explained to Peter afterward, “Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven” (v. 17). So the New Testament was all written by the end of the first century, and not many years later, in about AD 140, the formation of the New Testament canon began. During the next fifty years, most of the New Testament books were officially recognized as inspired and as part of the canon of Scripture, with a few exceptions. A few New Testament books and letters took a little longer, due