LESSON 6
Biblical – Canonicity
Matthew 5:17
Luke 11:51
Canonicity
Greek Grammar
Hebrew Grammar
INTRODUCTION
The Bible has only been in its present form as far as contents go since 397 AD. Prior to that they only had scattered manuscripts as far as the New Testament was concerned and a completed Old Testament in the form of the Septuagint that had been available since the earliest days. We have one book. In the past they did not.
When you are reading commentaries or other books to get the background to the Bible you need to undertake a thorough background study as to the ancient history of the place and period to be able to gauge as to the accuracy of any commentary. Commentaries are the works of men, and may be good, accurate and spiritual, but they may also contain errors or incomplete information, indeed all will be incomplete. Always compare a number of commentaries and explore the history in a number of proven texts.
For instance there is one text which says that the Septuagint was not written until 300 AD which is in error as it was written by and completed before 100 BC as quotations from it and references to it occur well before this date. Beware of strong statements by men who are too sure of themselves over small matters two thousand years back in time unless they back up their words with some evidence.
BIBLICAL CANON
Canon means a measuring rule or standard. It comes from the Greek word kanon. The canon of Scripture is the rule of life – Galatians 6:16, Philippians 3:16.
As Bible believers we see this book as God's book, that God made sure that he got every book, every letter in that book and that only what was His Word got in.
The books of the Bible were canonical as soon as they were written. It did not require a church council to finally select it. Canon meant both the complete Bible with the 66 books and also those books that come to be the rule of life. The councils simply recognized the books that were canonical.
The council of Carthage in 397 AD was the venue for the finalizing of the canon. No further book could be added in after that stage. It should be remembered that Paul did not write only 12 - 13 letters. He wrote many more, although the rest were not canonical as they were not recognized by the church as inspired by God as Scripture in the way the others were.
In church history we can also look at bishop's letters of the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. These are very interesting but they are not canonical. These letters quote from Scripture but are not Scripture themselves.
THE ANCIENT WORLD
In the ancient world very few people had horses so that they either traveled by boat or walked.
The fastest speed of communication was therefore walking pace. In addition unless a person was very wealthy no one in the ancient world owned a book as such. Any books which existed were in the form of a scroll or codex which was perhaps a metre or so long and 300 mm wide. Every book was hand copied. It was therefore very expensive. People would make their own copies of manuscripts they had access to for their own use, and even these were valuable, as paper, (papyrus from Egypt), was expensive.
In Rome for example there were, at the time of Paul, some 20+ house churches as well as over possibly 100+ synagogues in the city of Rome. Paul writes one letter and it goes by one person to the city of Rome and is taken by hand around the house churches. The messenger reads Paul's letter and gives an exposition on the letter to that house church. He may stay in that suburb for a couple of days during which time the letter is copied by hand by someone in the church.
The original now goes to the next house church and the same procedure is followed. As a result a number of spelling mistakes crept in causing a slight variety in the letters however with the original being the one from which the copy was taken these variations were not major. It has been found that 95% of all variations in the texts that have survived are spelling mistakes.
The Romans tried to eliminate Christianity around the turn of the century with one of the major areas of suppression being book burning. All the leaders of a house church would elect one of their number to be their leader and bishop over a particular group. The Romans would try and capture the bishop, torture him and try to get him to divulge who the elders were and where they kept the sacred books. They thought that if they could destroy the sacred books and kill the leadership they could eliminate Christianity.
By the end of the second century many of the copies of the Scriptures had been destroyed and a number of heretical letters had been written. There were many false teachers in the church as seen in Galatians with all the heresies which we have now occurring in the first century. There was also great missionary activity with many people being saved.
A Christian in the Black Sea area, said to the Romans; that all they were leaving them was their empty pagan temples. Pliny the younger, the great letter writer wrote that it appeared that everyone was becoming a Christian. While he was Governor of Bythinia in 114 AD he tried to eliminate the Christians.
The false writings by the heretics were being claimed as Scripture by themselves. This was causing a lot of confusion thus there was increasing demand from the bishops of the various churches to assemble and decide what was acceptable and what was not. Eventually, with Christianity becoming the official State religion of the Roman Empire at the time of Constantine, persecution stopped, and through a number of church councils the sacred writings were consolidated and agreed to.
This is also the time when we get the codex such as Codex Sianaticus and Codex Vaticanus, which many scholars believe is the best source of material. It is likely that these single volume Codexes of the scriptures were ordered to be compiled by Constantine as a result of these first Councils. By the year 400 AD therefore a person could have one book to carry with him as the Bible. They also tried to ensure that the version was as accurate as possible.
OLD TESTAMENT
How was the canon formed? With the Old Testament there is internal evidence from the Lord Himself, who saw the law of Moses being authoritative as well as quoting from many of the other books. Internally also authors of the Old Testament books quoted from other books.
[a] From the Law – Joshua 1:7-8, 1 Kings 2:3, Ezra 6:18, Nehemiah 13:1 Daniel 9:11, Malachi 4:4.
[b] From the Prophets – Joshua 6:26, 1 Kings 16:34, Joshua 24:29-33 Judges 2:8-9, 2 Chronicles 36:22-23 Ezra 1:1-4, Daniel 9:2 Jeremiah 25:11,12
[c] From Malachi 4:5 there is an indication that the prophetic witness would end with Malachi and not recommence until an Elijah type prophet such as John the Baptist. Matthew 17:11-12
THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS
The Dead Sea scrolls are the writings of a sect which flourished 100 BC and were eliminated by the Romans just after the fall of Jerusalem in 70AD. These people were not Christians but many of the texts refer to the Old Testament. Some of the oldest written copies of the Old Testament are from amongst these scrolls that they hid in caves as the Romans attacked them.
About 175 of the 500 Dead Sea Scrolls are biblical. Most famous of these is the Isaiah scroll. The sect was rigorous and the text is therefore probably rigorous as well.
The KJV is translated from the Masoretic text which is from the 10th century but comparison between the Scriptural section of the Dead Sea scrolls and that text shows a remarkable consistency. The scrolls found gave positive evidence of canonicity to all the Old Testament books other than Chronicles, Esther and the Song of Solomon.
OTHER SOURCES
The non canonical books in the Old Testament or Apocrypha were accepted as valuable books but are not canonical. They were however accepted into the Roman Catholic Bible at the Council of Trent in the 16th century.
A similar group of books called the Pseudepigrapha were rejected as non canonical as far as the New Testament was concerned.
Satan wanted to get false books into the Bible and thereby water it down. A number of writers in the ancient world also noted those books which were considered sacred by some. Josephus recognized the 22 books that became the 39 books of the Old Testament as sacred. In AD 90 a prominent group of rabbis met at Jamnia and produced a list which left out Esther, Song of Solomon and Ecclesiastes.
The Church Fathers accepted the 39 books of the Old Testament. The apocrypha whilst acknowledged by Augustine as important was not accepted into the Bible until it was by the Roman Catholics in the counter reformation and the Council of Trent in 1546. Most of the protestants accepted it also, and it was published in the first KJV in 1611 for use in the Anglican churches, although not as part of the private editions.
EVIDENCE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
[a] Quotation of the Old Testament in the New. All books except Esther, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon are quoted in this way. The apocrypha is never quoted.
[b] Matthew 5:18 were seen as authoritative by the Lord Jesus Christ. This includes all the Old Testament.
[c] Luke 11:51 from the death of Abel to Zechariah Abel’s death is in Genesis 4, Zechariah’s death in 2 Chronicles 24. In the Hebrew canon Genesis was the first and 2 Chronicles, not Malachi, the last.
TESTS FOR CANONICITY
They had three tests for every letter when it came for consideration for inclusion in the Bible.
[a] A test of authority ‑ was this written by a prophet, a leader in Israel or a lawgiver as far as the Old Testament was concerned or an apostle, or a close associate of an apostle in the case of the New.
[b] Was it unique? – Was there the evidence of inspiration?
[c] They had to be accepted by the churches.
New Testament Canon
[a] The witness of the apostolic period – Colossians 4:16, 1 Thessalonians 4:15. 1Timothy 5:18 Deuteronomy 25:4 Luke 10:7, 2 Peter 3:16
[b] The witness of the first and second century where church fathers recognized all 27 books as canonical.
[c] The Council of Carthage in 397 where the New Testament canon was finally set in place. Many liberals will only accept 3‑4 letters ascribed to Paul as being Pauline but because the Church Fathers went into this so thoroughly, we must deduce that when we have something in the New Testament, there is a very good reason for it to be in there.
Do not have liberal commentaries, have conservative ones. If you study it thoroughly you will find that your faith in the Bible is on very solid ground. The onus of proof is on the liberals. The people meeting at Carthage said that the Pauline epistles were written by Paul and being much closer to the situation their statements should have significant weight. Therefore what we have in the canon of Scripture is inspired and has been protected by God throughout the ages.
DOCTRINES
BIBLE: CANONICITY
DEFINITION - Canon - KANON (Greek) - a measuring rule or standard.
1. Why do we need a canon of Scripture?
a) So that believers in every generation might have complete revelation from God.
b) That man might have God's Word in writing. (1 Corinthians 2:16)
c) A need for the preservation and circulation of sacred writing in the time of oppression.
d) That people might know what was scripture and what was not, and know how God thinks.
2. CRITERIA FOR OLD TESTAMENT CANONICITY
a) The question of Inspiration (2 Peter 1:21) - every existing book of an acknowledged messenger of God was immediately accepted as the Word of God being commissioned by God to make known his will.
b) The principle of Internal evidence (Deuteronomy 31:24-26, Joshua 1:8, Judges 3:4). Nehemiah 8:1-8 shows that people were taught the word of God. Daniel in captivity read (Jeremiah 25:11--12, Jeremiah 29:10) and discovered Israel had a future giving rise to (Daniel 9:2, 5, 6. Zechariah 7:12)
c) Documentation by quotation - New Testament quotes by Jesus Christ and others declare them to be the Word of God, e.g. (Matthew 22:29, John 5:39, John 10:35)
d) The Law of Public Official Action (Nehemiah 8:5)
e) The Law of Cause and Effect. In this area canonicity is recognition of what God has done in the field of communication. Passages such as (2 Kings 22:1 - 23:2 and Nehemiah 8) are not historical accounts of the ratification of the Canon but the result of the existence of the Canon.
f) Principle of external evidence - Israel had gone down spiritually prior to the Babylonian captivity (2 Chronicles 36:11-21) During captivity the Jews realised the importance of Bible doctrine and there was a spiritual resurgence led by people like Ezra, Nehemiah, Malachi, Zerubbabel who extra biblically attested to the canon of scripture. The Old Testament canon was closed in 425 BC-
3. DIVISION OF THE OLD TESTAMENT - Three sections.
a) Torah or Law - The Pentateuch consisting of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
b) The Nabiim or Prophets This was divided into 2. The Former and the Latter Prophets, the division being the Babylonian Captivity.
c) The Kethubim or Writings which were further subdivided into 3 subsections -
i) Poetical Books - Psalms and Job.
ii) The Five Rolls or Megilloth books that were read at various feasts:
Song of Solomon - Passover
Ruth - Pentecost
Ecclesiastes - Tabernacles
Esther - Purim
Lamentations - Anniversary of the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC-
iii) Historical Books - Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah and Chronicles.
4. NUMBER OF OLD TESTAMENT BOOKS
The number of books in the Hebrew Old Testament was 24 compared to 39 in the English: 1st and 2nd Kings etc. are combined and many of the prophets also combined into scrolls, e.g. Matthew in the New Testament when quoting Zechariah said "As Jeremiah said" (Matthew 27:9-10) Zechariah was in the Jeremiah scroll. (Zechariah 11:12-13)
5. CLASSIFICATION OF OLD TESTAMENT CANON.
a) Homologoumena - these are writings that were accepted and had always been accepted as canonical.
b) Antilegoumia - these were five books which were eventually accepted as canonical which were disputed in the 1st - 5th centuries AD
i) ESTHER - because the name God was not mentioned.
ii) SONG OF SOLOMON - this dealt with a love affair which the early church fathers apparently were somewhat embarrassed about and thought it non-canonical.
iii) ECCLESIASTES - where Solomon was looking at life from a human viewpoint which was not reconcilable with Judaism or Bible Doctrine.
iv) EZEKIEL - because chapters 40-48 seemed to contradict the Mosaic Law. Ezekiel 40-48 deals with annual sacrifices in the Millennium not the Levitical usage.
v) PROVERBS - because one proverb seemed to contradict another.
c) Pseudepigrapha - these were the false writings and were rejected. Such books as "The Penitence of Jannes and Jambres" "The Magic Book of Moses", are in this category.
d) Apocrypha - these were books written after 425 BC and have been rejected as not being canonical. The Apocrypha includes 14 books which are found in the Septuagint and Vulgate but never in the Hebrew Canon. False doctrine found in the Apocrypha includes:-
i) Prayers and Offerings for the Dead. - 2 Maccabees 12:42.
ii) Suicide Justified - 2 Maccabees 14:41.
iii) Atonement by Almsgiving - Ecclesiasticus 3:32, 4:1-11.
iv) Salvation by Almsgiving - Tobit 4:11
v) Cruelty to Slaves Justified - Ecclesiasticus 33:25-9.
vi) Pre-existence of souls - Wisdom of Solomon 8:19, 20.
vii) Other fallacies include magical incantations, purgatory, assassination, angels having the power of intercession.
6. REJECTION OF OLD TESTAMENT APOCRYPHA
a) These books are included in the apocrypha
1 & 2 Esdras, Tobit, Judith, additions to Esther, The wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch , The letter of Jeremiah, The prayer of Azariah, Susanna, Bel and the Dragon, The prayer of Manassah, 1 & 2 Maccabees
b) The apocrypha was never in the Hebrew Canon.
c) Neither Jesus Christ nor any of the New Testament writers ever quoted once from the Apocrypha.
d) Josephus expressly excluded them from his history of sacred scriptures.
e) No mention of the Apocrypha was made in any catalogue of canonical books in the first 4 centuries AD
f) These apocryphal books were never asserted to be divinely inspired or to possess divine authority.
g) No prophets were connected with these writings.
h) These books contained many historical, geographical and chronological errors.
i) The apocrypha teaches doctrines and upholds practices which are contrary to the canon of scripture.
7. CRITERIA FOR NEW TESTAMENT CANONICITY
a) Apostolicity - every book must either to have been written by an apostle or someone closely associated with an apostle (Mark with Peter, Luke with Paul). An early date of writing is essential prior to 100 AD
b) Reception by the Churches - must be accepted by the churches as authentic when written.
c) Constancy of Doctrine - with Old Testament scripture and Apostolic teaching.
d) Inspiration - each book must have internal and external evidence of inspiration. This was evaluated using the spiritual gift of discernment during the formation of the canon. (1 Corinthians 12:10)
e) Recognition - each must be recognised by the Church Fathers as canonical. Four councils were held - Laodicea (336 AD), Damascus (382 AD), Carthage (397 AD),Hippo (419 AD).
f) Internal - each must contain exhortation to public evaluation of the word. (Colossians 4:16, 1 Thessalonians 5:27, 1 Timothy 4:13, Revelation 1:3).
8. CLASSIFICATION OF NEW TESTAMENT CANON
a) Homologoumena - the accepted books.
b) Antilegomena - the disputed books which were eventually accepted - James, 2 Peter, 2 & 3 John, Hebrews.
c) Pseudepigripha - the false writings - Gospel of Peter, Gospel of Thomas, Acts of Andrew etc.
d) Apocrypha - the rejected writings - Acts of Paul, Epistle of Barnabbas, Shepherd of Hermes, The Revelation of the Twelve, The Revelation of Peter.
GREEK GRAMMAR
1. A tense is an expression of the action or the time of the verb. Greek has three tenses:
a) CONTINUOUS tense which is further subdivided into the PRESENT and IMPERFECT.
i) PRESENT - implies action in the present time, a dramatic present focuses attention on a dramatic event in history.
ii) IMPERFECT - continuous action in past time.
b) COMPLETED tense - action itself has been completed but its results continue - the PERFECT tense. (Ephesians 2:8, 9) "For by grace are ye saved" - literally - for by grace have you been saved in the past with the result you keep on being saved forever through faith.
c) OCCURRING tense - action of the verb is presently in progress -
d) AORIST tense which is subdivided into two - POINT OF TIME AORIST and ONCE AND FOR ALL TIME AORIST
i) (Acts 16:31) - Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
ii) BELIEVE - Point of time Aorist.
iii) SAVED - Once and for all time Aorist.
iv) Believe in a point of time on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved once and for all.
2. The voice of the verb expresses the relationship between the subject and the verb. Greek has three types of voice:
a) ACTIVE VOICE - the subject produces the action of the verb (Acts 16:31) Believe - you believe.
b) PASSIVE VOICE - subject receives the action of the verb - the voice of grace.
c) MIDDLE VOICE - subject is benefited by the action of the verb. (John 15:16)
3. The mood affirms and relates the verb to reality. There are three frequently used moods
a) IMPERATIVE MOOD - mood of command
b) INDICATIVE MOOD - mood of reality, indicates that an event actually took place as stated.
c) SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD - potential mood - maybe yes, maybe no.
d) INFINTIVE MOOD – mood of purpose or intention
4. The Greek conditional clause states a supposition and is classified on the basis of the condition it expresses. There are four conditional clauses -
a) Type 1 - If, and it is true (Matthew 4:3, 6)
b) Type 2 - If, but it's not true. (Matthew 4:9)
c) Type 3 - If, maybe yes, maybe no. (1 John 1:9)
d) Type 4 - If, I wish it were true, but it isn't (1 Peter 3:14)
HEBREW GRAMMAR
1. In the Hebrew there are only 2 tenses:
a) IMPERFECT - incomplete action.
b) PERFECT - completed action.
2. In order to express different meanings the stems on the verbs are used:
a) KAL - a simple declarative statement indicative active.
b) NIPHAL - passive and sometimes reflective.
c) HITHPAHEL - reflective.
d) PIHEL - Intensive stem - active.
e) PUHAL - Intensive passive.
f) HIPHIL - Causative - active.
g) HOPHAL - Causative - passive.
3. Example GATAL - to kill:
a) KAL - someone kills.
b) NIPHAL - you are killed.
c) HITHPAHEL - suicide.
d) PIHEL - you kill in a horrible manner.
e) PUHAL - you are killed in a horrible manner.
f) HIPHIL - Murder incorporated - you cause someone to be killed without being involved.
g) HOPHAL - you are the victim of murder incorporated.
Biblical – Canonicity
Matthew 5:17
Luke 11:51
Canonicity
Greek Grammar
Hebrew Grammar
INTRODUCTION
The Bible has only been in its present form as far as contents go since 397 AD. Prior to that they only had scattered manuscripts as far as the New Testament was concerned and a completed Old Testament in the form of the Septuagint that had been available since the earliest days. We have one book. In the past they did not.
When you are reading commentaries or other books to get the background to the Bible you need to undertake a thorough background study as to the ancient history of the place and period to be able to gauge as to the accuracy of any commentary. Commentaries are the works of men, and may be good, accurate and spiritual, but they may also contain errors or incomplete information, indeed all will be incomplete. Always compare a number of commentaries and explore the history in a number of proven texts.
For instance there is one text which says that the Septuagint was not written until 300 AD which is in error as it was written by and completed before 100 BC as quotations from it and references to it occur well before this date. Beware of strong statements by men who are too sure of themselves over small matters two thousand years back in time unless they back up their words with some evidence.
BIBLICAL CANON
Canon means a measuring rule or standard. It comes from the Greek word kanon. The canon of Scripture is the rule of life – Galatians 6:16, Philippians 3:16.
As Bible believers we see this book as God's book, that God made sure that he got every book, every letter in that book and that only what was His Word got in.
The books of the Bible were canonical as soon as they were written. It did not require a church council to finally select it. Canon meant both the complete Bible with the 66 books and also those books that come to be the rule of life. The councils simply recognized the books that were canonical.
The council of Carthage in 397 AD was the venue for the finalizing of the canon. No further book could be added in after that stage. It should be remembered that Paul did not write only 12 - 13 letters. He wrote many more, although the rest were not canonical as they were not recognized by the church as inspired by God as Scripture in the way the others were.
In church history we can also look at bishop's letters of the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. These are very interesting but they are not canonical. These letters quote from Scripture but are not Scripture themselves.
THE ANCIENT WORLD
In the ancient world very few people had horses so that they either traveled by boat or walked.
The fastest speed of communication was therefore walking pace. In addition unless a person was very wealthy no one in the ancient world owned a book as such. Any books which existed were in the form of a scroll or codex which was perhaps a metre or so long and 300 mm wide. Every book was hand copied. It was therefore very expensive. People would make their own copies of manuscripts they had access to for their own use, and even these were valuable, as paper, (papyrus from Egypt), was expensive.
In Rome for example there were, at the time of Paul, some 20+ house churches as well as over possibly 100+ synagogues in the city of Rome. Paul writes one letter and it goes by one person to the city of Rome and is taken by hand around the house churches. The messenger reads Paul's letter and gives an exposition on the letter to that house church. He may stay in that suburb for a couple of days during which time the letter is copied by hand by someone in the church.
The original now goes to the next house church and the same procedure is followed. As a result a number of spelling mistakes crept in causing a slight variety in the letters however with the original being the one from which the copy was taken these variations were not major. It has been found that 95% of all variations in the texts that have survived are spelling mistakes.
The Romans tried to eliminate Christianity around the turn of the century with one of the major areas of suppression being book burning. All the leaders of a house church would elect one of their number to be their leader and bishop over a particular group. The Romans would try and capture the bishop, torture him and try to get him to divulge who the elders were and where they kept the sacred books. They thought that if they could destroy the sacred books and kill the leadership they could eliminate Christianity.
By the end of the second century many of the copies of the Scriptures had been destroyed and a number of heretical letters had been written. There were many false teachers in the church as seen in Galatians with all the heresies which we have now occurring in the first century. There was also great missionary activity with many people being saved.
A Christian in the Black Sea area, said to the Romans; that all they were leaving them was their empty pagan temples. Pliny the younger, the great letter writer wrote that it appeared that everyone was becoming a Christian. While he was Governor of Bythinia in 114 AD he tried to eliminate the Christians.
The false writings by the heretics were being claimed as Scripture by themselves. This was causing a lot of confusion thus there was increasing demand from the bishops of the various churches to assemble and decide what was acceptable and what was not. Eventually, with Christianity becoming the official State religion of the Roman Empire at the time of Constantine, persecution stopped, and through a number of church councils the sacred writings were consolidated and agreed to.
This is also the time when we get the codex such as Codex Sianaticus and Codex Vaticanus, which many scholars believe is the best source of material. It is likely that these single volume Codexes of the scriptures were ordered to be compiled by Constantine as a result of these first Councils. By the year 400 AD therefore a person could have one book to carry with him as the Bible. They also tried to ensure that the version was as accurate as possible.
OLD TESTAMENT
How was the canon formed? With the Old Testament there is internal evidence from the Lord Himself, who saw the law of Moses being authoritative as well as quoting from many of the other books. Internally also authors of the Old Testament books quoted from other books.
[a] From the Law – Joshua 1:7-8, 1 Kings 2:3, Ezra 6:18, Nehemiah 13:1 Daniel 9:11, Malachi 4:4.
[b] From the Prophets – Joshua 6:26, 1 Kings 16:34, Joshua 24:29-33 Judges 2:8-9, 2 Chronicles 36:22-23 Ezra 1:1-4, Daniel 9:2 Jeremiah 25:11,12
[c] From Malachi 4:5 there is an indication that the prophetic witness would end with Malachi and not recommence until an Elijah type prophet such as John the Baptist. Matthew 17:11-12
THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS
The Dead Sea scrolls are the writings of a sect which flourished 100 BC and were eliminated by the Romans just after the fall of Jerusalem in 70AD. These people were not Christians but many of the texts refer to the Old Testament. Some of the oldest written copies of the Old Testament are from amongst these scrolls that they hid in caves as the Romans attacked them.
About 175 of the 500 Dead Sea Scrolls are biblical. Most famous of these is the Isaiah scroll. The sect was rigorous and the text is therefore probably rigorous as well.
The KJV is translated from the Masoretic text which is from the 10th century but comparison between the Scriptural section of the Dead Sea scrolls and that text shows a remarkable consistency. The scrolls found gave positive evidence of canonicity to all the Old Testament books other than Chronicles, Esther and the Song of Solomon.
OTHER SOURCES
The non canonical books in the Old Testament or Apocrypha were accepted as valuable books but are not canonical. They were however accepted into the Roman Catholic Bible at the Council of Trent in the 16th century.
A similar group of books called the Pseudepigrapha were rejected as non canonical as far as the New Testament was concerned.
Satan wanted to get false books into the Bible and thereby water it down. A number of writers in the ancient world also noted those books which were considered sacred by some. Josephus recognized the 22 books that became the 39 books of the Old Testament as sacred. In AD 90 a prominent group of rabbis met at Jamnia and produced a list which left out Esther, Song of Solomon and Ecclesiastes.
The Church Fathers accepted the 39 books of the Old Testament. The apocrypha whilst acknowledged by Augustine as important was not accepted into the Bible until it was by the Roman Catholics in the counter reformation and the Council of Trent in 1546. Most of the protestants accepted it also, and it was published in the first KJV in 1611 for use in the Anglican churches, although not as part of the private editions.
EVIDENCE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
[a] Quotation of the Old Testament in the New. All books except Esther, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon are quoted in this way. The apocrypha is never quoted.
[b] Matthew 5:18 were seen as authoritative by the Lord Jesus Christ. This includes all the Old Testament.
[c] Luke 11:51 from the death of Abel to Zechariah Abel’s death is in Genesis 4, Zechariah’s death in 2 Chronicles 24. In the Hebrew canon Genesis was the first and 2 Chronicles, not Malachi, the last.
TESTS FOR CANONICITY
They had three tests for every letter when it came for consideration for inclusion in the Bible.
[a] A test of authority ‑ was this written by a prophet, a leader in Israel or a lawgiver as far as the Old Testament was concerned or an apostle, or a close associate of an apostle in the case of the New.
[b] Was it unique? – Was there the evidence of inspiration?
[c] They had to be accepted by the churches.
New Testament Canon
[a] The witness of the apostolic period – Colossians 4:16, 1 Thessalonians 4:15. 1Timothy 5:18 Deuteronomy 25:4 Luke 10:7, 2 Peter 3:16
[b] The witness of the first and second century where church fathers recognized all 27 books as canonical.
[c] The Council of Carthage in 397 where the New Testament canon was finally set in place. Many liberals will only accept 3‑4 letters ascribed to Paul as being Pauline but because the Church Fathers went into this so thoroughly, we must deduce that when we have something in the New Testament, there is a very good reason for it to be in there.
Do not have liberal commentaries, have conservative ones. If you study it thoroughly you will find that your faith in the Bible is on very solid ground. The onus of proof is on the liberals. The people meeting at Carthage said that the Pauline epistles were written by Paul and being much closer to the situation their statements should have significant weight. Therefore what we have in the canon of Scripture is inspired and has been protected by God throughout the ages.
DOCTRINES
BIBLE: CANONICITY
DEFINITION - Canon - KANON (Greek) - a measuring rule or standard.
1. Why do we need a canon of Scripture?
a) So that believers in every generation might have complete revelation from God.
b) That man might have God's Word in writing. (1 Corinthians 2:16)
c) A need for the preservation and circulation of sacred writing in the time of oppression.
d) That people might know what was scripture and what was not, and know how God thinks.
2. CRITERIA FOR OLD TESTAMENT CANONICITY
a) The question of Inspiration (2 Peter 1:21) - every existing book of an acknowledged messenger of God was immediately accepted as the Word of God being commissioned by God to make known his will.
b) The principle of Internal evidence (Deuteronomy 31:24-26, Joshua 1:8, Judges 3:4). Nehemiah 8:1-8 shows that people were taught the word of God. Daniel in captivity read (Jeremiah 25:11--12, Jeremiah 29:10) and discovered Israel had a future giving rise to (Daniel 9:2, 5, 6. Zechariah 7:12)
c) Documentation by quotation - New Testament quotes by Jesus Christ and others declare them to be the Word of God, e.g. (Matthew 22:29, John 5:39, John 10:35)
d) The Law of Public Official Action (Nehemiah 8:5)
e) The Law of Cause and Effect. In this area canonicity is recognition of what God has done in the field of communication. Passages such as (2 Kings 22:1 - 23:2 and Nehemiah 8) are not historical accounts of the ratification of the Canon but the result of the existence of the Canon.
f) Principle of external evidence - Israel had gone down spiritually prior to the Babylonian captivity (2 Chronicles 36:11-21) During captivity the Jews realised the importance of Bible doctrine and there was a spiritual resurgence led by people like Ezra, Nehemiah, Malachi, Zerubbabel who extra biblically attested to the canon of scripture. The Old Testament canon was closed in 425 BC-
3. DIVISION OF THE OLD TESTAMENT - Three sections.
a) Torah or Law - The Pentateuch consisting of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
b) The Nabiim or Prophets This was divided into 2. The Former and the Latter Prophets, the division being the Babylonian Captivity.
c) The Kethubim or Writings which were further subdivided into 3 subsections -
i) Poetical Books - Psalms and Job.
ii) The Five Rolls or Megilloth books that were read at various feasts:
Song of Solomon - Passover
Ruth - Pentecost
Ecclesiastes - Tabernacles
Esther - Purim
Lamentations - Anniversary of the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC-
iii) Historical Books - Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah and Chronicles.
4. NUMBER OF OLD TESTAMENT BOOKS
The number of books in the Hebrew Old Testament was 24 compared to 39 in the English: 1st and 2nd Kings etc. are combined and many of the prophets also combined into scrolls, e.g. Matthew in the New Testament when quoting Zechariah said "As Jeremiah said" (Matthew 27:9-10) Zechariah was in the Jeremiah scroll. (Zechariah 11:12-13)
5. CLASSIFICATION OF OLD TESTAMENT CANON.
a) Homologoumena - these are writings that were accepted and had always been accepted as canonical.
b) Antilegoumia - these were five books which were eventually accepted as canonical which were disputed in the 1st - 5th centuries AD
i) ESTHER - because the name God was not mentioned.
ii) SONG OF SOLOMON - this dealt with a love affair which the early church fathers apparently were somewhat embarrassed about and thought it non-canonical.
iii) ECCLESIASTES - where Solomon was looking at life from a human viewpoint which was not reconcilable with Judaism or Bible Doctrine.
iv) EZEKIEL - because chapters 40-48 seemed to contradict the Mosaic Law. Ezekiel 40-48 deals with annual sacrifices in the Millennium not the Levitical usage.
v) PROVERBS - because one proverb seemed to contradict another.
c) Pseudepigrapha - these were the false writings and were rejected. Such books as "The Penitence of Jannes and Jambres" "The Magic Book of Moses", are in this category.
d) Apocrypha - these were books written after 425 BC and have been rejected as not being canonical. The Apocrypha includes 14 books which are found in the Septuagint and Vulgate but never in the Hebrew Canon. False doctrine found in the Apocrypha includes:-
i) Prayers and Offerings for the Dead. - 2 Maccabees 12:42.
ii) Suicide Justified - 2 Maccabees 14:41.
iii) Atonement by Almsgiving - Ecclesiasticus 3:32, 4:1-11.
iv) Salvation by Almsgiving - Tobit 4:11
v) Cruelty to Slaves Justified - Ecclesiasticus 33:25-9.
vi) Pre-existence of souls - Wisdom of Solomon 8:19, 20.
vii) Other fallacies include magical incantations, purgatory, assassination, angels having the power of intercession.
6. REJECTION OF OLD TESTAMENT APOCRYPHA
a) These books are included in the apocrypha
1 & 2 Esdras, Tobit, Judith, additions to Esther, The wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch , The letter of Jeremiah, The prayer of Azariah, Susanna, Bel and the Dragon, The prayer of Manassah, 1 & 2 Maccabees
b) The apocrypha was never in the Hebrew Canon.
c) Neither Jesus Christ nor any of the New Testament writers ever quoted once from the Apocrypha.
d) Josephus expressly excluded them from his history of sacred scriptures.
e) No mention of the Apocrypha was made in any catalogue of canonical books in the first 4 centuries AD
f) These apocryphal books were never asserted to be divinely inspired or to possess divine authority.
g) No prophets were connected with these writings.
h) These books contained many historical, geographical and chronological errors.
i) The apocrypha teaches doctrines and upholds practices which are contrary to the canon of scripture.
7. CRITERIA FOR NEW TESTAMENT CANONICITY
a) Apostolicity - every book must either to have been written by an apostle or someone closely associated with an apostle (Mark with Peter, Luke with Paul). An early date of writing is essential prior to 100 AD
b) Reception by the Churches - must be accepted by the churches as authentic when written.
c) Constancy of Doctrine - with Old Testament scripture and Apostolic teaching.
d) Inspiration - each book must have internal and external evidence of inspiration. This was evaluated using the spiritual gift of discernment during the formation of the canon. (1 Corinthians 12:10)
e) Recognition - each must be recognised by the Church Fathers as canonical. Four councils were held - Laodicea (336 AD), Damascus (382 AD), Carthage (397 AD),Hippo (419 AD).
f) Internal - each must contain exhortation to public evaluation of the word. (Colossians 4:16, 1 Thessalonians 5:27, 1 Timothy 4:13, Revelation 1:3).
8. CLASSIFICATION OF NEW TESTAMENT CANON
a) Homologoumena - the accepted books.
b) Antilegomena - the disputed books which were eventually accepted - James, 2 Peter, 2 & 3 John, Hebrews.
c) Pseudepigripha - the false writings - Gospel of Peter, Gospel of Thomas, Acts of Andrew etc.
d) Apocrypha - the rejected writings - Acts of Paul, Epistle of Barnabbas, Shepherd of Hermes, The Revelation of the Twelve, The Revelation of Peter.
GREEK GRAMMAR
1. A tense is an expression of the action or the time of the verb. Greek has three tenses:
a) CONTINUOUS tense which is further subdivided into the PRESENT and IMPERFECT.
i) PRESENT - implies action in the present time, a dramatic present focuses attention on a dramatic event in history.
ii) IMPERFECT - continuous action in past time.
b) COMPLETED tense - action itself has been completed but its results continue - the PERFECT tense. (Ephesians 2:8, 9) "For by grace are ye saved" - literally - for by grace have you been saved in the past with the result you keep on being saved forever through faith.
c) OCCURRING tense - action of the verb is presently in progress -
d) AORIST tense which is subdivided into two - POINT OF TIME AORIST and ONCE AND FOR ALL TIME AORIST
i) (Acts 16:31) - Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
ii) BELIEVE - Point of time Aorist.
iii) SAVED - Once and for all time Aorist.
iv) Believe in a point of time on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved once and for all.
2. The voice of the verb expresses the relationship between the subject and the verb. Greek has three types of voice:
a) ACTIVE VOICE - the subject produces the action of the verb (Acts 16:31) Believe - you believe.
b) PASSIVE VOICE - subject receives the action of the verb - the voice of grace.
c) MIDDLE VOICE - subject is benefited by the action of the verb. (John 15:16)
3. The mood affirms and relates the verb to reality. There are three frequently used moods
a) IMPERATIVE MOOD - mood of command
b) INDICATIVE MOOD - mood of reality, indicates that an event actually took place as stated.
c) SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD - potential mood - maybe yes, maybe no.
d) INFINTIVE MOOD – mood of purpose or intention
4. The Greek conditional clause states a supposition and is classified on the basis of the condition it expresses. There are four conditional clauses -
a) Type 1 - If, and it is true (Matthew 4:3, 6)
b) Type 2 - If, but it's not true. (Matthew 4:9)
c) Type 3 - If, maybe yes, maybe no. (1 John 1:9)
d) Type 4 - If, I wish it were true, but it isn't (1 Peter 3:14)
HEBREW GRAMMAR
1. In the Hebrew there are only 2 tenses:
a) IMPERFECT - incomplete action.
b) PERFECT - completed action.
2. In order to express different meanings the stems on the verbs are used:
a) KAL - a simple declarative statement indicative active.
b) NIPHAL - passive and sometimes reflective.
c) HITHPAHEL - reflective.
d) PIHEL - Intensive stem - active.
e) PUHAL - Intensive passive.
f) HIPHIL - Causative - active.
g) HOPHAL - Causative - passive.
3. Example GATAL - to kill:
a) KAL - someone kills.
b) NIPHAL - you are killed.
c) HITHPAHEL - suicide.
d) PIHEL - you kill in a horrible manner.
e) PUHAL - you are killed in a horrible manner.
f) HIPHIL - Murder incorporated - you cause someone to be killed without being involved.
g) HOPHAL - you are the victim of murder incorporated.
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