Among Christians, the Muratorian fragment is known as a copy of perhaps the oldest known list of New Testament books that were accepted as canonical by the churches known to its anonymous compiler. It was discovered in the Ambrosian Library in Milan by father Ludovico Antonio Muratori, (1672 – 1750), the most famous Italian historian of his generation, and published in 1740. The fragment is a 7th century Latin manuscript, which internal cues identify as a translation from a Greek original, of about 170. The New Testament, sometimes called the Greek Scriptures, is the name given to the part of the Christian Bible that was written after the birth of Jesus. ... The Biblical canon is an exclusive list of books written during the formative period of the Jewish or Christian faiths; the leaders of these communities believed these books to be inspired by God or to express the authoritative history of the relationship between God and his people (although there may... Location within Italy Piazza della Scala Milan (Italian: Milano; Milanese dialect: Milán) is the main city in northern Italy, and is located in the plains of Lombardy, the most populated and developed of Italian regions. ... Ludovico Antonio Muratori (1672 - 1750) was an Italian historian, notable as a leading scholar of his age, and for his discovery of the Muratorian fragment, the earliest known list of New Testament books. ... Events May 31 - Friedrich II comes to power in Prussia upon the death of his father, Friedrich Wilhelm I. October 20 - Maria Theresia of Austria inherits the Habsburg hereditary dominions (Austria, Bohemia, Hungary and present-day Belgium). ... (6th century - 7th century - 8th century - other centuries) Events Islam starts in Arabia, the Quran is written, and Arabs subjugate Syria, Iraq, Persia, Egypt, North Africa and Central Asia to Islam. ... Latin is the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... A manuscript (Latin manu scriptus, written by hand), strictly speaking, is any written document that is put down by hand, in contrast to being printed or reproduced some other way. ...

More recently, some scholars have contended for a 4th century date for the original of the fragment, emphasizing especially comparisons with eastern fourth century canon lists. Conversely, the concordance may simply attest to an early establishment and conservative retention for a New Testament canon in the Greek-speaking east. (3rd century - 4th century - 5th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 4th century was that century which lasted from 301 to 400. ...

The Muratorian fragment is lacking its beginning and its end. The text of the list itself is dated to about 170 because its author refers to Pius I, bishop of Rome (142 - 157), as recent: Pius I was pope, perhaps from 158 to 167, though the Vaticans Annuario Pontificio (2003) lists 142 or 146 to 157 or 161. ...

' But Hermas wrote The Shepherd very recently, in our times, in the city of Rome, while bishop Pius, his brother, was occupying the chair of the church of the city of Rome. And therefore it ought indeed to be read; but it cannot be read publicly to the people in church either among the Prophets, whose number is complete, or among the Apostles, for it is after their time."

The unidentified author mentions only two epistles of John, without describing them. The Apocalypse of Peter is mentioned as a book which "some of us will not allow to be read in church." The Shepherd of Hermas is a Christian work of the first or second century which had great authority in ancient times and was considered by some as one of the books of the Bible. ... This article does not refer to the Nag Hammadi version. ...

The author accepts, "moreover, the Epistle of Jude and two bearing the name of John are counted in the catholic Church; and the Book of Wisdom, written by the friends of Solomon in his honour." The brief Epistle of Jude is a book in the Christian New Testament canon. ... Wisdom is one of the books of the Bible that is not a translation of a Hebrew original. ...

External links

• Text of the Muratorian fragment. (http://www.bible-researcher.com/muratorian.html)
• Original and amended Latin and English translation of the Muratorian fragment. (http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/muratorian.html)
• Muratorian fragment. (http://rosetta.reltech.org/TC/extras/Muratorian.html)