The Biblical Canon by Lee Martin McDonald

Author:Lee Martin McDonald [Lee Martin McDonald]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2013-06-03T16:00:00+00:00

D. IRENAEUS’S LIST OF SCRIPTURES

Irenaeus did not make a complete list of authoritative Christian writings. He listed the four canonical Gospels and often referred to many NT passages for support of his positions against heresy. This practice was not presented as something new, but was for him a reflection of a longstanding tradition in the church (see, e.g., Haer. 3.3.3; 3.11.8; 3.12.15; 3.14.1–15.1; 3.21.3–4). Irenaeus considered the NT literature as Scripture on a par with the OT, even though he did not clearly define the parameters of the NT Scriptures.[34] If his few references to and citations of Hebrews are any indication of what Irenaeus considered authoritative and inspired of God, he may not have considered this book equal in authority to the other NT writings, nor does he mention James, Jude, or 2 Peter. On the other hand, he appears to have acknowledged the authority of the Shepherd of Hermas and 1 Clement. This may prove nothing, however, since he was writing to address specific issues (heresy), and he would naturally utilize the writings that best suited his argument.

The Scriptures, for Irenaeus, were evidently made up of the still fluid collection of OT writings (still fluid, that is, in the churches) and at least the four Gospels and Paul’s writings, but we cannot demonstrate this from his extant writings. In an overly optimistic statement about the interpretation of Scripture, he enthuses: “the entire Scriptures, the prophets and the Gospels, can be clearly, unambiguously understood by all” (Haer. 2.27.2, ANF). Later, however, he seems to reverse himself and says that if we fail to understand some parts of Scriptures we should leave these matters to God because the Scriptures “are indeed perfect since they were spoken by the Word of God and His Spirit” (2.28.2, ANF).

Failure to mention an ancient source does not necessarily mean this source was either unknown or not viewed as authoritative by Irenaeus. The ad hoc nature of his writings must surely have had a considerable effect on the literature that he cited to support his positions. For example, Against Heresies is directed to the church and against gnostics, Marcion, and Marcionites. The sources that Irenaeus would have found helpful in this apologetic defense of orthodoxy do not necessarily include all that he thought was either scriptural or authoritative in the churches. Even though he makes fewer references to the OT literature than to the NT literature, we cannot draw the conclusion that he did not accept the books he did not cite. Therefore, contrary to the arguments of some scholars, we are unable to find in Irenaeus a canon of NT Scriptures (the description in Hist. eccl. 5.8.2–8 is a likely invention by Eusebius). True, Irenaeus recognizes the “apostles” as a collection of writings, but he nowhere clarifies what writings were in this group (see Haer. 1.3.6). Apart from his four-gospel canon, then, nothing in his writings suggests that he carried out any canonizing procedure on the rest of the NT literature. This became the

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