Download Class Session 1C

The Canonical Church
© John Stevenson, 2016
Upon what do Christian base
their beliefs?
Christianity as a Text-Based
Religion
• Pagan religions were practice-based
– Sacrifices
– Prayers
• Belief was not considered to be important
and therefore texts were not important
• Judaism was the sole exception
• Christianity built on Judaism’s text-based
faith
The Greek Kanon
KANWN
• It had to be unbendable
• It had to be dependable
as to its straightness
Galatians 6:16
Those who will walk by this
RULE, peace and mercy be upon
them, and upon the Israel of God.
Definition
Canonicity is the process by which
the books of the Bible were
gathered and collected so that
they came to be regarded as the
standard and norm for Christians.
Canonicity refers to the church’s
recognition of the authority of
the inspired writings.
Questions on Canonicity
• How are we to determine if we
have the right books in the Bible?
• What about the Apocrypha?
• Are there certain books in our
Bible which should not be there?
• Are we missing some books?
Canon
Recognized
New Testament
1
The
Ancient
Church
500
1000
The
Medieval
Church
1500
2000
The
Reformed
Church
Canonicity & the Old Testament
• The Testimony of Jesus
Now He said to them, “These are My
words which I spoke to you, while I
was still with you, that all things which
are written about Me in the Law of
Moses and the Prophets and the
Psalms must be fulfilled.” (Luke 24:44).
Canonicity & the Old Testament
• The Testimony of Jesus
• The Testimony of the Septuagint
The Septuagint
Alexandria
●
• Translation of
Hebrew Bible
into Greek
• Ptolemy II
• Great Library
of Alexandria
The Septuagint
• 70 Scholars
• Entire Old
Testament
translated
• Apocrypha
also included
Canonicity & the Old Testament
• The Testimony of Jesus
• The Testimony of the Septuagint
• The Testimony of the New Testament
– Full of quotations from the Old
Testament
– Not a single quotation from the
Apocrypha
Canonicity & the Old Testament
•
•
•
•
The Testimony of Jesus
The Testimony of the Septuagint
The Testimony of the New Testament
The Testimony of Josephus
Josephus
"For we have not an
innumerable multitude of
books among us, disagreeing
from and contradicting one
another [as the Greeks have],
but only twenty-two books,
which contain the records of
all the past times; which are
justly believed to be
divine...(Contra Apion 1:8).
Josephus
"It is true, our history has
been written since
Artaxerxes, very peculiarly,
but has not been esteemed of
the like authority with the
former by our forefathers,
because there has not been
an exact succession of
prophets since that time."
(Contra Apion 1:8).
Canonicity & the Old Testament
•
•
•
•
•
The Testimony of Jesus
The Testimony of the Septuagint
The Testimony of the New Testament
The Testimony of Josephus
The Testimony of the Apocrypha
• Meaning: “Hidden away”
• The Apocrypha speaks of the
division of the Scriptures into the
Law and the Prophets (Prologue
of Sirach 1:1; 2nd Maccabees
15:9; 4th Maccabees 18:10).
• You do not find the Old
Testament mentioning this
division
•
•
•
•
•
1st & 2nd Esdras
Tobit
Judith
Esther Sequel
Wisdom of
Solomon
• Sirach
•
•
•
•
•
Baruch
Additions to Daniel
Susanna
Bel and the Dragon
1st & 2nd Maccabees
The church was born
with a completed canon
in her hands
The
Existence of
the Canon
=
The
Recognition
of the Canon
Latin Manuscript
• Our oldest copy dates to the
7th Century
• Originally written in latter part
of 2nd Century
• It is a partial list (starts with
Luke, but refers to it as the
3rd Gospel)
• Includes Gospels, Epistles of
Paul, John, & Jude
Latin Manuscript
• Includes a Book of Wisdom
written by friends of Solomon
in his honor
• Mentions Shepherd of
Hermes but says it is written
more recently
• Mentions apocalypse of John
and of Peter, but says the
latter not received by all
…the Blessed Apostle Paul himself followed
the order of his predecessor, John, and
wrote only seven Churches by name. They
are in this order:
•
•
•
•
Corinthians
Ephesians
Philippians
Colossians
•
•
•
Galatians
Thessalonians
Romans
Besides these there is one to Philemon, and
one to Titus, and two to Timothy, in affection
and love, but nevertheless regarded as holy
in the Catholic Church, in the ordering of
churchly discipline.
“There is also circulated one to the
Laodiceans and another to the
Alexandrians, forged under the name of
Paul, in regard to the heresy of Marcion;
and there are several others which cannot
be received by the Church, for it is not
suitable that gall be mixed with honey.”
“The Shepherd, moreover, was written by
Hermas quite recently in our time, in the
city of Rome, while he brother, Bishop
Pius, sat in the chair of the Church in the
city of Rome; and therefore, it too should
certainly be read. But it cannot be read
publicly to the people in church, for it is
neither among the Prophets, whose
number is complete to the end of time,
nor among the Apostles.”
Factors Necessitating a
New Testament Canon
• The Problem of Heretics
Marcion’s Canon
comprised Luke
and ten epistles of
Paul minus
quotations from the
Old Testament
Factors Necessitating a
New Testament Canon
• The Problem of Heretics
• The Presence of other Christian
Writings
– Didache
– Epistles of Ignatius and other church
fathers
Factors Necessitating a
New Testament Canon
• The Problem of Heretics
• The Presence of other Christian
Writings
Irenaeus points to a
canon that includes the
Shepherd of Hermes,
but excludes Hebrews,
2nd Peter. Philemon,
2nd & 3rd John
Factors Necessitating a
New Testament Canon
• The Problem of Heretics
• The Presence of other Christian
Writings
• The Persecutions against the church
and laws against ownership of the
Scriptures
Criteria for
New Testament Canonicity
• Apostolic Authorship
• Consistency
• Reception by the Churches
The church did not make certain
books canonical; the church
recognized certain books to be
canonical
•
•
•
•
•
Homologoumena
Antilegomena
(Books Accepted by all)
(Books Questioned by some)
Four Gospels
Acts
Epistles of Paul
First Peter
First John
•
•
•
•
•
•
Hebrews
James
Second Peter
Second & Third John
Jude
Revelation
363
• Asked that only canonical
books be read from the
pulpit
• Listed all books of our New
Testament except
Revelation
367
• Lists the 22 books of the
Hebrew Scriptures (the
same as our 39 books in
our Old Testament)
• Lists our 27 books of the
New Testament
New
Testament
written
Muratorian
Canon
Apostolic
Fathers
1
50
100
150
200
Nicaea
250
300
350
Paul
Polycarp
John
Ignatius
Marcion
Constantine
The DaVinci Code
• Constantine chose the
books of the Bible and
ordered other non-canonical
books to be burned
• Gospels were edited after
Council of Nicaea (325)
• Gnostic gospels are older
than four canonical gospels