Aqueduct Project

  • "Jonathan's teaching on A History of Christianity: The First Five Centuries was very helpful for our pastoral staff; it was eye-opening and well worth our time. I warmly recommend him to you." — Dr. James Samra, Senior Pastor, Calvary Church, Grand Rapids
  • "Jonathan's presence with us at Wycliffe Hall and within the wider University of Oxford was a great blessing. Our students very much valued his enthusiastic teaching of Greek language and his insights into biblical thought. His lectures combine a commitment to Scripture with a deep knowledge of the early church period—which always gives his teaching an added quality of historical depth." — Rev. Dr. Peter Walker, Associate Vice-Principal of Wycliffe Hall, University of Oxford
  • "Jonathan's seminars are informative, well-packaged, and fascinating biblical presentations that are both academically excellent and spiritually enriching." — Joel Beeke, Ph.D., President of Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids
  • "Studying Paul's Epistle to the Romans gives us the best understanding of the gospel message that Paul preached... Jonathan J. Armstrong's seminar at ETS in the fall of 2008 helped our students to realize the importance of this book for their lives and ministry." — Alexei Gorbachev, Ph.D., Academic Dean of Eurasian Theological Seminary, Moscow
  • "Dr. Jonathan Armstrong's courses on the Interpretation of the Bible in the early church and the mission and expansion of the church in 30-180 AD have been excellent both in terms of their content and presentation. They contributed significantly to the quality of our programme and have enhanced the students' understanding of the importance of the early church's history and its relevance for understanding the Bible." — Tchavdar Hadjiev, D.Phil, IFES Associate Regional Secretary for Europe; Academic Dean of the United Theological Faculty of the Bulgarian Evangelical Theological Institute

The History and Theology of the New Testament Canon

This seminar is designed especially for pastors and Christian leaders and will present the theological implications of the history of the formation of the New Testament canon for an evangelical theology of Scripture. Topics covered will include: the emergence of the fourfold gospel canon, the authorship of the Muratorian Fragment, the rise of the New Testament commentary, and the conciliar decisions on the canon. The course will outline how the history of the canon can provide the key for reclaiming patristic theology for evangelicals.

For an information sheet on this seminar, please click here. Feel free to share this information sheet!

If you are planning to attend the seminar at a theological faculty, please read the following two articles in advance.

The first article ("Victorinus of Pettau as the Author of the Canon Muratori"–originally published in Vigilae Christianae, 62 [2008]:1-34) argues that the Muratorian Fragment was written in the middle of the third century AD and lays the foundation for a new history of the formation of the New Testament canon.

The second article ("The Pascal Controversy and the Emergence of the Fourfold Gospel Canon"–to be published in a forthcoming volume of Studia Patristica) points to new evidence to demonstrate that Irenaeus of Lyons is indeed to be credited as the founder of the Fourfold Gospel Canon.