Article #2
A Critical Examination of the Canon of Scripture
I. What is the Bible
A. Significance of the Canon
1. Reveals the Person and work
of God
B. Formation of the Canon
1. A covenant fulfillment
C. Limitation of the Canon
1. Why only 66 books?
II. An Evaluation of the Bible
A. The Old Testament
1. Lower Criticism
a. Manuscript Witness of the
Old Testament
2. Higher Criticism
a. Summary, Authors, and Dates
of the Old Testament
3. The Old Testament Apocrypha
B. The New Testament
1. Lower Criticism
a. Manuscripts Witness of the New
Testament
2. Higher Criticism
a. Summary, Authors, and Dates of
the New Testament
3. The New Testament Apocrypha
III. Interpreting the Bible
A. Presuppositions
1. A balanced approach
a. All Scripture is God-breathed
B. The Logos (The Word of God)
1. Written expression – Scripture
2. Living expression – Jesus
C. Literal/figurative sense
IV. Application of the Bible
A. To whom is the Bible addressed?
1. Universal/particular audience
B. Our response
1. Faith
The Bible is a book that reveals the Person and works of God. It was written by over 40 different authors between a 1600 yr. period (1445 B.C. — A.D. 95). The origin of the term “Bible” itself implies that it is no ordinary book, but has extraordinary claims on rational minds. The human authors come from many different occupational backgrounds, such as kings, farmers, fisherman, and prophets. The Bible is divided into 66 volumes, which are categorized according to genre. Papyrus, an Egyptian invention, was a writing material from the papyrus plant that was used to write the Bible. When the original Bible was written, the Hebrew people used, among other things, papyrus rolls called scrolls. The English word “Bible” derived from the Greek word byblos, which refers to the papyrus rolls on which the Bible was written. And the root word for the papyrus plant is Canon which means standard. Thus the Bible is also called canon, the standard by which we measure and evaluate our lives.
All except one of the authors of the canon were of Hebrew origin (Luke is the only non-Hebrew writer of Scripture). “Hebrew” is the term used to identify the descendants of Eber (Gen. 10:21-25; 11:14-26), who was an ancestor of Abraham, the central figure of the Old Testament. Abraham is said to have received promises — unconditional covenants — from God that he would be the ancestor of the great nation Israel, the three vital components of which are: people, law, and land. Before the Hebrew people received their promised land, and after the increased population of people were delivered from Egyptian slavery (the Exodus of 1445 B.C.), their law would be given through Moses at Mt. Sinai just 50 days after their deliverance, which began the initial formation of the canon; the last book of the canon, Revelation, was written by the apostle John in A.D. 95.
But why are there only 66 books of the Bible when there were many other books that were presumed to be from God? Who decided which books to include and which to exclude? And how do we know the 66 books are the correct books? Church councils of the first few centuries, such as the Council of Jamnia (1st century), Council of Rome (A.D. 382), Council of Hippo (A.D. 393), and the Council of Carthage (A.D. 397) are believed to have discussed such questions. However, their purpose was not to determine which books were from God and which were not. Their purpose was to make an official recognition of the books that had already been determined to be from God. Generally, if a book was known to have been written by an apostle or prophet of God (or someone who was confirmed by an apostle or prophet, i.e. Mark and Luke who were neither apostles nor prophets) it was accepted. Several books of the Bible were written by unknown authors, such as Job, 1st and 2nd Kings, and many of the Psalms. In such cases when the author was not explicitly stated, evidence from within the book itself would reveal signs of prophetic authority, such as internal consistency with other canonical books written by a prophet, or the authors’ confirmation by miracles, or the books immediate acceptance into the community of the people of God, since it was they who knew first-hand how to test a genuine prophet from the false (Deut. 13:1-3; 18:20-22). Among those that were immediately received were the writings of Moses who was told to take the “book of the Law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God” (Deut. 31:26). Such was the case also with Joshua (Josh. 24:26), Samuel (1Sam. 10:25), and many others. Of all books presumed to be from God, only these 66 passed such criteria.
If the Bible is to be the standard by which we measure and evaluate our lives, then there should be an evaluation to which we can apply to the Bible that would give evidence of whether or not the canon of today is as it was when it was originally written; if it is not, then the essential Christian doctrine that “All Scripture is inspired [God-breathed] by God” has little ground to stand on. Literary Criticism is the art and science of evaluating a piece of literature to discern the accuracy of the transmission of its data throughout time. In the 16th century Martin Luther, the German Reformer, discovered that long-held traditions of the Roman Catholic Church were based on forgeries and inaccurate documents. As a result, Protestants began applying literary criticism to the Bible, thus beginning the rise of Biblical Criticism. There are two forms of Biblical Criticism: Lower Criticism and Higher Criticism. The former deals with the wording of the original document and is foundational to the latter, which deals with and establishes the historical setting of the events and the original author of the document.
During the Reformation era, if one were to confirm that the text of the Old Testament was essentially the same as when it was originally written, there would be only a few manuscripts to compare it to, such as the Leningrad Codex of A.D. 1008 (see Worldview/The Three Theistic Religions/Judaism), which represents the Masoretic text on which today’s Old Testament is based), and the Aleppo Codex, a copy of the Old Testament produced in A.D. 925. Since the original writings of the Bible (the autographs) have not been found, copies such as these have produced valuable insight into the text of the original Bible. But this is still nearly 1400 years between what’s believed to be the final editing of the Old Testament (400 B.C.) and the earliest manuscripts of the Old Testament (A.D. 925). However, in 1947 another set of Hebrew manuscripts was discovered on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea, called the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Dead Sea Scrolls contain all of the Old Testament books (in part or whole), except Esther, and are dated 250 B.C. – A.D. 70. The significance of these scrolls is that when they were compared to the Masoretic text, they were nearly a word-for-word match, with only slight textual variations. Thus we can be more certain that the text of the Old Testament we have today is the same as when it was originally written.
But just knowing that the text of today’s Bible is essentially the same as when it was originally written is only part of literary criticism; it gives us evidence via ancient manuscripts of the accuracy of the transmission of the text. There still remains an examination of the text itself to determine if the original author of the text lived as a contemporary to the events they recorded. If he did not live during the events he records, then his writings become subject to greater criticism.
The Old Testament is classified into 5 genres: Law, History, Poetry, Major Prophets, and Minor Prophets.
The text of the Pentateuch (bks. #1-5) records the creation of the universe, the creation of life and its subsequent moral corruption through sin, the call of Abraham through whom God would raise up a nation – Israel – who eventually become subject to Egyptian slavery. After several years God used Moses to deliver Israel (the Exodus) and lead them through desert wanderings to the land of Canaan, the Promise Land.
Since King Solomon began his reign in 970 B.C., and the Exodus occurred 480 yrs. prior to the 4th year of Solomon’s reign (1 Kings 6:1), then the Exodus occurred around 1446 B.C. And since there were at least 40 yrs. of wandering in the desert between the Exodus and the entry of the Promised Land, Moses most likely wrote the Pentateuch during the desert wanderings between 1445 – 1406 B.C. and then placed his writing in the ark of the covenant as stated in (Deut. 31:26).
The genre of these books, however, is more narrative than law. And up until the 17th century it was traditionally held that Moses wrote the Pentateuch. But between the 17th and 19th century liberal critics have raised doubts of Mosaic authorship, affirming that the Pentateuch was composed by several compilers between 850 – 500 B.C. and that Moses’ name was attached to them to give them greater value and acceptance. Some of the reasons given to deny Moses as the author are that Moses could not have written about his own death (Deut. 34), nor did he have the capability to write, since writing did not exist in Moses’ day. Monotheism, such as seen throughout the Pentateuch, was supposedly not developed till the 6th century B.C. And Moses was not alive yet to write Genesis; he was born long after the events of Genesis occurred.
However, since Moses was a prophet (Deut. 18:15; Acts 3:22) he could well have written of his own death. But more likely Joshua, Moses’ successor, wrote Deut. 34. And archaeological evidence indicates that writing was indeed in existence long before Moses. Excavations in Nineveh have discovered a library built by Assyrian King Ashurbanipal (668 – 626 B.C.) whose scribes are said to have made thousands of copies of historic and religious text of Sumerian writings that are dated at 3500 B.C., which are the earliest writing known to man. In 3000 B.C. there were Egyptian hieroglyphics, which later developed into a cursive script called hieratic. And in 1500 – 1200 B.C. there was not only the cuneiform alphabet of Ugarit consisting of 31 characters, but also the practice of monotheism by the Babylonians; between 2580 – 2250 B.C. the Ebla Tablets contained the earliest accounts of monotheism, the creation account, and the Flood. It is true that Moses was not alive yet when the events of Genesis took place. But the fact that he mentions “historical records” (Gen. 2:4; 5:1; 6:9; 10:1,32; 11:10,27; 25:12,19; 36:1; 37:2) implies that Moses may have compiled the account of Genesis through oral traditions and/or historical records passed on to him. Even without these records Moses still could have received revelation directly from God while on Mt. Sinai for 40 days (Ex. 25:40) or in response to his request to see God’s glory and was revealed “the back” (i.e. God in history past) of Ex. 33:18-23.
The books of History consist of bks. #6-17 of the Old Testament. The events of these books pick up where the last book of the Law left off. The 40 yrs. of wondering are over. The people of Israel have reached the borders of the Promise Land. Since Moses dies just before entering the land, Joshua is now the new leader. The law and people had been established. And now in keeping with the covenant of Abraham, the land would be given over to his descendants with the ark of the covenant, containing the books of Moses, leading the way (Josh. 3:2-3). As new inhabitants of the conquered land of Canaan, the new nation of Israel was not only to be a theocracy with God as their only king, but a “peculiar treasure unto God” (Ex. 19:5) being governed by the Law of Moses. But by their demand for a human king, they became a monarchy which had been set up between 1043 – 587 B.C. In 931 B.C. the united kingdom of Israel became a split nation: Northern Israel, and Southern Judah. And in 722 B.C. in response to Israel’s rebellion to the Law of Moses, God used the Assyrian nation to besiege Northern Israel bringing its inhabitants captive into the surrounding nations. In 587 B.C. the Southern Kingdom of Judah suffered the same fate when the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar besieged the nation of Judah bringing them into captivity in the land of Babylon for 70 yrs. and burned the Jewish temple, which contained the ark of the covenant, to the ground; the ark of the covenant has been missing ever since (Jer. 3:16). This event began the “times of the Gentiles” (Lk. 21:24) in which Israel lost its political independence and became subject to Gentile dominion. However, after the 70 yrs., the Israelites would be allowed back to their homeland to rebuild what had been destroyed.
The Bible, the Jewish Talmud, and the Jewish traditions of the Baba Bathra 14b-15a indicate that the book of Joshua was written by Joshua (Josh. 18:9; 24:26); that the books of Judges and Ruth was written by the prophet Samuel; that 1st and 2nd Samuel was written by Samuel, Nathan and Gad (1Sam. 1-24; 1Chron. 29:29); and that 1st and 2nd Kings was written by the prophet Jeremiah (2Kings 24:18-25:30, Jer. 52). Though not stated explicitly, it’s believed, based on the religious post-exilic context, that the books of 1st and 2nd Chronicles and the book of Ezra were written by Ezra, the religious reformer of 450 B.C. The book of Nehemiah is believed to have been written by Nehemiah (Neh. 1:1), and that the book of Esther was written by Mordecai (Esther 9:20).
Though poetry is found throughout the entire canon, there are five books that are almost entirely poetry. The books of Poetry (bks. #18-22) are believed to have been written mostly during the beginning of Israel’s monarchy, often called the “golden age of literature”, a time when the nation of Israel was experiencing much peace under the reign of King Solomon. The book represents different kinds of poetry. The dramatic poetry of Job and Songs of Solomon express truth through monologue and dialogue; they appeal to the emotions, dealing with issues of love and suffering. Lyric poems such as Psalms are poems that are accompanied by music. Didactic poems such as Proverbs and Ecclesiastes appeal to the mind of the analytical observer, rather than the emotions.
Rather than dealing with particular issues as the books of History, the books of Poetry are applicable to universal issues. All people experience suffering, but not all suffer for the same reasons. Quite often an honest wrestling with the problem of suffering and evil, as with Job, is an evidence of faith, rather than a lack of it. The love relation between Solomon and his bride, as in Songs of Solomon, has parallels to how God treats His people and is often seen as a pattern for holy intimacy between a man and a woman within the context of marriage. Psalms frequently express songs of praise, often in times of great trial and affliction. Their personal and spiritual insights have also been seen as an interpretive aid for the Law of Moses, History, and Prophets. Ecclesiastes seeks to find unity in diversity, for without unity all the particulars “under the sun” are an empty chasing after the wind (Eccl. 1:2-3; 5:16). The wisdom of Proverbs is relevant to all of life; it contrasts the ways of the wise with the ways of the fool.
Job probably lived after Noah’s Flood, but before the time of Moses, since Job performs the duties of a priest (Job 1:5), a function delegated only to the Levites of the Law of Moses (Ex. 28–29; Lev. 8–10), which had probably not been given yet. The author is nowhere stated, but the context reflects a poetry style from the Solomon era. Solomon is credited with writing Songs of Solomon (1:1). The superscriptions of almost half the Psalms are “of David”; Ps. 50 and 73–83 were written by Asaph; Ps. 88 was written by Heman; Ps. 89 was written by Ethan; Ps. 72 and 127 were written by Solomon; Ps. 90 was written by Moses; the rest are anonymous. From tradition, Jewish Talmud, and the Bible Ecclesiastes is said to be written by Solomon, the “son of David” and “king over Israel” (1:1, 12). Proverbs was written by Solomon (1:1; 10:1; 25:1, cp. 1 Kings 4:29-34), and the final 2 Proverbs written by Agur and King Lemuel (Prov. 30:1; 31:1).
The Major Prophets (bks. #23-27) are so called, not because they are more important, but because they are of greater length. There were hundreds of prophets sent to Israel, the first of which was Moses (Jer. 7:25); of these hundreds only 16 contributed prophetic writing preserved in the Old Testament canon. The prophets spoke as God’s representative to the people since it was the prophets to whom God “revealed His secrets” (Deut. 18:18; Amos 3:7-8; Zech. 7:12). Their function was not only to predict an event but to call God’s people to repentance and obedience to the Law of Moses; the degree of obedience was often reflected in the prosperity of the land.
The historical setting of the Major Prophets begins during the monarchy after Israel had been split in half (Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah) in 931 B.C. The Major Prophets begin with Isaiah in 740 B.C. They continue on through the Assyrian invasion of the Northern Kingdom in 722 B.C. to the Babylonian invasion and exile of the Southern Kingdom in 587 B.C. The prophets then committed their words to writing (Isa. 8:1; Ez. 43:10-11) and occasionally copies were made (Jer. 36).
Liberal critics have claimed that the book of Isaiah was originally written by two authors; one writing ch.1-39 and another over a hundred years later writing ch.40-66. However, internal evidence suggests the same person wrote both sections. Jesus, quoting both Isa. 53:1 and 6:10, stated explicitly that both sections were written by the same Isaiah (Jn. 12:38-40). Jeremiah wrote his own book (Jer. 30:1-3; 51:60-64; 25:13) occasionally dictating his words to Baruch (Jer. 36). Because of the emotional intensity over the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 B.C., some have placed Lamentation in the Poetry section. The author of Lamentation is nowhere stated, but because of similarity in style and content with the book of Jeremiah, it’s believed that Jeremiah wrote it; the author was also an eyewitness to the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 B.C. (Lam. 2:6-12; Jer. 39:1-14). Just six years prior to this destruction, Ezekiel received the first of his revelations and committed them to writing (Ez. 1:1-3). Liberal critics of the 17th century A.D., building on the works of Porphyry of the 3rd century A.D., have held to a 167 B.C. date for Daniel. But evidence indicates that the book was written by the prophet Daniel of the 6th century B.C. Jesus states that it was written by “the prophet Daniel” (Mt. 24:15; 26:64; Mk. 13:14; 14:62). The book itself presumes to be written by Daniel (Dan. 7–10; 12:4-13). And since Ezekiel began writing his book in 593 B.C., and Ezekiel mentions Daniel by name (Ez. 14:14, 20; 28:3), then Daniel the prophet also wrote his book in the 6th century B.C.
The Minor Prophets (bks. #28-39) began to be written at a time when the nation of Assyria began to expand its territory into the region of Philistine. Not only had Israel been a split nation for almost a hundred years, but it became a vassal state to Assyria. The Law of Moses had been Israel’s moral, civil, and ceremonial “plumb line” (standard) of life (Amos 7:7-8). Obedience to the Law resulted in blessings, such as a fruitful and prosperous land (Deut. 11:10-28); disobedience resulted in an unfruitful and unprosperous land and even the possibility of expulsion from the land (Lev. 26:14-34, 43). Thus Israel’s spiritual wellbeing determined their natural, social, and economic well-being. As Israel departed from the Law of Moses, the Minor Prophets were sent to Israel to remind them of their covenant commitment. However, Israel’s continued disobedience brought about their judgment as God allowed His covenant people to be exiled into surrounding nations. But just as the prophets predicted judgment on the nation, so also did they promise a time in the future when Israel would be restored to their land and be sent the coming Messiah that would bring ultimate restoration of all things. Judah would be exiled for 70 yrs. (Jer. 25:11; 29:10), one year for each violated Sabbath year (Lev. 25:1-7; 26:14-34, 43), but would return to their land in 538 B.C.
Internal evidence indicates the authors and dates of the Minor Prophets, most of which are dated according to the kings they served under. Joel wrote in 830 B.C. (Joel 1:1); Jonah wrote during the reign of King Jeroboam II of 2nd Kings 14:25 in 780 B.C. (Jonah 1:1); Amos wrote during the reign of King Uzziah in 760 B.C. (Amos 1:1; 7:14-15); Hosea wrote during the reigns of King Uzziah and King Jeroboam II in 750 B.C. (Hos. 1:1); Micha wrote in the later reign of King Jotham in 735 B.C. (Mic. 1:1); Nahum wrote in 650 B.C. prophesying the judgment of Nineveh which took place in 612 B.C. (Nah. 1:1; ch.2); Zephaniah wrote during the reign of King Josiah in 635 B.C. (Zeph. 1:1); Habakkuk wrote in 609 B.C. just before the first Babylonian invasion, which took place in 606 B.C., (Hab. 1:1); Obadiah wrote in 585 B.C. just after the third Babylonian invasion of 587 B.C. (Obed. 1:1); Haggai wrote during the reign of King Darius in 520 B.C. (Hag. 1:1; 2:1,10,18,20); Zechariah wrote during the reign of King Darius in 518 B.C. (Zech. 1:1; 7:1; cp. Ezra 5:1; 6:14); Malachi, with a post exilic context, wrote in 430 B.C. (Mal. 1:1).
Old Testament Apocrypha – Between 430 B.C. and the beginning of the first century A.D. is a period known as the “intertestamental period”, the time between the Old and New Testament. It was during these years that the Jewish community began writing what is known today as the Old Testament Apocrypha, which means “things that are hidden.” The Old Testament Apocrypha consists of 14 books written between 250 B.C. – A.D. 100. Several of the early church councils (Rome, Hippo, and Carthage) believed that some of these books had the same level of authority as the Bible. But it wasn’t until A.D. 1546 that the Roman Catholic Council made an official declaration that 11 of the 15 books be added to the canon. These 11 books are referred to by Roman Catholics as “deuterocanonical” (the second canon). They include: Tobit (200 B.C.), Judith (200 B.C.), The Wisdom of Solomon (200 – 175 B.C.), Ecclesiasticus (200 – 175 B.C.), Baruch (150 B.C.), 1st Maccabees (110 B.C.), 2nd Maccabees (110 B.C.), Esther 10:4– 16:24 (140 B.C.), three additions to Daniel: Susanna (2nd – 1st century B.C.), The Song of the Three Young Men (2nd – 1st century B.C.), and Bel and the Dragon (1st century B.C.).
The Apocrypha represent several genres: history, wisdom, devotional, romance, and apocalyptic. They often parallel events found in the Old Testament and give greater detail not found in the Old Testament. Within these books, there is high regard given to the Law of Moses, prayer, and the Jewish sacrificial system. Prophecies of Daniel are brought to partial fulfillment in the Old Testament Apocrypha. The “mighty king” – Alexander the Great of Dan. 11:3 – who was a student of Aristotle ( a student of Plato, who himself was a student of Socrates) has now conquered Persia (331 B.C.) and its territories including Palestine during the events recorded in the Apocrypha. Thus the Apocrypha was written at a time when the Jewish people were undergoing a new phase of national life. After Alexander’s death, his kingdom was divided among four of his generals (Dan. 11:4). As a result of the Grecian conquest, one of Alexander’s generals, Ptolemy (285-246 B.C.) had the Hebrew Old Testament translated into Greek (the Septuagint) in order to meet the needs of the new Hellenized culture of Palestine. Another general, Seleucids, had a descendent named Antiochus Epiphanes (175 – 163 B.C.), the “little horn” of Dan. 8:9-14 who began persecuting the Jewish community by desecrating the Temple (Dan. 11:20-32), forbidding Sabbath observance, and demanding the death penalty to anyone who possessed or read the Torah, the events of which are highlighted in 1st Maccabees. Mattathias, a Jewish priest, rose up and began a revolt against the oppression. After his death, the movement continued by his son, Judas Maccabees. Because of Judas’ religious zeal and strategy the Jews defeated Antiochus in December of 164 B.C., cleansed and rededicated their Temple, and officially regained their independence in 143 B.C. In commemorating this victory, the Jews still celebrate Hanukkah every Dec. 25th. Although the Old Testament Apocrypha has historical significance, there are several reasons for rejecting it from the canon of Scripture: On the testimony of Josephus, historian of the 1st century, there were “only 22 books [corresponding to the 39 of the Old Testament] which are justly believed to be divine.” The decision to accept the Apocrypha into the canon by the Council of Trent (1546) was in reaction to the Reformers who denounced Roman Catholic doctrines such as prayers for the dead (2Macc. 12:45) as against the teaching of the Bible (Heb. 9:27). And only books that were written by prophets had acceptance into the canon (Jer. 26:5; Amos 3:7-8; Zech. 7:12). The Apocrypha was not written by prophets (1Macc. 9:27), nor do they have prophetic authority. Therefore, the Apocrypha has no acceptance into the canon.
The original New Testament writings that were written by the original authors (the autographs) have not been found. However, there are over 5677 Greek manuscripts of the New Testament dating between the 2nd and the 15th century (see Worldview/The Three Theistic Religions/Christianity). These manuscripts are hand-written copies of the original that have been preserved throughout the centuries, and upon which our modern New Testament is based. There are several ways these manuscripts have been categorized. Two of the most significant classes are, 1.) papyrus (refers to the papyrus plant which was used as writing material for the New Testament), and, 2.) uncials (refers to the letter formation of the manuscripts). There are 115 papyri manuscripts of the New Testament ranging from small fragments to whole codices (codex = papyri sheets in book form). The oldest is the John Rayland’s Fragment. It is a fragment of a codex dated at A.D. 125 and contains several verses from John ch.18. The Bodmer Papyri is dated between A.D. 175 – 225 and contains Jude, 1st and 2nd Peter, and almost the entire book of John and Luke. The Chester Beatty Papyri is dated A.D. 200-250 and contains most of the New Testament. Manuscripts found written in the uncial letter type, whether on papyri, vellum, or parchment, are classified as uncials. New Testament uncials on vellum