The Canon: Are We Confident?
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
The accounts were …
I. Many in Number (v. 1)
I. Many in Number (v. 1)
We don’t know who these other authors were, nor what their writings were.
They could include Matthew and Mark (John was written later), but seemingly include more due to the word many.
Clearly the event’s of Jesus’ ministry were profoundly impactful to many people, since by the time Luke set out to compile an account (60-80 A.D.), several had set out to compile accounts.
Why did there need to be a written account?
The accounts were …
II. Seen as Fulfillment (v. 1)
II. Seen as Fulfillment (v. 1)
The OT Canon
The OT Canon
The OT canon has little to question.
Both Jews and Christians recognize the same 39 books (though they are grouped differently and in different orders, e.g., Law, Prophets, Writings in Judaism).
The apocryphal books of the OT (e.g., Sirach, Maccabees, etc.) were not accepted as inspired in Judaism.
“Although never accepted as inspired or authoritative by any branch of Judaism, nor even put forward as candidates for canonization within Judaism, these writings came to be valued in early Christianity, especially after the time of Constantine.”
Blomberg, Can We Still Believe the Bible?, 47 (emphasis original).
Though there were disagreements on a few books (e.g., Esther, because it never mentions God), and most of these disagreements existing within the “Writings” category, the OT canon was deemed “closed” following Malachi.
5 “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. 6 “He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.”
The period between the OT and NT is commonly known as the “400 Years of Silence”, where God did not speak, and thus no Scripture was written.
This period of time is part of (if not the beginning) of the hardening of the nation of Israel concerning Jesus as the Messiah
25 For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in;
The Open-ended Old Testament
The Open-ended Old Testament
22 In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, the Lord fulfilled the prophecy he had given through Jeremiah. He stirred the heart of Cyrus to put this proclamation in writing and to send it throughout his kingdom: 23 “This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: “The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has appointed me to build him a Temple at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Any of you who are his people may go there for this task. And may the Lord your God be with you!”
The Concluding New Testament
The Concluding New Testament
Andrew
41 He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means Christ).
Simeon
25 At that time there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon. He was righteous and devout and was eagerly waiting for the Messiah to come and rescue Israel. The Holy Spirit was upon him.
Anna
38 She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God. She talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem.
Joseph of Arimathea
43 Joseph of Arimathea took a risk and went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. (Joseph was an honored member of the high council, and he was waiting for the Kingdom of God to come.)
6 So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?”
So how did the church “decide” what belonged in the NT canon?
It is important to remember several key points:
The words were authoritative when penned.
Because God is the origin of Scripture (2 Tim. 3:16-17), the written words carried authority at their inception and needed no human involvement to “determine” their authoritativeness.
Jesus taught the Holy Spirit would
26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.
13 “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.
The apostles taught with Christ’s authority:
Paul was appointed an apostle by Jesus Christ
1 This letter is from Paul, an apostle. I was not appointed by any group of people or any human authority, but by Jesus Christ himself and by God the Father, who raised Jesus from the dead.
Paul taught Christ’s instruction, and his own
10 But for those who are married, I have a command that comes not from me, but from the Lord. A wife must not leave her husband.
12 Now, I will speak to the rest of you, though I do not have a direct command from the Lord. If a fellow believer has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to continue living with him, he must not leave her.
What did Paul view his words as? Mere opinion?
“Did he see the letters as Scripture in the sense of being part of a canon? Perhaps not. Did he see himself writing with the full authority of Christ? Absolutely.”
Mounce, Why I Trust the Bible, 101.
Peter viewed Paul’s writings as Scripture
15 and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, 16 as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.
The church did not decide the canon by voting on it or some other some nonsense. The church recognized the canon.
So how did the church recognize what belonged in the canon? They had three main criteria:
The accounts were …
III. Informed by Eyewitnesses (Apostolicity) (v. 2)
III. Informed by Eyewitnesses (Apostolicity) (v. 2)
2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word.
Authorship
This does not mean every book was written by an apostle. Instead, it means every book was likely written before the end of the apostolic age (when the last apostle, likely John, died).
In other words, “no book…is more than one person removed from an apostle or an authoritative eyewitness of the life of Jesus.”
Blomberg, Can We Still Believe the Bible?, 58.
To Demonstrate Authority and Authenticity
To Demonstrate Authority and Authenticity
Even in Paul’s day, there were already false writings and teachings claiming to be authentic.
1 Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, 2 that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.
There had to be a standard (canon) by which to weigh what was taught.
The accounts were …
IV. Accurate in Nature (Orthodoxy) (v. 3)
IV. Accurate in Nature (Orthodoxy) (v. 3)
Orthodoxy
Faithfulness to the teachings of Jesus and the apostles.
To Pass Down the Faith “Once for All Delivered”
To Pass Down the Faith “Once for All Delivered”
An early debate arises in the early church concerning whether non-Jewish persons had to be circumcised in order to become a Christian.
1 Some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 And when Paul and Barnabas had great dissension and debate with them, the brethren determined that Paul and Barnabas and some others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders concerning this issue.
5 But some of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed stood up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses.” 6 The apostles and the elders came together to look into this matter. 7 After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brethren, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe.
The importance of this passage is that the early church appealed to leader’s in the church, many of whom were witnesses of Jesus’ ministry, to provide checks and balances as to what was considered orthodox Christian doctrine.
As the apostles and eyewitnesses began to disappear—whether through persecution, death, or both—there was great need for continued checks and balances.
The very reason the early church was able to confront heresies (i.e., Gnosticism & Arianism) was because there was a strong understanding of what was orthodox (right) teaching.
For instance, contrary to popular belief, the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. was not to determine the canon. It was to condemn Arianism and affirm the deity of Christ.
The accounts were …
V. Intended to Teach (Catholicity) (v. 4)
V. Intended to Teach (Catholicity) (v. 4)
Catholicity
This word has nothing to do with the Roman Catholic Church. Instead, catholic means universal.
That believers throughout the parts of the world to which Christianity had spread were in agreement on the abiding value of these books and used them widely.
VI. Questions Over Certain Books
VI. Questions Over Certain Books
The NT Books:
Books by Author:
The Gospels of Matthew and John are attributed to the apostles.
Church history attributes the Gospel of Mark to be the memoir of Peter.
The Gospel of Luke and Acts was written by Luke, a traveling companion of Paul, who also interviewed eyewitnesses.
The Epistles of Peter, John, and the book of Revelation are attributed to apostles.
Paul was an apostle, even if he was “untimely born” (1 Cor. 15:8, NASB)
James and Jude were half-brothers of Jesus
The author of Hebrews was likely a follower of Paul
The Core of the Canon (21 Books Always Recognized as Authoritative):
The four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John)
Acts
Paul’s thirteen epistles
1 Peter
1 John
Revelation
Mounce, Why I Trust the Bible, 103
The notion that there was widespread debate over the bulk of the NT is at best a misunderstanding, and at worst an intentional deception.
The 6 Books Up for Debate:
Hebrews (Apostolicity — the author of Hebrews is not mentioned, and Hebrews 2:3 appears to show the author was not a witness of the resurrection)
James (Orthodoxy — apparent contradictions between justification by faith and justification by works)
2 Peter (Apostolicity — the Greek is so different, questions arose whether Peter penned it)
2, 3 John & Jude (Catholicity — too short to apply to Christians everywhere)
2 John warns against giving false teachers a platform
3 John promotes Christian hospitality
Jude exhorts believers to “contend for the faith”
Books that Did Not Make the Cut:
Lost Books
3 Corinthians (Catholicity)
Reading 1 & 2 Corinthians, it becomes apparent there were two other letters from Paul that have been lost to time.
What would happen if we found these letters today?
Even if we assume they were proven to be original and authentic (apostolicity), and faithful in their teaching (orthodoxy), they would fail the test of catholicity, that is being useful to all the Christian saints for all time.
As awesome as it would be to discover these works, it is clear that God did not view them as necessary for the sufficiency of Scripture.
Useful, But Not Scripture
The Shepherd of Hermas
The Epistle of Barnabas
Both are a collection of “mostly orthodox” Christian writings that many church fathers deemed beneficial, but not Scripture.
Lost Gospels
The Gospel of Thomas
The “Gospel” of Thomas is nothing like the narrative works in the canon of Scripture. Rather it is a collection of 114 “secret sayings” of Jesus. Here is the last one for your consideration:
“(114) Simon Peter said to him, "Let Mary leave us, for women are not worthy of life." Jesus said, "I myself shall lead her in order to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every woman who will make herself male will enter the kingdom of heaven."
Conclusion
Conclusion
The Scriptures were written down by many people because they mattered.
The Scriptures were written down because they were prophesied and fulfilled.
The Scriptures were written down because eyewitnesses told of God’s power.
The Scriptures were written down because they are accurate in what they portray.
The Scriptures were written down because they are intended for teaching, reproof, correction, training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
