Christianity · Texts & transmission
Athanasius lists twenty-seven New Testament books
367 CE
In his Easter letter, Athanasius of Alexandria listed the twenty-seven books familiar in many New Testaments today. He distinguished these from other works recommended for reading. The letter documents one influential bishop’s boundaries for scripture within a wider, uneven process of canon formation.
Why it matters
This evidence helps explain what a canon is while avoiding the idea that a single council or individual created every Christian Bible.
About the date
Date of the Easter letter; it did not settle every Christian canon.
Alexandria
Athanasius’s episcopal city and the community context of his letter.
city orientation
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