament canon were written in the first century, allegedly by apostles or their associates, and produced within 25 to 65 years after Jesus’ resurrection.

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