The Biblical Canon of
Amphilochius of Iconium

The Canon of Amphilochius of Iconium is found in his poem the Iambi ad Seleucum, which was preserved among the works of Gregory of Nazianzus.  Amphilochius probably wrote this poem for his young nephew Seleucus.  In lines 181-320, Amphilochius presents Seleucus with ‘the study of the sacred books and the order of the rule of faith.  In the introduction to the list, Amphilochius says that not every book which has received the venerable name of Scriptures is safe. For there are extant pseudonymous books, some of which are intermediate and neighbors… to the words of truth, but others are spurious and surely unsafe.’

Many of the Catholic Epistles are disputed in his New Testament list.  He does not include the Deuterocanonical books in his Old Testament list, but he does allude to Tobit, Sirach/ Ecclesiasticus, and the Wisdom of Solomon in is extant writings.  He found the teachings in these books useful for exhorting the church, but did not include them in his canon list.  Amphilochius created his canon list for two purposes: to teach one the useful way of life and how to worship God and the converse, how to escape from the traps of the world and to teach which books only appear to bear the kings inscription, but actually are forgeries and very unsafe.

Sources: 

• Edmon L. Gallagher and John D. Meade. The Biblical Canon Lists from Early Christianity:  Texts and Analysis.  Oxford University Press. 2017