Every Christian can Gain a Greater Appreciation of the New Testament

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Every Christian can Gain a Greater Appreciation
of the New Testament

• By understanding 3 crucial topics

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Topic 1

• Canonicity

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How did the books letters of the Bible become
one volume?
Why were certain booksleft out?
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Canonization

• Canon a norm or ruleused to measure.

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First Recognition of NT Writings

• Paul quotes the Gospel of Luke and refers to it
  as Scripture (1 Tim 518).
• Peter refers to the writings of Paul as Scripture
  (2 Pet 316).
• AD 70-150. Apostolic Fathers. Some knew the
  apostles (Peter and John). The AFs specifically
  quote from at least 17 books and letters in the
  NT.
• AD 125. Polycarp quotes Ephesians twice and
  refers to it as part of the Sacred Scriptures.

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Lists of Authoritative Works

• AD 140. Marcion compiled a canon that included 1
  Gospel (a large portion of Luke heavily altered)
  and 10 of Pauls letters.
• AD 180. Muratorian Canon Fragment consists of 23
  books and letters.
• AD 185. Irenaeus recognized 22 books/letters
• AD 200. Tertullian recognized 22 books/letters
• AD 225. Hippolytus recognized 22 books/letters

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Lists of Authoritative Works

• AD 230. Origen recognized 24 books/letters
• AD 325. Eusebius lists 22 books/letters accepted
  as canonical
• AD 367. Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, lists
  the 27 books/letters of the NT we now have today
  (1st list of the 27 we have today.)

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Lists of Authoritative Works

• AD 380. Amphilocius of Iconium lists 22 books and
  letters
• AD 382. Synod in Rome. Pope Damascus same 27
• AD 397. 3rd Council of Carthage recognized the 27
  books and letters of the NT
• AD 1442. Council of Florence same 27
• AD 1546. Council of Trent reaffirms 27 books and
  letters.

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What the lists had in common

• All lists accepted the 4 NT Gospels as the true
  Gospels.
• All accepted Pauls letters as authoritative.

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4 NT Gospels were considered authoritative by the
early Church

• Justin (c. AD 150)
• 15 times referred to the Gospels as the memoirs
  of the apostles.
• In several of these references he cites stories
  or quotes found in the 4 Gospels.
• When referring to the memoirs, he never cites a
  story that occurs in another Gospel.
• Irenaeus (c. AD 185)
• Gospel is quadriform (i.e., in 4 forms)

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Even the heretics accepted the 4 NT Gospels

• Ebionites used Matthew (2nd cent)
• Marcion used Luke (AD 140)
• Certain Gnostics used Mark (2-3rd cent)
• Valentinus used John (AD 110)
• Tatian (Gnostic) combined Matthew, Mark, Luke,
  John into the Diatessaron, the first attempt to
  combine the four into one continuous Gospel.
  None of the other Gospels were included. (AD 172)

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Important to Note
We see that the NT writings were not arbitrarily
selected. The final canon was the Churchs
formal declaration of what had been recognized as
authoritative throughout its history.
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Certain Gospels were specifically rejected by the
Church prior to Nicaea

• Origen (AD 185-254) I know a certain gospel
  which is called The Gospel according to Thomas
  and a Gospel according to Matthias, and many
  others have we read. Nevertheless, among all
  these we have approved solely what the church has
  recognized, which is that only the four gospels
  should be accepted.

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What about the lost booksof the Bible?

• Gospel of Thomas
• Gospel of Peter
• Apocalypse of Peter
• Gospel to the Hebrews
• Gospel of Barnabas
• Gospel of Phillip
• Gospel of Mary
• etc.

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Not Considered Authoritative

• The only book thought by some to exist prior to
  the middle of the 2nd century is the Gospel of
  Thomas. All the others were written more than
  100 years after Jesus.
• Teachings in these differ from what we know the
  apostles taught

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Not Considered Authoritative

• Never quoted by any known author during first 300
  years after Christ
• Never read in Christian assemblies
• Not included in the lists of accepted writings
• Not the subject of commentaries
• Some specifically rejected by Church

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Why does the Catholic Bible have more books?

• The difference is that the Catholic OT contains
  what is called the Apocrypha (hidden writings)
• These Jewish documents were respected by Jews for
  historical significance, but never considered by
  them to be inspired.
• When the Hebrew OT was translated into Greek in
  Alexandria Egypt before Jesus, the Apocrypha was
  also translated and included with the Greek OT
  (Septuagint).

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Why does the Catholic Bible have more books?

• When the Catholic Church translated the OT into
  Latin (Vulgate) in the 4th century, it used the
  Greek Septuagint rather than the Hebrew OT.
  Thus, the Apocrypha was naturally included,
  although Catholics do not regard the Apocrypha as
  inspired by God.
• Protestants believe the Hebrew OT is more
  reliable than the Greek OT, since it was the
  original language. Thus, our English translation
  does not include the Apocrypha.

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Summary

• The Church wrestled long with which books/letters
  to regard as authoritative
• The Church accepted writings that had authentic
  apostolic authority
• The Church excluded writings known not to have
  authentic apostolic authority
• The Catholic Bible includes additional writings
  but do not regard them as divinely inspired

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Next Week

• Textual Purity
• Archaeology History