FORMATION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT CANON

Formation of New Testament Canon

RESOURCES

1. The Canon of the New testament; its origin, development, and significance; By  Bruce M. Metzger
2. The canon of Scripture By F. F. Bruce
3. Lecture notes; by Professor (DR) Stanley Jebb.

                              

Introduction.

The idea of a Canon of scripture originates from Judaism. Its development is mostly tied up with ancient church history which is found in its writings and its institutional aspects. In this history of the Christian church we get church leaders known as church fathers who made use of the these literary works which later came to be known as canonical scripture. The heretics also made a selection of the books from the Old Testament that they would quote from. The mushrooming of new writings by the heretics was causing tension in the early church congregation where there were many writings which were being used in teaching. This seems to have started causing confusion as to which are the right literature to use in the readings.

With the use these materials in different regions by the early church, there came a time when it was possible to differentiate canonical and apocryphal literature.

The selection:

During the process of selecting books for inclusion in the canon, the church experienced the following problems:

i.Forgery

There is clear evidence that during the compilation of the New Testament canon there was forgery. This is to say that, some people wanted to sneak in their own writing to be taken or accepted as the writing of the apostles.

 There is evidence of alteration made to some books where we find additions of some things to the teaching of the saviour.

ii.Disputes

There are many disputes shown in the canonicity of many books of the New Testament in the early church. There were also many disputes and lack of unanimity in the church concerning the boundaries of the canon.

iii. Opposition

There is a lot of opposition witnessed in the process of identifying books which should be included in the canonicity. Opposition is shown in two ways; First we get the church is opposed to the literature put forward by the critics of the church. They only embraced the writings they inherited over from their predecessors. Opposition is also seen from external pressures which were opposed to the early church’s conduct in ascertaining more exactly which books were authoritative in matters of faith and life. These are Gnosticism, syncretistic religion and philosophy whose literature had invaded Christianity.

iv.Division

The mushrooming of new writing by some members of the church shows that the early church was experiencing division of ideas among its congregation. There is division on which books are genuine, books which should be referred to during church readings. This led to rivalry in the church. This was witnessed by the production of rival gospels, acts and apocalypses by the Gnostics teachers by utilising writings of the New Testament.

This reached a climax when Marcion formed his Bible and declared opposition to the Holly scriptures of the church from which he had separated. This led to the splitting of the church into two especially when Marconi finds himself not being listened to, so he started his own church.

v.Persecution

This is another problem which was encountered during the formation of the New Testament canon. Persecution was experienced in two ways. There was persecution done because the persecutor wanted to safeguard his worldly power (political power.) Here the Emperor is threatened and he has to act to eliminate any possible future opposition. Also the other aspect of persecution was where the persecutor earnestly believed that they were defending God and truth against the forces of darkness. The Christian church was persecuting the heretics for it beliefs that they were against God.

vi.Change

Change during the middle ages is seen in many ways. There is change in the church. Some Christians have turned against the church and started preaching against its doctrine. There is change in the behaviour of the state towards the church. It has changed its attitude and started   supporting the church against the heretics. Change is seen as the church intermingled with the state. There is change in the way the church is handling the heretics. It has started persecuting those against it.

vii. Fear

Fear is another insight that is shown by all the groups involved in the struggle. The state rulers fear that the emerging groups if left to continue will cause a political problem. They will overthrow them from power. The church fears that these groups are becoming popular and they will soon replace them as the right church. The heretics are being persecuted, they feared for their lives and property. They run away to escape persecution. And others had to withdraw.

Conclusion

The New Testament canon, to be what it is, had gone through several severe criticism at every stage of its formation. These let to additions and subtractions of the different books which make the canon now. Criticism is shown in two ways.

a. Those that criticise the Old Testament writing and the way the church is interpreting the Bible.

b. It is also shown by those who are criticising the heretics. People like Marcion were of the view that the Old Testament had been superseded by the gospels

Opposition of the heretics towards the Catholic Church and the state, early poverty during the middle ages. Both were not able to afford the basic needs, education and the word of God. There is harassment during the middle Ages. Change is seen in the church that leads to fear for those involved. This also ends up into the church being divided in sects. All these led to resistance from the state and the church.

By

Sam Basil Magara

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