CNT-13 EUSEBIUS ON THE SACRED CANON,
EUSEBIUS ON THE SACRED CANON,
“Now, of the writings of John, in addition to the Gospel, the former of his Epistles also has been acknowledged as undoubtedly genuine, both by the authors of our own time and by those of antiquity; but the two remaining Epistles are disputed. Concerning the Apocalypse, men’s opinions, even now, are generally divided. This question, however, shall be decided at a proper time by the testimony of antiquity.
“But now that we have arrived at this point, it is natural that we should give a summary catalogue of the writings of the New Testament to which we have already alluded. First, then, we must place the holy quaternion of the Gospels, which are followed by the account of the Acts of the Apostles. After this we must reckon the Epistles of Paul; and next to them we must maintain as genuine the Epistle circulated as the former of John, and in like manner that of Peter. In addition to these books, if possibly such a view seem correct, we must place the Revelation of John, the judgments on which we shall set forth in due course. And these are regarded as generally received.
“Among the controverted books, which are nevertheless well known and recognized by most, we class the Epistle circulated under the name of James, and that of Jude, as well as the second of Peter, and the so-called second and third of John; whether they really belong to the evangelist or possibly to another of the same name.
“We must rank as spurious the account of the Acts of Paul, the book called The Shepherd, and the Revelation of Peter. And besides these, the Epistle circulated under the name of Barnabas, and the Teaching of the Apostles; and, moreover, as I said, the Apocalypse of John, if such an opinion seem correct, which some, as I said, reject, while others reckon it among the books generally received. We may add that some have reckoned in this division the Gospel according to the Hebrews, to which those Hebrews who have received the Christ are especially attached. All these then will belong to the class of controverted books.”
Much more might be quoted from Eusebius, but this will suffice, and we will now go back a century and examine The Testimony of Origen.