Latin · Muratorian Canon · Canon Muratori
A fragmentary Latin list of NT books, beginning mid-sentence about Mark and naming Luke and John as the third and fourth gospels, Acts, thirteen Paul letters, Jude, two letters of John, Wisdom, and the Revelations of John and Peter. It rejects letters to the Laodiceans and Alexandrians forged in Paul's name and allows Hermas to be read privately but not publicly.
Datingdisputed
DISPUTED. The traditional date c. 170-200 rests on the remark that Hermas wrote 'very recently, in our times' when Pius was bishop of Rome (c. 140-154), and on a Roman origin inferred from 'the city of Rome'. Sundberg (1973) and Hahneman (1992) argue for a 4th-century eastern list; Rothschild (2022) reads it as a 4th-century Latin work written to seem ancient. Horbury, Hill and others defend the early date. The surviving text is an 8th-century Latin copy (Milan, Ambrosian Library I 101 sup.), probably translated from Greek.The ANF editors printed the fragment under Caius (Gaius of Rome), an attribution no longer held; fatherSlug is left null.
Books it uses
The opening, which presumably named Matthew and Mark, is lost; 'third' and 'fourth' imply two earlier Gospels.
Line 1 ('...at which he was present he placed thus') is usually taken as the end of a notice on Mark.
'The third book of the Gospel, that according to Luke'.
'The fourth Gospel is that of John, one of the disciples', with a story of its commissioning.
'The Acts of all the Apostles are comprised by Luke in one book'.
Thirteen Pauline letters named: seven churches, plus Philemon, Titus and two to Timothy, 'hallowed in the esteem of the Catholic Church'. Letters to the Laodiceans and Alexandrians are rejected as Marcionite forgeries. Hebrews is not listed.
Thirteen Pauline letters named: seven churches, plus Philemon, Titus and two to Timothy, 'hallowed in the esteem of the Catholic Church'. Letters to the Laodiceans and Alexandrians are rejected as Marcionite forgeries. Hebrews is not listed.
Thirteen Pauline letters named: seven churches, plus Philemon, Titus and two to Timothy, 'hallowed in the esteem of the Catholic Church'. Letters to the Laodiceans and Alexandrians are rejected as Marcionite forgeries. Hebrews is not listed.
Thirteen Pauline letters named: seven churches, plus Philemon, Titus and two to Timothy, 'hallowed in the esteem of the Catholic Church'. Letters to the Laodiceans and Alexandrians are rejected as Marcionite forgeries. Hebrews is not listed.
Thirteen Pauline letters named: seven churches, plus Philemon, Titus and two to Timothy, 'hallowed in the esteem of the Catholic Church'. Letters to the Laodiceans and Alexandrians are rejected as Marcionite forgeries. Hebrews is not listed.
Thirteen Pauline letters named: seven churches, plus Philemon, Titus and two to Timothy, 'hallowed in the esteem of the Catholic Church'. Letters to the Laodiceans and Alexandrians are rejected as Marcionite forgeries. Hebrews is not listed.
Thirteen Pauline letters named: seven churches, plus Philemon, Titus and two to Timothy, 'hallowed in the esteem of the Catholic Church'. Letters to the Laodiceans and Alexandrians are rejected as Marcionite forgeries. Hebrews is not listed.
Thirteen Pauline letters named: seven churches, plus Philemon, Titus and two to Timothy, 'hallowed in the esteem of the Catholic Church'. Letters to the Laodiceans and Alexandrians are rejected as Marcionite forgeries. Hebrews is not listed.
Thirteen Pauline letters named: seven churches, plus Philemon, Titus and two to Timothy, 'hallowed in the esteem of the Catholic Church'. Letters to the Laodiceans and Alexandrians are rejected as Marcionite forgeries. Hebrews is not listed.
Thirteen Pauline letters named: seven churches, plus Philemon, Titus and two to Timothy, 'hallowed in the esteem of the Catholic Church'. Letters to the Laodiceans and Alexandrians are rejected as Marcionite forgeries. Hebrews is not listed.
Thirteen Pauline letters named: seven churches, plus Philemon, Titus and two to Timothy, 'hallowed in the esteem of the Catholic Church'. Letters to the Laodiceans and Alexandrians are rejected as Marcionite forgeries. Hebrews is not listed.
Thirteen Pauline letters named: seven churches, plus Philemon, Titus and two to Timothy, 'hallowed in the esteem of the Catholic Church'. Letters to the Laodiceans and Alexandrians are rejected as Marcionite forgeries. Hebrews is not listed.
Thirteen Pauline letters named: seven churches, plus Philemon, Titus and two to Timothy, 'hallowed in the esteem of the Catholic Church'. Letters to the Laodiceans and Alexandrians are rejected as Marcionite forgeries. Hebrews is not listed.
Quoted in the John notice (1 John 1:1–3: 'what we have seen with our eyes...').
'Two belonging to the above-named John'. Probably 1–2 John, or 2–3 John if 1 John was counted with the Gospel.
Possible only if the 'two' epistles of John are 2–3 John.
'The Epistle of Jude... reckoned among the Catholic epistles'.
'We receive also the Apocalypse of John' (also the Apocalypse of Peter, which some will not have read).
Quotations
those things at which he was present he placed thus. The third book of the Gospel, that according to Luke, the well-known physician Luke wrote in his own name in order after the ascension of Christ, and when Paul had associated him with himself as one studious of right. Nor did he himself see the Lord in the flesh; and he, according as he was able to accomplish it, began his narrative with the nativity of John. The fourth Gospel is that of John, one of the disciples. When his fellow-disciples and bishops entreated him, he said, “Fast ye now with me for the space of three days, and let us recount to each other whatever may be revealed to each of us.” On the same night it was revealed to Andrew, one of the apostles, that John should narrate all things in his own name as they called them to mind. And hence, although different points are taught us in the several books of the Gospels, there is no difference as regards the faith of believers, inasmuch as in all of them all things are related under one imperial Spirit, which concern the Lord’s nativity, His passion, His resurrection, His conversation with His disciples, and His twofold advent,—the first in the humiliation of rejection, which is now past, and the second in the glory of royal power, which is yet in the future. What marvel is it, then, 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.”
Mur. Frag. lines 1–34Names the book
ANF vol. 5 (1886), tr. S. D. F. Salmond, ed. A. C. Coxe · Source (opens in a new tab)
The fragment opens mid-sentence (on Mark), then names Luke as 'the third book of the Gospel' and John as the fourth, citing 1 John 1:1–3.
1 John 1:1–3 BSB
1That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our own eyes, which we have gazed upon and touched with our own hands—this is the Word of life. 2And this is the life that was revealed; we have seen it and testified to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us. 3We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And this fellowship of ours is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.
He wrote first of all, and at considerable length, to the Corinthians, to check the schism of heresy; and then to the Galatians, to forbid circumcision; and then to the Romans on the rule of the Old Testament Scriptures, and also to show them that Christ is the first object in these;—which it is needful for us to discuss severally, as the blessed Apostle Paul, following the rule of his predecessor John, writes to no more than seven churches by name, in this order: the first to the Corinthians, the second to the Ephesians, the third to the Philippians, the fourth to the Colossians, the fifth to the Galatians, the sixth to the Thessalonians, the seventh to the Romans. Moreover, though he writes twice to the Corinthians and Thessalonians for their correction, it is yet shown—i.e., by this sevenfold writing—that there is one Church spread abroad through the whole world. And John too, indeed, in the Apocalypse, although he writes only to seven churches, yet addresses all. He wrote, besides these, one to Philemon, and one to Titus, and two to Timothy, in simple personal affection and love indeed; but yet these are hallowed in the esteem of the Catholic Church, and in the regulation of ecclesiastical discipline. There are also in circulation one to the Laodiceans, and another to the Alexandrians, forged under the name of Paul, and addressed against the heresy of Marcion; and there are also several others which cannot be received into the Catholic Church, for it is not suitable for gall to be mingled with honey.
Mur. Frag. lines 39–68Names the book
ANF vol. 5 (1886), tr. S. D. F. Salmond, ed. A. C. Coxe · Source (opens in a new tab)
Thirteen Pauline letters (no Hebrews), and forged letters to the Laodiceans and Alexandrians rejected.
The Epistle of Jude, indeed, and two belonging to the above-named John—or bearing the name of John—are reckoned among the Catholic epistles. And the book of Wisdom, written by the friends of Solomon in his honour. We receive also the Apocalypse of John and that of Peter, though some amongst us will not have this latter read in the Church.
Mur. Frag. lines 68–73Names the book
ANF vol. 5 (1886), tr. S. D. F. Salmond, ed. A. C. Coxe · Source (opens in a new tab)
Accepts Jude, two Johannine letters, Wisdom, Revelation and the Apocalypse of Peter; silent on 1–2 Peter, James, Hebrews.
The Pastor, moreover, did Hermas write very recently in our times in the city of Rome, while his brother bishop Pius sat in the chair of the Church of Rome. And therefore it also ought to be read; but it cannot be made public in the Church to the people, nor placed among the prophets, as their number is complete, nor among the apostles to the end of time.
Mur. Frag. lines 73–80Names the book
ANF vol. 5 (1886), tr. S. D. F. Salmond, ed. A. C. Coxe · Source (opens in a new tab)
Hermas may be read privately but not publicly as prophets or apostles because it is recent: the clearest early statement that date and apostolicity decide public reading. The date (late 2nd c. vs. 4th c.) is itself debated.