What is it about?
While popular media may attribute the idea of a four-Gospel canon to the fourth century (the Council of Nicaea or Constantine himself), historians often trace it to Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons, writing in the mid-180s CE. Hill argues that even this is too late. This article addresses two perennial questions in early Christian studies: when did the four, now-canonical Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, achieve “canonical” recognition in the churches; and how did it happen? The first part of the article treats both familiar and overlooked patristic sources, to show that by Irenaeus’s time the fourfold Gospel was already well known and accepted in churches around the Mediterranean. The second part investigates how these four achieved their special status, through the power of their message, by continual use in liturgical and non-liturgical contexts, by means of person-to-person transferal, and as uniquely constructed, material objects.
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Why is it important?
This article is important because it demonstrates an earlier reception of the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, as Scripture, in varied geographical locations than is typically acknowledged. It summarizes a great deal of historical material and includes an extended, pioneering analysis of the tradition preserved by Clement of Alexandria.
Perspectives
I enjoyed writing this article because it allowed me to encapsulate decades of research on the rise and reception of Gospels in early Christianity, and to offer new analyses of some of the data, Justin and Clement of Alexandria in particular. The figure of Jesus of Nazareth inspired many and varied attempts to depict his life and work in literary forms that can broadly be called "Gospels." How the four differentiated themselves from all others is a story with so many fascinating angles that new insights are still frequently emerging from scholarship.
Charles Hill
Reformed Theological Seminary
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The Early Use of the Memoirs of the Apostles: Evidence for the Early Formation and Recognition of the Fourfold Gospel, March 2026, De Gruyter,
DOI: 10.1163/9789004751071_014.
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