Editing Muratorian fragment (section)

{{Short description|Ancient list of books of the New Testament}}
[[File:Canon Muratori.png|thumb|right|Last page of the Canon Muratori, as published by [[Samuel Prideaux Tregelles|Tregelles]] in 1868]]

The '''Muratorian fragment''', also known as the '''Muratorian Canon''' (Latin: {{lang|la|'''Canon Muratori'''}}), is a copy of perhaps the oldest known list of most of the books of the [[New Testament]]. The fragment, consisting of 85 lines, is a [[Latin]] manuscript bound in a roughly 8th-century [[codex]] from the library of [[Columbanus]]'s monastery at [[Bobbio Abbey]]; it contains features suggesting it is a translation from a [[Greek language|Greek]] original written in the late 2nd century ({{circa|170&ndash;200}}).  Other scholars suggest it might have been originally written as late as the [[Christianity in the 4th century#Defining scripture|4th century]], although this is not the consensus opinion.  Both the degraded condition of the manuscript and the poor Latin in which it was written have made it difficult to translate. The beginning of the fragment is missing, and it ends abruptly.  The fragment consists of all that remains of a section of a list of all the works that were accepted as [[Biblical canon|canonical]] by the churches known to its original compiler.

During the time period of [[early Christianity]], there was no accepted "New Testament", merely books considered of greater or lesser value.  While likely not intended strictly as a canon list, the fragment is evidence of the first attempts to systemize such a group of approved writings, at least if it indeed dates to the 2nd century.  Debates on what works should be accepted as scripture would continue.  The earliest version of the eventual consensus New Testament canon did not occur until 367, when bishop [[Athanasius of Alexandria]] in his annual [[Easter letter]] composed a list that is still recognized today as the canon of 27 books.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/2806039.htm |title=From Letter 39 (Athanasius) |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=New Advent }}</ref> However, it would take several more centuries of debate until agreement on Athanasius' canon was reached within all of Christendom.<ref name="LC">{{cite book|last= Ehrman|first= Bart D.|date= 2003|title= Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew |url= |location= Oxford |publisher= Oxford University Press|isbn= 978-0195141832 |author-link= Bart D. Ehrman }}</ref>