1D The bible as a source of wisdom and authority

Question 1

What is the Biblical canon?

Answer 1

• The official and standardised list of scripture est. by the early c.ch (the Bible)
• The books are believed to be divinely inspired

Question 2

Which books of the canon did the early Christians view to be the most important?

Answer 2

• Hebrew scriptures, Letters of Paul, Gospels

Question 3

Give some issues with the creation of the canon.

Answer 3

• Disagreement about books
• Different versions of Hebrew Bible
• Some books claimed to be written by imp. figures, but were falsely using names to gain authority
• Scribes paraphrased, misinterpreted, saved time

Question 4

What are the three parts of the Jewish canon?

Answer 4

1) Torah (Law: 5 books written by Moses)
2) Nevi’im (Prophets: inc. former, latter and the 12 minor prophets)
3) Kethuvim (Writings: poetical, prophetic, historical)
• Referred to by TNK (Tanak)

Question 5

When did the Hebrew Bible become canon?

Answer 5

• 3 stages: Torah; shared orally for centuries; written down prior to Exile of Judah to Babylon, 6th C
• Luke 24:44 = glimpse into a time when the canon was not considered to be completed: j refers to scriptures as the “Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms” ∴ only one of the ‘Writings’ is mentioned as scripture
• Josephus, a 1st C Jewish hist., mentions Law, Prophets and “four books [which are] hymns to G and precepts for the conduct of human life” - thought to be Psalms, Song of Solomon, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes; final part of canon process

Question 6

What were the three ways that decisions about the canon were made?

Answer 6

1) Books had to survive - there are references in B to books we have no knowledge of, e.g. Jasher
2) Must be seen as supporting Torah (sometimes referred to as the ‘canon within the canon’)
3) Had to be recognised by a wide variety of Jews in diverse locations as supporting their faith and practice

Question 7

What is propositional revelation?

Answer 7

• God directly revealing truths about his nature to ppl

Question 8

What is non-propositional revelation?

Answer 8

• Idea that God does not reveal facts or information during the process of revelation; humans interpret his words into truths

Question 9

What is the Catholic opinion about proto/deuterocanonical books?

Answer 9

• They are both fully and equally inspired

Question 10

What was Martin Luther’s opinion of 2 Maccabees 12:46?

Answer 10

• He viewed it as giving support to purgatory, which undermined his key belief that reward = justified by faith and not earned through purgatory

Question 11

What do Protestants and Catholics call the period between the closing of the Hebrew canon and the beginning of New Testament literature?

Answer 11

• Protestants: intertestamental period

* Catholics: deuterocanonial period

Question 12

Outline the stages of the New Testament canon.

Answer 12

• Short period in C.ty when the only scriptures C.tians possessed were the Jewish writings; messages were conveyed orally by Apostles, J, prophets
• Letters of Paul to c.chs in 6th decade of CE
• Gospels (70-100 CE)
• Other letters
• Revelation

Question 13

What is the Diatessaron?

Answer 13

• A harmony of all four Gospels
• Created by Tatian, an Assyrian early C.tian apologist and ascetic
• Used by many c.chs in Syria

Question 14

What is the Muratorian canon?

Answer 14

• A copy of perhaps the oldest known list of most books from NT
• Discovered by Italian historian Ludovico Muratori in the Ambrosian Library in northern Italy and was published by him in 1740
• Contains 22/27 modern NT books and mentions books that should not be included as they are forgeries
- Shows that early C.tians = careful about selection process

Question 15

How were New Testament books chosen?

Answer 15

• No written criteria, but three factors guided the early C.ch.

1) Had to have a connection to the Apostles
2) Had to have a connection with c.chs + support faith/practice in diverse places
3) Had to conform to the faith of C.ty

Question 16

Outline the debate about the New Testament with reference to Marcion.

Answer 16

• Marcion, a 2nd-century C.ch leader, created a Bible composed only of Luke (w/o birth narratives) and the letters of Paul
- He believed that the G of JC = diff. + superior to G of Hebrew B ∴ attempted to remove all references to Judaism from his version
• The Apostolic Fathers rejected Marcion’s B as they believed that the OT should be inc. as the same G was at work in Israel and life of J

Question 17

Explain the debate about the books of Hebrews and Revelation.

Answer 17

• Lack of clarity about apostolic authorship
• Some heretical groups favoured the two books, which cast doubt on their status
• Eventually the c.ch believed they had apostolic origins

Question 18

Why were the Didache and the Shepherd of Hermas ultimately rejected?

Answer 18

• Not ∵ they were wrong, but ∵ they were written later than the Apostolic writings

Question 19

When did the official decision about the 27 books as canon come?

Answer 19

• The end of the 4th C/beg. of 5th

* Makes it trustworthy ∵ took a very long time to decide

Question 20

Why is the order of the Bible important?

Answer 20

• First glance = chronological order from creation of the world (Genesis) to announcement of a new heaven (Revelation)
- But this is not always the case: in NT, Thessalonians = first book written (early 50s) but placed after Gospels
• The order is believed the be divinely inspired and leads you through the journey - from a wrathful OT G to a loving NT G

Question 21

What is the order of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament?

Answer 21

• Begins w/ Torah; the heart of the HB supported by legal, prophetic, poetic literature
• Christian OT ends w/ Minor Prophets but HB ends w/ Ezra/Nehemiah and Chronicles ∵ C.tian B follows order of Septuagint
• Ending of HB places focus on Jews having returned from exile + rebuilding their nation, whereas the Minor Prophets look ahead to return of Elijah (John the Baptist)

Question 22

What is the order of the New Testament?

Answer 22

• The life, death and res. of J = placed first
• Narrative of birth of c.ch (Acts)
• Letters of Paul (first to c.chs, then to individuals (Pastoral Epistles))
• Letters not attributed to Paul
• Revelation

Question 23

What are some other factors on the ordering of biblical books?

Answer 23

• Books of same author placed together e.g. Luke-Acts
• Story-line thread e.g. Joshua through kings tells one successive account
• Type of literature e.g. prophetic books/wisdom books in OT/HB and Gospels in NT

Question 24

Explain the diverse views on the Bible as the word of God.

Answer 24

• An exp. that leaves us feeling inspired makes us want to think/act differently
- C.tians believe that B = ‘inspired’ as they want to think/act diff. after reading it
- B ≠ merely human inspiration, it is inspired by G
• ‘inspire’ comes from Greek ‘to breathe on or in’: ‘theopneustos’ = word used in NT, meaning ‘God-breathed’ (II Timothy 3:16 + II Peter 1:21)
• B = word of G ∵ = creator of B; but:
- What was the human role in this book?
- Is the Bible partly human and partly divine?
- Did the authors have access to ideas that were not their own or were they simply unconscious tools in hands of G?
- What about the historically/scientifically incorrect passages? Can it be G-breathed of it contains errors?

Question 25

What is the extreme objective view of inspiration?

Answer 25

• Biblical writers are no more than mere stenographers

Question 26

What is the extreme subjective view of inspiration?

Answer 26

• The words of B ≠ inspired; the authors themselves are

• Most theologians recog. the clear subjective/human side to inspiration as each book has its own character/tone/’feel’ based on personality/unique expressions of their author
• G acted in human history and exp: the B = inspired ∵ it was written by inspired ppl

Question 27

Give some objective views of inspiration.

Answer 27

• Many B passages present G as speaking directly to/through prophets
• Early theologians believed the writers were possessed by G’s spirit + led into a kind of ecstasy
• 2nd C theologian Athenagoras described God as using the prophets “as a flautist might blow into the flute” - divine dictation
• Medieval C.tian writers used Aristotelian categories of efficient and instrumental causes to emphasise the objective side

Question 28

Give some challenges to the objective views of inspiration.

Answer 28

• Many early C.ch Fathers disagreed w/ assigning merely a passive role to the human authors
• 2-3C: Origen described the authors as fully conscious of a process of inspiration + able to express own views
• Thomas Aquinas showed how even instrumental causes could shape divine revelation
• Different notions of the words ‘author’ and ‘dictation’. Previously:
- Latin ‘auctor’ applied to things like bridges/buildings too, can mean ‘producer’
- Ancient world: those dictating letters could give their scribes a general idea of what to write rather than exact words
- B writers could have received divine dictation in a rigid way, or through a process that gave them relative freedom
• Augustine: “It is wicked to doubt that they [the writings of the Apostles and Prophets] are free from all error.”

Question 29

What was the effect of European enlightenment on the view of inspiration?

Answer 29

• It put emphasis on human knowledge and understanding: trad. beliefs of B as G’s word = questioned
• Some writers believe there is a link between B and G through the inspired exp. of the writers
- Some object to this as it laves the poss. for other books as being equally inspired as the B

Question 30

What does innerancy mean?

Answer 30

• Belief that B = w/o error/fault

Question 31

What is plenary verbal inspiration?

Answer 31

• Gives a greater role to the human writers of the Bible while maintaining a belief that God preserved the integrity of the words of the Bible.

Question 32

Explain innerancy and plenary verbal inspiration.

Answer 32

• Late 19th/early 20th: Reaction to the enligtenment focus on human wisdom in form of fundamentalism
• Asserted that sci. advancements would never be at the cost of C.tian doctrines e.g. creation of world in 7 days
• Heart of fundamentalism = objective view of revelation: G gave each word of B to human writers w/o error, contradiction, falsehood - a stenographic dictation
• Logic:
a) G ≠ ass. w/ falsehood/error
b) G has inspired B
c) ∴ no errors, contradictions, falsehoods (some fundamentalist thinkers distinguish btwn the perfect original text and later texts where errors may have crept in)
• Uniqueness of fundamentalism = rigid theory that turns all parts of B into propositional truths which can be labelled true/false
• Is a poem/story true/false? Did the writers each receive a verbal message?
- Some passages suggest this to be the case e.g. G speaking through prophets
- But, most B writers make no mention of this process and appear to write personally i.e. Pastoral Epistles
- B contains both prop. and non-prop. lang.
- Books make use of multiple sources and refer personally to their efforts in producing the text e.g. Acts 1:1; contradicts view that each author received verbal dictation
• Many theologians reject v.p.i

Question 33

Give some other subjective theories of inspiration.

Answer 33

• Barth’s view that J (and not the B) is the ‘word of God’, but if one listens to the B w/ humility and a spirit of obedience, then certain passages can become transformed into the word of G in a reader’s exp.
- Inspiration ≠ the quality of text, but of a reader’s exp. w/ text under certain conditions
• Divine inspir. = far more complex than a text being produced by one indiv.
- Led to ‘social theories of inspiration’ which views B as product of an entire faith community being impacted by G and passing the impact to the author, rather than the B as a product of the indiv. working w/ G

Question 34

How can subjective and objective views of inspiration be balanced?

Answer 34

• One hand: affirm that G = author of B
• Other hand: G has worked through human authors, each w/ own style, personality, hist. situations
• Not imp. that the B conforms to a view of perfection defined in logical/scientific terms, but that it is ‘true’ on matters of salvation, faith and morality

Question 35

Give a quote from Vatican II about the books in the canon.

Answer 35

• “These the Church holds to be sacred and canonical […] because, having been written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they have God for their author.”

Question 36

What is accommodation?

Answer 36

• Adapt, fit, adjust
• G has communicated to humanity in a way which humans can respond to despite his nature being unknowable + unreachable
• Scripture has accommodated (made allowance for) the original audience’s language + understanding

Question 37

Who is accommodation most associated with? Give the names of other people who believed in it.

Answer 37

• Most ass. w/ John Calvin
• Others:
- Origen + Aug. developed it, which ensured its continuance into the work of medieval biblical exegetes
- Erasmus of Rotterdam + numerous Reformation theologians, both C and P
- Calvin’s contemporaries: Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, Peter Martyr Vermigli and numerous others

Question 38

Explain Calvin’s use of accommodation.

Answer 38

• Calvin was aware of the possibilities and limits of our lang. - “We must never forget that God is above and beyond our language.”
• The transcendent God chooses to lower himself to become intelligible in our exp.
• The fact that G has chosen to accommodate his lang. in a book = cause for thanksgiving
• Human authors of B chose to speak in a lang. easily intelligible to most readers e.g. Gen 1:16 - “God made two great lights - the greater light […] and the lesser light.” (sun/moon)
- He = aware of planets e.g. Saturn, which are greater lights than the moon: was Moses (who Calvin believed to be the author of Gen) in error? Not at all.
- Moses = adapting truth to the common person - could have given a long discourse about the nature of heavenly spheres + relative sizes of planetary bodies, but it would detract from communicating the essential message
• Believed the B to be w/o error ∴ said that Gen 1:16 = true: the moon is the light which rules the night from the perspective of someone on earth
- Even when accommodating, scripture = wholly true

Question 39

What analogy did Calvin use for accommodation?

Answer 39

• A nurse making ‘baby talk’ to a toddler: the nurse can make far more sophisticated expressions but chooses to communicate in a way that encourages interaction

Question 40

Why do contemporaries use accommodation?

Answer 40

• Used by ppl who believe there are errors in B

• Errors = part of G’s overall calculations when accommodating to human lang.
• Bible’s main message = still relevant since it is not about the scientific, cultural, historical assumptions
• Errors detract nothing from theological message of G’s sovereignty + provision of salvation through faith in J