Editing Gospel of Thomas (section)

==Relation to the New Testament canon==
[[File:Nag Hammadi coptic.gif|thumb|Last page of the Gospel of Thomas]]
Although arguments about some potential New Testament books, such as ''[[The Shepherd of Hermas]]'' and the [[Book of Revelation]], continued well into the 4th century, four canonical gospels, attributed to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, were accepted among [[proto-orthodox Christians]] at least as early as the mid-2nd century. Tatian's widely used ''[[Diatessaron]]'', compiled between 160 and 175&nbsp;AD, utilized the four gospels without any consideration of others. [[Irenaeus of Lyons]] wrote in the late 2nd century that: "since there are four-quarters of the earth{{nbsp}}[...] it is fitting that the church should have four pillars{{nbsp}}[...] the four Gospels."<ref>{{cite book |author=[[Irenaeus of Lyons]] |title=[[On the Detection and Overthrow of the So-Called Gnosis|Against Heresies]] |at=3.11.8}}</ref> and then shortly thereafter made the first known quotation from a fourth gospel – the now-canonical version of the Gospel of John. The late 2nd-century [[Muratorian fragment]] also recognizes only the three synoptic gospels and John.

Bible scholar [[Bruce Metzger]] wrote regarding the formation of the New Testament canon:
{{blockquote|Although the fringes of the emerging canon remained unsettled for generations, a high degree of unanimity concerning the greater part of the New Testament was attained among the very diverse and scattered congregations of believers not only throughout the Mediterranean world, but also over an area extending from Britain to Mesopotamia.{{sfnp|Metzger|1997|p=75}}}}