January 7, 367 - Athanasius Argues for Canon of Scripture

Athanasius was the bishop of Alexandria who led the fight against fellow African, Arius, in what culminated with the Council of Nicea in AD 325. After Athanasius’s successful efforts against Arius, he became the first to use the term the “canon of Scripture” when he divided the Bible into three parts: the Holy Scripture, the Apocrypha, and “others.” In a letter on January 7, 367, he implored his fellow churchmen “to set forth in order the books which are included in the canon and have been delivered to us with accreditation that they are divine.”