How the Bible Came to Be by J. Daniel Hays & J. Scott Duvall

Author:J. Daniel Hays & J. Scott Duvall [Hays, J. Daniel & Duvall, J. Scott]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Christian Books & Bibles, Bible Study & Reference, Bible Study, Criticism & Interpretation, Handbooks, Education & Reference, Religion & Spirituality, Bible & Other Sacred Texts, Bible, Christianity, Reference, Biblical Studies, Biblical Reference, REL006680
ISBN: 9781441240262
Amazon: B007KOGEQ8
Goodreads: 17919503
Publisher: Baker Books
Published: 2012-03-31T23:00:00+00:00

The Canon of the New Testament

M. James Sawyer

Introduction

Canon (Greek: kanon) originally designated a “reed” that was used for measuring. From this usage, the idea of measuring was derived. Ultimately the term came to be used to refer to a “rule” or “standard” and was applied to any set of books or rules that were normative in a particular discipline. Applied to the New Testament, it has reference to the books that are normative for the church’s faith and practice.

Beneath the idea of canon lies the question of authority. Scholars recognize two different aspects to the concept of the New Testament canon: (1) material canon, and (2) formal canon. From the perspective of the material canon, each book of the New Testament is divinely inspired and was thus authoritative as soon as it was written. In this sense the New Testament is “a collection of authoritative books.” The recognition of the New Testament as it is constituted today, however, took several centuries. The complete list of twenty-seven books was not firmly accepted until the fifth century AD, at which time the formal canon of the New Testament was generally recognized. That is, the church at large recognized these and only these books as having been given by divine inspiration, hence only these books comprised the formal canon. In this sense the canon is an “authoritative collection of books.”

Canon in the Apostolic Era

Christ as Canon

For the early church, Christ, who had recognized and validated the Old Testament and its permanent status as Scripture, was himself the unquestioned authority. In the Gospels we find that while Jesus looked like any one of numerous rabbis, he taught in a manner that set him apart. The first-century rabbis’ teaching was studded with references to traditional authorities. Jesus, however, taught “as one who had authority” (Mark 1:22; Matt. 5:21–22). Believers recognized this as the authority of one who was “both Lord and Messiah” (Acts 2:36), and they treasured his words.

Paul demonstrates that the sayings of the Lord were already in use as a final authoritative guide for behavior—in short, as an early Christian “canon.” A “word of the Lord” was sufficient to settle matters of things like marriage and divorce (1 Cor. 7:10–11). Likewise, the controversy concerning the conduct of the Corinthians at the Lord’s Supper was settled on the basis of the word of the Lord concerning its institution (1 Cor. 11:23–26).

These “sayings of the Lord” clearly had normative status in the early Christian community before the composition of the canonical Gospels. For example, the Last Supper narrative of 1 Corinthians 11 corresponds with Mark 14:22–25, which was written later. Likewise the teaching on marriage in 1 Corinthians 7:10 corresponds with Mark 10:9, and the declaration in support of missionaries (1 Cor. 9:14) corresponds with Matthew 10:10 and Luke 10:7. We do have one clear example of an unwritten saying, not found in the canonical Gospels, quoted authoritatively by Paul: “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).

Evidently, the “canonical” status of

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