Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 68:1 (Mar 2025)
Article: Finding Significance In The Order Of The Books Of The New Testament: Is It Imaginary Or Real?
Author: Gregory Goswell

JETS 68.1 (March 2025) p. 73

Finding Significance In The Order Of The Books Of The New Testament: Is It Imaginary Or Real?

Gregory Goswell

Gregory Goswell is Honory Research Fellow in Biblical Studies at Christ College in Sydney, Australia. He can be contacted at [email protected]. Christ College is an affiliated college of the Australian University of Theology.

Abstract: The sequences of the books of the New Testament preserved in manuscripts, ancient codices, and canon lists provide interpretive prompts. Text and paratext can be differentiated, for book order is a post-authorial paratextual phenomenon. Several principles appear to lie behind the ordering of the books, including the size of the book, storyline thread, genre, and theme. It is unlikely that the position of any book is without logic. Possible challenges to the idea that readers are meant to find meaning in the order of the books include the different orders of the four Gospels, Romans standing at the head of the Pauline corpus due to its length, the varying position of Hebrews, the writings linked to John being scattered throughout the canon, and the failure to conjoin Luke and Acts. All these challenges are addressed. The compilation of the books was done with intent, but the contemporary reader has only indirect access to what that intent was by scrutinizing the orders themselves.

Key words: book order, New Testament, compilation, paratext, intention

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” as the saying goes.1 Does the same apply to finding hermeneutical significance in the order of the books of the New Testament? In the process of canon formation, the books were placed in various sequences by early readers and scribes. Did those who placed the books in order intend that order to be a guide to later readers of Scripture? Are we meant to find meaning in the order of the books of the New Testament, or is the order of the books without objective significance for those who read the biblical text? Does the ordering of the books suggest ways of interpreting the contents of the books, or is the exercise of seeking meaning in the sequences of books entirely subjective? In recent years, considerable scholarly effort has been expended in this newer area of biblical study,2 but this approach is not without its critics. John Barton, for exam

JETS 68.1 (March 2025) p. 74

ple, writes, “We may if we wish make exegetical capital out of the fact that … Romans stands at the head of the Pauline corpus, or that John is presented in the canon as the last Gospel; but there is not much evidence that people in antiquity anticipated such though...