Council


Third Council of Carthage (A.D. 397)

At the close of the 4th century, the Council of Carthage (A.D. 397) decreed that "aside from the canonical Scriptures nothing is to be read in church under the Name of Divine Scriptures." It lists the 27 books of the New Testament.

(The Origin of the Bible: Newly Updated by F. F. Bruce, J. I. Packer, Philip W. Comfort, and Carl F. H. Henry, 2020. The Canon of the New Testament by Milton C. Fisher, Pages 74.)

Between the years 390 and 419, 6 councils were held in Africa, 4 of which were at Carthage. Augustine was present at the third Council of Carthage, where a list of canonical books were given.

"It was also determined that besides the Canonical Scriptures nothing be read in the Church under the title of divine Scriptures. The Canonical Scriptures are these":

"Of the New Testament":

"Let this be made known also to our brother and fellow-priest Boniface, or to other bishops of those parts, for the purpose of confirming that Canon, because we have received from our fathers that those books must be read in the Church. And afterwards the Canon is thus continued: Let it also be allowed that the Passions of Martyrs be read when their festivals are kept."

(A General Survey of the History of the Canon of the New Testament: Fourth Edition, with New Preface, by Brooke Foss Westcott, D.D., Regius Professor of Divinity, and Late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, 1875, Pages 435-436, @ https://archive.org/details/ageneralsurveyof00westuoft/page/388/mode/2up?q=%22carthage%22)

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