Christian Biblical Canons - Eastern Canons

Eastern Canons

The eastern churches had, in general, a weaker feeling than the western for the necessity of making a sharp delineation with regard to the canon. It was more conscious of the gradation of spiritual quality among the books that it accepted (e.g. the classification of Eusebius, see also Antilegomena) and was less often disposed to assert that the books which it rejected possessed no spiritual quality at all. For example, the Trullan Synod of AD 691-692, which was rejected by Pope Constantine (see also Pentarchy), endorsed these lists of canonical writings: the Apostolic Canons (~AD 385), the Synod of Laodicea (~AD 363 ?), the Third Synod of Carthage (~AD 397), and the 39th Festal Letter of Athanasius (AD 367). And yet these lists do not agree. The Synod of Hippo Regius (AD 393) and the Synod of Carthage (AD 419) also addressed the canon and are discussed here. Similarly, the New Testament canons of the national churches of Syria, Armenia, Georgia, Egypt (The Coptic Church), and Ethiopia all have minor differences. The Revelation of John is one of the most uncertain books; it was not translated into Georgian until the 10th century, and it has never been included in the official lectionary of the Greek Church, whether Byzantine or modern.