The New Testament Canon

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The New Testament Canon

• Hill Roberts
• hroblib_at_aol.com
• website lordibelieve.org
• November 1997
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Early NT Literature, 100-150 AD

• Accepted
• Matt, Mark, John
• Acts-Luke
• 13 Pauline Epistles
• R,1/2C,G,E,P,C,
• 1/2Th,1/2T,Tit,Ph
• 1 Peter
• 1 John
• 1 Tim 518, 2 Pet 315, Lk 12
• 20 of 27
• (Phil. by assoc.)
• most by 110 AD !!!

• Questioned
• Hebrews
• James
• 2 Peter
• 2/3 John
• Jude
• Revelation
• broad acceptance
• 200AD

NT Apocrypha Barnabas 1/2 Clement Shepherd of
Hermas Didache Apocalypse of Peter Acts of
Paul Laodicean Letter Gospel to the
Hebrews Polycarps Phillipians Ignatiusseven
letters were genuine NT
Pseudopigrapha 280 books now known
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Major Lines of Evidence to NT Canon

• Authorship
• Matthew, John, 13 Pauline epistles, 1/2 Peter,
  1-3 John, Revelation
• Authority by association
• Luke-Acts, Mark, James, Jude
• Intrinsic content
• Hebrews
• Transformational effect inspiring
• all (Philemon, 2 John, 3 John, Jude were short
  personal notes)
• plus some others (Clement, Ignatius, Polycarp,
  Shepherd, Didache)
• effect is not a uniform testimony, should never
  be primary basis
• Testimony of early Christians is our link to the
  evidence
• connected directly with Apostles esp. Paul,
  Peter John
• the gift of discernment given to early church,
  1 Cor 1210
• Christians are the church, carrier of apostolic
  tradition, 1 Cor 112
• Christians are to try the spirits still our
  responsibility to the future

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Earliest Testimony

• Clement of Rome
• 95 AD to Corinth
• Quotes
• Mt, Mk, Lk, Rom, 1Cor, Gal, Eph, Phil, Heb
• Alludes to
• John, Acts, James, 1 Peter

• Ignatius
• 110 AD
• enroute to Rome as prisoner, 7 letters
• Quotes
• Mt, Jn, Rom, 1Cor, Gal, Eph, Phil, Col, 1Thes
• Alludes to
• Lk, Heb, 1 Peter

• Polycarp
• disciple of John
• bishop at Smyrna
• letter to Phillippi, 110
• Quotes
• Mt, Lk, Rom, 1Cor, Gal, Eph, Phil, 2Thes, 1/2
  Tim, Heb, 1Jn, 1Pet
• Alludes to
• Jn, Acts, 2Cor, Col, 2Jn

ref M. Pickup, Canonicity of the Bible, Florida
College Annual Lectures, 1990
Combined Testimony of these Three 20 of 27 Mt,
Mk, Lk, Jn, Acts, Rom, 1/2Cor, Gal, Eph, Phil,
Col, 1/2Thes, 1/2 Tim, ___, ___, Heb, ___, 1
Peter, ____, 1Jn, 2Jn, ___, ___, ___ Regions
Represented Rome, Greece, Macedonia, Asia, Syria
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Timeline for Recognition of NT Canon

• References
• see Timeline Chart by Roberts, included
• supplemental handout by Geisler/Nix, Bible
  Introduction, pg 286-291
• Most of NT widely recognized as inspired by 150
  AD
• Entire NT of today recognized as scripture by 200
  AD
• Stable from then to today, in spite of sporadic
  challenges
• Officially codified in 397 AD, Council of
  Carthage
• Rapidity of canonization 10 years for 2/3
  of whole
• Precludes the oral tradition modernist view of
  legendary christianity
• Instills high confidence in a NT directly
  connected to Christs authority
• Seminary Exam Discuss the history of the second
  century in relation to the development of the New
  Testament canon.

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Timeline of NT Canon
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Some Second Century Heroes
100 AD
200 AD
Polycarp
Origen
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Origen Homilies on Joshua
So too our Lord Jesus Christsent his apostles as
priests carrying well-wrought trumpets. First
Matthew sounded the priestly trumpet of his
Gospel. Mark also, and Luke, and John, each gave
fourth a strain on their priestly trumpets. Peter
moreover sounds with the two trumpets of his
Epistles James also and Jude. Still the number
is incomplete, and John gives forth the trumpet
sound through his Epistles and Apocalypse and
Luke, while describing the deeds of the apostles.
Latest of all, moreover, that one comes who said,
I think that God has set us forth as the
apostles last of all, and thundering on the
fourteen trumpets of his Epistles he threw down,
even to their very foundations, the walls of
Jericho, that is to say, all the instruments of
idolatry and the dogmas of the philosophers (Hom.
In Jos. Vii, I). Circa AD
240 (near end of Origens life)
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JeromesVulgate Latin Bible
405 AD OT translated from Origens Hexapla (Gk)
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The Questioned Books

• 2 3 John, Jude, (Philemon)
• short, personal notes not widely circulated
• Jude mostly drawn from 2 Peter
• Their survival testifies to value placed on all
  apostolic writings
• 2 Peter
• most widely questioned of all NT books
• style difference between 1 and 2 Peter challenged
  Petrine authorship
• difference presumed to be result of amanuensis,
  not forgery
• illustrates how faithful early Christians were to
  2 Thess 22
• James
• a Jew writing to Jews about Jewish perversions of
  the gospel of grace
• not widely circulated outside earliest, eastern
  Jewish Christianity
• not much appreciated by Gentiles in the West
  (understandable)
• Lords brother, elder at Jerusalem, high
  authority, Act 15, 1 Cor 157
• shows binding respect for Apostolic authority, in
  spite of unpopular doctrines a lesson much
  needed yet today

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The Questioned Books (cont.)

• Hebrews
• anonymous, generally ascribed to Paul by early
  eastern church
• presents Jesus as the pinnacle of Hebrew life
• widely accepted in east (the Jewish region)
• viewed skeptically in west, where Paul was known
  for his anti-Hebrew letters (e.g., Galatians and
  Romans)
• skepticism exacerbated by heresy of Marcion who
  rejected all things Jewish, including OT,
  Matthew, Mark and especially Hebrews
• in the end, Marcion focused attention on Hebrews
  so that in defeating his western heresy, the
  western church accepted Hebrews based on
  testimony of the eastern Christians who vouched
  for its genuineness
• its elegant content testifying of the
  high-priesthood of Jesus Christ is its own best
  witness
• Hebrews (and James) illustrate the value of
  testimony of early local church in the canon
  process even then (Clement,Polycarp, Ignatius)

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The Questioned Books (cont.)

• Revelation of John
• last book written
• isolation
• cryptic message
• apocalyptic style of book general basis of
  hesitancy
• other books in mid-second century surfacing from
  the Gnostic heresy most were very similar in
  style to Revelation
• Authorship of John eventually establishes as
  canonical
• Summary
• personal notes had limited circulation early-on
• regionalism (not invented here -- the
  Corinthian problem)
• uncertain authorship or authority in secondary
  region of circulation
• concerns over doctrinal issues (Hebrews, James,
  Revelation)

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What about any Lost Books?

• Is the canon still open or is it now closed ?
• How likely is it for God to inspire material
  meant for use by church worldwide, then leave it
  lost for 1900 years?
• without so much as even a mention by the early
  church !!!
• But what about the other letters of Paul?
• 1 Cor 59, 2 Cor 22, Col 416
• (Some contend these are not other letters but
  internal references to the same letters we have.
  I disagree. HR)
• Many inspired words are lost -- (ALL the oral
  words are lost)
• God seems not overly concerned with 100
  preservation of all His words
• But lost without consequence
• the truth of those words is contained in the
  preserved books in the whole
• guide into all truth...word endures
  forever...thoroughly furnished...once for all
• Truths in Pauls first letter to C. on immorality
  contained in 1 Cor
• Truths in Pauls third letter to C. on his
  authority and their failings are probably
  contained in 2 Cor
• Easy to understand why neither of these books
  survived circular filed
• Truths of Laodicean letter probably contained in
  Ephesians and Colossians

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Probability of New finds?

• Probability of finding new biblical manuscripts?
  HIGH
• will be more of the same (NT mss and other
  pseudopigrapha texts)
• will add to existing monumental witness of
  thousands of NT manuscripts
• will possibly clarify or correct
  mis-translations, insertions or deletions
• probably of no impact doctrinally
• Probability of finding unknown canonical NT
  books? NIL
• less likely than the unification of Christendom
  under Bill Clinton
• what book could surface now and meet the tests of
  canonicity?
• proven apostolic authorship or inspired authority
  
• historical testimony of the early church to its
  existence and genuineness
• broad acceptance across the spectrum of
  christianity, such as exist for NT

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Value of NT Apocrypha

• Provides earliest documentation of majority of
  the canonical books of the NT (Clement, Polycarp,
  Ignatius)
• Reveals thinking among post-apostolic Christians
  both sound and unsound thinking
• Forms a bridge to understand Christian literature
  of later 3rd and 4th centuries
• Contains much information about practices and
  policies of the early church as it implemented
  the apostolic traditions
• None of these books ever enjoyed more than a
  limited, usually localized popularity of any
  canonical status. The process weeded them out.
  Some explicitly rejected their own canonical
  status.

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Value of the Pseudopigrapha

• some insight into traditions of the time
• reflect many of the ascetic, doecetic Gnostic
  heresies
• show similar desires as we to know more about
  things unrevealed (early life of Christ, lives of
  all the apostles)
• manifest universal tendency of man to attempt to
  glorify God and Christianity by means of pious
  frauds
• illustrate tendency to shore up perceived
  weaknesses in the canonical texts with human
  invention
• show the desire for apostolic authority for
  doctrinal inventions (authority of humanism not
  then pervasive)
• illustrates how far Christians can go to
  embellish simplicity of gospel of Christ e.g.,
  Mary worship

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Status of NT Apocrypha Pseudopigrapha

• 17 NT apocrypha books, 280 pseudopigrapha
• Edwin Yamauchi
• (they) ... are all patently secondary and
  legendary or obviously slanted. ... The
  extra-canonical literature, taken as a whole,
  manifests a surprising poverty. The bulk of it is
  legendary, and bears the clear mark of forgery.
  Only here and there, amid a mass of worthless
  rubbish, do we come across a priceless jewel.
• Morton Enslin
• Their total effect is to send us back to the
  canonical gospels with fresh approval of their
  chaste restraint in failing to fill in the
  intriguing hidden years.
• Never accepted by any council among early
  churches
• No similarity to the overwhelming early
  acceptance for the 27 NT books across entire
  spectrum of Christianity

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Summary

• Two Options
• 1) Receive the canon as is based on informed
  faith in Gods providence working through the
  church (i.e., through Christians)
• Gods Word is its own best testimony what does
  it say to you?
• The story of the Bible itself is a monumental
  testimony to the power of Gods word
• Acknowledges our debt to those who have gone
  before
• 2) Study it all out for yourself
• can be done, will loan you the books to get
  started
• in the end you will discover that you are still
  reliant on the testimony of those early
  Christians
• many of whom died to preserve Gods word for us
  to study, proving their integrity and genuine
  love for the same Lord we name
• We truly have
• the Word of God made more sure