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What Is The Bible
Fergus J King
In Biblical Studies, it is increasingly
common to see
 BCE (Before the Common Era) used
instead of BC (Before Christ)
 CE (Common Era) used instead of AD
(Anno Domini)
 I tend to use BCE and CE as a scholarly
convention

Dating Conventions
The Bible is a collection of books made
over an extended period of time
 It is a newer collection than we might
think…
 The collection is sometimes known as the
CANON in Christian tradition
 But Christians do not always agree on
what constitutes the CANON

Canon: A Key Term
Or Jewish Scriptures
 It is worth remembering that the Jewish
Scriptures were not collected into a
formal collection until the Hasmonean
period
 Jewish literature which is not included in
the CANON is referred to as the Jewish
Pseudepigrapha

“The Old Testament”

The Hebrew or Masoretic text (MT) of the
Jewish Scriptures differs in content from
the Greek (or Septuagint, sometimes LXX
as an abbreviation) text.
Example: the book of Daniel contains
what are sometimes called the Greek
Additions
 The Book of Tobit
 The Maccabean Histories

Examples to substantiate this
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This is often assumed , but is it the case.
MT which is used in OT studies dates from
the ninth century CE
The LXX dates from the second century BCE
( according to the Letter of Aristeas)
The Dead Sea Scrolls contain quotations from
an earlier Hebrew and Aramaic versions
which are sometimes closer to the LXX
SO never assume Hebrew is always earlier
and therefore more reliable
Hebrew better than Greek?
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27 books.
The first move to a CANON appears in
response to Marcion (fl. 130-140 CE)
The Canon is pretty well agreed by late
5th century CE.
This canon constitutes the authoritative
texts of orthodoxy.
Other Christian groups had their own
authoritative collections of Scripture
The New Testament
The NT often draws on the OT.
Sometimes we can see specific use of
LXX by NT writers ( e.g., Matthew 1:23
cites the LXX text of Isaiah 7:14- the Gk
parthenos can be translated “virgin”)
 Sometimes, non-canonical books are
cited: Jude 14 inludes a citation from the
Book of Enoch, not part of MT or LXX
 The Church Fathers and medieval Church
used the LXX as their canon of the OT

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The OT in the NT

The Reformers rejected the LXX as the
canon of the OT, and preferred to see
the MT as authoritative

Hopes, by some like Luther, that James
(‘a letter of straw’) and Revelation
(“neither apostolic, nor prophetic, and
Christ was ‘neither sought not known in
it’”)* be removed did not transpire.
The Reformation
Even a CANON can fall prey to sectarian
interests.
 Indeed, the development of a Canon
seems to involve the selection or
discernment or selection of what is
authoritative?
 How do we ensure that this is not a
circular process?

Points to ponder
Lucas Grollenburg, Rediscovering the
Bible ( SCM, 1978)
 Etienne Charpentier, How to Read The
Bible (Testament, 1993)
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Suggested Further Reading