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Athanasius speaks of three sorts of books:
(1)
The canonical, those recognized at the present time.
(2)
The ecclesiastical, which were allowed to be read in assemblies.
(3)
The apocryphal, which had no place in the canon at all.
Irenaeus (120-202A.D.), educated under Polycarp who knew the Apostle John
personally, Clement of Alexandria (150-215A.D.), Tertullian (155-230A.D.), are three
men representing three great areas, Greek, Coptic and Latin, who are witnesses that
cannot be decried.
Irenaeus speaks of the four Gospels as "the gospel with the four faces". He quotes the
Acts over sixty times and shows the harmony of the Acts with Paul's epistles. He cites
I Corinthians over 100 times, Romans over 80 times, Ephesians over 30 times,
Galatians nearly 20 times, Colossians 20 times, II Corinthians 18 times, Philippians
11 times, I Peter 11 times, II Thessalonians 10 times, I Timothy 5 times, II Timothy
4 times, Titus thrice, I John thrice and I Thessalonians twice.
As it is impossible to quote books that do not exist, it is evident that all these books of
the N.T. were well known early in the second century.
The testimony of enemies.
Irenaeus wrote a book against Heresies. As an example let us take the heretic
Valentine and his disciples. In order to uphold their peculiar fables about "Aeons" they
quote or make use of the following books of the N.T.:
The Gospels--Matt. 5:13, 14, 18; 8:9; 10:21, 34; 13:33; 20:1-16; 26:38,
39, 46; Mark 5:31; Luke 2:28, 36, 42; 3:17, 23; 6:13; 7:8, 35;
8:41; 9:37, 38, 60-62; 14:27; 15:4-8; 19:5; John 1:1-5, 14;
12:37.
The Epistles--Rom. 11:16, 36; I Cor. 1:18; 2:6, 14, 15; 11:10; 15:8, 48;
Gal. 6:14; Eph. 1:10; 3:21; 5:13, 32; Col. 1:16; 2:9; 3:11.
Twenty-one other heretics are named, and their mishandling of the N.T. exposed, but
how could Irenaeus expose this mishandling if the N.T. books were not already in
existence and of recognized authority?
Further witnesses.
Barnabas, 71A.D; Clement of Rome, 69-100A.D.; Hermas, 100A.D.; Ignatius,
107A.D.; Polycarp, 71-166A.D. Dr. Lardner in his Credibility of the Gospel History,
found allusions or quotations in these five early writers to every book of the N.T.