Holy Scripture -- The law and the prophets -- The Greek Old Testament -- The Old Testament becomes a new book -- The Christian canon of the Old Testament: in the east -- The Christian canon of the Old Testament: in the Latin west -- Before and after the Reformation -- Writings of the new era -- Marcion -- Valentinus and his school -- The Catholic response -- The muratorian fragment -- Irenaeus, Hippolytus, Novatian -- Tertullian, Cyprian and others -- The Alexandrian fathers -- Eusebius of Caesarea -- Athanasius and after -- The west in the fourth century to Jerome -- Augustine to the end of the middle ages -- The New Testament canon in the age of printing -- Criteria of canonicity -- A canon within the canon? -- Canon, criticism and interpretation