Gregory the Theologian on the Books of Scripture

Do not let other books lead your mind astray, for many harmful writings have been spread abroad. The historical books are twelve in number by the Hebrew count. Editor’s note: Here follow the names of the books of the Old Testament, but Esther is left out, and one Esdras, and all the deuterocanonical books. So there are twenty-two books of the Old Testament, corresponding to the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The books of the New Mystery are these: Matthew, who wrote the miracles of Christ for the Hebrews; Mark, for Italy; Luke, for Greece; John, who entered heaven, a preacher to all; then the Acts, the fourteen letters of Paul, and the seven catholic letters. And so you have all the books. If there is any besides these, do not count it as genuine. [a]