What are the Scriptures? |
The material for this study is drawn primarily from:
"How We Got the Bible" -by Neil R. Lightfoot
Used by permission of Baker Book House Company, copyright © 1988. All rights to this material are reserved. Materials are not to be distributed to other web locations for retrieval, published in other media, or mirrored at other sites without written permission from Baker Book House Company.
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The first, and most often overlooked problem which must be resolved prior to investigating sola scriptura is to determine just what the scriptures are. Without an understanding of this issue, we have nothing about which to talk. It is easy to look at our Old and New Testaments and think that they constitute God's written word, without giving even a passing glance to how they came into being. While a complete review of the transmission and selection of the canon is beyond the scope of this study, we can review the essential elements.
The word "canon" refers to those books which are recognized to properly constitute the word of God, include His authority, and ought to be included in the Bible. Each of these books had the authority of God the moment it was written. But it wasn't until this authority was recognized that the book was included in the canon.
37 If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual, let him recognize that the things which I write to you are the Lord's commandment. 1 Cor 14:37
Paul's letter to the Corinthians possessed divine authority. But it wasn't until it was received as having authority that it was included in the list on canonical writings. Its canonicity depends on its inherent authority. No church council can make any book authoritative. The books of the Bible contain their own authority, which existed long before there was a church council. The teachings of the RCC totally ignore this important fact.
The Old Testament
The canon of the Old Testament was fixed during the post-exilic period. By the time of Jesus, the Jews had accepted what we know as the OT, but in a different order. They divided it into the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. These are undoubtedly the same divisions referred to by Jesus as "the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms" (Luke 24:44). In this form, the OT began with Genesis and ended with 2 Chronicles. Jesus confirmed that this was His understanding of the canon when He listed a brief history of the Jews' rejection of God's word in Luke 11. He concluded His reference to the martyrdom of prophets with "from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah" (Luke 11:51a, cf. Matt 23:35). Since Abel was the first martyr and Zechariah the last (cf. 2 Chron 24:20-21), Jesus is including in the scope of this history all of the books from Genesis to Chronicles.
During His ministry, Jesus made many references to the "Scriptures". These references were to passages scattered throughout the OT. Later, the apostles did the same thing in their preaching and writing.
From Lightfoot:
"Additional evidence on the Old Testament canon comes from Josephus, a well-known Jewish writer of the first century, and from early Christian writers such as Origen and Jerome. Josephus clearly speaks concerning the number of books received as "Scripture" by the Jews. "We have not 10,000 books among us, disagreeing with and contradicting one another, but only twenty-two books which contain the records of all time, and are justly believed to be divine. Five of these are by Moses, and contain his laws and traditions of the origin of mankind until his death. .from the death of Moses till the reign of Artaxerxes, king of Persia, who reigned after Xerxes, the prophets who succeeded Moses wrote down what happened in their times in thirteen books; and the remaining four books contain hymns to God and precepts for the conduct of human life." It is the opinion of most scholars that Josephus in deriving his number of twenty-two books joined Ruth to Judges and Lamentations to Jeremiah; and remembering that the Jews enumerated their books differently, that the twelve minor prophets were considered as one book and that others, like 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles and Ezra-Nehemiah were likewise counted as one book each, the twenty-two books mentioned by Josephus equal our present thirty-nine books."In the third century A.D., Origen confirms the testimony of Josephus on the twenty-two books of the Old Testament. Giving both their Hebrew and Greek titles, he lists them as follows: (1-5) the Five Books of Moses, (6) Joshua, (7) Judges-Ruth, (8) 1 and 2 Samuel, (9) 1 and 2 Kings, (10) Chronicles, (11) Ezra-Nehemiah, (12) Psalms, (13) Proverbs, (14) Ecclesiastes, (15) Song of Solomon, (16) Isaiah, (17) Jeremiah-Lamentations, (18) Daniel, (19) Ezekiel, (20) Job, and (21) Esther. Origen omits from his list the Book of the Twelve (the minor prophets), but this is clearly an accidental omission since it is necessary to make up his own number of twenty-two. A little later other Christian writers, including the scholarly Jerome, point to these same books as the canonical materials for the Old Testament."
No church council can claim credit for defining the OT canon. It was established prior to the time of Christ, as confirmed by the words of our savior himself. If Jesus cannot be believed, then none of us have any reason to live or study. The OT canon was written by the authority of God, and confirmed by God's own Son.
The New Testament
At the beginning of the apostolic age, all teaching was either by the direct statement of the apostles or from the OT. Paul's ministry to the Bereans is instructive.
11 Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily, to see whether these things were so. Acts 17:11
When Paul spoke to these people of Jesus, they eagerly received the message, but, being careful, checked their sources to prove the truth of Paul's teaching. He was not accepted at face value. The OT was the final arbiter. Throughout the NT we see quotations from and references to the OT as a means of proving the truth of Jesus and His message.
As the church grew, the apostles wrote epistles to the various churches. The divine authority contained within these letters led to their acceptance by the direct recipients. But, without the benefits of modern communications, not all churches knew of all the authentic letters. The various churches assembled differing compendiums of books. Paul's letters were gathered together, then the four gospels. Over time, all of the 27 books of the NT were collected. Because these books were recognized as having the authority of God, they were accorded the same respect as God, and became the canon.
This is not to say that there were no disputes. In particular, the book of Hebrews was regarded skeptically at first by some because its authorship was uncertain. But eventually, its authority prevailed, and it was accepted. Each book was accepted on its own merit and inherent authority. By the middle of the second century (about fifty years after the book of Revelation was written), the epistles were widely read in public meetings. By the end of that century, the canon was largely established. The Muratorian fragment, a list from that time, indicates a nearly complete list of the canon. It further lists some non-canonical works such as the Shepherd of Hermas, which it states could be read in services, but were not considered authoritative.
By the early third century, Origen lists the entire NT canon, but notes that there were still some minor disputes. Eusebius, in the early fourth century, lists the canon as we know it, but indicates that some still questioned James, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John and Jude. By 367AD, Athanasius of Alexandria published the canon as we know it, and indicated that it was fully accepted. It was some years after this that the RCC declared that our current NT was the true canon.
It should be quite clear that the council of the RCC was a Johnny-come-lately. The process of determining the canon was not one of formal declaration. The canon was gathered together as a gradual process. The written Word was authoritative the moment ink was placed on parchment. As the church received the word, it was incorporated into the canon as a result of that authority.
Conclusion
The OT canon was established before the time of Jesus, and He confirmed its authenticity as He alone had the authority to do. The NT canon contained the teachings of Jesus and His apostles, and could not be less valid than the OT. As it was received, it became the written standard for the church. The church did not control the canon, the canon controlled the church. No human agency was needed to create the canon. God, through his providence, provided the written word, and preserved it for us. All that was required for the creation of the Bible was the acquiescence of God's people to God's authority. This is all that the RCC did when their council declared the NT canon to be complete with the 27 books we know. Nothing was created by the act of the council. The canon already existed. The council merely brought the RCC into conformity with that established fact.
The "scriptures" are properly the 66 books of the Bible we know. Jesus confirmed the OT canon, and it excluded the twelve books of the "Apocrypha" in the RCC Bible. This should again challenge the supposed authority of the RCC to determine the canon. When we assert sola scriptura, part of what we are saying is that our single authoritative reference is the Bible.
As a final note, we must remember that the newest book in the Bible is over 1,900 years old. The languages in which the Bible was written have changed over time, as have the social settings. So, as we study, we must remember that the Bible is NOT the English (or other modern) language book we hold in our hands. The Bible is properly the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek writings, set in their original societies, using their indigenous literary techniques. While our modern Bible is an excellent representation of the original, and is fit for most study, there will be times when we must revisit the original for its proper meaning.