Adoption Into The Canon
ADOPTION INTO THE CANON
A short letter dealing with what is mostly a private matter is not likely to be quoted very much, and we do not have many references to it in early literature. But it appears in early lists of the canon, such as that of Marcion and the Muratorian Fragment. Tertullian in his refutation of Marcion shows that he accepts it, and Origen quotes it as authoritative. There seems to have been no serious questioning of its canonicity in early days. J. B. Lightfoot notes "a strong bias against it” in the fourth century by people who "had no sympathy with either the subject or the handling.” 2 But even then there were strong defenders, including Jerome and Chrysostom. The letter’s canonicity is beyond question.