The Canon How did we get the Bible?

Bible Jerome-The Divine Library Greeks-Changed from Biblia (The Books) to Bible (The Book). Scriptures vs Scripture

Canon Measuring rod or ruler The entire list that belongs in the Bible Jesus accepted OT Scripture as well as Jews so earliest Christians have always had Scripture God inspired through Holy Spirit Written down by man Inerrant-Original manuscript is without errors

Necessity Much of Christian doctrine addressed certain situations but not entire doctrine Early writers felt the need to address this issue and started forming the canon

Old Testament 10 Commandments-Written by the finger of God (Exodus 31:18) and preserved in the ark of the covenant Deuteronomy and Joshua (Joshua 24:26) Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther were the last books recorded Nehemiah went to Jerusalem around 445 and Ezra around 458 B.C.

Apocrypha Collection of 12 -15 books accepted by Roman Catholic church and eastern Orthodox Jews never accepted this books Earliest Christians were against it but the use grew until the Reformation Jerome included them in his Latin vulgate which gave them credence even though he said they were not in the canon but books of the church

Apocrypha In 1546 at the Council of Trent, the Catholic church confirmed the Apocrypha as books of the Bible This council was a response to Martin Luther’s teachings Apocrypha contains readings that contradict the Bible such as alms giving as atonement for sins

New Testament Primarily writings of the apostles The apostles have authority to write down the Words of God This leaves 5 books: Mark, Luke, Acts, Hebrews, and Jude Mark, Luke, and Acts were acknowledged very early Hebrews was accepted due to suspected Pauline authorship

New Testament NT-The only source we have for Christianity Original manuscripts were written on papyrus scrolls No original manuscripts exist Book form (codex) was developed around 4th century 8 writers make up NT

New Testament Gospels-Not biographies-4 Different portraits Synoptic Gospels (see together) Letters are occasional Do the gospels contradict? 1st century audience in NT Different Genres

Canon In 367 The 39th Paschal Letter of Athanasius contained an exact list of the 27 books in NT In 397, the western portion of the Mediterranean world accepted those as well.

Order used in Church at Rome AD 200 4 Gospels, Acts, Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, James, 1 and 2 John, Jude, Revelation of John Also-Revelation of Peter, Wisdom of Solomon To be used in private but not public worship- The Shepherd of Hermas

AD 250 used by Origen 4 Gospels, Acts, Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, 1 Peter, 1 John, Revelation of John Disputed-Hebrews, James, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, The Shepherd oh Hermas, Letter of Barnabas, Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, Gospel of the Hebrews

AD 300 used by Eusebius 4 Gospels, Acts, Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, 1 Peter, 1 John, Revelation of John Disputed but well known-James, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, Jude To be excluded-Shepherd of Hermas, Letter of Barnabas, Gospel of the Hebrews, Revelation of Peter, Acts of Peter, Didache

AD 350 Council of Carthage The NT as we know it

Questions Will any ever be added? Revelation 22:18-19 Do we have the right books? Does it matter who wrote them? 1 Peter has terrific Greek, Pastorals have different vocabulary than Paul’s other writings, Was the apostle John the author of Revelation?

How do we read OT? Narrative-Don’t read too much theology into narrative (allegorizing) Narrative-Not always good guys (Solomon and Samson) Law-Read in context Poetry-1/3 of the Bible but don’t read same as Romans

Poetry Figurative imagery-My tears have been my food day and night-Psalm 42:3 Gordon Fee-The Psalms give us examples of how to sing and talk to God. Much of the prophets is poetry Only 2% of OT prophecy is messianic