New Testament Cannon broken up into scripture-index categories among the fuzzy-logic spectrum with info from NTCannon.org
I decided to put the New testament cannon and non-cannon into scripture-index zone-categories and defined the criteria for canon ‘black or white’ judgement line within the fuzzy-logic spectrum. It is based on the ‘Cross Reference Table: Writings and Authorities’ table at ntcannon.org.
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Canon
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The Ultimate
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Gospel according to Matthew
Gospel according to Luke
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Definitely Flawless
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Gospel according to Mark
Gospel according to John
Acts
Romans
I Corinthians
II Corinthians
Galatians
Ephesians
Philippians
Colossians
I Thessalonians
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Likely Flawless
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II Thessalonians
I Timothy
II Timothy
Titus
Philemon
I Peter
I John
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Has Blemishes
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Hebrews (9/11 accepted; 0/11 Heretical))
James (5/8 Accepted; 0/8 Heretical))
II Peter (4/6 Accepted; 0/6 Heretical))
Jude (8/9 Accepted; 0/9 Heretical))
Revelation of John (11/12 Accepted; 0/12 Heretical))
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Grey-Zone
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II John (5/8 accepted; 1/8 Heretical)
III John (4/7 accepted; 1/7 Heretical)
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Non-Cannon
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Grey-Zone
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I Clement (3/4 accepted; 0/4 heretical)
Epistle of Barnabas (3/5 accepted; 0/5 heretical)
Apocalypse of Peter (2/3 accepted; 0/3 heretical)
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Rejected
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Preaching of Peter (2/3 accepted; 1/3 heretical)
Didache (2/5 Accepted; 0/5 heretical)
Shepherd of Hermas (4/9 Accepted; 0/9 heretical)
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Bad / May be Heretical
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Gospel of Truth (1/2 Accepted; 1/2 Heretical)
Gospel of the Egyptians (1/2 accepted; 1/2 heretical)
Gospel of the Hebrews (1/3 accepted; 0/3 heretical)
Traditions of Matthias (1/1 Accepted; 0/1 heretical)
Epistle to the Laodiceans (0/2 accepted; 0/2 heretical))
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Likely to be Heretical
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Gospel of the Twelve (0/1 Accepted; 1/1 Heretical)
Gospel of Peter (0/2 accepted; 1/2 heretical)
Acts of Andrew (0/1 Accepted; 1/1 Heretical)
Acts of Paul (0/3 Accepted; 1/3 Heretical)
Acts of John (0/1 Accepted; 1/1 Heretical)
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Definitly Heretical
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Gospel of Thomas (0/2 Accepted; 2/2 Heretical)
Gospel of Basilides (0/2 Accepted; 2/2 Heretical)
Gospel of Matthias (0/2 Accepted; 2/2 Heretical)
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Observed pattern of cannon:
It appears that the hard ‘black or white’ line of judgement within the fuzzy logic spectrum for the NT cannon, within the scope of the table at the ntcannon.org site is:
So, basically, minimum of 51% ‘yes votes’ with a minimum of 6 total votes. 4/6, 4/7, 5/8, 5/9, 6/10 = ‘yes’; 3/3, 3/4, 4/5, 3/6, 3/7 = ‘no’
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Description of group categories:
- Cannon; The Ultimate
- 100% marked as accepted excluding ‘Marcion and the Macionites’ (Marks nothing as fully accepted) covered by ALL (16) of the authorities in the table
- cannon; Mostly Flawless
- 100% marked as accepted excluding ‘Marcion and the Macionites’ (Marks nothing as fully accepted). Covered by all-but-two to all-but-one (14-15) of the authorities in the table
- cannon; Likely Flawless
- 100% marked as accepted excluding ‘Marcion and the Macionites’ (Marks nothing as fully accepted). Covered by at least half but less than all-but-two (8-13) of the authorities in the table
- cannon; Some Minor Blemishes:
- Most authorites marked as accepted. One or two of the authorities rated as questionable or spourious; No Authority marked the book as heretical
- cannon; Grey-Zone
- Most authorties marked as accepted, but exactly one authority marked the book as Heretical and two authorities marked the book as questionable
- Non-cannon; Grey-Zone
- Poor review coverage, but has at least 2 but less than 7 authorities have reviewed it; More than half of the authorities marked the book as accepted and no authority marked the book as heretical.
- Non-Canon, Rejected
- More than one authority reviewed the book and more than one and half or less of the authorties marked the book as accepted.
- Non-Canon, Bad / May be Heretical
- Less than two authorities marked the book as accepted. Exactly one authority marked the book as accepted or no authority marked the book as heretical.
- Non-cannon; Likely to be Heretical
- At least one authority marked the book as heretical and no authority marked the book as accepted.
- Non-cannon; Definitly Heretical
- Reviewed my more than one authority; Every reviewing authority marked the book as heretical.
Edit 2/27/2006 — Lots of changes in the non-cannon section. Spaced the very bad category. Changed most of the non-cannon categories’ criteria.
