Introduction to the Bible

Module 1: Lecture 2 The Canon of the Bible © Rosebank Bible College

Previous lecture n We looked at the name “Bible”, the reliability of

the Bible, the number of books in the Bible and why we believe that this Book makes a difference in our lives

n We also noted that there are different genres in the Bible and looked at the books of the Bible in sequence

Revision

n Where do we get the name “Bible”? n Why do we refer to an “Old” Testament? n How many books are there in the OT?

And in the NT? n Can you describe some Bible genres

from both the OT and the NT?

Checking up! n Take a pen and paper and write down the

names of the first 10 books of the Old Testament (without looking in your Bible!)

n Now ask a person next to you to check your work (don’t worry about spelling): ¨ Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,

Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel

n Well done! Just think about it: By the end of this module you will know the names of all the books of the Bible!

Canon of the Bible

Why do we have these 66 books in our Bible?

The Issue in this lecture

n Who wrote the Bible? n How many books have absolute authority? n Why only these and not other ancient

books? n Who “decided” on the OT and NT Canon? n What procedure was followed to “approve”

or recognise these books? These questions are answered in a study called “The Canon of the Bible”

n  A camera?

Bible Canon? What’s that?

n  A dangerous weapon?

Prescribed reading

n  Johnston 2006:9-13 n Harris 2002:35-53 n Topics in the New Bible Dictionary:

n  Canon of the Old Testament n  Canon of the New Testament n  Apocrypha n  Pseudepigrapha n  Language of the Old Testament n  Language of the New Testament

By way of introduction… n The books in our Bible were written over

a period of roughly 1500 years n The Bible contains 66 books which were

collected and finalised (ie agreed upon) over an even longer period

n Many books/documents written during the same time as some of the Bible books have not been included in the Scriptures

n Some church traditions ascribe value to books other than the 66 in “our” Bible So, how do we know that the Bible contains all we need to know about God?

The concept “canon” n  The word “canon” comes from a Latinised

Greek word (kanw=n - kanōn) n  It referred to a “reed” or “stalk” of papyrus,

used as a measuring stick or rod (like a ruler) n  The use of the word went through many stages,

but is now the technical term used to refer to the accepted/authentic books (it is also used in Roman Catholic circles to declare a person a “saint”, ie a deceased person is “canonised”)

n  Bible canonisation was not a predetermined process, but rather something that “happened” over a long period of time (guided by God)

A quick overview

n  During the same time that the Bible books were written (roughly 1400BC to 100AD) other books also came into existence, dating mostly from the last centuries BC to a few centuries into our era

n  They are referred to as the “Apocrypha” and “Pseudepigrapha” and were in circulation both among the Jews and (later) in the Early Church

n  Both the Jews and the Early Church gradually came to some understanding of which books should be considered as the authentic Word of God (Holy Scriptures)

n  This process is the topic of today’s lecture

Some definitions n Canonization = process of determining the

canon or “approval” of books n Apocrypha = books of great value but not

accepted as canonical n Pseudepigrapha = books written under

another person’s name n The terms “Apocrypha” & “Pseudepigrapha”

are often (wrongly) used inter-changeably n We also refer to these books as “extra-

biblical” or “extra-canonical” books

The value of extra-biblical books

n The Apocrypha contain some valuable but non-inspired information, such as the Book of 1 Maccabees, which gives us valuable information about the inter-testamental history of the Jews – they were (and still are) considered by some traditions as canonical

n By and large the Pseudepigrapha are books with non-authentic information, such as fables, visions, etc – they were never considered for inclusion in the Bible canon

Chapter and verse divisions n The Bible was initially written on individual

scrolls with no chapter or verse divisions n  “The Bible was divided into chapters by

Stephen Langton (who later became Archbishop of Canterbury) early in the 1200s. Robert Stephanus, a book printer from Paris, is credited with dividing those chapters into verses in 1551. The first complete printed Bible using the chapter and verse divisions was the Geneva Bible of 1560.” http://www.biblesociety.ca/about_bible/chapters_verses/index.html

The Old Testament Canon

How the 39 Old Testament books were accepted and approved

The language of the OT n  Most of the OT was written in Hebrew – only a

few chapters found in the books of Daniel and Ezra were written in Aramaic (a related language)

n  Both Hebrew and Aramaic are Semitic languages, from the North-West Semitic group (along with Ugarit, Canaanite-Phoenician, etc)

n  Hebrew contains 22 consonantal characters, written from right to left

n  Early manuscripts (just like Modern Hebrew) contained no vowels – these were added by the Masoretes in the period AD 500-900

n  The “Masoretic Text” is the most common Hebrew Bible used by both Jews and Christians

Masoretic Text

A page from the Aleppo Codex, showing the extensive marginal annotations. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Aleppo_Codex_(Deut).jpg

n  “The Masoretic Text (MT) is the authoritative Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible regarded almost universally as the official version of the Tanakh. It defines not just the books of the Jewish canon, but also the precise letter-text of the biblical books in Judaism, as well as their vocalization and accentuation known as the Masorah. The MT is also widely used as the basis for translations of the Old Testament in Protestant Bibles, and in recent years (since 1943) also for Catholic Bibles. In modern times the Dead Sea Scrolls have shown the MT to be nearly identical to some texts of the Tanakh dating from 200 B.C.E. but different from others.”

n  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masoretic_Text

Jewish Scriptures

n The Jewish Scriptures use a different division and book count to that of the Old Testament familiar to us

n There are 24 books in the Jewish “Bible” divided into three sections: ¨ Torah – Gen, Ex, Lev, Num, Dt ¨ Nebi’im (Nevi’im) – Josh, Judg, Sam, Kings,

Isaiah, Jer, Ezek, the Twelve (minor prophets) ¨ Ketubim (Ketuvim) – Ps, Prov, Job, Songs, Ruth,

Lam, Eccles, Esther, Daniel, Ezra-Neh, Chron

Old Testament (OT) Scriptures n  Although the number of books in the Hebrew canon

(Jewish Tanakh) differs from the OT we know, the content is exactly the same

n  The Jews went through their own process of canonization – while the history is unclear, it was probably not a “planned” or clinical process

n  However, by the time of the NT, the OT Scriptures were known to the Jews, Jesus himself and the Apostles, probably in a similar form to today’s OT

n  The Early Church accepted the Jewish canon but (initially) also made use of some of the Apocrypha

Process of OT canonization n  Scholars agree that the process of canonization of

the OT is not an easy one to determine (see Hill & Walton 2000:390, listed below, for a discussion)

n  It was a long process, which was essentially “completed” by NT times, but not in any official way, such as a “final” decision by a committee or meeting

n  The idea of inspired and authentic books was one that grew over time, but reached the point where the Jewish (and later Christian) leaders/scholars had consensus over what constituted the true Scriptures

Stages of OT canonization 1.  Authoritative utterances: This is the “oral stage” as

reflected in some of the well-known claims by people (such as the prophets) that they were conveying the very words of God (eg “Hear the word of the LORD”); this was probably recognised by the first hearers as authoritative and worth listening to

2.  Formal written documents: At some point the words were written down, some of which we know actually happened (eg Moses on Mt Sinai, Jeremiah, etc)

3.  Collecting written documents: A lengthy and comprehensive process taking more than 1000 years and consulting many documents and resources

4.  Sorting through documents and fixing a canon: How and when this happened we do not know for sure, but the basic criteria for doing so seem to be clear

n  See Hill and Walton (2000:390-392)

Criteria for inclusion in the OT n  Inherent divine inspiration and authority as

recognised by the Hebrew religious leaders n  Authorship, mostly based on the fact that the

author had a position of leadership (such as prophet, king, priest, judge, etc)

n  Content of the book, evaluating it against the unity of theme and message of the overall revelation and acts of God

n  Usage by the nation in their ongoing rituals and worship influenced the process and acceptability of the books

n  From: Hill and Walton (2000:391-392)

Debates around the OT canon

n  The early Christians only knew the “Scriptures” as inherited from the Jews

n  Later rabbinical and Christian debates centred around two issues:

1.  The inclusion of a few canonical books (eg Esther does not contain the Name of God; Proverbs seems very “earthly”; Song of Songs was regarded as too erotic and human)

2.  The inclusion of the Apocrypha – the Jews were the first to exclude the Apocrypha

OT Apocrypha n  “Apocrypha (from the Greek word ἀπόκρυφα,

meaning ‘those having been hidden away’) are texts of uncertain authenticity, or writings where the authorship is questioned. When used in the specific context of Judeo-Christian theology, the term apocrypha refers to any collection of scriptural texts that falls outside the canon. Given that different denominations have different ideas about what constitutes canonical scripture, there are several different versions of the apocrypha.”

n  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apocryphal

Books of the Apocrypha n  The apocrypha were seen as “hidden” either

because they contained “hidden” messages from God or because they were seen as questionable and therefore hidden away from the church

n  The number and list of different apocrypha vary according to tradition or Bible version, such as the Septuagint (Greek translation of OT), Vulgate (Latin Translation of whole Bible) and King James (early English translation of whole Bible)

n  A summary description of the list and content of the Apocrypha is provided in the additional notes or can be accessed online at: http://www.bible-researcher.com/canon2.html

List of OT Apocrypha (1) n  1 Esdras – supplements to the Book of Ezra with

some interesting tales n  2 Esdras (or Ezra Apocalypse) – dating from about

100AD – typical Jewish apocalyptic style containing dialogues between Ezra and an angel

n  Tobit – a romantic tale in Aramaic dating from about 200BC, telling the story of a Jewish family in captivity in Nineveh

n  Judith – a story dating from 150BC about a Jewish girl who saved her city from the enemy’s attack

List of OT Apocrypha (2) n  Additions to Esther – an attempt dating from

170BC to make Esther more “religious” n  Wisdom of Solomon – presented as discourses of

Solomon by an Alexandrian Jew – written in Greek around 100BC – a book that contains some worthy materials

n  Ecclesiasticus (also “The Wisdom of Jesus son of Sirach”, or simply “Sirach”) – dating from 200BC in Hebrew containing proverbs and wise sayings

List of OT Apocrypha (3) n  Baruch – collections of sayings presented as if by

Baruch, disciple of Jeremiah, dating from about 150BC

n  Epistle of Jeremiah – a short tract against idolatry, presented as if a letter by Jeremiah, dating from about 200BC

n  Song of the Three Holy Children – the (supposed) prayers of Daniel’s three friends while in the furnace, designed to be added after Daniel 3:23

n  Story of Susanna – Daniel divinely gives the true facts about a woman falsely accused of adultery

List of OT Apocrypha (4) n  Bel and the Dragon – two weird stories about

Daniel exposing the priests of Bel (god of Babylon) and another incident where Daniel conquers a live “dragon” – dating from around 150BC

n  Prayer of Manasseh – a psalm of repentance for Manasseh who was carried into captivity

n  1 Maccabees – dating from 100BC, describing Jewish history from 175-135 BC

n  2 Maccabees – some fanciful and legendary additions to the events found in 1 Maccabees, dating sometime between 100BC and 70AD

OT Pseudepigrapha n  The pseudepigrapha (books written under a false

name) are generally clearly fictional or “wild” in their descriptions

n  There is general consensus about their non-canonical status among most scholars

n  Examples of these books include: ¨ The Books of Adam and Eve ¨ The Apocalypse of Adam ¨ The Testament of Moses ¨ Tales of the Patriarchs

n  More information available on: http://www.pseudepigrapha.com/

New Testament Canon

How the 27 New Testament (NT) books were included in the Bible

Language of the NT n The NT was written in Greek in its entirety;

scholars refer to it as koine (common) Greek or New Testament Greek

n Modern Greek is pronounced differently and has a different (expanded) vocabulary

n Greek was the lingua franca (commonly spoken language) in the 1st Century AD

n By the middle of the 1st Century the Christian Church was strongest in the non-Jewish community where Greek was spoken, while many Jews were bilingual (Aramaic and Greek) and would have followed Greek

Need for a “New” Testament n The Early Church used the same Scriptures

as the Jews, their first and only “Bible” n However, the planting of churches and

expansion of the early church movement highlighted the need for written guidance

n While initially relying on oral teachings and traditions, the leaders soon started communicating via written means (eg letters to churches for guidance, Gospel stories)

n These were collected, shared and soon found widespread acceptance as the Word of God

Sequence of NT documents n Paul’s letters were probably the first to be

written and may have been collected in a “Pauline corpus” (Pauline collection)

n The Gospels and letters written by other authors followed the initial Pauline and other letters to churches and individuals

n Revelation was written about mid-90’s AD n  In addition to the Old Testament these

writings provided the Early Church with their “Scriptures” and soon came to have the same authority as that of the OT Scriptures

The need for a NT canon n The following needs prompted the Church to

collect a volume of Christian books: ¨ The role of the OT Scriptures was valued ¨ The Church needed guidance in matters of faith ¨ Time lapsed from the Ascension of Jesus ¨ The realisation that the apostles, providing an

authentic oral tradition, were not going to live forever

¨ Jesus’ return was not as imminent as first thought ¨ The wide geographical spread of the early church ¨ False teachings endangered the truth

Early indications of a NT canon n Some authors (such as Paul) claimed to

speak and write with authority n There are references to early collections

even in the NT (see 2 Pet 3:15-16) n References to and quotes by early Church

Fathers in the 2nd Century AD – eg ¨ Clement (90 AD) – seems to refer to the Gospels ¨ Ignatius of Antioch (115 AD) – familiar with Mt ¨ Polycarp of Smyrna (115-135) – quotes Mk & Mt

n BUT they also quoted extra-biblical books!

Formal NT canon beginnings n  One of the major stimulants towards a “fixed canon”

came from a response to false teachings, such as the views held by Marcion

n  Marcion was born in 100AD in Sinope in Asia Minor and became an active and influential Christian teacher by around 150AD

n  His teachings included the following: ¨ There are two “gods” in the Bible, the judging God of the

Old and the loving God of the New Testament ¨ He rejected the OT as too ritualistic and judgmental ¨ Paul was the only person who understood the gospel ¨ The true biblical canon consisted of only one Gospel

(resembling Luke) and ten of Paul’s letters

Response to Marcion n  Many early church leaders responded to Marcion,

refuting his teachings n  His teachings (and limited canon) highlighted the

need for a body of authoritative NT Scriptures that would be accepted and used by the Church around the world

n  During the years 150-200AD there were many debates and early versions of the New Testament canon, attempting to bring some clarity to the issue

n  However, it took much longer for the matter to be “settled”

Examples of early NT canons n The Muratorian Canon (named after one

Muratori) dates from about 170-210 and is 80% in agreement with what we have today

n By 250 the NT canons produced in different circles started to resemble the core of our canon, as can be seen from Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria and Origen (early church fathers)

n There were still some disagreements about Peter, Hebrews and Revelation (as well as some extra-biblical books)

“Fixing” of the NT Canon n  By the late 4th Century AD the canon known to us

today was all but settled: ¨  In the Eastern Church Athanasius (367) published the

canon as we know it today ¨  In the Western Church the Council of Carthage (397)

reached the same consensus n  From then on it became the status quo, with only

limited debate among church leaders from time to time

n  As late as Martin Luther (16th Cent) the debate resurfaced, eg Luther rejected James as an “epistle of straw” while the debate continued around the Apocrypha (rejected by Luther)

NT Canon criteria and guidelines The Early Church used some or all of the following criteria or guidelines to determined canonicity: n Apostolic authorship or (some direct)

influence by an apostle n The use by the Church (or churches

around the world) and consensus reached among them

More criteria n Agreement with the widespread and

accepted doctrine prevalent in the early church

n The age of a book – the older the book, the closer it was to Jesus and the first apostles

n Signs of inspiration and authenticity, ie avoiding “wild” stories and imaginations

n The guidance of the Holy Spirit in prayerfully selecting the NT books

Apocrypha in Christian literature n Many “extracanonical” works were written in

the early centuries of Christianity, most of them under the name of a NT (or even an OT) person or about a NT character

n They would therefore technically be better classified as pseudepigraphical in nature

n This went on for many years, but the most influential of these works date from the years 100–250AD

n  Included in this list are apocryphal gospels and apocryphal Pauline literature

n  See Dictionary of the Later New Testament & Its Developments

NT apocrypha: Some examples n Apocalyptic and Prophetic literature

¨ They show some similarities to the Book of Revelation, but are more a continuation of OT apocrypha and apocalyptic material

¨ Typical characteristics include: a supernatural revealer; a revelation (by Jesus, God or angel); the authorship is attributed to a well-known biblical figure

n  Samples of NT apocrypha: ¨ Apocalypse of Peter (came close to being accepted!) ¨ Ascension of Isaiah ¨ Apocalypse of Thomas

NT apocrypha: More examples n Apostolic Acts

¨ These can be defined as “a narrative of the missionary activity of a single apostle … concluding with … martyrdom…” (DLNT:70)

¨ They show some similarities with the Book of Acts, but are very different in nature and “feel”

n Some of the earliest and most known examples include the Acts of Andrew, Acts of John, Acts of Paul, Acts of Peter and Acts of Thomas

Other varieties of NT Apocrypha/Pseudepigrapha

n Apostolic Pseudepigrapha ¨ Eg The Preaching of Peter; Second

Apocalypse of James

n Wisdom literature ¨ Eg The Teachings of Silvanus

n Hymnic literature ¨ Eg Odes of Solomon

Example: Gospel of Thomas n  This book contains collections of 114 “secret sayings” of

Jesus and dates from around 200AD n  “The Gospel of Thomas is a collection of traditional Sayings

(logoi) of Jesus. It is attributed to Didymos Judas Thomas, the "Doubting Thomas" of the canonical Gospels, and according to many early traditions, the twin brother of Jesus ("didymos" means "twin" in Greek). We have two versions of the Gospel of Thomas today. The first was discovered in the late 1800's among the Oxyrhynchus Papyri, and consists of fragments of a Greek version, which has been dated to c. 200. The second is a complete version, in Coptic, from Codex II of the Nag Hammadi finds. Thomas was probably first written in Greek (or possibly even Syriac or Aramaic) sometime between the mid 1st and 2nd centuries.” http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/thomas.htm

Assessment: Gospel of Thomas n  “Although it is not possible to attribute the Gospel

of Thomas to any particular sect, it is clearly Gnostic in nature. As the preamble indicates, these are ‘secret sayings’, and are intended to be esoteric in nature. The Sayings are not intended to be interpreted literally, as their New Testament parallels often are, but to be interpreted symbolically, as attested by Saying #1. While a literal interpretation may make sense, only by understanding the deeper meanings of the Sayings can one truly understand them.”

n  http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/thomas.htm

Example: Infancy Gospel of Thomas

n  FF Bruce (Jesus and Christian Origins Outside the New Testament, p. 87) writes: “Then there is the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, which purports to describe the doings of Jesus in his boyhood. Jesus proves to be an infant prodigy at school, instructing his teachers in the unsuspected mysteries of the alphabet; he astounds his family and playmates by the miracles which he performs. This is the document which tells for the first time the familiar tale of the twelve sparrows which Jesus, at the age of five, fashioned from clay on the sabbath day.”

n  http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/infancythomas.html

Where we stand today n We believe that the Holy Spirit guided the

process of deciding on and preserving the canon of the Bible over the course of many years

n There is general consensus among scholars and church leaders that the 66 books in our Bible comprise the Word of God

n The Apocrypha are valuable but not part of the authentic and inspired Word of God

n We praise God for his revelation of Himself and his protection of the Bible!

Westminster Confession of Faith n  “We may be moved and induced by the testimony

of the Church to an high and reverent esteem of the holy Scripture; and the heavenliness of the matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, the majesty of the style, the consent of all the parts, the scope of the whole (which is to give all glory to God), the full discovery it makes of the only way of man's salvation, the many other incomparable excellencies, and the entire perfection thereof, are arguments whereby it doth abundantly evidence itself to be the Word of God; yet, notwithstanding, our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth, and divine authority thereof, is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit, bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts.” (Westminster Confession, 1647)

To do… n Go over the notes again and see if you

understand the concept of “canonization” n Memorize the first 22 books of the Bible

(from Genesis to Song of Songs) n  “Certificate of Completion” students:

¨ Find books, Bible dictionaries or articles describing the biblical canon for some of your reading

¨ See how much you can find out about the extracanonical books of the Bible

Next week

n We will look at the background and history of biblical events from 1500BC to 150AD

n We will cover the history of Israel from the call of Abraham to the final revolt of the Jews in the second Century AD

n  We will take a brief look at the spread of the Church (Christianity) in the first Century AD

Reference works n Hill, EH and Walton JH 2000. A Survey of

the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan

n Douglas, JD (ed) 1962. The New Bible Dictionary. London: IVP

n Martin, RP & Davids HP 1997. Dictionary of Later New Testament & Its Developments. Downer’s Grove, Illinois: IVP

See you next time!