Muratorian fragment

Lodovico Antonio Muratori, discoverer of the Muratorian fragment

The Muratorian fragment is a copy of perhaps the oldest known list of the books of the New Testament. The fragment is a seventh-century Latin manuscript bound in an eighth or seventh century codex that came from the library of Columban's monastery at Bobbio. It contains internal cues which suggest that the original was written about 170 C.E. (possibly in Greek), although some have regarded it as later.

The fragment, of which the beginning is missing and which ends abruptly, is the remaining section of a list of all the works that were accepted as canonical by the churches known to its anonymous original compiler. It was discovered in the Ambrosian Library in Milan by Father Ludovico Antonio Muratori (1672 – 1750), the most famous Italian historian of his generation, and published in 1740. The Muratorian fragment is one of the most important documents to scholars interested in reconstructing the development of the New Testament canon.

Summary

The Muratorian fragment is of great importance for the history of the Biblical canon. Written in or near Rome itself in the late second century CE the document not a simple list of scriptures, but of a survey that supplies historical and other information regarding each book.

The beginning of the text is missing, and the existing document begins in the middle of its description of the Gospel of Luke, moving from there to the Gospels of Mark and John. Next are mentioned The Acts of the Apostles, Saint Paul's Epistles (including those to Philemon, Titus, and Timothy. It rejects Paul's supposed letters to the Laodiceans and Alexandrians as does later church tradition. The epistle Jude and two epistles of John are included, as is are the Book of Revelation. The docuement also accepts the Apocalypse of Peter, which was rejected by the later church, but remarks that some authorities did not allow it to be read in church. The Shepherd of Hermas is also accepted as allowable to be read in church meetings, but not during service involving holy communion. A number of scriptures are also rejected as false on the grounds that they were used by heretics.

The Latin of the surviving copy is considered very poor, and there is considerable disagreement among scholars as to the correct meaning of some of the sentences.

A number of author have been suggested as composing the original Greek work, including Papias, Hegesippus, Caius of Rome, Hippolytus of Rome, and Melito of Sardis.

Characteristics

The copy "was made by an illiterate and careless scribe, and is full of blunders" (Henry Wace[1]). The poor Latin and the state that the original manuscript was in has made it difficult to translate.

The text of the list itself is traditionally dated to about 170 because its author refers to Pius I, bishop of Rome (142 - 157), as recent:

But Hermas wrote The Shepherd very recently, in our times, in the city of Rome, while bishop Pius, his brother, was occupying the chair of the church of the city of Rome. And therefore it ought indeed to be read; but it cannot be read publicly to the people in church either among the Prophets, whose number is complete, or among the Apostles, for it is after their time.

Some scholars have also dated it as late as the fourth century, for more detail see the article in the Anchor Bible Dictionary. Bruce Metzger has advocated the traditional dating.

The unidentified author accepts four Gospels, the last two of which are Luke and John, but the names of the first two are lost in the lacking beginning. Also accepted by the author are the "Acts of all Apostles" and 13 of the Pauline Epistles (but not the anonymous Epistle to the Hebrews, 1 and 2 Peter, or James). The author considers spurious the letters claiming to have Paul as author, and that claim to be written to the Laodiceans and to the Alexandrians, specifically said to be: "forged in Paul's name to [further] the heresy of Marcion."

Of the Catholic Epistles, the author accepts the Epistle of Jude and says that two epistles bearing the name of John are counted in the Catholic Church; and the Book of Wisdom, "written by the friends of Solomon in his honour." The two epistles of John however are not identified further by the author, and there is no reason to assume that the John of the first letter is the same as that of the second - the church even officially regarded the canonical epistles of John as being by two different authors (whom they named John the Evangelist and John the Presbyter, respectively). The Apocalypse of Peter is mentioned as a book which some of us will not allow to be read in church, though it is not certain whether this refers to the Greek Apocalypse of Peter or the quite different Coptic Apocalypse of Peter, the latter of which, unlike the former, was Gnostic.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Metzger, Bruce M., 1987. The Canon of the New Testament: Its Origin, Development, and Significance. (Clarendon Press. Oxford) ISBN 0-19-826954-4
• Jonathan J. Armstrong, "Victorinus of Pettau as the Author of the Canon Muratori," Vigiliae Christianae, 62,1 (2008), pp 1-34.
• Anchor Bible Dictionary
• Verheyden, J., "The Canon Muratori: A Matter of dispute," Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium (2003), The Biblical Canons, ed. by J.-M. Auwers & H. J. De Jonge, p.487-556.

Other sources

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Muratorian fragment

According to The Catholic Encyclopaedia, lines of the Muratorian fragment are preserved in "some other manuscripts," including codices of Paul's Epistles at the abbey of Monte Cassino.

External links

• Text of the Muratorian fragment.
• Original and amended Latin and English translation of the Muratorian fragment.
• Muratorian fragment.
• "The development of the canon of the New Testament": The Muratorian Canon
• Henry Wace, A Dictionary of Christian biography: Muratorian fragment
• Muratorian Fragment in the Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible
• C. E. Hill, “The Debate Over the Muratorian Fragment and the Development of the Canon,” Westminster Theological Journal 57:2 (Fall 1995): 437-452
• The Muratorian Fragment and the Development of the Canon, Geoffrey Mark Hahneman
• Encyclopedia Britannica: Muratori

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