Constantine's Bible: Politics and the Making of the New Testament

In this fascinating intervention to a long debated question of Canon, David L Dungan re-examines the primary source for this historical debate, the Ecclesiastical History of the fourth-century Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea, and in the light of Hellenistic political thought, he puts forward a convincing and startling new conclusion. Dungan proposes that we usually use the term "canon" incorrectly; that the legal imposition of a "canon" or "rule" upon scripture was a fourth- and fifth-century phenomenon, enforced with the power of the Roman imperial government. He argues that the forces shaping the New Testament canon are much earlier than the second-century crisis occasioned by Marcion, and that they are, ultimately, political forces. Constantine's Bible provides readers - both students and scholars alike -with a summary of how the scripture selection process worked, book-bybook, as well as an examination of the criteria used - and not used - to make these decisions. Finally Constantine's Bible describes the consequences of the emperor Constantine's tremendous achievement in transforming orthodox, Catholic Christianity into imperial Christianity. David L Dungan is Professor of Religion at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.