In this section, I will provide annotated bibliographies on three topics that are central to religious authority (and thus authentic Christianity): (1) Holy Scripture (as a Canon); (2) Apostolic Tradition; and (3) the Magisterium. 

The three major branches of Christianity are divided over the relevance and relationship of all three of these sources: where Catholics, Orthodox, and Protestants agree is primarily on the authority of Holy Scripture, but they differ on the authority of one or the other two sources.  Protestants typically reject the authority of both Tradition and the Magisterium, whereas the Orthodox accept Tradition but reject the Magisterium (and privileged head of the Church in the Successor of Peter).

This section isn't intended for apologetics or polemics so as to defend the Catholic perspective, so much as to provide a list of scholarly resources on these issues that continue to divide many baptized Christians.  It is best to understand our history as baptized Christians first and foremost.  Know what it is that matters to you and what is truly at stake rather than add salt to old wounds that you scarcely understand!

Annotated Bibliograph (2024-5) --- Theme: The Bible as "Canon" (Standard of Rule)

Biblical Canonization:

• Armstrong, Karen (2007) The Bible: A Biography. 
• Barnstone, Willis (ed.) (1984). The Other Bible: Ancient Alternative Scriptures. 
• Childs, Brevard S. (1984). The New Testament as Canon: An Introduction.
• Meade, John D. (2017). The biblical canon lists from early Christianity: texts and analysis.
• Schneemelcher Wilhelm (ed). Hennecke Edgard, New Testament Apocrypha, 2 vol.
• McDonald, Lee Martin (2009). Forgotten Scriptures. The Selection and Rejection of Early Religious Writings. 
• McDonald, Lee Martin (2000). Early Christianity and Its Sacred Literature. 
• McDonald, Lee Martin (2007). The Biblical Canon: Its Origin, Transmission, and Authority. 
• Pentiuc, Eugen J., ed. (2022). The Oxford Handbook of the Bible in Orthodox Christianity. 
• Souter, Alexander (1954). The Text and Canon of the New Testament. 
• Stonehouse, Ned Bernhard (1929). The Apocalypse in the Ancient Church: A Study in the History of the New Testament Canon. 
• Wall, Robert W.; Lemcio, Eugene E. (1992). The New Testament as Canon: A Reader in Canonical Criticism. 
• Westcott, Brooke Foss. (1875). A General Survey of the History of the Canon of the New Testament.
• Francis Bruce Vawter's Biblical Inspiration
• Histoire critique du Vieux Testament (1678) 
• Roland Edmund Murphy's The New Jerome Biblical Commentary