The Heresy of Orthodoxy by Andreas J. Kostenberger & Michael J. Kruger & I. Howard Marshall

Author:Andreas J. Kostenberger & Michael J. Kruger & I. Howard Marshall
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Religion & Spirituality, Christian, Churches & Church Leadership, Theology, Religious Studies, Historical, Church History, World, Christianity, Religious, Christian Books & Bibles, History
Publisher: Crossway Books
Published: 2010-06-08T22:00:00+00:00

5

Interpreting the Historical Evidence

The Emerging Canon in Early Christianity

In the previous chapter, we examined how the Bauer thesis has led many modern scholars to understand the canon as a concept that arose solely from within the life of the early church and then was retroactively applied to books not originally written for that purpose (and thus, in principle, could have been applied to any set of books within the early centuries of Christianity). What ended up as the “canon” was determined solely by the actions of human beings—as one Christian group battled for supremacy and dominance over competing Christian groups—and had nothing to do with any divine purpose or activity. Such a paradigm has reigned unchallenged within the world of modern biblical studies for generations and has affected the manner in which the historical evidence for an emerging canon is evaluated.

As a result, many in modern canonical studies have interpreted the historical evidence in a manner that places the origin of the New Testament canon well into the late second century (and even beyond). Harnack famously argued that the canon was the result of the church’s reaction to the heretic Marcion, thus placing the canon in the mid to late second century. This position was also defended by the very influential work of von Campenhausen as he continued to argue for the latter half of the second century as the critical time of canonical formation.1 Such a position is well exemplified by Helmut Koester who declared, “The New Testament canon of Holy Scripture . . . was thus essentially created by Irenaeus” in the late second century.2 Elaine Pagels, in her recent book Beyond Belief, follows Koester’s argument and virtually lays the entire creation of the New Testament canon at the feet of Irenaeus.3

In the midst of this commitment to a later date for the “creation” of a New Testament canon, much earlier evidence has been routinely overlooked or dismissed. After all, if one engages the historical data already convinced that the canon was an after-the-fact development in later centuries of the church, then it is hardly surprising that any earlier evidence for a canon would be considered anachronistic and inconclusive.

Thus, it is the purpose of this chapter to reevaluate the evidence within early Christianity for an emerging Christian canon. When the historical evidence for an emerging canon is viewed in light of the conclusions from the prior chapter—a predisposition toward written texts, acknowledged authority of the apostles, and the operation of the Holy Spirit—substantially different interpretations can result. Since most scholars who follow the Bauer model of canonical history place the origins of the canon in the mid to late second century, we want to explore whether there is evidence for an emerging canon that precedes this date. Thus, we will narrow down our discussion to the time prior to AD 150. Within this timeframe, our attention will be devoted to two areas that are often misinterpreted or, in some cases, ignored entirely: (1) evidence from the New Testament itself;4 and (2) evidence from the apostolic fathers.

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