Muratorian Fragment

A manuscript, written in Latin, containing an early list of inspired books of the Christian Greek Scriptures. The fragment was discovered in the Ambrosian Library, Milan, Italy, by Ludovico Antonio Muratori (1672-1750). Muratori published it in 1740, and that is why the document is named the Muratorian Fragment or Muratorian Canon.

The fragment is part of a larger, eighth-century codex that contains several other writings. This fragment consists of 85 lines of text written on three pages. Scholars generally believe that the original document was composed in Greek. The original Greek text is often dated to the late second century C.E. Some scholars date it to the early third century C.E.; a few others have suggested an even later date. The Muratorian Fragment is valuable because it shows which Bible books were, at the time of its writing, generally considered canonical, or part of the inspired Scriptures. Of course, Christians do not depend on such ancient lists in order to determine whether a particular Bible book is canonical.​—See CANON (BIBLE CANON); see also study note on 1Co 12:10.

The fragment lists most of the books of the Christian Greek Scriptures and includes comments on the books and their writers. The fragment starts abruptly with a partial sentence. Then it states: “The third book of the Gospel is that according to Luke. Luke, the well-known physician . . . wrote it in his own name.” This indicates that the missing part of the fragment also mentioned the first and second Gospels, those of Matthew and Mark. (See “Introduction to Luke.”) The fragment next describes the writing of the fourth Gospel, by the apostle John. After that, the fragment confirms that the book Acts of Apostles was written by Luke for the “most excellent Theophilus.” (Lu 1:3; Ac 1:1) Then the text goes on to list 13 of the letters that the apostle Paul wrote. (See, for example, “Introduction to 1 Timothy.”) The letter of Jude and two letters of John are also mentioned as being inspired. (The fragment earlier alludes to the apostle John’s first letter, in connection with his Gospel.) Revelation concludes the list of the books that were considered to be inspired. This catalog does not mention the letter to the Hebrews, the apostle Peter’s two letters, or the letter of James; however, it is possible that references to these books are contained in missing parts of the document.

The fragment also mentions such works as Hermas’ Shepherd as being rejected, and it indicates that the Apocalypse of Peter was not universally accepted for use in public worship. Thus, the fragment sheds some light on writings​—both genuine and apocryphal​—that were circulating among Christians at the time of its composition.