Transcript The Canon of Scripture

Or when was the Bible written
And what books are recognized
.
The
Bible contains
the central
religious texts
of Judaism
and
Christianity
According to the Online Etymology Dictionary,
the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from
the same word through Medieval Latin and
Late Latin, as used in the phrase biblia sacra
("holy book”)
In the Latin of the Middle Ages, the neuter
plural for Biblia (gen. bibliorum) gradually
came to be regarded as a feminine singular
noun (biblia, gen. bibliae, in which singular
form the word has passed into the languages
of the Western world.")
This stemmed from the Greek term
τὰ βιβλία τὰ ἅγια (ta biblia ta hagia),
"the holy books",
which derived from βιβλίον (biblion),
"paper" or "scroll," the ordinary word for
"book", which was originally a
diminutive of βύβλος (byblos, "Egyptian
papyrus"), possibly so called from the
name of the Phoenician port Byblos
from whence Egyptian papyrus was
exported to Greece.
Biblical scholars state that the Greek
phrase Ta biblia ("the books") was "an
expression Hellenistic Jews used to
describe their sacred books several
centuries before the time of Jesus,"[ and
would have referred to the Septuagint.
The Online Etymology Dictionary states,
"The Christian scripture was referred to
in Greek as Ta Biblia as early as c.223.
The Bible is a compilation of various texts or "books" of
different ages.
The dates of many of the texts of the Hebrew Bible (or Old
Testament) are difficult to establish.
Textual criticism places all of them within the 1st millennium
BC, although there is considerable uncertainty as to the
century in some cases.
The oldest surviving Hebrew Bible manuscripts date to
about the 2nd century BC (fragmentary), the oldest record of
the complete text survives in Greek translation, dating to the
4th century (Codex Sinaiticus) and the oldest extant
manuscripts of the vocalized Masoretic text upon which
modern editions are based date to the 9th[ambiguous] century.
The individual books of the New
Testament may be dated with
some confidence to the 1st and
2nd centuries AD. The earliest
fragment of the New Testament
is the Rylands Library Papyrus
P52, a piece of the Gospel of
John dated to the first half of the
2nd century. For this reason,
dating the composition of the
texts relies on textual criticism,
philological and linguistic
evidence, as well as direct
references to historical events in
the texts instead of dating the
physical manuscripts.
The Oldest manuscripts

The oldest known preserved fragment of a
Torah text is a good luck charm inscribed
with a text close to, although not identical
with, the Priestly Blessing found in Num
6:24–27, dated to approximately 600 BC
[3] The oldest complete or nearly complete
texts are found in the Dead Sea Scrolls
from the middle of the 2nd century BC to
the 1st century AD. The collections
contain all the books of the Tanakh except
for the Book of Esther, although not all are
complete.
The Oldest manuscripts
According to tradition the Torah
was translated into Greek (the
Septuagint, or LXX, from the
traditional number of translators)
in the 3rd century BC.
 The oldest Greek manuscripts
include 2nd century BC
fragments of Leviticus and
Deuteronomy and 1st century BC
fragments of Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers,
Deuteronomy, and the Minor
Prophets.
 Relatively complete manuscripts
of the Septuagint include the
Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1209
and the Codex Sinaiticus of the
4th century and the Codex
Alexandrinus of the 5th century—
these are the oldest surviving
nearly-complete manuscripts of
the Old Testament in any
language.

Codex Saiticus Fragment from Esther
The Oldest manuscripts

The Hebrew or
Masoretic text of the
Torah is held by
tradition to have been
assembled in the 4th
century AD, but the
oldest extant complete
or near-complete
manuscripts are the
Aleppo Codex, ca.
920 AD, and the
Westminster
Leningrad Codex,
dated to 1008 AD.
Judaism


Modern Judaism generally
recognizes a single set of
canonical books known as the
Tanakh, or Hebrew Bible, as it
is written almost entirely in the
Hebrew language, with some
small portions in Aramaic.
It is traditionally divided into
three parts: the Torah
("teaching" or "law"), the
Nevi'im ("prophets"), and the
Ketuvim ("writings").
The Hebrew Bible


The authorship of the various texts in Tanakh (the
Hebrew Bible) is an open topic of research.
Therefore, assigning solid dates to any of the texts
is difficult.
The range of dates assigned to the Torah
(Pentateuch) is rather broad. It is certain to predate
the 2nd century BC, and estimates of its oldest
elements range from the 10th to the 6th centuries
BC. The bulk of the Tanakh was likely complete by
the end of the Babylonian captivity (537 BC).
The Hebrew Bible Torah
Some groups, e.g. the Orthodox Jewish community, adhere to the
chronology given in the Hebrew Bible, which states the Children of Israel
came out Egypt 480 years before King Solomon began construction of
the Temple in Jerusalem, placing the date of the Exodus in 1446 BC. This
would mean the Torah was written between 1446 BC and 1406 BC.
 Some critical scholars (the 'Biblical Minimalists"), however, insist that the
whole of the Torah shows evidence of its construction composed after
538 BC, perhaps with material from an earlier oral tradition, as it were, a
"prequel" to the prophetic books.
 Others, such as archeologist Israel Finkelstein, tend to suggest that a
substantial portion of the Pentateuch is a 7th century BC construction,
designed to promote the dynastic ambitions of King Josiah of Judah. The
6th century BC Books of Kings tells of the rediscovery of an old book by
King Josiah, which would be the oldest part of the Torah, around which
Josiah's scribes would have fabricated the remaining text:
 And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the
book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah gave the book to
Shaphan, and he read it. (2 Kings 22:8 KJV)

The Hebrew Bible Torah
Under Josiah's rule there would then for the first time have been a unified
and state of Judah, centralized around the worship of Yahweh based at
the Temple in Jerusalem, with texts portraying King Josiah as the
legitimate successor to the legendary David and thus the rightful ruler of
Judah. According to this interpretation, neighboring countries that kept
many written records, such as Egypt, Persia, etc., have no writings about
the stories of the Bible or its main characters before 650 BC, and the
archaeological record of pre-Josiac Israel does not support the existence
of a unified state in the time of David. However, this view is challenged by
references to the "House of David" and Davidic Kings of Israel in 9th
century BC inscriptions.
 A traditional strain of scholarship[who?] would assign portions of the
Pentateuch (generally, the J author) to the period of the United Monarchy
in the 10th century BC, would date Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomic
history to the time of King Josiah, and that the final form of the Torah was
due to a redactor in exilic or postexilic times (6th century BC). This view is
based on the account of the finding of the "book of law" in 2 Kings 22:8,
which would correspond to the core of Deuteronomy, and the remaining
parts of the Torah would have been composed to supply a background
from traditional accounts to the rediscovered text.

The Hebrew Bible
Views on Torah
Traditional View
 Torah composed between 1446 BC and
1406 BC, with the remaining books
composed between 1400 BC to 400 BC.
This is the traditional view of Orthodox
Judaism and historic Christianity, though
there may be evidence of editing of the
books between 1000 and 400 BC.

The Hebrew Bible
Views on Torah
Documentary hypothesis
 Four independent documents:
 Jahwist,
 Elohist,
 Deuteronomist
 Priestly source), composed between
900-550 BC, redacted circa 450 BC,
possibly by Ezra

The Hebrew Bible
Views on Torah



Supplementary models - Torah composed as
a series of authorial expansions of an original
source document, usually identified as J or P,
largely during the 7th and 6th centuries BC,
final form achieved c. 450 BC.
Fragmentary models (Torah the product of
the slow accretion of fragmentary traditions,
(no documents), over period 850-550 BC, final
form c. 450 BC.
Biblical minimalism Torah composed in
Hellenistic-Hasmonean period, c. 300-140 BC.
The Hebrew Bible
Nevi'im
The major Nevi'im ("Prophets").
The Books of Kings mentions the following sources:
The "book of the acts of Solomon" (1 Kings 11:41)
The "book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah" (14:29; 15:7, 23, etc.)
The "book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel" (14:19; 15:31; 16:14,
20, 27, etc.).
 The date of its composition was perhaps some time between 561 BC, the
date of the last chapter (2 Kings 25), when Jehoiachin was released from
captivity by Evil-merodach, and 538 BC, the date of the decree of
deliverance by Cyrus the Great.
 The Book of Isaiah, in its present form, is by most scholars considered
the result of an extensive editing process, in which the promises of God's
salvation are reinterpreted and claimed for the Judean people through
the history of their exile and return to the land of Judah. Very few
scholars dispute these conclusions and argue for multiple authors. When
the Septuagint version was made (about 250 BC), the entire contents of
the book were ascribed to Isaiah, the son of Amoz. In the time of Jesus,
the book existed in its present form, with many prophecies in the
disputed portions quoted in the New Testament as the words of Isaiah
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

Book
of Nevi'im
Scholarly dating
Book of Joshua
ca. 625 BC by the Deuteronomist (called D)
working with traditional materials
Book of Judges
ca. 625 BC by the Deuteronomist (called D)
working with traditional materials
Book of Samuel
ca. 625 BC by the Deuteronomist (called D)
working with traditional materials
Book of Kings
ca. 625 BC by the Deuteronomist (called D)
working with traditional materials
Book of Isaiah
Three main authors and an extensive
editing process:
Isaiah 1-39 "Historical Isaiah" with multiple
layers of editing, 8th cent. BC
Isaiah 40-55 Exilic(Deutero-Isaiah), 6th
century BC
Isaiah 56-66 post-exilic(Trito-Isaiah), 6th5th century BC
Book of Jeremiah
late 6th century BC or later
Book of Ezekiel
6th century BC or later
Book of Hosea
8th century BC or later
Book of Joel
unknown
Book of Amos
After the 6th century BC
Book of Obadiah
6th century BC or later
Book of Jonah
6th century BC or later
Book of Micah
mid 6th century BC or later
Book of Nahum
8th century BC or later
Book of Habakkuk
6th century BC or later
Book of Zephaniah
7th century BC or later
Book of Haggai
5th century BC or later
Book of Zechariah
5th century BC or later
Book of Malachi
Early 5th century BC or later
The Hebrew Bible
Ketuvim (Hagiographia)
Scholarship on the dating of the Book of Daniel largely falls into
two camps: one dates the book in its entirety to a single author
during the desecration of the Jerusalem Temple (167–164 BC)
under the Syrian-Greek ruler Antiochus IV Epiphanes (ruled
175–164 BC); the other sees it as a collection of stories dating
from different times throughout the Hellenistic period (with some
of the material possibly going back to very late Persian period),
with the visions in chapters 7–12 having been added during the
desecration of Antiochus.
 The reasons for these dates include a use of Greek and Persian
words in the Hebrew of the text unlikely to happen in the 6th
century, that the style of the Hebrew and Aramaic was more like
that of a later date, that the use of the word "Chaldean" occurs
in a fashion unknown to the 6th century, and that repeated
historical gaffes betray an ignorance of the facts of the 6th
century that a high official in Babylon would not have, while the
2nd-century history was found to be far more accurate.

Book
of Ketuvim
Scholarly dating
Psalms
The bulk of the Psalms appear to
have been written for use in the
Temple, which existed from around
950-586 BC and, after rebuilding,
from the 5th century BC until AD 70.
Book of Proverbs
Some old material from the ancient
sages, some later material from the
6th century BC or later, some material
borrowed from the ancient Egyptian
text called the Instructions of
Amenemopet
Book of Job
5th century BC
Song of Songs or Song of
Solomon
scholarly estimates vary between
950 BC to 200 BC
Book of Ruth
6th century BC or later
Lamentations
6th century BC or later
Ecclesiastes
4th century BC or later
Book of Esther
4th century BC or later
Book of Daniel
mid 2nd century BC
Book of Ezra-Book of Nehemiah
4th century BC or slightly later
Chronicles
4th century BC or slightly later
The Hebrew Bible Deuterocanonical
books

Deuterocanonical books
are books considered by
the Roman Catholic Church
and Eastern Orthodoxy to
be canonical parts of the
Christian Old Testament but
are not present in the
Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) and
Protestant Bible.
Deuterocanonical books
Book
of
Deuterocanon
Scholarly
dating
Tobit
2nd century BC
Book
of Deuterocanon
Scholarly dating
Wisdom
during the Jewish
Hellenistic period
Judith
1 Maccabees
ca. 100 BC
Sirach
2nd century BC
2 Maccabees
ca. 124 BC
Letter of Jeremiah
unknown
Additions to Daniel
2nd century BC
3 Maccabees
1st century BC
or 1st century
AD
1st century BC
or 1st century
AD
Baruch
during or shortly
after the period of
the Maccabees
4 Maccabees
Christianity

Christianity recognises as canonical the books of the
Tanakh, in a different order, as the Old Testament. In
Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy,
additional books, called the Deuterocanonical, are
included, which Protestantism regards as
apocryphal.

All Christians also recognise the New Testament, a
collection of early Christian writings that consists of
the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the Epistles,
and the Apocalypse. There exist New Testament
apocrypha which have not been generally
recognised
Christianity
The New Testament
The most accepted historical
understanding of how the Synoptic
gospels developed is known as the twosource hypothesis. This theory holds
that Mark is the oldest gospel.
 Matthew and Luke are believed to come
later, and draw on Mark and also on a
source that is now believed to be lost,
called the Q document, or just "Q".

Christianity
The New Testament
But there some
Theologian-Bible
Scholars
Such as Fr. Paul Tarazi
who hold that Mathew
was the Last written
Following after John

Christianity
The New Testament
Traditional views assume that the bulk of
New Testament texts date to the period
between AD 45 and AD 100, with the
Pauline epistles among the earliest
texts.
 Other views may pre- or post-date the
individual books by several decades.
The earliest preserved fragment for
each text is included as well.

Christianity
The New Testament
the Gospels & Acts
Book
Scholarly Opinions
Earliest preserved
fragment
Gospel of Matthew
AD 70-100
(AD 150 – 200)
Gospel of Mark
AD 63-85
(AD 350)
Gospel of Luke
AD 70-100
(AD 175 – 250)
Gospel of John
AD 90-110
(AD 125 – 160)
Acts
AD 80-100
(AD 250)
Christianity
The New Testament
the epistles of St. Paul
Book
Scholarly Opinions
Earliest preserved
fragment
Romans
AD 57–58
(late 2nd century or 3rd
century AD)
Corinthians
AD 57
(late 2nd century or 3rd
century AD)
Galatians
AD 45-55
(late 2nd century or 3rd
century AD)
Ephesians
AD 65
(late 2nd century or 3rd
century AD)
Philippians
AD 57–62
(late 2nd century or 3rd
century AD)
Colossians
AD 60+
(late 2nd century or 3rd
century AD)
Christianity
The New Testament
the epistles of St. Paul
Book
Scholarly Opinions
Earliest preserved
fragment
1 Thessalonians
AD 50
(late 2nd century or 3rd
century AD)
2 Thessalonians
AD 50
(AD 300)
Timothy
AD 60-100
Codex Sinaiticus (AD
350)
Titus
AD 60-100
(AD 200)
Philemon
AD 56
(3rd century AD)
Hebrews
AD 80-90
(late 2nd century or 3rd
century AD)
Christianity
The New Testament
the epistles
Book
Scholarly Opinions
Earliest preserved
fragment
James
AD 50-200
(early 3rd century AD)
First Peter
AD 60-96
(3rd / 4th century AD)
Second Peter
AD 60-130
(3rd / 4th century AD)
Epistles of John
AD 90-100
Uncial 0232, Codex
Sinaiticus (3rd / 4th
century AD)
Jude
AD 66-90
(3rd / 4th century AD)
Christianity
The New Testament
the book of Revelation
Book
Scholarly Opinions
Earliest preserved
fragment
Revelation
AD 68-100
(AD 150 – 200)
Biblical canon
What is it?



A Biblical canon or canon of scripture is a list or set of Biblical books considered to be
authoritative as scripture by a particular religious community, generally in Judaism or
Christianity. The term itself was first coined by Christians, but the idea is found in Jewish
sources. The internal wording of the text can also be specified, for example: the Masoretic
Text is the canonical text for Judaism, and the King James Version is the canonical text for
the King-James-Only Movement, but this is not the general meaning of canon.
The canons listed below are usually considered closed (i.e., books cannot be added or
removed[3]). The closure of the canon reflects a belief that public revelation has ended and
thus the inspired texts may be gathered into a complete and authoritative canon.[4] By
contrast, an open canon permits the addition of additional books through the process of
continuous revelation. In Christian traditions, an open canon is most commonly associated
with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons).
These canonical books have been developed through debate and agreement by the
religious authorities of their respective faiths. Believers consider these canonical books to
be inspired by God or to express the authoritative history of the relationship between God
and his people. Books excluded from a particular canon are considered non-canonical —
however, many disputed books considered non-canonical or even apocryphal by some are
considered Biblical apocrypha or Deuterocanonical or fully canonical, by others. There are
differences between the Jewish and Christian canons, and between the canons of different
Christian denominations. The differing criteria and processes of canonization dictate what
the communities regard as the inspired books.
Biblical canon
Canonical texts




The word "canon" is derived from the Greek noun κανών
"kanon" meaning "reed" or "cane," or also "rule" or
"measure," which itself is derived from the Hebrew word
" ‫קנה‬kaneh" and is often used as a standard of
measurement.
Thus, a canonical text is a single authoritative edition for a
given work.
The establishing of a canonical text may involve an
editorial selection from biblical manuscript traditions with
varying interdependence. Significant separate manuscript
traditions in the Hebrew Bible are represented in the
Septuagint, the Targums and Peshitta, the Samaritan
Pentateuch, the Masoretic Text, and the Dead Sea scrolls.
.
Biblical canon
Jewish canon

Rabbinic Judaism recognizes the twentyfour books of the Masoretic Text, commonly
called the Tanakh or Hebrew Bible.
Evidence suggests that the process of
canonization occurred between 200 BCE
and 200 CE, indeed a popular position is
that the Torah was canonized circa 400
BCE, the Prophets circa 200 BCE, and the
Writings circa 100 CE[5] perhaps at a
hypothetical Council of Jamnia—however
this position is increasingly criticised by
modern scholars.
Biblical
canon
Christian
canons
Earliest Christian Communities
Though the Early Church used the Old Testament according to the
canon of the Septuagint (LXX),
The apostles did not otherwise leave a defined set of new scriptures;
instead the New Testament developed over time.
Biblical canon
Christian canons

The writings attributed to the apostles
circulated amongst the earliest Christian
communities. The Pauline epistles were
circulating in collected form by the end
of the first century AD. Justin Martyr, in
the early second century, mentions the
"memoirs of the apostles," which
Christians called "gospels" and which
were regarded as on par with the Old
Testament.[13
Biblical canon
Christian canons


The first major figure to codify the Biblical
canon was Origen of Alexandria . He was a
scholar well educated in the realm of both
theology and pagan philosophy.
Origen decided to make his canon include all
of the books in the current Catholic canon
except for four books: James, 2nd Peter, and
2nd and 3rd epistles of John[14]. He also
included the Shepherd of Hermas which was
later rejected. This was the first major attempt
at the compilation of certain books and letters
as authoritative and inspired teaching for the
Church at the time.
Biblical canon
Christian canons


The 2nd and 3rd centuries that wrote a great deal of
works and used the letters of the apostles as
foundation and justification for their own personal
beliefs.
However, there was still the problem of the Roman
Empire, and while the persecutions of the Roman
Empire were many and extreme, the persecution still
occurred and possibly interfered with the initial
canonization of the New Testament.
This period in church history writings is known as the
"Edificatory Period" and was followed by the
"Apologetic" "Polemical" and "Scientific" Periods.
Some of the Christian writers of this edificatory
Period are: Irenaus, Hippolytus, Tertullian, Cyprian,
Justin Martyr, Clement of Rome
A four gospel canon (the Tetramorph) was asserted by
Irenaeus, c. 160. By the early 200's, Origen of Alexandria may
have been using the same 27 books found in modern New
Testament editions, though there were still disputes over the
canonicity of Hebrews, James, II Peter, II and III John, and
Revelation
Likewise by 200 the Muratorian fragment shows that
there existed a set of Christian writings somewhat
similar to what is now the New Testament, which
included four gospels and argued against objections
to them.
Thus, while there was a good measure of debate in the
Early Church over the New Testament canon, the major
writings were accepted by almost all Christians by the
middle of the third century.
In his Easter letter of 367,
Athanasius, Bishop of
Alexandria, gave a list of
exactly the same books as
what would become the
New Testament canon,
and he used the phrase
"being canonized"
(kanonizomena) in
regards to them.
Orthodoxy and Canon
The question is not so much whether Orthodoxy thinks of the
Scriptures as canonical,
but rather what the terms "inspired" and "canon" mean to us.
First, let's state what the canon of Scripture is not.
1) It is not a comprehensive handbook for liturgical worship.
2) It is not a book of systematic theology.
3) It is not the ultimate authority.
4) it is not a textbook of history or science.
So, from the Orthodox point of view, what is it?
It is a SELECTIVE (not exclusive) body of
writings which reflects the teachings of the
Church.
These writings, taken together and correctly
interpreted, truly proclaim the Gospel.
They are inspired, but not dictated.
They are the product of the Church.
The Church wrote them, preserved them,
approved them, assembled them into a canon,
interprets them, and lives by them.
A perfectly usable
definition of the canon
of Scripture is
"Those books used
by the Church in
common worship."
But even within the inspired canon,
there are distinctions. During the
Liturgy, the Gospels are read by the
Bishop, Priest, or Deacon. The
Acts/Epistles are read by a reader or
layman. One stands for the reading
of the Gospel. One may sit for the
reading from the Acts/Epistles. The
book of Revelations is never read
during public worship.
The message is clear. Though both are inspired, the Gospels
stand on higher ground than the Acts/Epistles.
The Orthodox canon includes the entire Septuagint version of
the Old Testament, and the same New Testament that all
Christians use.
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