Rev. David Holwick
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey (Bible study)
May 23, 1993
Gundry, chapter 4
CANON AND TEXT OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
I. The meaning of "canon."
A. A canon is a "cane" or measuring stick, and came to be applied
to the authentic writings of the Old and New Testaments.
B. Canon is considered a divine activity.
1) Early church leaders and councils put their stamp of approval
on the books they believed God had chosen.
2) They did not establish the canon on their own.
3) This process took time, and there were differences of opinion.
C. In the end, the entire Christian world (apart from the cults)
accepted the same books for the New Testament.
II. Criteria for canonicity.
A. Authorship by an apostle, or close associate of Jesus.
1) Writers who were apostles: Matthew, John, Paul, and Peter.
2) Writers who were related to Jesus: James and Jude.
3) Associates of apostles: Mark (Peter & Paul) and Luke (Paul).
4) It is perhaps more appropriate to speak of apostolic
authority than authorship.
B. Spiritual edification.
1) Not as valid, because some edifying books were rejected.
III. Reason some books took longer to be accepted than others.
A. Some had a limited circulation. Philemon, 2 & 3 John, Jude
B. Others had disputed authorship. Hebrews, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus
C. Others were difficult to interpret. Revelation
IV. The authority of Jesus.
A. Jesus affirmed the full authority of the Old Testament as the
writing of God (=Scripture). Matthew 5:17-19a; John 10:35b
B. Jesus made his own words and deeds equally authoritative.
Matthew 5:21,27,31,33,38,43
C. He taught that his apostles would carry on his authority through
the work of the Holy Spirit. John 14:26; 16:12-15
D. The apostles recognized the authority of their own writings.
1 Thess 2:13; 2 Peter 3:16
V. Apocrapha, or spurious writings.
A. Old Testament.
1) Roman Catholics accept certain books written after the time
of Malachi. Some have value, most are questionable.
2) Judaism, Jesus and the New Testament do not refer to these
books as Scripture.
3) Catholicism did not make them an official part of their
canon until the Council of Trent in A.D. 1546.
B. New Testament.
1) All Christian groups agree on the books of the New Testament.
2) In early periods, some other books were read in churches and
accepted by some Christians, but were later rejected.
Examples: Epistles of Barnabas, Polycarp and Ignatius,
Shepherd of Hermas, Didache
Most date from A.D. 70 to 150.
3) In recent times, early heretical books such as the Gospel
of Thomas (a Gnostic work) have been labelled "lost books
of the Bible." However, they were NEVER considered part
of the Bible by any orthodox group.
VI. The text of the New Testament.
A. None of the original writings (called autographs) survive.
B. The earliest scrap of the New Testament dates to A.D. 125.
C. More handwritten copies exist of the NT than any other ancient
book, by far.
1) New Testament: Greek manuscripts - 5,300
Latin manuscripts - 10,000+
Early translations - 9,300
TOTAL: 24,000+
2) Homer's Iliad: Greek manuscripts - 643
The NT has about 20,000 lines of text, and the Iliad about
15,600. Only 40 lines (or 400 words, or 0.5%) of the NT are
in doubt, while 764 lines (5.0%) of the Iliad are questioned.
In the Odyssey, 10% is questioned. The earliest copy of the
Iliad is 500 years after than the original. The earliest
copy (portion) of the NT is 25 years after the original.
VII. A brief history of English translations.
A. John Wycliffe made a translation from the Latin in 1382.
B. William Tyndale translated from the original Greek in 1525.
C. The Roman Catholic Douay version appeared in 1582.
D. The King James version appeared in 1611.
E. Revised Standard Version appeared in 1946.
F. The New American Standard appeared in 1963.
G. The New International Version appeared in 1973 (NT) and 1978 (OT).
