The conception of sacred text in Christianity in the context apocryphal and canonical texts

With the discovery of apocryphal texts, which started in the late 19th century and continued gradually, interest in apocryphal texts in the West increased and became the subject of many studies. According to the information provided by Western researchers, texts accepted as legitimate by the church are considered canonical, while texts that are not considered legitimate are considered apocryphal. In the early years of Christianity, many texts were produced and used by believers since the Letters of Paul, which are accepted as the first examples of religious texts. However, only 27 of the mentioned texts were included in the New Testament. The main question of our study is the reasons why the works that are not included in the canon and that are described as apocryphal are excluded from the canon. While searching for an answer to the stated question, the effect of Paul on the principles of Christian belief has been examined in comparison with Jesus' understanding of religion. Since knowing the struggle between Christian communities and comprehending the Orthodox understanding that plays an effective role in shaping the New Testament Canon by winning the mentioned struggle will contribute to the understanding of the subject, the mentioned issues are also touched on in general terms. The reasons for the emergence of religious texts in Christianity are tried to be explained, and why the canon is needed is emphasized. We tried to shed light on the subject by conveying the formation process of the canon, and the adventure of apocryphal texts was the subject of this process. While creating the canon, the criteria that a text should have in order to be included in the canon were listed and efforts were made to reveal the reasons why apocryphal texts were not considered canonical. In addition, our study aimed to draw attention to the phenomenon of apocryphal texts in Christianity by giving information about the apocryphal texts.