and the thirteen Pauline epistles, First Peter, First John, and the
Apocalypse, were by common consent placed side by side with the Gospels,
at least by the leaders of the Western Church.

[Sidenote: _The disputed books_]

Regarding the authority of the remaining New Testament books, Hebrews,
James, First and Second John, and Jude, opinion long remained undecided.
Concerning them an earnest discussion was carried on for the next two
centuries. By certain leaders in the Church they were regarded as
authoritative, while elsewhere and at different periods, other books,
like the Gospel to the Hebrews, the Epistle of Barnabas, Clement's
Epistle to the Corinthians, the Shepherd of Hermas, and the Apocalypse
of Peter, were included in the canon and even given the priority over
the disputed books later included in our New Testament.

[Sidenote: _Final completion of the New Testament canon_]

The final decision represents the result of an open and prolonged and
yet quiet consideration of the merits of each book and of its claims to
apostolic authority. The ablest scholars of the early Christian Church
devoted their best energies to the problem. Gradually, thoughtfully,
prayerfully, and by testing them in the laboratory of experience, the
Christian world separated the twenty-seven books which we find to-day
in our New Testament from the much larger heritage of kindred writings
which come from the early Christian centuries. Time and later
consideration have fully approved the selection and confirmed the belief
that through the minds of consecrated men God was realizing his purpose
for mankind. As is well known, at the Council of Carthage, in 397 A.D.,
the Western world at last formally accepted them, although the Syrian