Before the Canon: How Did Early Christians Establish Doctrinal Authority Before the New Testament Became a Defined Collection?
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Preprint / working manuscript. This version has not been represented as a peer-reviewed or final journal publication. Source verification and conversion of ancient-text references to final Chicago footnotes remain outstanding, as noted in the document. The issue designation printed in the PDF is Volume 2, Issue 1 (January–June 2027); this deposit does not establish final publication in that issue. AbstractThis article investigates how early Christian communities established doctrinal authority before the New Testament existed as a universally delimited collection. It argues that canonical closure was not the precondition for authoritative teaching. Between approximately 100 and 250 CE, writers and communities appealed to inherited Jewish Scripture, apostolic memory, public reading, the rule of faith, and claims about the succession of teachers. A comparative reading of 1 Clement, Ignatius of Antioch, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, and Tertullian distinguishes normative authority—the grounds on which a teaching was said to be binding—from operational authority—the communal practices through which such claims were implemented. The evidence points neither to a fully uniform ecclesial system nor to an unregulated marketplace of ideas. Instead, scriptural interpretation, transmitted confession, and developing institutions interacted to mark the boundaries of Christian identity. The article proposes that the formation of the canon is best understood within this earlier history of contested authority rather than as its point of origin. The PDF contains the DOI reserved for this deposit. Its statement that the DOI was unverified describes the preparation stage; Zenodo registers the reserved DOI upon publication. Copyright © 2026 Daniel J. Grace. All rights reserved.
Author: Grace, Daniel J.
Institution: National Coalition of Independent Scholars
Language: English
Subfield: Religious studies
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7222564515
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