Editing Muratorian fragment (section)

== Contents ==
The unidentified author accepts four [[Gospel]]s, the last two of which are [[Gospel of Luke|Luke]] and [[Gospel of John|John]], but the names of the first two at the beginning of the list are missing. Scholars find it highly likely that the missing two gospels are [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]] and [[Gospel of Mark|Mark]], although this remains uncertain.<ref name="LC"/> Also accepted by the author are the "[[Acts of the Apostles|Acts of all Apostles]]" and 13 of the [[Pauline Epistles]] (the [[Epistle to the Hebrews]] is not mentioned in the fragment). The author considers spurious the letters claiming to have [[Paul the Apostle|Paul]] as author that are ostensibly addressed [[Epistle to the Laodiceans|to the Laodiceans]] and [[Epistle to the Alexandrians|to the Alexandrians]]. Of these he says they are "forged in Paul's name to [further] the heresy of [[Marcion]]."

Of the [[General epistles]], the author accepts the [[Epistle of Jude]] and says that two epistles "bearing the name of John are counted in the catholic church".    [[First Epistle of Peter|1 Peter]], [[Second Epistle of Peter|2 Peter]], and [[Epistle of James|James]] are not mentioned in the fragment. It is clear that the author assumed that the author of the Gospel of John was the same as the author of the First Epistle of John, for in the middle of discussing the Gospel of John he says "what marvel then is it that John brings forward these several things so constantly ''in his epistles also,'' saying in his own person, "What we have seen with our eyes and heard with our ears, and our hands have handled that have we written," (1 John 1:1) which is a quotation from the [[First Epistle of John]]. It is not clear whether the other [[Epistles of John|epistle]] in question is [[2 John]] or [[3 John]].  Another indication that the author identified the Gospel writer John with two epistles bearing John's name is that when he specifically addresses the epistles of John, he writes, "the Epistle of Jude indeed, and the two belonging to ''the above mentioned John.''" In other words, he thinks that these letters were written by the John whom he has already discussed, namely John the gospel writer. He gives no indication that he considers the John of the Apocalypse to be a different John from the author of the Gospel of John.  The author also includes the [[Book of Wisdom]], "written by the friends of [[Solomon]] in his honor" [line 70] in the canon, and places the reference next to the epistles.

The fragment mentions two approved works of [[apocalyptic literature]]: the [[Apocalypse of John]] and the [[Apocalypse of Peter]].  The Apocalypse of John would go on to be better known as "Revelation" in the modern New Testament, while the Apocalypse of Peter would eventually fall out of favor in the 4th and 5th centuries.  The author seems to think that the author of the Apocalypse of John (see [[Authorship of the Johannine works#Book of Revelation|debate on the authorship of Revelation]]) was a "predecessor" of Paul and wrote his epistles to the 7 churches first, although this dating does not match later scholarship, which believes Paul's epistles predate the Apocalypse.  The author also remarks that "some of us will not allow [the Apocalypse of Peter] to be read in church".<ref>{{harvnb|Metzger|1987|p=307}}</ref>  This hesitation with the Apocalypse of Peter would manifest in later centuries with it not being included in later canons.  As the manuscript legacy for the Apocalypse of Peter is more sparse than books that made it into the New Testament, it is difficult to know how closely the Apocalypse of Peter read by the author of the fragment matches the few surviving manuscripts of it.