<P> Despite all this, scholars are confident that the gospels do provide a good idea of the public career of Jesus, and that critical study can attempt to distinguish the ideas of Jesus from those of later authors and editors . </P> <P> The creation of a Christian canon was probably a response to career of the heretic Marcion (c. 85--160), who established a canon of his own with just one gospel, the gospel of Luke, which he edited to fit his own theology . The Muratorian canon, the earliest surviving list of books considered (by its own author at least) to form Christian scripture, included Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and Irenaeus of Lyons went further, stating that there must be four gospels and only four because there were four corners of the Earth and thus the Church should have four pillars . </P> <P> Epiphanius, Jerome and other early church fathers preserve in their writings citations from Jewish - Christian gospels . Most modern critical scholars consider that the extant citations suggest at least two and probably three distinct works, at least one of which (possibly two) closely parallels the Gospel of Matthew . </P> <P> The gospel attributed to Thomas is mostly wisdom without narrating Jesus's life . The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church says that the original may date from c. 150 . It may represent a tradition independent from the canonical gospels, but that developed over a long time and was influenced by Matthew and Luke . </P>

How many books are in teh old testament