The Canon DebateLee Martin McDonald, James A. Sanders What does it mean to speak of a "canon" of scripture? How, when, and where did the canon of the Hebrew Bible come into existence? Why does it have three divisions? What canon was in use among the Jews of the Hellenistic diaspora? At Qumran? In Roman Palestine? Among the rabbis? What Bible did Jesus and his disciples know and use? How was the New Testament canon formed and closed? What role was played by Marcion? By gnostics? By the church fathers? What did the early church make of the apocrypha and pseudepigrapha? By what criteria have questions of canonicity been decided? Are these past decisions still meaningful faith communities today? Are they open to revision? These and other debated questions are addressed by an international roster of outstanding experts on early Judaism and early Christianity, writing from diverse affiliations and perspectives, who present the history of discussion and offer their own assessments of the current status. Contributors William Adler, Peter Balla, John Barton, Joseph Blenkinsopp, François Bovon, Kent D. Clarke, Philip R. Davies, James D. G. Dunn, Eldon Jay Epp, Craig A. Evans, William R. Farmer, Everett Ferguson, Robert W. Funk, Harry Y. Gamble, Geoffrey M. Hahneman, Daniel J. Harrington, Everett R. Kalin, Robert A. Kraft, Jack P. Lewis, Jack N. Lightstone, Steve Mason, Lee M. McDonald, Pheme Perkins, James A. Sanders, Daryl D. Schmidt, Albert C. Sundberg Jr., Emanuel Tov, Julio Trebolle-Barrera, Eugene Ulrich, James C. VanderKam, Robert W. Wall. |
Contents
Josephus and His TwentyTwo Book Canon | |
Origins of a Tripartite Old Testament Canon | |
Evidence for an Early Christian Canon Second and Third Century | |
The New Testament Canon of Eusebius | |
The Muratorian Fragment and the Origins of the New Testament Canon | |
The Criteria Question | |
The Problem of Pseudonymity in Biblical Literature and Its Implications for Canon | |
The Greek New Testament as a Codex | |
Issues in the Interrelation of New Testament Textual Criticism and Canon | |
The Canonical Structure of Gospel and Apostle | |
Jamnia Revisited | |
The Canon of the Hebrew Bible and the Early Rabbinic Guild | |
The Scriptures of Jesus and His Earliest Followers | |
The Old Testament Apocrypha in the Early Church and Today | |
The Pseudepigrapha in the Early Church | |
The Codex and Canon Consciousness | |
The Issue of Closure in the Canonical Process | |
Recent Research and the Status Quaestionis | |
A Survey | |
Reflections on Jesus and the New Testament Canon | |
Marcion Revisited | |
Gnosticism and the Christian Bible | |
The Significance of a Canonical Perspective of the Churchs Scripture | |
The Once and Future New Testament | |
Has the Canon a Continuing Function? | |
A Primary Sources for the Study of the Old TestamentHebrew Bible Canon | |
Lists and Catalogues of Old Testament Collections | |
Lists and Catalogues of New Testament Collections | |
Select Bibliography | |
Index of Modern Authors | |
Index of Ancient and Medieval Sources | |
Notes | |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Acts Aland ancient antilegomena antiquity apocrypha apostles argued Aristeas authoritative authority authorship biblical canon biblical text Brill canon of scripture canonical process Catholic Epistles century C.E. Christ claim Clement Codex codices collection contents critical Dead Sea Scrolls discussion documents early Christian early church eccl Edited Eusebius evidence example faith formation Fortress four gospels fourth century gnostic Greek Hebrew Bible Hist Ibid included inspired interpretation Irenaeus Isaiah Israel Jamnia Jeremiah Jerusalem Jesus Jewish Jews John Josephus Judaism Jude Judean Kanon Leiden Letter of Aristeas letters literary literature Luke Maccabees manuscripts Marcion Matt Metzger Mishnah Moses Muratorian Fragment Old Testament original papyri Paul Pauline Pentateuch Peter prophecy Prophets Psalms pseudepigrapha pseudonymity Qumran rabbinic reference Revelation sacred scholars scribe second century Septuagint Song Studies Sundberg Temple Scroll Tertullian Testament Apocrypha Testament canon Testament writings textual theological Torah tradition translation University Press words written