Lesson 8 - Canon (Part 2)

Question 1

1How are we to view the closing of the Canon? What date should we give for this and how is the view from modern scholarship problematic?

Answer 1

• • The canon originated with the foundational activities of the apostles
• • The canon is not closed in the 4th c., but as soon as the final apostolic book is written
• • The long process of the church recognizing the books as apostolic is not something that official closes the canon, but something that acknowledges what’s already there.
• • The church cannot close the canon because it never started it to begin with. It was inherited from the apostles.
• • Long before the 4th century there was a fundamental trend toward limitation and restriction, not invitation and expansion.

Modern Scholarship

• 4th c. = closing of canon is human affair done by the 4th c. church
• What is absent from this approach is any recognition that the canonical books may be the result of the redemptive historical deposit that God gave through his apostles.
• If you ask someone in 2nd c. to show your their Scriptures; they will be able to distinguish between biblical and non-biblical books

Question 2

Provide a detailed description of the attributes of canonicity.

Answer 2

Self-Authenticating - refers to the fact that the canon itself provides guidance and direction about how its to be authenticated (applying the Bible to canon)

1. ) Divine Qualities
   - Indicia (marks) - if these books are created by God, then they should bear God’s imprint and reflect his character/attributes
   - WCF 1.5 - beauty/excellency; power; harmony
   - simliar to General Revelation
   - internal testimony of holy spirit: “my sheep hear my voice”
2. ) Corporate Reception
   - We have good biblical reasons for thinking that if the Holy Spirit is opening God’s people eyes to these books, then we would expect therefore that God’s corporate church would receive. Therefore, which books God’s corporate church received are the one that God intended
   - - Looking for predominate unity not absolute unity
   - Corporate nature of redemptive history: God saves a people
   - Church is thermometer not thermostat (Roman Catholic)
3. ) Apostolic Origins
   - written by an apostle or companion to apostle
   - The canon is filled by apostolic teaching
   - Apostolic Tradition: Once the apostolic time period was over, there wasn’t even a question about other books going into the canon
   - external evidence is part of application of Scripture
   - Holy Spirit opens our eyes to see historical evidence

Question 3

How does attributes of canonicity compare with the criteria of a historically-determined model?

Answer 3

• Historically-Determined Model is Criteria of Canon
• Authenticating Model is Attributes of Canon
• Not a criteria of canon – external principles put on the canon from the outside
  1. ) Criteria is proven historically, not from the Bible
• Apostolicity: only similiar
• Orthodoxy – sound doctrine
• Usage – used a lot
• Age

2.Attributes of canonicity come from and are determined by the canon itself

Question 4

What is the evidence for supporting an early date for canonical reception?

Answer 4

1. ) NT Writings
   a. Early references to canonical books
   - - 2 Peter 3:16 – Paul’s writings same as Scripture
   - - 1 Tim. 5:18 – cites from Luke 10:7
   b. Bi-Covenantal Canon
   - - 2 Peter 3:2 – apostles are on par with OT
   - - 2 sources of authority: Old Covenant and New Covenant
   c. Public Reading
   - - Public reading of New Covenant documents (1 Thess. 5:27; Col. 4:16)
2. ) Apostolic Fathers
   a. 1 Clement (end of 1 century) – take up the epistle of Paul
   b. Didache (100 AD) – early Christian writing
   - - Quotes from Matthew’s gospel
   - - Places the curse on writings of Jesus (don’t take these away)
   c. Ignatius (martyred in 110 AD)
   - - Acknowledges Paul, his apostolic authority, and his letters to the Ephesians
   d. Polykarp (110 AD)
   - - Cites Ephesians 4:26 as Scripture
   e. Epistle of Barnabas
   - - Cites from matthew 22:14 as Scripture

3.) Very Strong core of NT writings early on

Summary

• • The canon, in terms of core books, was in place at a very early time
• • 22/23 out of 27 books were not disputed by anyone and as far back as we can see (early 2nd c.)
• • The disagreements that the early church had was only over 4-5 books
• • If there’s a core, the theological trajectory of the church is set at a very early time (Who Jesus is already decided, Core Teaching is already decided, Justification/Salvation already decided
• • Regardless of 1-2 Peter/James etc.
• • The corporate reception of the canon was not a crazy affair