The Foundation Of Orthodoxy And The Canon

Bruce offers a solid explanation of the formation of the canon chronologically starting with the Hebrew scriptures (p. 21) until the 4th century where church councils started to present the first spoken finished canon (p. 97). Bruce shows the importance of the Old Testament scriptures, but writes most about the New Testament. He not only shows how the New Testament came to be a canon but offers a deep analysis of non-canonical scripture called the Apocrypha (pp. 48, 90-93).

Evidence for OT and NT canonicity and tests for canonicity are for the OT canonicity is seen in “the Law” originating from the Old Testament in Law of Moses is seen as being “authoritative”. Examples of scripture that supports this are “1 Kings 2:3; 2 Kings 14:6 and Ezra 6:18”. These writings help justify the first five books of the Old Testament that Moses contributed in writing. Second “from the prophets” is another example of evidence seen where the prophets were inspired with the word from God. The gospels of Joshua, Chronicles, and Daniels are examples of supportive books in the gospel. Third example is “from Malachi 4:5” where the prophecy ends with Malachi and resumes with John the Baptist. Evidence for the NT is “quotations of the old testament to the new”, which shows “250 quotes from the old testament” being used. Second, “Matthew 5:17” shows the Law and the Prophets holding power as spoken by the Lord. Third, “Luke 11:51” the condemnation of Jewish leaders for murdering the Lord's messengers throughout time. The tests for canonicity are first “the test for authority” where the books of the canon were backed up by an authoritative prophet or apostle. Second, “the test for uniqueness” where evidence had to be unique to be placed in the canon. Third, “the test of acceptance by the churches”, where the books had to gain acceptance by the

Michale J. Kruger is professor of New Testament and academic dean at Reformed Theological Seminary, is the author of the Gospels of the Savior, and the coauthor of Gospel Fragments and the Hersey of Orthodoxy. His research on the Christian origins has made him a trusted authority on the development of the New Testament canon. In Canon Revisited, Kruger looks deeper than the traditional surveys of councils and creeds, mining the biblical text itself for direction in understanding what the original authors and audiences believed the canon to be. While there are many interests, critiques, and approaches to understanding the biblical canon regarding authenticity, authority, and historicity in this text Michale Kruger takes on the problem of canon

There is much debate over the accuracy and the inerrancy of Scripture. Pertaining to this debate there exists an underlying question as to whether or not the New Testament is considered part of the canon or for that matter if it is actually given by the inspiration of God. How did the books that are in the New Testament get there? Who decided which books should be added or taken out? Do we have all the books that we should have? Many ask these questions, but Christians are ill equipped to give an answer. For centuries, Christians have claimed that they have the absolute truth, are saved only by faith, and claim the Scriptures as inspired by God. In spite of these

Canon originally meant a rod or ruler for measuring objects, now it means the application to the books of the Bible. Canon becomes more and more important is because of the church needed. For example: standards for worship and models for prayers, liturgies, and sermons, reading material, a theological standard and a set text to translate. Heresy also plays a decisive role in the necessity of a canon. Around the year 144 Marcion an author from Rome had teachings that appeared to be Christian, but were actually teachings of a violent opponent of the evil deity of law who dominated the Old

The final eight epistles of the New Testament canon exert an influence out of proportion to their length. They complement the thirteen Pauline Epistles by offering varying perspectives on the richness of Christian truth. Each of the five authors – James, Peter, John, Jude, and the author of Hebrews – made a distinctive contribution from his own point of view. Like the four harmonizing approaches to the life of Christ portrayed in the Gospels, these writers provide a sweeping portrait of the Christian life as a whole and how it should be lived out. Although Paul’s epistles are excellent, the New Testament revelation after Acts would be severely limited by one apostle’s perspective had the writing of these five men been neglected. The

H. I. Hester writes in his book entitled The Heart of the New Testament, “The term “canon” as applied to accepted authoritative Christian writing was first used in Alexandria, Egypt. In modern usage the term canon means the list of biblical books which are recognized as inspired by the Holy Spirit and authoritative.” The stories contained in the Old and New Testaments of the Holy Bible are of paramount importance to the faith and spiritual development of every Christian alive today. Human minds may never completely understand all that is contained in Holy Writ but this research paper will also attempt to shed some light on some of the factors that help determine what biblical books are considered canon today.

Many of the books from the New Testament are from the apostles or from authors who interacted personally with them. Examples of this include Matthew and John, two of Jesus' apostles who each wrote one of the Gospels. Then there are

Article IV of the Confession of Faith tells us that we must “receive” scripture “through the Holy Spirit as the true rule and guide for faith and practice (¶104). In describing “Our Theological Task,” the Book of Discipline speaks to our need to interpret scripture (through the Holy Spirit) and offers “tools” for use in doing so. “While we acknowledge the primacy of Scripture in theological reflection, our attempts to grasp its meaning always involve tradition, experience, and reason. Like Scripture, these may become creative vehicles of the Holy Spirit as they function within the church” (¶105). As we seek to live faithful lives, we look to scripture. Our understanding of scripture and its meaningful impact (how it changes us) is influenced by tradition – “that which was taught by the church at all times and places before we got here” (Willimon 63), experience – “the wisdom acquired through living, not immediate spiritual sensations (Maddox 46), and reason – critical thought for “organizing and drawing inferences from revelation” (Maddox

Chapter 1 - The Definition of Cannon analyzes the definitions of Canon and Scripture and how we must make a sharp distinction between the two. Kruger paints a picture that the direction forward in this argument over nomenclature is to define canon in a “integrative and multidimensional manner" comprising of three different definitions. First, the exclusive definition reminds us that the canon took several centuries for the edges of the canon to solidify and was not achieved until the fourth century; or later. (29) Second, the functional definition centers on when books started

The Gospel according to Luke is the third of the four Gospels found in the New Testament. This Gospel is the longest, and was originally joined to the Acts, making a two volume book. Irenaeus, Tertullian and Jerome, are examples of individual witnesses who named the author of the third Gospel, St. Luke; a physician from Antioch, and fellow companion of St. Paul. It is also evident in the preface, when Luke uses the first pronoun saying, “I too decided to write an orderly account” (1:1-4). Most scholars, such as those who wrote the Navarre Bible and “Inside the Bible,” believe the Gospel was written in the early 60s A.D. The reason for this is; Acts of the Apostles was written after Luke, and ends with a description of St Paul before

We see that each Ecumenical Council brings about different theological claims that would later shape the idea of orthodoxy. What is important in relation to these theological claims in the councils is the take away from each. They each bring a new idea, and tradition, into the next time period. While they still continue to have multiple councils, we see the adapting and changing of each because of how the Church’s themselves operate. The councils bring forth lessons to be learned with regards to valuable information that is put toward the idea and culture of orthodoxy. The 3rd Council in Ephesus focuses on Cyril and Nestorius in relation to Theotokos (Cyril -bearer of God) and Christotokos (Nestorius -Christ bearer). The 4th council in Chalcedon

The New Testament was canonized over a period of approximately four hundred years (Stotesberg). From AD 50-125, the books which in the end constitute the New Testament were written. Simultaneously, other books, which did not end up being included in the final canon, were produced. These books are the Epistle of Barnabas, the Didache, I Clement, the seven letters of Ignatius of Antioch, etc. (“Development of the Difficult Canon”). As more and more books were written, Christians realized that it was imperative that they gather and consolidate this material before it became lost. Sometime before AD 100, ten of Paul’s letters were gathered and combined into their own canon. The Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) were combined to form another canon soon after the canonization of Paul’s letters. The Gospels and Paul’s letters became the main body of a new group of Scriptures that would soon become the New Testament. Soon Acts, I Peter, I John, and Revelation were inserted into this body of Scripture. Following this, the rest of the books were added to the New Testament (Barker).

During the early history of the church, there was no such thing as a New Testament “canon.” The selection of books that were to be included or excluded from the texts used by the church was the responsibility of each individual church body, and thus varied greatly from location to location. Because there was no canon – (books considered

To provide some background information, in the Christian scriptures, the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark Luke, and John are presented. The four Gospels all contain the words and actions of Jesus, which is why they are considered the central part of the bible. The four Gospels serve as theological witnesses for Christ events and are different because of the various translations (perspective and concerns) the different communities had for them. The