Is the order of the New Testament books in the canon random?

Abstract

Decretum de canonicis Scripturis (Council of Trent) gives the following list of the canonical books of the New Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts of the Apostles, Pauline Epistles, Catholic Epistles, Revelation. This order is based on many manuscripts, but is not the only one known. The Apostolic Fathers cite the books of the New Testament, but never give their titles. The books were only given titles in the late second century. The Muratorian fragment is the oldest document (the second half of the 2nd century) which enumerates canonical books in an appropriate order. The important fact is that this list was prepared in the Roman Church and the order is in accordance with our canon. The Muratorian fragment presents the list of books in the reverse alphabetical order (from Z to A). It is a consequence of the tendency to order books alphabetically (not only in codices). Due to the fact that the oldest list of canonical books enlists them in the same order as we do in our canon and this order is not random, the order in our canon seems to be authentic.