THE CANON OF THE NEW TESTAMENT

A. B. Hanna

 

 

The cannon is the collection of 27 books, which the church has received as its New Testament (NT) Scripture. The  history of the canon is the  history of the process by which these books were brought together and their value as sacred Scriptures officially recognized.

When the actual work of writing these books began, no one of the writers had before him the definite purpose of contributing toward the formation of what we call the NT Bible. Their words were to meet definite needs in the lives of those with whom they were associated. They had no thought of creating a new sacred literature. Yet, these incidental occasional writings have come to be our choicest Scripture.

This Process of canonization may be marked off in three stages:

I-   From the times of the Apostles until about 170 A.D.

II-  From 170 A.D. to 220 A.D.

III- That of the third and fourth centuries.

In the first stage we seek for the growth in the appreciation of the peculiar value of the NT writings; in the second we discover the clear, full recognition of a large part of these writings as sacred and authoritative; in the third the acceptance of the complete canon in the East and West.

 

I- The First Period (extending to 170 A.D.)

 

By the end of the first century, all of the books of the NT were in existence. They were, as treasures of given churches, widely separated and honored as containing the words of Jesus or the teaching of the Apostles. From the very first the authority of Jesus had full recognition in all the Christian world. The whole work of the apostles was in interpreting Him to the growing church. His sayings and His life were in part for the illumination of the Old Testament (OT) Scriptures which the early Christians had in their hands. In every assembly of Christians from the earliest days Hewas taught as well as the OT. In each church to which an epistle was written that epistle was likewise read. St. Paul asked that his letters be read in this way in 1 Thessalonians 5:27,“I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren.” And also in Collisions 4:16, “And when this epistle be read among you, cause that it be read also in the Laodiceans; and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea.” (KJV).

In this attentive listening to the exposition of some event in the life of Jesus or to the reading of the epistle of an apostle, the “authorization” of the traditions concerning Jesusand the apostolic writings began. Sometime during this period “collections” of our NT books began to be made. However a clear distinction is to be kept in mind between “collections” and such recognition as we imply in the word “canonical”. Examination of the testament to the NT in this early time indicates also that it is given with no intention of framing the canonicity of the NT books.

 The early Apostolic Fathers referred to the teachings and deeds of Jesus. Echoes of the thought of the books appear; quotations incomplete; both showing that Scripture words are used as the natural expression of Christian thought. They witness to the substance and not to the authenticity of the Gospels. And this was also evident in the witness of the sub-apostolic age (95 A.D. and on). Thus we are brought to the end of the first period in which we have marked the collection of NT books, the increasing valuations of them as dispositions of the truth of Jesus and His Apostles, and finally the movement toward the claim of their authoritativeness as over against perverted teaching . No sharp line as to a given year can be drawn between the first stage of the process and the second. Forces working in the first go on into the second, but result are accomplished in the second which give it its right to separate consideration.

 

II - The Second Period (from 170 A.D. to 220 A.D.)

 

      This is the age of voluminous theological literature busy with the great issues of church canon and creed. It is the period of the great names of Irenaeus in Asia Minor and Gaul, and Clement of Alexandria in Egypt. In passing into it, we come to the clear light of Christian history. There is no longer any question as to a NT canon; the only difference of judgment is as to its extent. What has been slowly but surely shaping itself in the consciousness of the church now comes to clear expression.

 

III - The Third Period (the third and fourth centuries )

 

       During this period we have the testimony of very distinguished notable scholars mostly from one center of Christianity: Alexandria, Egypt. By far the most distinguished one of the third century is Origen. He was born in Alexandria, Egypt about 185 A.D., and was appointed the head of the great theological school in Alexandria. He died in 254 A.D. His fame rests upon his ability as an exegete, though he worked laboriously and successfully in other fields. His testimony is of high value, not simply because of his own studies, but also because of his wide knowledge of what was thought in other Christian centers in the world of his time. He was able to settle the issue concerning the books still in doubt such as the Apocalypse, and Jude. Another noted name of this century, is St. Dionysius of Alexandria a student of Origen. Finally St. Athanasius of Alexandria (born between 296 and 298 A.D. in Egypt) who defended the Christian Faith against the Arian heresy that denied the divinity of Christ. He was later ordained Patriarch of the Church of Alexandria (#20 from St. Mark the Evangelist and the founder of the Alexandria Church.) In the year 369 A.D. in his 39^th Paschal letter sent to all Churches (East and West) on Easter he acknowledged and settled the canonicity of the 27 books of the NT.

       However,  in the west, the canonicity of the Hebrews, and the Apocalypse were doubted together with some of the Catholic Epistles till 393 A.D. When agreement was reached, at the council of Hippo, to consent to the Athanasian paschal letter, the Western Churches acknowledged the canonicity of all 27NT books, thus ratifying the canon of the NT in the third Council of Cartage in 397 A.D.

 

Inspiration and Infallibility

 

     It is very important to be noted that the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to the writers of the books of the NT is not a literal, or verbal dictation, but rather it is a blend of the Spirit of God and the chosen writer. Only the Divine element can be infallible and inerrant, the human can never be infallible, and God never encroaches on that freedom He endowed to the will of man. Also, the inspiration of the Spirit extends to the compiling, the canonization, and the true interpretation, not just the writing.

      “First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation. Because no prophecy ever came by the impulse of man, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God”(2 Peter1:20-21, RSV). “Moved” is fero in Gk, which means to be moved inwardly so as to bear with one’s self. The inspiration is a blend of the Holy Ghost, with the spirit of the holy man of God, no a verbatim dictation in a human language.

     Only the Divine is infallible i.e. the message of God. The man of God can never be but fallible. However, as a carefully chosen vessel of God, he is the best possible conduit to convey God’s message in a human expression, which always falls short. Men of God are “earthen vessels” as in 2 Corinthians 4:7, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels”.

     Also, there is the dilemma of the human expression to convey the heavenly as per 2 Co 12:4, how that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful (no human expression adequate) for a man to utter (KJV). And this is why the admonition in “knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation” (KJV) requiring also “inspired interpretation.”

     The infallibility of any man is a Roman heresy, developed at the “great schism” of the tenth century, between the Byzantine and the Roman churches.

     Another importantfact is God’s deliberate choice of a frail character to the Bible; the same way He chose when He was incarnated and became man to manifest Himself to us. He presented the same disguise and the same challenge, if we want to find Him, we must leave behind all our preconceived ideas of what the treasure should be. We must spare no pains, no patient perseverance, but seek Him in His manifold hiding places, all the more, where the path seems most rough  and His cloak the most ragged and unlike that which we imagine He ought to wear.

       God loves to be sought and pursued with the ever increasing vigor of a daring love. It may truly become a subject of joy that God has given us His Word in such a lowly from that it does not bear down upon our minds with an evidence from without. He wants to give us far more; He desires to let us partake of his truth with a direct evidence from within, in the measure we are willing courageously to take up our cross and follow Him.

     In John 14:22-23, “Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, Lord how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world? Jesus answered him, and said unto him, if a man loves me, he will keep my word; and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him”. (RSV)

     If only we persevere, one day the spark will spring over; we catch a glimpse of our God, for a moment hold fast to the hem of his garment, while He secretly lays down the key of understanding in our heart. Then His word lives; with a sovereign grasp it takes possession of us, and we have but to follow its lead.

     The Bible is a book full of living reality; it shows us all our dangers and cheap escapes, as well as our possibilities, and it wants to train our minds to a keen discrimination of spirits. All depends upon where we take our stand. If we establish ourselves in the Gospel’s central message of love, which takes up evil to transform it into good, we have a sure and unfailing compass. But if we pitch our camp at the periphery, where evil is conceived of as a power from outside, which must in the end be destroyed by sheer force, we bar the way upon ourselves to a deeper understanding. Christ did not eliminate evil, but bore it, and blessed it, and gave it blessed, to us to bear it. This has been the stumbling block for many, who from here have strayed into devious path of confusion and error and even heresy.

     The fatal attraction of a heretical system often lies in an easier and more straightforward idea of the conquest of evil. It is always nice when something evil is delivered over to our lawful, subjective and exclusive hearty hatred; when there is just one spot where we are dispensed from humility and the shame of our sin.

Amid the abounding variety of human expression in the bible, it is a wonderful experience to discover the fundamental unity of this message of God. In its light, things as it were fall into shape by themselves. We find life and meaning in text which previously seemed rather remote; and we now feel their claim on us. Again and again we experience the joy of how near, how alive, how completely fitting to our needs is God’s message in the Bible.

  The Old Testament naturally presents more difficulties, but it comes near to us and becomes more homely as soon as we read it with love for the people. We must experience the events as if we were there. We learn to know God anew if we read the OT from His own point of view, through these periods and circumstances, when He was very patiently breaking His Truth to humanity in stages, and leading His people gradually from where they were to where He wants them to be. We are so used through the subjective and exclusive system of theology to think that everything should be perfect, His voice attuned, His garments spotless, His manners irreproachable; and so we miss Him all the time, for He cares for none of these trappings, but claims us in lowlier forms so that it costs more to love Him.