canon Formation of the Word of God

What does “Canon” mean? kanon, straight rod, measuring line Criterion or standard Authoritative list of NT books

Questioning the canon Bart Ehrman, University of North Carolina Late, arbitrary, and artificial imposition by the ecclesial establishment

history Septuagint - translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek Penteteuch (Gen - Deut) 250 BC Alexandria Alternate translations continue through the first centuries of the common era Adolf Deissmann “A single hour lovingly devoted to the text of the LXX will further our exegetical knowledge of the Pauline Epistles more than a whole day spent over a commentary”

Factors - Positive Read liturgically in Church gatherings — the Septuagint and letters Sent letters to one another (Col 4:16) Sayings of Jesus cited by Paul – 1 Tim 5:18 – saying of Jesus alongside Deuteronomy Citing letters as inspired (2 Peter 3:15–16; Church Fathers)

Early Development Apostolic Fathers (second generation Christians) categories of citations: 1. Four Gospels and major Pauline letters cited frequently 2. Rest of the NT cited occasionally 3. Non-canonical books almost never cited

Instigating factors Marcion’s (writing from 140–160 AD) Canon – edited version of Luke and 10 letters of Paul Tatian’s Diatesseron (170 AD) Gnostic Writings

lists Muratorian Fragment (200 AD) lacks Hebrews, James, 3 John, 1 and 2 Peter adds Wisdom of Solomon, Shepherd of Hermas Eusebius, Bishop of Cesarea (early 300’s) Recognized – Four Gospels, Acts, fourteen Pauline letters (included Hebrews), 1 John, 1Peter, Revelation Disputed: James, Jude, 2 Peter, 2–3 John Spurious- Acts of Paul, Shepherd of Hermas, Apocalypse of Peter, Epistle of Barnabus, Didache Athanasius, Festal Letter, books in our order Augustine, De doctrina christiana, 396 Council of Carthage, 397

Requirements It must be…. Genuine: Apostolic derivation (involves authorship and time) Accepted: Use in the Church universal, not just local True: Theological consistency (regula fidei) Regula fidei - Faith that has been known from the beginning, handed down by the apostles Did they see these texts as God-breathed? The Church uses the language of recognizing these texts rather than choosing these texts

Material Evidence Constantine (4 th century) commissioned Eusebius to produced “fifty copies of the divine Scriptures” Possibly Vaticanus and Sinaiticus

Hebrews as A Test case Authorship ideas of Paul written by someone else Rule of Faith East - pilgrimage; West- authority Concern over the warnings against apostasy Provided aid for Christological heresies Wide spread use

Early Thoughtful Organic/Grassroots Providential Affirming the canon Late, arbitrary, and artificial imposition by the ecclesial establishment ?

Is the Canon Closed? Open to finding insight in other places Dawn Devries, “Ever to Be Reformed According to the Word of God”: The process of forming the canon in essence involved groups of Christians identifying those writings through which they reliably encountered a Word of God. Since the time in which the canon was officially determined, groups of Christians have continued regularly to encounter a Word of God in these texts. Were they to substitute a different set of writings, however, the collective experience of the Christian community would no longer justify their confidence in the texts; that would have to be established in some other way. Convinced of the ever present and powerful reality of sin, the theologian would be obliged to question the motives and justifications a small group of people could have for establishing a new sacred canon. The collective experience of the many is always more reliable than the select experience of the few.

Translation issues 1. Majority Text vs. Early Manuscripts Mark 16:9ff John 8 2. Type of Translation Formal equivalence - NASB Dynamic equivalence - New Living Present Issues Gendered translation for humans brothers and sisters? Heb 2:10 - sons or children? Gendered language for God?

Further Reading The Canon of the New Testament By Bruce Metzger The Biblical Canon By Lee Martin McDonald