“Ancient Words, Ever True” – 5
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CANON
1. Who decided which books belong in the Bible? When? And how?
a. The necessity of grappling with this concept was already present in New Testament days, as may be observed from these two verses:
i. 2 Thessalonians 2:2
ii. Thessalonians 2:15
b. It certainly exists in the popular culture of our day, too, as may be observed from this statement by a fictional character in a best-selling novel: “Constantine commissioned and financed a new Bible, which omitted those gospels that spoke of Christ’s human traits and embellished those gospels that made him godlike. The earlier gospels were outlawed, gathered up, and burned.” (Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code, 234)
2. The list of writings which are recognized as having the authority of Scripture is usually referred to as the _____________ of the scriptures.
a. The term is from a word which meant “reed” and was sometimes used to refer to a measuring rod.
b. It came to mean a rule or a standard or a limit.
c. The canon is the list of those books which have measured up to the standard of inspired literature – writings which have passed the test.
3. It appears that by the time of Jesus the canon of the Old Testament had for some time been well established.
a. We get some indication of this from things Jesus said.
i. Luke 24:44
ii. Luke 11:51 (cf. Gen. 4:8-10; 2 Chron. 24:20-22)
b. Writers from the time seem to have known and accepted the canon. Jewish historian Josephus, for example, wrote: “We have not 10,000 books among us, disagreeing with and contradicting one another, but only twenty-two books, which contain the records of all time, and are justly believed to be divine. Five of these are by Moses, and contain his laws and traditions of the origin of mankind until his death....From the death of Moses till the reign of Artaxerxes, king of Persia, who reigned after Xerxes, the prophets who succeeded Moses wroted down what happened in their times thirteen books; and the remaining four books contain hymns to God and precepts for the conduct of human life.” (Against Apion i.8, cited by Bruce, The Books and the Parchments, 99)
c. Archaeological discoveries tend to confirm this. The Dead Sea Scrolls, from about 200 B.C., include 175 biblical manuscripts including portions of every book except Esther. (Lightfoot, “The Canon and Text of the Old Testament” in The World and Literature of the Old Testament, Vol. 1, 157)
4. But we also know that other classes or writings were being produced and were available.
a. The ________________ (“hidden”) purported to give “undisclosed” information. It was regarded as not being for public reading, but as appropriate for private reflection.
b. The ____________________ were writings under assumed names. This tactic was used because if a new form of teaching was to spread, its apostolic origin had to be established.
c. ________________ literature consisted of early Christian writings about practical Christian living and service.
5. The need to recognize the difference between Scripture and non-scripture became more and more obvious and necessary.
a. The ______________ began to die: which books were regarded as carrying apostolic authority?
b. The _____________ was expanding widely: which books were to be read in the assemblies of Christians?
c. Heretical _____________ were actively spreading their mistaken writings: which books could be appealed to in disputes?
d. The danger of __________________ was becoming more immediate: which writings could be handed over to imperial authorities, and which ones were worth dying for?
e. The rise of _________ _________ made collections more common: which books were to be bound together.
6. Quite naturally, lists of books which were considered to be deserving of recognition started to circulate among the churches.
a. Apostolic Fathers like Ignatius (115 A.D.), Polycarp (shortly after that), and Tatian (by 170) in his “Diatesseron,” used New Testament books as authorities. A generation after the end of the apostolic age, every book in the New Testament had been cited as authoritative by some church father.
b. Marcion (140 A.D.) issued his list, which included only Luke and ten epistles of Paul, “cleansed” of the Old Testament.
c. Irenaeus (180 A.D.) compared the Gospels to “four winds,” quoted Acts, appealed to Paul’s letters, Revelation, and some of the general epistles.
d. The Muratorian Fragment (190) contained a list of New Testament writings, indicating some others with notes about uncertainties.
e. When Origen (225) and Eusebius (300) wrote and mentioned all the New Testament books, the issue was which ones out of a certain number of marginal cases belonged to the canon.
f. The Letter of Athanasius (367) for the first time listed the exact New Testament books as we have them. Jerome and Augustine shortly defined the canon with the same list.
g. When the Council at Hippo listed the same twenty-seven books in 393 A.D., “it did not confer upon them any authority which they did not already possess, but simply recorded their previously established canonicity.” (Bruce, 113)
7. What was regarded as Scripture had these qualities in common:
a. _______________ origin: it was written by an apostle or a coworker.
b. Widely ______________: the church generally already regarded it as authoritative.
c. Intrinsic ____________: it has the ring of truth; it has merit and standing.
d. ______________ with recognized books: it corresponds with known Scripture.
e. Continually _____________ by the church: it contributes to the lasting spiritual health of the church.
8. As New Testament scholar Kurt Aland put it, the canon “was not imposed from the top, be it by bishops or synods, and then accepted by the communities....The organized church did not create the canon; it recognized the canon that had been created.”
9. The books of the Bible do not derive their authority from the church; they have authority which is to control the church.