New Testament Canon and the Apocrypha

Foundations of the New Testament Canon

• Canon refers to the authorized collection of books within the Bible. The concept of canonicity involves a distinction between the creation of a book and the recognition of its authority by the church.

• In the Old Testament, the numbering of books follows a specific logic: $22 = 24 = 39$.

  • The value of $22$ represents the count according to Josephus.

  • The value of $24$ represents the Masoretic text.

  • The value of $39$ represents the standard Protestant count.

  • The variation exists simply due to the method of counting and grouping the books rather than a difference in content.

• The Old Testament is structured as the Tanakh, which is an acronym for its three major divisions:

  • The Torah (Law).

  • The Nevi'im (Prophets).

  • The Ketuvim (Writings).

The New Testament Canon and Self-Attestation

• The New Testament consists of $27$ books. The process of determining these books involved "self-attestation," where biblical authors validated one another's writings as scripture:

  • Paul categorizes the writings of Luke as scripture.

  • Peter places Paul's writings in the same category as other scriptures.

  • Both Paul and John explicitly declare that their writings are not merely human words but are, in fact, the Word of God.

• There is an internal witness to these books, suggesting they are inspired by the Holy Spirit and distinct from other literature produced during the same period.

The Five Criteria for Canonicity

• The recognition of the New Testament canon was a process that spanned approximately $300-400$ years. In the context of the ancient Near Eastern world, this duration was standard due to the manual production of letters, the lack of a developed postal system, and slow travel conditions.

• The early church utilized five specific criteria to recognize which books were canonical:

• Apostolicity:

  • A book must have been written by an apostle or a close associate of an apostle.

  • Matthew and John were apostles.

  • Mark was an associate of Peter.

  • Luke was an associate of Paul.

  • Paul considered himself an apostle of the same standing as the original $12$.

  • Hebrews is of uncertain authorship, though sometimes associated with the "Apollene School" or Paul.

  • James and Jude were the half-brothers of Jesus.

• Doctrinal Content:

  • The content had to agree with Old Testament theology. This relationship is viewed as "progressive revelation," where the New Testament complements and expands upon the Tanakh rather than contradicting it.

  • The content also had to align with the oral traditions and eyewitness accounts regarding Jesus. For example, in $1 \text{ Corinthians}$, Paul notes that Jesus appeared to more than $500$ people at once, many of whom were still alive to testify or correct false claims at the time of his writing.

• Inspiration:

  • The book needed unmistakable evidence of being inspired by the Holy Spirit. This is often viewed as a more subjective criterion compared to the others, yet it remains central to the church's recognition.

• Universality:

  • Over time, these books were scattered throughout the church, recognized across different regions, and universally received.

  • An example of selective recognition involves Paul’s letters to Corinth. Paul wrote at least $4$ letters to the Corinthians: the "previous letter" mentioned in $1 \text{ Corinthians 5:9}$, the letter known as $1 \text{ Corinthians}$, a "severe letter" mentioned in $2 \text{ Corinthians}$, and the letter known as $2 \text{ Corinthians}$. Despite the existence of $4$ letters, the church recognized and received only $2$ of them ($1 \text{ Corinthians}$ and $2 \text{ Corinthians}$) as part of the canon.

• Moral Effect:

  • The writing must have the ability to edify and transform the reader, demonstrating practical and spiritual value in the life of the believer.

Historical Development and Classification by Eusebius

• Under the commission of Emperor Constantine, the historian Eusebius was tasked with producing $50$ copies of the New Testament. This required an evaluation of which books belonged in the canon. He categorized books into two primary groups:

• Homologoumena:

  • These were books accepted and received by the church with absolutely no questions or disputes regarding their authority.

• Antilegomena:

  • These were books that faced some level of questioning. This category was subdivided into:

    • Merely Disputed: These included James, $2 \text{ Peter}$, Jude, and $2$ and $3 \text{ John}$. James was often disputed because it reads like Old Testament proverbial literature if the mentions of Jesus are removed, and it was perceived by some to conflict with Pauline theology on justification.

    • Definitely Spurious: Books that were widely rejected by the church leadership as false or unauthorized.

• The Muratorian Fragment, dated around $170 \text{ AD}$, provides an early list of canonical books. It included Jude and $2$ and $3 \text{ John}$, but notably omitted James, $2 \text{ Peter}$, and Hebrews.

• Significant figures and councils eventually arrived at the consensus of the $27$ books:

  • Athanasius ($367 \text{ AD}$): Explicitly claimed all $27$ books, stating "let no man add and let nothing be taken away."

  • Church Fathers: Chrysostom, Jerome, and Augustine all affirmed the same $27$ books.

  • Church Councils: The Council of Hippo ($393 \text{ AD}$) and multiple Councils of Carthage ($397 \text{ AD}$, $419 \text{ AD}$) formally recognized the $27$-book New Testament canon.

The Apocrypha and Intertestamental Literature

• The Apocrypha, also known as intertestamental literature, consist of books written between the time of Malachi and Matthew. While these books appear in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament), they are not included in the Masoretic text (the Hebrew Old Testament).

• Categories of Apocryphal Literature:

  • Wisdom Books: Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus.

  • Historical Books: $1 \text{ Esdras}$, $1$ and $2 \text{ Maccabees}$.

  • Religious Romances: Tobit and Judith (stories of individuals choosing devotion to God over earthly desires).

  • Prophetic Books: Baruch, Letter of Jeremiah, Esdras.

  • Legendary Additions: The Prayer of Manasseh (a supposed prayer of repentance for the evil king Manasseh), the "Rest of Esther" (which adds explicit mentions of God to a book where He is otherwise unnamed), the Song of the Three Men (Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego), Susanna, and Bel and the Dragon.

Reasons for Protestant Rejection of the Apocrypha

• Protestants exclude the Apocrypha from the biblical canon for several reasons:

  1. Jewish Non-Acceptance: The Jewish community, who produced this literature, never accepted it as part of their canon ($22/24$ books).

  2. Lack of New Testament Citation: Neither Jesus nor the New Testament writers quoted these specific books as scripture. While other non-canonical works like the Book of Enoch or stories of Jannes and Jambres are referenced, quoting a source does not equate to accepting its canonical status.

  3. Errors: The books contain various geographical and historical inaccuracies, which conflict with the doctrine of inerrancy required for inspired scripture.

  4. Contrary Doctrines: They teach several doctrines that Protestants view as unbiblical, including prayer for the dead, praying to saints, purgatory, redemption after death, and the worship of angels.

  5. Absence in Early Catalogs: They are missing from the earliest lists of canonical books provided by the church from the $1\text{st}$ to the $4\text{th}$ centuries.

  6. No Divine Claim: Unlike biblical books that frequently use the phrase "thus saith the Lord," apocryphal books do not claim divine authority or inspiration.

• The Roman Catholic Church formally embraced these books as canon at the Council of Trent in $1546 \text{ AD}$. This was largely a response to the Protestant Reformation, led by Martin Luther (who posted his $95$ Theses on the Wittenberg door on October $31$, $1517 \text{ AD}$). Since Luther challenged doctrines like indulgences and purgatory based on their absence from the canon, the Catholic Church responded by canonicalizing the books that contained those doctrines.

Historical and Theological Value of Intertestamental Literature

• Although not considered scripture by Protestants, these books have immense value as historical literature. They bridge the gap between the Old and New Testaments, explaining the origins of various groups and concepts:

  • Political and Religious Groups: The rise of the Pharisees (purists), Sadducees (political deal-makers), Zealots (revolutionaries), and Herodians occurred during this time.

  • The Afterlife: Old Testament views focused primarily on Sheol. The intertestamental period saw the development of more specific terminology used by Jesus, such as Paradise (Abraham’s Bosom), Hades (temporary place of the wicked dead), and Gehenna (permanent place of the wicked dead).