canonicity study

8/6/2019 Canonicity Study

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CanonicityCanonicity: :



Wh at would inspired text look like?How do we know t h at ALL Scripture is inspired?

(2 Tim 3:15-17, 1 Cor 2:11-16, Jn 14:26, 1 Th ess. 2:13, Rm 15:4,Is 40:8, Matt 5:18, Ps 138:2, 2 Pet 3:16, Ps. 12:6-7)

Autograp h s v. TransmissionPs. 119:27,34,125

Inspiration



F our Basic Inspiration t h eories:1. Th e neo-ort h odox view of inspiration

Transcendence of God, Bible notW

ord of God, but can be usedby h im2. Th e dictation met h od of inspiration (Jer. 30:32)

Explains some parts, but not most of t h e time (Lk 1:1-4)3. Th e view of limited inspiration

~Opposite of dictation,

doctrinally sound, maybe some h istorical/factual errors4. The view of plenary verbal inspiration"Plenary" = full/complete, "Verbal" = very words of Scripture2 Tim 3:16-17 - theopneustos, G r k - " G od-breathed", 2 Pet.1:21, Matt. 5:17-18

Th

eories of Inspiration



= aut h ority v. acceptance

Significance " If th

e Scriptures are indeed inspired byGod, t h en a significant question arises: Wh ich booksare inspired?´Canon - Grk word kanon - a standard formeasurement

God determines t h e canonDistinction between determination and discovery

Inspiration v. Canonicity



Old age trumps(Bk of Jash er (Jsh 10:13), W ars of t h e Lord (Nm 21:14))

Many canon bks quickly received into canon, Pentateuc h , Jer, Paul's

Hebrew language, Agreement wit h th e Tora h (Law)Religious Value, The Church determines J.I. Packer "T h e Ch urc h no more gave us t h e NewTestament canon t h an Sir Isaac Newton gave us t h e forceof gravity´

__________________________________________________ Th ey were canon immediately (aut h or of book seriesexample)

False views



F actors contributing to canonicityTradition ² F rom Moses and Prop h etsSpiritual aut h ority of t h e books

Unity, Prop h ecy, PowerRecognition in t h e Temple as sacredConviction of leaders and peopleJesus and the Apostles - referred to Jewis h scripturesand individual books as h aving t h e aut h ority of God(Beckwit h , p. 100)

OT Canon



End of OT eraMalac h i, written around 430 BCOT era: 1445 BC to 430 BCevidenced by: Josep h us (no more after Artaxerxes, Against Apion I.8.), Jewish Talmud, N TLuke 11:51, Matt 23:35 (martyrs of OT)

Council of Jamnia, AD 90, Reaffirmed canon

OTF

inish

ed



Twenty Seven BooksGospels (Matt, Mk, Lk, Jn)

History (Acts)Epistles(21); General: Heb, Jm, 1,2 Pet, 1,2,3, Jn, Jd;Pauline(13)Prop h ecy (Revelation)

Time Period - Unlike OT (~1000 yrs), entire NT writtenwit h in 50 yrsGeograp h ic region - muc h wider t h an OT, contributed tolengt h of time for full recognitionEarly use of "New Testament" - Tertullian (early 200 AD),also 190 AD ² unknown aut h or

New Testament Canon



Creation and Spread (AD. 50-95),( 1 Th ess. 5:27, 2:13; 1 Cor 14:37; Rev 1:3; 1 Tim 5:18 - Deut 25:4and Lk 10:7; 2 Pet 3:15,16 - before AD 70)

Oral Tradition, Clement of Rome (AD 95 use of NT)

Growing Recognition and collectionAD 96-150, All of Gospels, Pauls letters recognized

smaller letters took more time, usually for confirm. of aut h orPolycarp (disciple of Jo h n, AD 110), Ignatius (Ad 115, Epsitle ofIgnatius) - incorporated most of NT into writingsPapias(70-163), Epistle of Barnabas (130), Gospel of Trut h (140),Marcion Canon (140), Justin Martyr (140), Pseudo Barnabas(70-130)Summary: By mid 2nd century, every NT book referred to ascanonical by at least one of t h e fat h ers (Geisler and Nix, p. 288)

Ph

ases of NT Canon:



Compiling of Canon (AD 150-190)Iranaeus, Tatian (AD 170) - D iatessaron (Gospels)Muratorian Canon (170), Old Latin translation (200) -all exc. Heb, Jm, Peters

F ormation continuescommentaries by Origen (185-254) on most books,emp h asizing insp.

NT Ph

ases Cont.



Closing of canonEusebius (270-340), Chu rch History (Universal, Most,Rejected - Acts of Paul, Didac h e, Sh ep h erd of Hermas)Ath anasius - "Let no one add to t h ese; let not hh ing betaken away.", F estal Letter for Easter in 367Council of Hippo (393) - laid down limits of canon,

Coucil of Cart h age (397) - Hippo reiterated - CANONCLOSED

Council of Nicea ² N/A ² F ocus on deity of C h rist,solidify doctrine/unification of belief by Constantine

NTF

inish

ed



Inspiration, as wit h OTApostolic aut h ority - apostles or close associates

writer of Hebrews unknown, but associated wit h apostles ( Heb 2:3-4)

Apostolic era - writings of later date not included(Brusce, T h e C anon of Scriptu re), Sh ep h erd of Hermas,etc.Ort h odoxy - could not contradict apostolic fait h

Universal C h urc h Recognition

NT Canon Criteria



Th e attempt to determine w h at t h e original textactually said - "evaluation""Hig h er Criticism" judgements on t h e genuineness(date, unity, aut h or, etc)

often subjective and low view of W ord of GodSources:

Hebrew and Greek manuscriptsAncient Translations into ot h er languagesQuotations made by rabbis and c h urc h fath ers

Textual Criticism



Unintentional Errors: h and, eye ear - usually no problemto pick out, esp. wit h so many manuscripts

Intentional errors - well-meaning "corrections", 1 Jn 5:7,Mk 16:9-20, Jn. 7:53-8:11 (likely true, but not in original)At worst, ~98.3 % pure, wit h no impact on majordoctrines

Sir F rederic Kenyon - "T h e Ch ristian can take t h e w h oleBible in h is h and and say wit h out fear or h esitation t h ath e h olds in it t h e true W ord of God, h anded downwit h out essential loss from generation to generationth roug h out t h e centuries."

Textual Variations



Translation - "T h e process of taking somet h ing in onelanguage and expressing it in anot h er language"Precursor was Latin Bible by Jerome (383-405) "LatinVulgate"Caedmon (d. 680), Ald h elm(640-709), Egbert (c. 705),Th e Venerable Bede (674 - 735), Alfred t h e Great (849- 901), Aldred (c. 950) - first interlinear NT/earliestEnglis h trans., Aelfric (c. 950-1020), W illiam ofSh ore h am and Ric h ard Rolle (1300s)

History of English

Bible



K ing James Version (1611) - 7 major trans. after TyndaleStandard for next 350 years

Grk/Heb sch

olarsh

ip improved, many translations to learnfrom, multiple personsBased on Textus Receptus (Grk, 1516)- some scribal errors,based on Byzantine texts (300 AD)

English R evised Version (1885) - ch anges based on newtextual evidence

Revised Standard Version (1952) - corrected "stiffness" ofreading, recent manuscript findingsN ew International Version (1979) - completely new,international effort, midway between literal rendering(NASB) and a free parap h rase (suc h as t h e Living Bible)

Translations



5 consistent t h emes emp h asized:Th e ch aracter of God, judgment of sin/disobedience,th e blessing for fait h and obedience, t h e Lord Jesus asSavior and sacrifice for sin, and t h e coming kingdomand glory

W ritten by Prop h ets and ApostlesNT 98.3 % pure text (at worst), better t h an any ot h er!Critiques out in openF actually accurate, more so eac h day

www.gracet h rufait h .com, www.gotquestions.org

Take-Aways

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