Did the early Christians accept the Old Testament?
Early Christians accepted the Old Testament as holy Scripture and used it to teach, defend the faith, and show that Christ had been promised before. Writers like Irenaeus, Tertullian, Origen, Novatian, and Lactantius treat the Law and the Prophets as authoritative. Some later church texts also list books for reading, but the clearest witness is the early belief that the Old Testament belonged to the church’s Bible.
121 early-church witnesses · 210 source quotations · compared with Scripture
What did early Christians believe about the Old Testament canon?
Early Christians treated the Old Testament as Scripture, as the books of Moses and the Prophets, and they used it to prove Christ, teach the church, and answer heretics. Writers like Irenaeus, Tertullian, Origen, Novatian, Lactantius, and Archelaus all speak of the Old Testament as authoritative and in harmony with the New. The strongest evidence is broad and repeated across the 2nd and 3rd centuries, though some cards are only about specific books, lists, or later church practice.
A few later or loose cards touch on canons, liturgy, or background details, but the main teaching is clear: the early church received the Old Testament as a real and trusted body of holy writings. Many more early Christian quotations, Bible passages, and source links are gathered below so you can study the evidence for yourself.
Key Takeaways
- Early Christians used the Old Testament as Scripture, not as a rejected Jewish book.
- Irenaeus, Tertullian, Origen, Novatian, Lactantius, and Archelaus all appeal to it as authoritative.
- Many writers tie the Old Testament directly to Christ and the New Testament.
- Some cards give book lists or church reading rules, but those are secondary to the main teaching.
Questions Answered by the Sources
Did early Christians treat the Old Testament as Scripture?
Yes. Early Christian writers treated the Old Testament as holy Scripture and used it as an authority for belief and teaching. Justin, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Origen, Novatian, and Lactantius all appeal to the Law, the Prophets, or the sacred books of the Jews as trusted writings.
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Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Direct teaching
...What came before the coming and suffering of Christ—that is, the Law and the Prophets—is called the Old. But the things written after His resurrection are called the New Testament. The Jews use the Old; we use the New. Yet they are not in conflict, for the New is the fulfillment of the Old. And in both there is the same testator, that is, Christ. Having suffered death for us, He made us heirs of His everlasting kingdom, while the people of the Jews were deprived and disinherited. As the prophet Jeremiah testifies when he speaks these things: Jeremiah 31:31-32, "Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new testament with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not according to the testament which I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my testament, and I disregarded them, says the Lord." Also in another place he says in the same way: Jeremiah 12:7-8, "I have forsaken my house, I have given up my heritage into the hand of its enemies. My heritage has become to me like a lion in the forest. It has cried out against me; therefore I have hated it." Since the inher
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Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Direct teaching
...Gospel in any way other than as He had been promised before by the Creator in the Scriptures of the Old Testament. This is especially so because the things predicted about Him were fulfilled, and the things that were fulfilled had been predicted. So, with good reason, I could truly and constantly say to that fanciful—I do not know what—Christ imagined by those heretics who reject the authority of the Old Testament, a Christ feigned and colored up from old wives' fables: Who are you? From where are you? By whom are you sent? Why have you now chosen to come? Why are you such as you are? Or how have you been able to come? Or why have you not gone to your own, except that by coming to what belongs to another you have proved that you have none of your own? What have you to do with the Creator's world? What have you to do with the Creator's man? What have you to do with the image of a body, from which you take away the hope of resurrection? Why do you come to another man's servant, and do you desire to win over another man's son? Why do you strive to take me away from the Lord? Why do you compel me to blaspheme and to be impious toward my Father? Or what shall I gain from you in the r
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Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Background
It remains for me to present testimonies about the sacred answers and prophecies, which are far more trustworthy. For perhaps those against whom we are arguing think that poets should not be believed, as if they made up fictions, nor philosophers, since they were able to make mistakes, being only men themselves. Marcus Varro, than whom no man more learned ever lived, even among the Greeks, much less among the Latins, says this in those books about divine matters which he addressed to Caius Caesar the chief pontiff. When he was speaking about the Quindecemviri, he says that the Sibylline books were not written by only one Sibyl. Rather, they were called Sibylline by one common name because all prophetesses were called Sibyls by the ancients, either from the name of one woman, the Delphic priestess, or from their declaring the counsels of the gods. For in the Aeolic dialect, they used to call the gods "Sioi," not "Theoi"; and for counsel they used the word "bule," not "boule." And so the Sibyl received her name as if it were "Siobule." But he says that there were ten Sibyls, and he listed them all together with the writers who wrote an account of each one. The first was from the Pers
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Romans 15:4 Supporting witness
For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
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2 Timothy 3:15 Supporting witness
and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
More related quotations from this section 4 shown
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Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness
but those things which were written after His resurrection are named the New Testament.
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Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Supporting witness
..., as far as lies in them, deprive the Lord of the true teaching. They do not quote or hand down the Scriptures in a way worthy of God and of the Lord. For the deposit rendered to God, according to the teaching of the Lord through His apostles, is the understanding and the practice of the godly tradition. And, "What you hear in the ear," that is, in a hidden way and in a mystery, for such things are figuratively said to be spoken in the ear, "proclaim on the housetops." He says this means to understand them in a lofty way, and to deliver them in an exalted manner, explaining the Scriptures according to the rule of truth. For neither prophecy nor the Savior Himself announced the divine mysteries simply, so that they could be easily understood by all and sundry, but expressed them in parables. Accordingly, the apostles say of the Lord that "He spoke all things in parables, and without a parable He spoke nothing to them," Matthew 13:34. And if all things were made by Him, and without Him not one thing was made that was made, John 1:3, then prophecy and the law also were by Him, and were spoken by Him in parables. But "all things are right," says the Scripture, "before those who unde
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Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Background
but of some primarily, as of the Old and the New Testament;
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Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Background
But all Scripture is divided into two Testaments.
Did the early church think the Old Testament and New Testament belong together?
Yes. Early writers say the Old Testament and New Testament fit together and come from the same God. Irenaeus says there are two testaments from one and the same God, while Lactantius, Novatian, and Victorinus say the New fulfills the Old and rests on the same root.
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Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Direct teaching
...undation of the world he was the Word of God, and God, we rightly, according to the teaching of the Old and New Testament, believe and hold that Christ Jesus is both God and man. What if this same Moses presents God as saying, "Let us make man after our image and likeness"; and then below, "And God made man; in the image of God He made him; male and female He made them"? If, as we have already shown, it is the Son of God by whom all things were made, then certainly it was also the Son of God by whom man was formed, for whose sake all things were made. Moreover, when God commands that man should be made, he is called God who makes man. But the Son of God makes man, that is, the Word of God, by whom all things were made, and without whom nothing was made. And this Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. Therefore Christ is God. Therefore man was made by Christ as by the Son of God. But God made man in the image of God. Therefore he who made man in the image of God is God. Therefore Christ is God. So, with good reason, the testimony of the Old Testament does not waver concerning the person of Christ, since it is supported by the revelation of the New Testament. Nor is the force of
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Victorinus, Commentary on the Apocalypse Supporting witness
...see that before the foundation of the world He was the Word of God and God, we rightly believe and hold, according to the teaching of the Old and New Testament, that Christ Jesus is both God and man. What if this same Moses presents God as saying, “Let us make man after our image and likeness,” and then below says, “And God made man; in the image of God He made him; male and female He made them”? If, as we have already shown, it is the Son of God by whom all things were made, then certainly it was also the Son of God by whom man was appointed, for whose sake all things were made. Moreover, when God commands that man should be made, He is said to be God who makes man. But the Son of God makes man, that is, the Word of God, by whom all things were made, and without whom nothing was made. And this Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. Therefore Christ is God. Therefore man was made by Christ as by the Son of God. But God made man in the image of God. Therefore He who made man in the image of God is God. Therefore Christ is God. So, with good reason, the witness of the Old Testament does not waver concerning the person of Christ, since it is supported by the revelation of the New
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Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness
...ssion. Therefore Moses, and the prophets themselves also, call the law that was given to the Jews a testament. For unless the one who made the testament has died, a testament cannot be confirmed. Nor can what is written in it be known, because it is closed and sealed. And so, unless Christ had undergone death, the testament could not have been opened. That is, the mystery of God could not have been unveiled and understood.
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Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book IV Direct teaching
1. After this fashion also did a presbyter, a disciple of the apostles, reason with respect to the two testaments, proving that both were truly from one and the same God.
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Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book IV Direct teaching
2. For all the apostles taught that there were indeed two testaments among the two peoples;
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Victorinus, Commentary on the Apocalypse Supporting witness
nor is the power of the New Testament detracted from, while its truth is resting on the roots of the same Old Testament.
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Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Supporting witness
nor is the power of the New Testament detracted from, while its truth is resting on the roots of the same Old Testament.
More related quotations from this section 2 shown
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Archelaus, Disputation with Manes Supporting witness
and the very sequence will show that the Old Testament belongs to Him to whom also the New Testament pertains.
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Origen, Commentary on John Background
18. The Ass and the Colt are the Old and the New Testament.
Did early Christians say the Old Testament points to Christ?
Yes. Early Christian writers said the Old Testament predicted Christ and gave testimony about him. Archelaus, Novatian, Victorinus, and Origen use Moses, the prophets, and the Scriptures to show that Jesus was promised before he came.
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Archelaus, Disputation with Manes Direct teaching
... the truth? But the holy John, the greatest of the evangelists, also tells us of the giving and diffusing of grace for grace. For he indicates that we have received the law of Moses out of the fullness of Christ. And he means that, for that one grace, this other grace has been made perfect in us through Jesus Christ. “It was also to show this that our Lord Jesus Christ Himself spoke in these words: ‘Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you, even Moses, in whom you hope. For if you had believed Moses, you would have believed me, for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?’ “And besides all these words, there are still many other passages that could be brought forward, both from the Apostle Paul and from the Gospels. By these we are able to prove that the old law belongs to no other than that Lord to whom the New Testament also belongs. And it would suit us very well to present them, and to use them in a satisfying way. But now the evening prevents us from doing so, for the day is drawing to its close, and it is right that we should now bring our disputation to an end. However, tomorrow you will
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Victorinus, Commentary on the Apocalypse Direct teaching
...Gospel in any other way than as He had been promised before by the Creator in the Scriptures of the Old Testament. This is especially clear since the things predicted about Him were fulfilled, and the things that were fulfilled had been predicted. So, with good reason, I could truly and constantly say to that imaginary—I do not know what—thing of those heretics who reject the authority of the Old Testament, concerning a Christ invented and colored from old wives' fables: Who are you? From where do you come? By whom were you sent? Why have you chosen to come now? Why are you such as you are? How have you been able to come? And why have you not gone to your own people, except that by coming to what belongs to another, you have shown that you have none of your own? What do you have to do with the Creator's world? What do you have to do with the Creator's man? What do you have to do with the likeness of a body, when you take away the hope of resurrection from it? Why do you come to another man's servant, and why do you want to draw away another man's son? Why do you try to take me away from the Lord? Why do you force me to blaspheme and to be impious toward my Father? And what will
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Archelaus, Disputation with Manes Direct teaching
or, if Jesus passes without censure though He speaks in such terms, you midst tell us why you reprehend Him who employs a similar mode of address in the Old Testament.
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Victorinus, Commentary on the Apocalypse Direct teaching
That Christ is God, is Proved by the Authority of the Old Testament Scriptures.
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Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Direct teaching
That Christ is God, is Proved by the Authority of the Old Testament Scriptures.
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Julius Africanus, Extant Writings Direct teaching
...w it turns out that from the 20th year of the reign of Artaxerxes, as it is given in Ezra among the Hebrews, which according to the Greeks was the 4th year of the 80th Olympiad, to the 16th year of Tiberius Caesar, which was the second year of the 102nd Olympiad, there are altogether the 475 years already mentioned. In the Hebrew system, these make 490 years, as was stated before, that is, 70 weeks. By this period, the time of Christ's coming was measured in the message Gabriel announced to Daniel. And if anyone thinks that the 15 Hebrew years added to the others bring in an error of 10, at least nothing has been introduced that cannot be explained. And the 1 and one-half week, which we think must be added to complete the whole number, answers the question about the 15 years and removes the difficulty about the time. It is also quite clear that prophecies are often given in a somewhat symbolic form.
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1 Peter 1:11 Supporting witness
Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
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John 5:39 Direct teaching
Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
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Luke 24:27 Direct teaching
And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.
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Romans 1:2 Supporting witness
which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures,
More related quotations from this section 4 shown
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Tertullian, Against Marcion Supporting witness
Sundry Injunctions of the Apostle Parallel with the Teaching of the Old Testament.
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Tertullian, Against Marcion Supporting witness
In His Exhortations and Doctrine, the Apostle Wholly Teaches According to the Mind and Purposes of the God of the Old Testament.
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1 Peter 1:10 Supporting witness
Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you,
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Origen, Commentary on Matthew Background
10. The Pearl of the Gospel in Relation to the Old Testament.
Did early Christians list the books of the Old Testament?
Yes, some early church texts give book lists or named groups of books. The Apostolic Constitutions names Moses, the Prophets, Job, Solomon, Psalms, and other books, while other writers mention the Law, the Prophets, the Psalms, or the five books of Moses.
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Tertullian, On Monogamy Background
After the ancient examples of the patriarchs, let us equally pass on to the ancient documents of the legal Scriptures, that we may treat in order of all our canon.
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Early Liturgies, Divine Liturgy of St. James Background
Then there are read in order the holy oracles of the Old Testament, and of the prophets;
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Background
Stay away from all pagan books. What do you have to do with such foreign teachings, laws, or false prophets that overthrow the faith of unstable people? What lack do you find in the law of God, that you should turn to those pagan fables? If you want to read history, you have the books of the Kings. If you want books of wisdom or poetry, you have the books of the Prophets, Job, and Proverbs. In them you will find greater depth of understanding than in all the pagan poets and sophists, because these are the words of the Lord, the only wise God. If you want something to sing, you have the Psalms. If you want the origin of things, you have Genesis. If you want laws and statutes, you have the glorious law of the Lord God. Therefore, completely stay away from all strange and diabolical books. No, when you read the law, do not think that you are required to keep the added precepts, if not all of them, then even some of them. Read those only for the sake of history, so that you may know them and glorify God that He has delivered you from so great and so many bonds. Aim to distinguish which rules came from the law of nature, and which were added afterward, or were additional rules introduce
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Background
Of the Old Covenant: the five books of Moses— Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy;
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Background
and besides these, the books of Job and of Solomon, and of the sixteen prophets.
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Hippolytus, Exegetical Fragments Background
And where are the books? For the only ones extant are Proverbs, and Wisdom, and Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs.
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Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book II Background
Moses delivered the law to the people in five books.
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Deuteronomy 31:26 Background
“Take this Book of the Law and put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against you.
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Exodus 24:7 Background
And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient.
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Malachi 4:4 Background
“Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, Which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, With the statutes and judgments.
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Deuteronomy 17:18 Background
“And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests.
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Leviticus 26:46 Background
These are the statutes and rules and laws that the LORD made between himself and the people of Israel through Moses on Mount Sinai.
More related quotations from this section 24 shown of 25
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Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book III Supporting witness
Since the Scriptures have been interpreted with such faithfulness, by the grace of God, and because of this, God has prepared and renewed our faith in His Son and preserved for us the pure Scriptures in Egypt—where the house of Jacob thrived, escaping the famine in Canaan, and where our Lord was preserved when He fled from Herod's persecution—and because this interpretation of these Scriptures was made before our Lord's descent to earth, and before the Christians appeared (for our Lord was born around the forty-first year of Augustus's reign, but Ptolemy lived much earlier, during whose time the Scriptures were interpreted)—truly, these people are shown to be brazen and audacious, who now wish to create different translations, when we refute them using these Scriptures and lead them to believe in the coming of the Son of God. But our faith is steadfast, sincere, and the only true one, having clear proof from these Scriptures, which were interpreted as I have described, and the preaching of the Church is unaltered. For the apostles, being older than all these heretics, agree with this mentioned translation; and the translation aligns with the tradition of the apostles. For Peter, Jo
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Justin Martyr, The First Apology Background
...e kings who were ruling among the Jews at various times. The prophets themselves arranged them into books in their own Hebrew language. When Ptolemy, the king of Egypt, established a library and attempted to gather the writings of all men, he also learned about these prophets and sent a request to Herod, who was king of the Jews at that time, asking that the books of the prophets be sent to him. King Herod did send them, written in the mentioned Hebrew language. When their contents proved to be unintelligible to the Egyptians, Ptolemy again sent a request for men to be assigned to translate them into Greek. Once this was done, the books remained with the Egyptians, where they still are to this day. They are also in the possession of all Jews throughout the world; but they, although they read, do not understand what is written and consider us foes and enemies. Like you, they kill and punish us whenever they have the power, as you can well believe. For in the recent Jewish war, Barchochebas, the leader of the Jewish revolt, ordered that only Christians should be subjected to cruel punishments unless they denied Jesus Christ and shouted blasphemies. In these prophetic books, we fou
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Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Background
It is said that the Scriptures of both the Law and the Prophets were translated from the Hebrew language into Greek during the reign of Ptolemy, the son of Lagos, or, according to others, during the reign of Ptolemy called Philadelphus. Demetrius Phalereus worked on this task with the greatest zeal and used careful accuracy with the materials for the translation. At that time, the Macedonians still ruled Asia, and the king wanted to decorate the library at Alexandria with every kind of writing. So he asked the people of Jerusalem to translate the prophecies they possessed into Greek. Since they were subjects of the Macedonians, they chose seventy elders from among the most respected men, men skilled in the Scriptures and also skilled in the Greek language, and sent them to him with the divine books. Then each man translated each prophetic book separately. When all the translations were compared together, they agreed in both meaning and wording. For this was God's plan, carried out for the benefit of Greek listeners. It was not contrary to the inspiration of God, who gave the prophecy, also to bring about the translation and make it, so to speak, a Greek prophecy. Since the Scriptur
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Justin Martyr, Hortatory Address to the Greeks Background
That the books relating to our religion are to this day preserved among the Jews, has been a work of Divine Providence on our behalf;
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Background
But our sacred books, that is, those of the New Covenant, are these: the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John;
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Origen, Commentary on John Background
...nts that you would certainly use against me if I acted against our agreement. And first of all, the Sacred History seems to agree with the text in question, since none of the saints wrote several works or set forth his views in a number of books. I will take up this point: when I go on to write a number of books, the critic will remind me that even someone like Moses left behind only five books.
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Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book III Background
...a with a collection of all meritorious writings. He requested the people of Jerusalem to have their Scriptures translated into Greek. At that time, they were still under Macedonian rule and sent seventy of their elders, who were well-versed in the Scriptures and both languages, to fulfill Ptolemy's request. Ptolemy wanted to test them individually, fearing they might conceal the truth by consulting together, so he separated them and asked each one to write the same translation. He did this for all the books. When they gathered before Ptolemy and compared their interpretations, God was glorified, and the Scriptures were acknowledged as truly divine. All of them read out the common translation in the same words and names, so even the Gentiles present perceived that God inspired the translation. It was not surprising that God did this, as He had, during the captivity under Nebuchadnezzar, inspired Esdras the priest to recast the Scriptures corrupted during the captivity and re-establish Mosaic legislation with the people when the Jews returned to their land after seventy years in the time of Artaxerxes, king of the Persians.
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Origen, Against Celsus Background
And we learn the history of the names and their interpretation from those Hebrews, who in their national literature and national tongue dwell with pride upon these things, and explain their meaning.
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Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book II Background
For these ancient, original, and generally called sacred letters of the Hebrews are ten in number (but they are written by means of fifteen), the last letter being joined to the first.
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Hippolytus, Exegetical Fragments Background
And further, let not this fact escape you, O man of learning, that the Hebrews also divided the Psalter into five books, so that it might be another Pentateuch.
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Hippolytus, Exegetical Fragments Background
The Hebrews give the book the title Sephra Thelim, and in the Acts of the Apostles it is called the Book of Psalms (the words are these, as it is written in the Book of Psalms), but the name (of the author) in the inscription of the book is not found there.
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Justin Martyr, The First Apology Background
And their prophecies, as they were spoken and when they were uttered, the kings who happened to be reigning among the Jews at the several times carefully preserved in their possession, when they had been arranged in books by the prophets themselves in their own Hebrew language.
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Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus Background
so that the Hebrews, who also are our ancestors, and from whom we have those sacred books which are older than all authors, as already said, are proved to be more ancient than the cities which were at that time renowned among the Egyptians.
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Justin Martyr, Hortatory Address to the Greeks Background
But if any one says that the writings of Moses and of the rest of the prophets were also written in the Greek character, let him read profane histories, and know that Ptolemy, king of Egypt, when he had built the library in Alexandria, and by gathering books from every quarter had filled it, then learnt that very ancient histories written in Hebrew happened to be carefully preserved;
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2 Kings 22:8 Background
Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.
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2 Chronicles 34:14 Background
While they were bringing out the money that had been brought into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the LORD given through Moses.
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Nehemiah 13:1 Background
On that day they read from the Book of Moses in the hearing of the people. And in it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God,
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Exodus 24:4 Background
And Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD. He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.
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Deuteronomy 31:9 Background
And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and unto all the elders of Israel.
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Nehemiah 8:18 Background
And day by day, from the first day to the last day, he read from the Book of the Law of God. They kept the feast seven days, and on the eighth day there was a solemn assembly, according to the rule.
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Wisdom of Sirach 24:23 Background
All these things are the book of the covenant of the most high God, Even the law which Moses commanded For a heritage unto the congregations of Jacob.
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Baruch 1:14 Background
And ye shall read this book which we have sent unto you, to make confession in the house of the Lord, upon the feasts and solemn days.
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Baruch 4:1 Background
This is the book of the commandments of God, and the law that endureth forever: all they that keep it shall come to life; but such as leave it shall die.
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Exodus 34:27 Background
And the Lord said to Moses, Write these words for thyself, for on these words I have established a covenant with thee and with Israel.
Common Questions
Did the early church use the Old Testament?
Yes. Early Christian writers treated the Old Testament as sacred Scripture and used it to teach about Christ.
Did early Christians think the Old Testament and New Testament fit together?
Yes. Writers like Irenaeus, Novatian, and Lactantius say the two belong together and do not conflict.
Did early Christians read the Law and the Prophets in church?
Yes. One early liturgy says the holy oracles of the Old Testament and the prophets were read in order.
Source Index for the Old Testament canon
The guided sections above show the strongest quotations. This compact index highlights 160 ranked source links from 210 compiled sources for deeper study.
Source index 160 ranked links shown
Early Christian Writings 80 shown of 121
Primary-source quotations from early Christian writers and church documents.
Bible Passages 80 shown of 89
Related Bible passages saved for comparison with the early Christian quotations.
Related Resources
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In Light of Melito of Sardis’ Old Testament List, Should Christians Accept the Apocrypha as Canonical Scripture?
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The New Testament canon
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