PAPER 1 INSTRUCTIONS
The Foundation of Orthodoxy and the Canon

As you have seen and will continue to see in your readings, there were key areas of dispute in the early church on essential matters such as the nature, humanity, and deity of Christ. Also, groups such as the Gnostics brought in an entirely new set of presupposed beliefs to the faith that came alongside the faith and, in sum, compromised tenets of the faith, which were based upon the truth of Christ’s teachings as conveyed to his followers. Given this, there was a need to clarify what were the true writings that conveyed this truth in light of the fact that many times the heretical parties involved would present texts and teach them as being the writing of the Apostles.

In light of this, write a 5-page research paper (12-point Times New Roman font, 1-inch margins on all sides, double-spaced) focusing on the key events and movements that were influential in the recognition of the canonical books. In addition, look at the methodology employed by the applicable individuals and councils that deemed books as the inspired word of God.

Use 5 scholarly sources. Your textbook does not count. You may use scholarly websites, but also use at least 2 scholarly articles and/or books. You can find scholarly articles through the Liberty University Library (which you used in the research exercise). If you need help finding scholarly books, you can use books.google.com. Be careful to choose scholarly sources; do not use Wikipedia or blogs. If you are uncertain if a source is scholarly, feel free to send an email with the source information to your instructor; he will let you know. Use current Turabian reference styling when preparing your references.

Submit your completed paper as an attachment through SafeAssign by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Monday of Module/Week 3. Also upload your paper to the proper Discussion Board Forum at the same time.