Bibliology Session 15-New Testament Canonicity

New Testament Canonicity What is “Canonicity”? Our English word “canon,” comes from the Greek word κανών, which means, “measuring rod, rule, or test.” This word was used by the early church to refer to writings accepted as sacred. Canonicity then, is the right of a piece of literature to be recognized as inspired & accepted as the Word of God. Tests of Canonicity 1.Inspiration: Does the book claim to be inspired, or claim to carry the authority of God? 2.Authorship: Was it written, edited, or endorsed by an accredited agent of God? 3.Genuineness: Can the book be evidenced to have been written when, and by whom it professes to be? Is the evidence credible? eg. it cannot have anachronisms (i.e. historic inaccuracy, like bombers in the American Revolution). 4.Authenticity: Is it true? Is it Historically accurate and verifiable? 5.Testimony: Has it been recognized by Jesus and/or the early church? (eg. Jesus quotes from many O.T. books, but never from Apocrypha). 6.Authority: Does the book expect faith & obedience? (“I charge you by God…”) 7.Agreement: Is the book in doctrinal harmony with the rest of the canon? Inspired writings will not contradict each other. Genuine revelation may be progressive, but never contradictory. 8.Fulfillment: Is there evidence of fulfillment of the promises or predictions of the book? 9.Endurance: Did the value of the book diminish over time, or did it speak to later generations? 10.Spirituality: Do the contents of the book promote the high morality of godliness? Goals for Tonight I. Internal Evidence for the N.T. Canon. A. Promises of Christ B. Claims of the Apostles II. External Evidence for the N.T. Canon. A. Early Church Fathers B. Early Church Councils Internal Evidence: Promises of Christ Christ promised throughout His ministry, that He would grant authority to His disciples to carry on His ministry in His absence (Matt. 10:1; 16:13-19; 28:19-20). Christ promised to His disciples during the upper room discourse, that He would send “another Comforter,” who would teach and guide them (John 14:26). Internal Evidence: Promises of Christ The teaching by the Holy Spirit would consist of two steps. 1. Reminding the Apostles of the words of Christ (John 15:26), which resulted in the Gospels. 2. Leading them into “all truth,” & showing them “things to come” (John 16:13), which resulted in the rest of the N.T. Internal Evidence: Promises of Christ By promising the Holy Spirit’s guidance, and granting the gift of miracles, Christ authorized these men to give us the rest of the Bible (Heb. 2:1-4; 2 Pt. 3:1-2). These authorized men were called “Apostles.” Not just anyone could be an Apostle, rather, certain criteria had to be met (John 15:26-27; Acts 1:15-26). Internal Evidence: Claims of the Writers The criteria for an Apostle is why Paul had to continually defend his Apostleship (Rom. 1:1; 11:13; 1 Cor. 9:1; 15:9; 2 Cor. 1:1; 11:5; Gal. 1:1; Eph. 1:1; Col. 1:1; 1 Tim. 1:1; 2 Tim. 1:1). Though not among the original 12, Paul nonetheless met the criteria through his personal witness of the risen Lord, and being personally tutored for 3 years by Christ Himself (Acts 9:1-9; 22:3-15; 26:4-23; Gal. 1:11-24). Internal Evidence: Claims of the Writers Because Christ personally authorized Paul, and sent him out, Paul claimed authority as a spokesman for God (Col. 1:1-2; Rom. 1:1-7; 1 Cor. 1:1-2; Gal. 1:1-4; 2 Thess. 2:13). Note also that Peter claimed Apostolic authority to be equal to the O.T. prophets (2 Peter 3:1-2). Internal Evidence: Claims of the Writers Not only were the N.T. writers endorsed by Christ Himself, but the N.T. writers also endorsed each other. 1. Jerusalem Church endorsed Paul (Gal 2:11) 2.Peter endorsed Paul (2 Peter 3:15-16) 3.Peter endorsed Mark (1 Peter 5:13) 4.Paul endorsed Luke (1 Tim. 5:18) Internal Evidence: True Writings Circulated & False Writings Condemned Paul exhorted that genuine writings be passed around and read (Col. 4:16; 1 Thess. 5:27). False writings were already in circulation during Paul’s lifetime (2 Thess. 2:1-2). Paul had to sign his own writings, “with my own hand” in order to authenticate it was him (1 Cor. 16:21; Gal. 6:11; Col. 4:18; 2 Thess. 3:17; Philemon 19). Hebrews, James, & Jude The letter of Hebrews is anonymous, and James & Jude were not originally Apostles. Thus these three books of the N.T. were among the slowest to be recognized as part of the Canon, simply because of authorship This goes to show how highly the early church leaned on authorship to authorize a writing. Yet these writings were eventually accepted for several reasons. Hebrews, James, & Jude 1. Clarity & Continuity with the rest of the Bible. 2. James, probably the half-brother of Jesus (Matt 13:55), was one of the earliest converts after the resurrection (Acts 1:14), and was considered a “pillar” of the church of Jerusalem alongside Peter & John (Gal. 2:9). 3. Jude was also the half-brother of Jesus (Matt. 13:55), and did not claim Apostolic authority, but rather appealed to it (Jude 17). Internal Evidence for the Close of the Canon 1. Promise of Christ in John 16:13, that all truth would be given through these men. 2. Testimony of 2 Tim. 3:16-17 & 1 Peter 1:3, we have all that we need. Church leaders were commanded to look to the Scriptures, not give new revelation. Internal Evidence for the Close of the Canon 3. Testimony of Hebrews 2:1-4, God’s revelation ended with the Apostles. 4. Testimony of Jude 3, “once for all delivered.” 5. Testimony of John, the last living Apostle (Rev. 22:18-19). External Evidence: Early Church Fathers Justine Martyr (A.D. 100-165) wrote of an early church service where “the memoirs of the Apostles are read alongside the prophets.” This acknowledges that there existed a body of recognized Apostolic writings. Irenaeus (A.D. 130-202) mentioned the “tetra-morph” i.e. the four-fold structure. This is a reference to the four Gospels. External Evidence: Muratorian Fragment The Muratorian fragment is a copy of perhaps the oldest known list of most of the books of the New Testament. The fragment, consisting of 85 lines, is a 7th-century Latin manuscript bound in a 7th or 8th century codex from the library of Columban's monastery at Bobbio; The text of the list itself is traditionally dated to about 170 because its author refers to Pius I, bishop of Rome (142—157), as recent. This fragment lists most of the N.T. books accepted today, while not mentioning Hebrews, James, or 1-2 Peter. The fragment also mentions Pauline letters in circulation, which were known to be forgeries. External Evidence: Early Church Councils Athanasius at the counsel of (A.D. 367) officially coined the term “canon,” and recognized the 27 books of our current N.T. Damasus, bishop of Rome (A.D. 382) recognized these 27 books, and commissioned Jerome to translate the Greek manuscripts into Latin, thus becoming the Vulgate (i.e. vulgar, or common tongue) (A.D. 383). External Evidence: Early Church Councils Council of Hippo in North Africa (A.D. 393) continued to recognize the 27 put forth by Athanasius. Council of Carthage (A.D. 397) headed by Augustine, continued to recognize this canon. Summary The writings of the Apostles were unofficially recognized as authoritative by the end of the 1st century. These authoritative writings were copied and circulated by the 2nd century. These writings were officially recognized as “the canon” by the 4th century. Summary So lets recognize the Apostolic tradition handed down do us, for which countless of our brethren have died defending!