formation of the new testament canon summary

In fact, James is depicted as having expected and anticipated the resurrection, even fasting until it should occur. It is a compilation of twenty-seven books to include gospels, epistles, Acts, and a book of revelation. ; and for an example, see Bible). If they had been written by then, they must have not made it to Rome before 95. Where this mysterious "canon" fits into history is unclear. Theophilus' successor, Serapion, reveals the next stage in the process in 200 A.D. The early diversities of judgment in respect to certain books furnish satisfactory evidence of the freedom of thought and discussion among the primitive Christians, and of the sincerity and earnestness of their investigations. Though not part of the Bible, the very fact that a canonical set of Talmudic texts was being sought at this time also suggests a possible influence upon the Christians to do the same with their writings, as does the very different move to canonization made by the Roman jurist Ulpian around the same date, who sought to martial all the past legal decisions of prominent jurists for the last few centuries and edit them into a single authoritative text. The list that follows matches what we now have in modern Bibles, minus the Revelation. Westcott, in Smith's Bible Dict. Covers the history of the Hebrews, with one chapter dedicated to the development of the Old Testament, including its reception by Christians. To what extent were these lost, or incorporated in orthodox or heretical writings? Almost all the Protestant churches followed suit within the next century with essentially identical conclusions (M 246-7), dissenting only by excluding the OT apocrypha held as canonical by the Catholics. For full treatment, see biblical literature: Conditions aiding the formation of the canon. A telling case is that of Erasmus, who, after being chastised by the Church, renounced his rational doubts about this and various Biblical books, on the ground that "the opinion formulated by the Church has more value in my eyes than human reasons, whatever they may be" (Response to the Censure of the Theology Faculty at Paris, 9.864; M 241). The only standard Eusebius employed in deciding which texts to call "recognized" is to accept every book that is recognized by every (orthodox) author he knows (Church History 3.25, cf. It is noteworthy that the only book actually named by Hermas is an apocryphal Jewish text, the Book of Eldad and Modat. Upon further study I am convinced that this is at least 100 … We have already seen how around 130 Papias perhaps names Mark so as to defend its authority, and alludes to a text by Matthew which could have inspired naming another Gospel after him, the one which seemed to rely most on OT prophecies. The idea of a complete and clear-cut canon of the New Testament existing from the beginning, that is from Apostolic times, has no foundation in history. Connected with this process was the canonization of the Talmud, which began in 200 A.D. (M 110) with the first "authoritative" written edition of the Mishnah being established by Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi, presumably from oral traditions. Yet thus came the Bible. This was the decree and decision of one man, and we are given no insights into what criteria he employed. In no case does he name or precisely quote any NT ("New Testament") book, but again this may be due to the unusual circumstances in which he was writing. Incidentally, these decrees also declared by fiat that Hebrews was written by Paul, ending all debate on the subject. We don't know who wrote it, when, why, or whether it has been compromised over time, nor is it complete, and it is so badly written its meaning is unclear, as is the competence of its author and copyists. In these he quotes exactly almost every book of the NT, numerous times, demonstrating that the orthodox canon, though not established officially, was by this time generally accepted in practice (M 154). Moreover, he rejected the idea that Jesus was flesh, and the idea of Hell. cit.. [5] Inexperienced observers might remark that an author engaging in apologetic invention would want to ascribe a text to an actual apostle, an eye-witness, not to a mere companion (like Mark or Luke; John appears to claim eye-witness authorship at 21:24, and Matthew was believed by later church scholars to be the apostle and thus an eye-witness). when the Septuagint, an "official" Greek translation, was made of it by a council of seventy Jewish scholars in Alexandria. Of these there is not a trace in the long series of literary notices, so conscientiously amassed by the historian. This goes into more detail about the use of books, the NT and OT canon, apocrypha, the effects of the Reformation, and most of all the modern rules and guidelines for defending canonicity. The New Testament canon developed, or evolved, over the course of the first 250-300 years of Christian history. Next in order comes what may be called the period of transition between the age of the apostolic and that of the early church fathers. The Councils of Hippo (AD 393) and Carthage (AD 397) reaffirmed the … If true, this is an excellent starting point for possible hallucinations of a risen Christ: deprivation and expectation. This became the Western Catholic canon, again by fiat of one man, and through deference to his authority by the rest of the Church. • Lacked Philemon, Hebrews, James, I Peter, II Peter, and III John • Included Wisdom of Solomon and Revelation of Peter • The canon consists of no mere list of the Scriptures, but of a survey, which supplies at the same time historical and other information regarding each book. In this text, there are echoes from all four Gospels, but also miracles and sayings of Jesus found nowhere else, and it appears the author was working not from textual sources but from memory, and composing freely in his own style (M 168). Bruce, "Some Thoughts on the Beginning of the New Testament Canon," Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester 65.2 (Spring 1983): 37-60. pdf : Reliability of the New Testament (Donald Burdick) [Right-Click on link and select "save as"] … So this is not entirely helpful. Print list price: $22.00. It may have preserved the tradition that Mark was Peter's secretary (the second line implies parallels with remarks about this by Papias). In other words, no one in antiquity ever saw a completely accurate collection of what would eventually become the 27 New Testament books, until perhaps the time of Origen or Clement of Alexandria (see XII and XIV), and even then most likely only those few scholars would have enjoyed the privilege. But it is worth adding an interesting irony: for with the Reformation the history of canonization came almost full circle. The … It is hard to tell what he means, but scholars see in his account a growing apologetic in defense of Mark: Mark was regarded as unreliable because he did not know Jesus, and he was attacked for being incomplete and disorderly, and so on, so Papias defends him by putting him in the entourage of Peter and asserting that he faithfully recorded what Peter said, and so on. In giving priority to the Four Gospels, Eusebius calls them the "Holy Quaternion," thus showing signs of the belief that there could only be four Gospels for mystical or numerological reasons, a belief we have seen before (in the cases of Irenaeus and Cyprian). Then there are the African canons. But Jude quotes the book of Enoch as an authority (vv. It is debated whether Jerome himself finished the rest, or if it was completed by others, but the finished project contained all the 27 books now found in the Bible, no more and no less, and the choice was almost certainly Jerome's, since his many other works all speak of these books as authoritative, and a letter he wrote listed all these books as his ideal canon--a letter which was placed as a preface to many of his Latin Bibles (M 234-5). The most distinguished writer of this period is Justin Martyr. A considerable number of years elapsed after the ascension before it was thought necessary to give to the churches under apostolic sanction a written account of our Lord's life and teachings. (2.) The canon was not, however, completed in its present form; for the right of certain books -- the so-called antilegomena, chap.6.6. Were added to the New Testament the fulfillment of the state of ignorance we are in whenever try... 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