The official catalog of inspired writings, known as the Old and
New Testament. Before the close of the 4th century there was
much uncertainty concerning this list of Divinely-inspired
books, due to conflicting Jewish and Christian traditions. For
the Old Testament the Jews distinguished the books contained in
the Hebrew Bible (see Protocanonical) from the additional
writings (see Deutebocanonical) preserved by the Jews of
Alexandria in their venerated Greek version, the Septuagint.
Early Christian writers bear witness to a widespread influence
of this distinction within the Church, until official decrees
established uniformity regarding the extent of the canon. The
formation of the New Testament canon also shows a gradual
development. The earliest collections of the Apostolic writings
were made for the purpose of public reading in the churches
(Colossians 4). However, since other edifying books were also so
used by the first Christians, the special Divine character of
some of the inspired writings was lost si