Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Theology Series Chapter 1: The Bible

Chapter I: Bibliology
pdf
Dr. Paul Manuel—2013

The first aspect of theology to consider is the Bible. Why start there rather than with God? ...Our entire system of theology comes from information in the Bible. Therefore, it is necessary to establish the reliability of that source before we can proceed confidently that information we gather about other topics is trustworthy.

The whole process of validating a belief system is actually more complicated than this. If we were being thoroughly rigorous, we would have to begin with certain philosophical questions, such as "Does God exist?" We can skip those preliminary issues in this group; all of us agree on that point. If you were talking to someone who did not believe in the existence of God, however, you would not be able to jump straight to what the Bible says. Instead, you would have to start by explaining why you believe there is a God and convince your listener to admit the possibility of God's existence at least. Only then could you consider what that God might have communicated about Himself in the Bible.
[The end notes can be found in the linked pdf]


WWN: "New 10 Commandments Theory" (Floori 2010b)
[Reported from] ROME—The 10 Commandments—regarded as holy by millions of Christians and Jews around the world—were written by Satan, not God! That is the controversial claim of a leading biblical scholar who argues that the Evil One cooked up the rules, knowing that most humans would be unable to abide by them—and therefore more souls would end up in Hell! "Lucifer invented these rules as a diabolical scheme to create more sinners," declared Dr. Antonio Florio, the author of nearly two dozen books on Old Testament interpretation.... [He goes on to say,]
A passage in the Dead Sea Scrolls translated in 1974 says that God ordered his 'most favored angel' to draw up a list of Commandments for mankind. It is well known that favorite angel was Lucifer's position before he was cast out of Heaven. I believe Satan deliberately included provisions no one could be expected to follow, such as not coveting the wife of another man. He knew this would later cause God to damn countless souls.
Incredibly, Dr. Florio even questions whether the mysterious, unseen being that handed the tablets to Moses truly was God.
Clearly Moses believed the Commandments were delivered by the Almighty—but perhaps [Moses] was deceived by the Evil One. Certainly, the figure he describes to the ancient Hebrews is rather sinister. In Deuteronomy 6:22, Moses tells his followers that the figure spoke 'from the midst of fire, the cloud and the thick of darkness, with a loud voice.'
Dr. Florio's thesis has outraged many religious conservatives who still cling to the old assumption that the Commandments were composed by God himself. But others insist it doesn't really matter. [A Vatican theologian pointed out.]
Even if Lucifer drafted the 10 Commandments with evil intentions, God—as an omniscient being—must have known what Satan was up to. The fact that the Lord allowed the laws to be given to Man is proof He wished us to follow them to the letter. It must all have been part of the divine plan.
The doctrine of bibliology has the a priori assumption that God communicated to man and had that communication put in writing, a process we call inspiration.1 [Find the end notes in the linked pdf here] How do we identify the documents of God's revelation? To begin, we look at two things: their credibility and their claims.
  • Are they credible in light of history and reason?
  • Do they claim to speak for God and to have the authority of God?
When we ask these questions about the books in our Bible, the answers are generally "Yes," though not always as strongly as we might like. In response to the question on credibility, I will only say that there is sufficient external evidence from other records (e.g., archaeology, history) to validate the assertion that the biblical documents are reliable, that what they record is accurate. We also find nothing in them that contradicts reason, if we accept the existence of God. Answering the second question—about inspiration—is what I will address today.

The Bible is of a series of collections, groups of books that Israel and, later, the Church accepted as inspired and authoritative. That process of recognition is canonization, and next time we will discuss how that happened. I mention this now because it will be easier to talk about inspiration in terms of these collections rather than individual books. We can then sample and make general observations about the Prophets, for example, without having to examining each prophet's work.

A. The inspiration of scripture
1. The Bible claims to record the word of God.
  • Law
  • Gen 12:1a The LORD had said to Abram,
  • Exod 20:1 And God spoke all these words:
  • Lev 1:1 The LORD called to Moses and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting. He said,
  • Num 1:1 The LORD spoke to Moses in the Tent of Meeting.... He said:
  • Deut 32:48 On that same day the LORD told Moses,
  • Prophets
  • Isa 1:2a Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth! For the LORD has spoken:
  • Jer 1:4 The word of the LORD came to me, saying,
  • Ezek 1:3a the word of the LORD came to Ezekiel the priest....
  • Hos 1:1a The word of the LORD that came to Hosea son of Been...
  • Joel 1:1 The word of the LORD that came to Joel son of Pethuel.
  • Writings (Job 38:1a; cf. 2 Sam 23:2 re: Pss)
  • Job 38:1a Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm. He said:
  • Cf. 2 Sam 23:2 "The Spirit of the LORD spoke through me; his word was on my tongue.
  • Gospels2
  • John 8:26 I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is reliable, and what I have heard from him I tell the world.
  • John 12:49 For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it.... 50b So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say."
  • Heb 1:1 In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2a but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son....
  • Epistles3
  • 1 Cor 2:13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.
  • 1 Thess 2:13 And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe.
  • Rev 1:1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.
These various collections that make up the Bible contain claims that they record the word of God. There is another factor equally important.
2. The Bible claims to have the authority of God.
  • Law
  • Exod 24:3 When Moses went and told the people all the LORD's words and laws, they responded with one voice, "Everything the LORD has said we will do." ...7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, "We will do everything the LORD has said; we will obey."
  • Lev 27:34 These are the commands the LORD gave Moses on Mount Sinai for the Israelites.
  • Num 36:13 These are the commands and regulations the LORD gave through Moses to the Israelites on the plains of Moab....
  • Deut 29:29 The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.
  • Prophets
  • Isa 56:1 This is what the LORD says: "Maintain justice and do what is right, for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed. 2 Blessed is the man who does this, the man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil."
  • Jer 7:3 This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. 4 Do not trust in deceptive words and say, "This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD!" 5 If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, 6 if you do not oppress the alien, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, 7 then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your forefathers for ever and ever.
  • Ezek 14:6 "Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Repent! Turn from your idols and renounce all Your detestable practices!
  • Amos 3:1 Hear this word the LORD has spoken against you, O people of Israel—against the whole family I brought up out of Egypt:
  • Heb 1:1 In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways,
  • Writings
  • Prov 8:35 For whoever finds me finds life and receives favor from the LORD.
  • 1 Kgs 4:29 God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore.... 32 He spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five.
  • Gospels4
  • Luke 9:35 A voice came from the cloud, saying, "This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him."
  • John 15:15b ...everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.
  • Epistles5
  • 1 Cor 14:37 If anybody thinks he is a prophet or spiritually gifted, let him acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord's command.
  • Gal 1:1 Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead.... 12 I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.
  • Eph 3:3 that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. 4 In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ,
What to remember: The biblical documents claim to speak for God and to have the authority of God. As such, they serve as the primary source for information about God.

In addition to the claim that the Bible records God's word, it claims to have God's authority. The reason these are two separate points is that the Bible is not just a collection of famous quotes by God. It also includes interpretations of history, expressions of devotion, and exhortations to righteousness by men who represent Him.

Because our sampling is selective, we missed some books whose testimony is not as obvious. Why are books whose claim to inspiration is weak even in the Bible, and are there others that claim to be inspired but are not in the Bible? We will try to answer those questions as we consider the case for canonicity.

Last time, we looked at the topic of inspiration and saw that the various collections of biblical books claim to record the words of God and to have the authority of God. As such, they can serve as a reliable source for the study of related issues (e.g., God Himself, Jesus, Holy Spirit, salvation.) Before we move to those areas, though, we must answer some other questions, at least tentatively. Are these books in our Bible the only reliable documents, or should we consult others? Do other books make similar claims to inspiration? What about those biblical books whose inspiration is not obvious? Who decided what books would be in the Bible and what books would not? These questions concern another aspect of bibliology called canonicity.

Vocabulary: Six terms for understanding bibliology. There are six terms theologians use to describes bibliology, especially the process of canonization.
  • Inspiration = lit. "God-breathed;" divine guidance; the Holy Spirit directed the writers of scripture in all that he wanted them to write
  • 2 Pet 1:20 ...you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
Note that Peter is not necessarily referring to the entire Bible but to prophecy in particular.
What do we mean when we talk about inspiration? What is this process by which God imparts revelation to the biblical writers?
  • Inspiration is not automatic writing, an occult practice whereby a spirit bypasses the human mind to take control of a person's hand and pen (e.g., Ouija board). The Holy Spirit does not generally enter an individual to exert physical control.6
  • Inspiration is not (generally) mechanical dictation, whereby a writer simply copies what the LORD says.7 The biblical authors have differences in vocabulary, style, and personality that show up in their work, differences that would not be evident if they were just God's stenographers.
Inspiration is a confluence of divine and human activity whereby God works in cooperation with man to produce a jointly authored composition.8
  • Canon = standard/norm; a collection of sacred literature that a religious community recognizes as divinely authoritative9
  • Matt 5:17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
  • Luke 24:44 He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms."
  • Acts 17:11 Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.
Jesus' description and the Bereans' use of canon pertain, at most, to the Old Testament. (Final confirmation for the OT comes in the late-1st c. and for the NT comes in the mid-4th c.)
  • Plenary = complete, throughout the entire corpus
  • 2 Tim 3:16a All Scripture is God-breathed...
Paul does not define what he includes in the category of "scripture," but it certainly does not go beyond the OT.10
  • Verbal = pertaining to the words themselves and not just the thoughts behind them
  • Matt 5:18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
  • 1 Cor 2:13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. 
Jesus is referring only to Torah, and Paul is referring to oral instruction.
  • Inerrant or infallible = without error (in the original mss, which allows for mistakes in transmission11
  • Ps 119:160 All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal.
  • John 10:35b ...the Scripture cannot be broken
The parallelism of the psalm text specifies God's words as His laws; and though Jesus indicates that Psalms is part "scripture," his description certainly does not go beyond the OT.12

WWN: "Five Famous Bible Typos" (Commagreens 2009)
NB: Having a spell checker would not have made a difference.
  • In a 1562 edition, Mark 5:9 reads "Blessed are the placemakers, for they shall be called the children of God." ["peace-makers"]
  • In a 1653 edition, 1 Cor 6:9 reads "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall inherit the Kingdom of God?" ["not"]
  • In an 1862 edition, Rev 13:18 reads "Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is 999." ["666"]
  • In a 1914 edition, Exod 20:13 reads "Thou shalt kill." ["not"]
  • In a 1631 edition, Exod 20:14 reads "Thou shalt commit adultery." ["not"]
This last error, in what became known as "The Wicked Bible," was considered so egregious that the publishers were fined £300 (today = £33,800 = $53,700) and had their printer's license revoked. King Charles I was incensed, and George Abbot, the Archbishop of Canterbury, said:
I knew the time when great care was had about printing, the Bibles especially, good compositors and the best correctors were gotten being grave and learned men, the paper and the letter rare, and faire every way of the best, but now the paper is nought, the composers boys, and the correctors unlearned.
Most copies of "The Wicked Bible" were burned, and only eleven are known to have survived, some with private collectors. If you would like to see one, there are copies at...
  • The British Library in London
  • The New York Public Library
  • The Bible Museum in Branson, Missouri
  • The Houston Baptist University Bible Museum
In 2010, a copy was offered for sale online at the bargain price of $89,500.
Query: Is the Bible inerrant?

This is not an easy question to answer, and conservative theologies often gloss over the difficulties. Scripture contains many assertions of the veracity of God's word, but the exact referent is not always clear. When the psalmist says, "All your words are true" (Ps 119:160a), does he mean only specific divine pronouncements or their narrative frame as well? Is it all God's word or just the direct quotes? Theoretically, man's participation in the recording and transmission of revelation introduces the possibility (if not the likelihood) of error at some point. To look for error, though, is largely a waste of time, and in many cases a perceived problem is not the mistake of an ancient author but the misunderstanding of a modern reader (i.e., not miswriting but misreading). The same criteria that determine inspiration and canonicity (claims, credibility, consistency, continuity, consensus) support the essential inerrancy of scripture. We should recognize that inerrancy, at least as we apply it to the Bible as a whole, is largely a matter of faith; but it is faith that has the support of history. We can safely assume it is all true until sufficient evidence surfaces to the contrary, which has not happened in several thousand years.13

A high view of scripture is not something we can prove; it is something we believe. There is certainly support for it, yet that support is neither all-encompassing nor pervasive. We can fill in the missing pieces by analogy and buttress it by experience, but it always comes down to faith in the end. We believe the Bible is God's word and our authority. That is really all we need, and most people find just that much sufficiently challenging.

The English word canon (not cannon) comes from Hebrew and Greek, where it means "a rule or standard." The books of the Bible constitute our canon because they are the standard for our faith. Inspiration and canonicity work together to give us the Bible.
  • Inspiration refers to what God does by committing His words and His authority to written form.
  • Canonicity refers to what man does by recognizing which documents reflect that divine commitment.
Some theologians try to reduce or remove man's role in the canonizing process. They make canonization exclusively God's responsibility, saying that He oversaw the selection process to insure only the right books got included and that man simply "discovered" what God had already ordained as canonical (so Geisler and Nix 1968:136-137);14 but there is little evidence for such an assumption. God seems to have left most of those decisions to us. What complicates matters is that we do not all decide the same way.

Query: What do others believe about canonicity?
  • Children of God
  • "I want to frankly tell you, if there is a choice between reading your Bible, I want to tell you that you better read what God said today, in preference to what he said 2,000 or 4,000 years ago. Then when you've gotten done reading the latest MO[ses Berg] letters, you can go back to reading the Bible" (Berg 1973c, quoted in Hopkins 1977:20).
  • Christian Science
  • "The BIBLE, together with SCIENCE AND HEALTH and other works by Mrs. [Mary Baker] Eddy, shall be [a new member's] only textbooks" (Eddy 1936:34-12).
  • Jehovah's Witnesses •
  • "...Jehovah had chosen the publication we now call The Watchtower to be used as a channel through which to bring to the world of mankind a revelation of the divine will and, through the words revealed in its columns, to bring a division of the world's population into those who would do the divine will and those who would not" (Watchtower 1959:22, quoted in Gruss 1980:218).
  • Mormonism
  • "We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God" (Article of faith #8; Smith 1979b:60).
So how did we recognize what God inspired? There are at least five criteria that determine a book's canonicity, and the decision to include a book in that corpus usually rests on its meeting at least four of these requirements.

B. The canonicity of scripture
1. A book had to meet certain criteria to be included in the Bible.
  • Claims: Does it show evidence of inspiration?
  • Often the answer is clear. As we saw last time, many of the books claim to record God's words and represent His authority, especially the Law and the Prophets.
  • Credibility: Is it a reliable witness of what it records?
  • The case for inspiration and, thus, canonicity, is especially strong when the author is a recognized spokesman for God (e.g., prophet, apostle). It is probably Ezra's traditional association with Chronicles, for example, that led Israel to include them, despite the fact that they duplicate much historical material from other books already in the canon.
  • Consistency: Does it agree with earlier revelation, especially with Torah?
  • God established the Law as the baseline for all subsequent revelation, so anything that contradicts what He says there cannot be inspired by Him.15 Luther questioned the canonicity of James because he thought it contradicted Paul by teaching salvation by works.
  • Continuity: Does it fit the progression of God's working through history?
  • It may offer a panorama of events or a snapshot of a particular period, but every new addition should relate to others in the collection. The books of Josh, Judg, Sam, and Kos form a continuous record of Israel's pre-exilic period; Chr, Ezra, and Neh trace Israel's history from creation to the return from exile.
  • Consensus: Has it found general acceptance among God's people?
  • A book may lack a strong claim to inspiration but still play a productive role in the lives of believers, instructing and encouraging them in godliness. As such, it gains wide circulation as well as recognition that God is using it to good effect.16 The books of Pss and Prov are illustrations of this principle.
We see the process of canonization in the way later biblical documents recognize inspiration in earlier biblical documents, often immediately or within a generation after their composition. This is particularly evident in the status of the Law. Although we view the Bible as a whole, and we may have favorite books, the Bible itself accords Torah a preeminence that exceeds all other collections within the canon. It was the first collection God's people recognized as inspired and, as such, is the foundation of biblical authority and the standard other books must meet. It is also the collection most cited by NT authors (Law 164, Prophets 121, Writings 84). Without the Law, it would be difficult to determine what should be in the canon.17

2. There were books all believers accepted (homologoumena = one word, agreement), and much of the evidence for these appears in the Bible itself.
  • Law18
  • Deut 17:18 When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are Levites. 19 It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees
Cf. Deut 31:24 After Moses finished writing in a book the words of this law from beginning to end, 25 he gave this command to the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD: 26 "Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God. There it will remain as a witness against you.
  • Josh 1:8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
  • Judg 3:4 They were left to test the Israelites to see whether they would obey the LORD's commands, which he had given their forefathers through Moses.
  • 2 Chr 34:14 While they were bringing out the money that had been taken into the temple of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the LORD that had been given through Moses.
  • Matt 5:18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
  • Prophets19
  • Neh 9:30 For many years you were patient with them. By your Spirit you admonished them through your prophets. Yet they paid no attention, so you handed them over to the neighboring peoples.
  • Zech 7:12 They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the LORD Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the LORD Almighty was very angry.20
  • Luke 18:31 Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, "We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled.
  • Heb 1:1 In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways,
  • Writings
  • Luke 24:44 He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms."
  • John 10:34 Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your Law, 'I have said you are gods' [= Ps 82:6]? 35 If he called them 'gods,' to whom the word of God came—and the Scripture cannot be broken—
  • Old Testament21
  • Acts 17:11 Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.
  • 2 Tim 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
  • Numerous OT quotes
  • New Testament
  • Evidence for the NT lies outside the NT itself, because the books were all written during the same short period.22 This does not detract from the canonization of that corpus; it merely places the process later in history.23
3. There were books some believers disputed (antilegomena = spoken against), and only after considerable debate and reflection did the dispute subside.
  • Canticles was too sensual.
  • Erotic poetry does not belong among sacred literature...unless it is trying to teach about the sanctity of marriage.
  • Ecclesiastes was too skeptical.
  • It takes a very negative view of life24...except for its final exhortation: "Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man." (12:13b).
  • Esther was too secular.
  • There is not one mention of God in the entire book...but the story is a model of God's providence.
  • Ezekiel was too subversive.
  • It undermines the authority of Moses by changing certain ordinances25... although this may have to do with new conditions in the Messianic Age.
  • Proverbs was too self-contradictory.
  • What is the point of such opposite sayings as "Do not answer a fool according to his folly" and "Answer a fool according to his folly" (26:4-5)... .unless it is different advice for different situations?26
  • Several New Testament books were also suspect.
  • The anonymity of Heb; the uncertain authorship of 2 Pet, 2-3 John, Jude, and Rev; and the questionable teaching of James put these books in doubt.
4. There were books all believers rejected (pseudepigrapha = false writings, spurious), mainly those that claim a biblical author but whose composition reflects the late Second Temple Period (and beyond). Many of these books also claim to be inspired, in that they purport to record God's words.
  • Book of Adam and Eve (legendary)
  • 1-2 Enoch (apocalyptic)
  • Psalms of Solomon (poetical)
  • Gospels of Thomas and Peter (Gnostic)
5. There were books some believers accepted (apocrypha = hidden, secret), which appear in the larger, Alexandrian (Greek) canon of the LXX and not in the smaller, Palestinian (Hebrew) canon of the MT (except, of course, NT apocrypha). As with their biblical counterparts, these books often claim to be inspired in that they have the authority of God.
  • Ben Sirach or Ecclesiasticus (didactic)
  • Sir 50:27 Instruction in understanding and knowledge I have written in this book, Jesus the son of Sirach, son of Eleazar, of Jerusalem, who out of his heart poured forth wisdom. 28 Blessed is he who concerns himself with these things, and he who lays them to heart will become wise. 29 For if he does them, he will be strong for all things, for the light of the Lord is his path.
  • 1-2 Maccabees (historical)
  • 2 Macc 1:20a But after many years had passed, when it pleased God, Nehemiah, having been commissioned by the king of Persia, sent the descendants of the priests who had hidden the fire to get it.
  • Additions to Esther and Daniel (legendary)
  • Add Esth 11:12 Mordecai saw in this dream what God had determined to do, and after he awoke he had it on his mind and sought all day to understand it in every detail.
  • Bel 34 But the angel of the Lord said to Habakkuk, "Take the dinner which you have to Babylon, to Daniel, in the lions' den."
  • Shepherd of Hermes (devotional)
  • Shep Her 1:8 [lit is not for your own sake only that these revelations have been made to you, but they have been given you that you may show them to all.
NB: Books that did not make it into the canon are still valuable, often providing historical and cultural information about Israel (1-2 Macc) or the early church (Didache). They also offer practical instruction (Pirke Abot) and devotional insight (Shepherd of Hermes). In other words, we may be missing something useful if we ignore them.
Just as the Bible records the recognition of the books we have, it also mentions other books we do not have, some of which Israel may have considered to be inspired but did not preserve. We have too little information about these documents to determine whether or not any of them may have met the five criteria, like the Book of the Wars of the LORD (Num 21:14-15) or the Book of Jashar (Josh 10:1213; see the list in Wenham 1972:129). Others we do know about and can safely rule out, like the Greek poets Aratus (Acts 17:28), Menander (1 Cor 15:33), and Epimenides (Tit 1:12), all of whom NT writers mention.

We should be cautious, therefore, about the notion of a "closed canon," that all we have is all there is or ever will be.
  • There is a Ps 151 that we knew only from the Greek LXX, until a Hebrew version surfaced at Qumran (11QPsa).27 Should this psalm of David be canonical?
  • Archaeologists might one day uncover a copy of the Acts of Solomon (1 Kgs 11:41) or the Visions of Iddo the Seer (2 Chr 9:29).
  • Surely when Elijah returns to herald the coming of the messiah, he will bring God's word, as will the two prophets who minister during the Great Tribulation.28
I do not think it wise to consider the canon closed. We probably have everything necessary for this period of God's activity, but I seriously doubt that what we have exhausts what God has to say to us.

For this reason we must still be cautious. If we do not insist that the canon is forever closed, then we must be prepared to evaluate new candidates for inclusion in the canon, That task is not as difficult as it sounds. Others have already done much of the work, and we can simply read their results (e.g., Book of Mormon). Moreover, for many books, it will be obvious that they do not meet the criteria. Nevertheless, we should not allow our fear of heresy shut us off from the possibility of further revelation. In other words, "Don't box God in."

What to remember: Believers had to determine if a book met the criteria of inspiration before accepting it as canonical. Books that did meet these criteria then became the authority in matters of faith and practice.

We have the result of this process, but we should remember that the evaluation was often difficult, even divisive, and that the final decision about which books to include in the canon was (and still is) largely a matter of faith. We also continue this process in two ways:
  • First, whenever we use the Bible, we affirm the decisions of our spiritual ancestors, that the books they recognized are ones God inspired.
  • Second, whenever new candidates arise, we must evaluate them to see if they meet the criteria of inspiration and should become part of the canon.
We may not have a role in the cooperative effort of inspiration, but in these two ways we fulfill our responsibility concerning canonization.29

For the extensive Endnotes, see the pdf here.

For the other chapters in "A 'Reader's Digest' Approach to Theology" see the contents here.

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Relevant and civil comments are welcome. Whether there will be any response depends on whether Dr. Manuel notices them and has the time and inclination to respond or, if not, whether I feel competent to do so.
Jim Skaggs