What sort of New Testament books were the most popular in Early Christianity. I will look at two time periods using two different methods of analysis. For the early second century, we have quotations in Church Fathers. For the third and fourth centuries, we can look at attestations of various books when they circulated as separate books and not as complete New Testament codices.
For the second century we have, in order of popularity:
- Matthew (32)
- 1 Corinthians (16)
- 1 Peter (13)
- Romans (8)
- Luke (6)
- Acts (4)
- Galatians (4)
- 1 Timothy (4)
- Hebrews (4)
- John (3)
- Ephesians (3)
- Philippians (3)
- Titus (3)
- Mark (1)
- 2 Corinthians (1)
- 1 Thessalonians (1)
- 2 Thessalonians (1)
- 2 Timothy (1)
- 1 John (1)
- 2 John (1)
- Revelation (1)
For the third and fourth century we have, again in order of popularity:
- Matthew (17)
- John (16)
- Acts (7)
- Luke (6)
- Hebrews (6)
- Romans (5)
- Revelation (5)
- Ephesians (3)
- 1 Thessalonians (3)
- James (3)
- Mark (2)
- 1 Corinthians (2)
- 2 Corinthians (2)
- Philippians (2)
- 2 Thessalonians (2)
- 1 Peter (2)
- Jude (2)
- Galatians (1)
- Colossians (1)
- Titus (1)
- Philemon (1)
- 2 Peter (1)
- 1 John (1)
Granted, two different measures are being used, but the results are interesting. In the early second century 1 Peter and 1 Corinthians were much more popular than they were in the third and fourth centuries. The gospel of John and the Revelation, on the other hand, were more popular in the third and fourth centuries than they were in the second. Matthew was, for all this time, the most popular of New Testament writings.
