ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the fact that Christianity as an institution possesses two visible foci, a book and a ministry. The earliest list of Christian canonical writings is found in a fragment associated with the name of Muratori, who published it in 1740. The “Muratorian Fragment” is believed to date from the end of the second century, and recognises: Four Gospels, Acts, Thirteen Epistles of Paul, Two Epistles of John, Jude, Apocalypse of John, Apocalypse of Peter. The canon of the New Testament seems to have been compiled by Athanasius. The attitude of the Roman Church with respect to the authority of the canonical scriptures is ably set forth in the Encyclical of Leo XIII on “The Study of Sacred Scripture”. The chapter describes that Mahometan theology is, like the Jewish, vastly simpler than the teaching of the Christian creeds. The Jews indeed in their best days gave but little attention to theological speculation, to philosophy and to science.
