Lesson 2: Who decided what the finished Bible should look like?
In the first lesson, we discovered the names and approximate ages of a variety of manuscripts and translations that, combined, make up the book we know today as the Bible. In this lesson, we will focus our attention on the people who decided which manuscripts to include in the OT and NT, and which manuscripts did not make the cut.
Formation of a Canon
How were the actual books contained in both the OT and NT chosen? Were there any other writings which were considered inspired, but which were not included in either the OT or the NT?
One term that will come up over and over again is canon (list of books officially accepted as part of the Bible by the main body of believers) (1). Both the OT and the NT have a canon; the OT depending on the judgment of the Jewish leaders, the NT depending on the leaders of the early Christian church.
The NT canon (2) was established in the early second century AD with approval of the whole community of early church members. The decision to include one manuscript, yet not another, rested solely on apostolic authority: was a document considered a genuine writing by, or was it written by, one of the apostles?
The apostles, those familiar with the faith will remember, were the earliest followers of Jesus; consistently trained by Him, and later on sent out to fulfill His legacy. A latecomer to the rank of apostles was Paul, formerly Saul, who was converted by Jesus in a vision.
At around 150 AD, the Roman churches already circulated a fixed list of writings accepted as having that apostolic authority. In the 1700’s a manuscript fragment known as the Muratorian Fragment was discovered, translated and displayed. (3) It has been dated to about 180 AD and contains an early list of accepted scriptures. This fragmented list begins with Luke, but mentions it as the third gospel. The list further mentions John, Acts, and all thirteen letters of Paul. In fact, all the letters in the New Testament are mentioned or implied except for Matthew, Mark, Hebrews, James, 1 and 2 Peter and 1 John. In the third century, the Christian leader Origen recorded the accepted list of letters. His list was identical to our New Testament, although he mentioned that Hebrews, James, 1 and 2 John and Jude were questioned by some.
At this point it is important to note that the church did not actually create the canon, but instead simply recognized those writings its leadership authenticated as being genuine, “inspired” writings.
The OT canon became a matter or gravest necessity after the final destruction of the temple at Jerusalem, in 70 AD. Being again scattered, and now facing the rise of Christianity from within its midst, the Jewish leaders recognized that in order for the Jewish people to remain united as such, and to also not cause any to mistake Christian writings for Jewish approved theology, it had to be ensured that only those books previously recognized as being of the Torah (law: Genesis through and including Deuteronomy), Nebhim (prophets: Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the 12 minor prophets); and the Kethubhim (writings: consisting of the poetical books, the historical books, and the Megilloth, also known as the five rolls: Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Esther, and Ecclesiastes) were publicly read and understood as being God's message to His people.
The inclusion of these writings, and their acceptance as Jewish scripture, was settled once and for all at the Council of Jamnia, which was a meeting of high-ranking rabbis, held on the eve of Jerusalem’s imminent destruction. (4)
