A fourth shocking discovery was this: the Bible didn’t come rolling off the presses as a single volume.
When we walk into Barnes and Noble, there are scores of Bibles. You just have to figure out which one to buy. It’s easy to assume that it’s always been that way.
So it’s a bit of a jolt when you first realize the obvious: that the Bible is a collection of “books,” and someone had to organize that collection. When you begin digging, you realize that there isn’t a formal recognition of the 27 books of the NT (these 27 and no others) until the fourth century. It was the church that was deciding which gospels and letters should be included in the canon and which ones shouldn’t.
Some of the books we cherish — Hebrews, James, 2 Peter, Revelation, for instance — had a hard time finding their place. As an example of why this happened, the early church struggled with not knowing who even wrote Hebrews. Also, a few other books were accepted by some but rejected by others and did not finally make it into the Christian canon.
(For an account of the forming of our biblical canon, you can begin at Wikipedia. To go indepth, a book like Bruce Metzger’s The Canon of the New Testament. I’d also recommend that you get ahold of the wonderful book God’s Holy Fire, written by Ken Cukrowski, Mark Hamilton, and James Thompson, all biblical scholars teaching at ACU.)
For many years, the gospel message was passed on orally. People told the story of Jesus and of the early church as they had witnessed it or as they had heard it from witnesses. There were likely three decades between the death/resurrection of Jesus and the appearance of the first gospel.
As the gospels and letters were written, they were eventually shared between churches. (Keep in mind there were no printing presses, and you couldn’t just cut, paste, and forward!)
Then, our brothers and sisters had to decide which gospels and letters had the ring of authority about them. Which actually came from the apostles? Which ones had spoken with an authoritative voice?
Some people would prefer not to think about this. It’s so much easier to just imagine that all 39 books of the OT came together, followed centuries later by the 27 books of the NT. Then you’d feel more justified with all of the cross-referencing and proof-texting.
So what do we do with this?
Here’s, again, where my statement of faith comes. I obviously can’t force anyone to believe this. But I have trust in the working of the Spirit of God through the people of God. I have confidence that God was working among the churches as they debated, prayed, and sought to discern which gospels/letters were “in” and which were “out.”
To build on that, I like these words from N. T. Wright (in the brilliant new book The Last Word: Beyond the Bible Wars to a New Understanding of the Authority of Scripture): “But canonization was never simply a matter of a choice of particular books on a ‘who’s in, who’s out’ basis. It was a matter of setting out the larger story, the narrative framework, which makes sense of and brings order to God’s world and God’s people. . . . It was the canonical scriptures that sustained the early church in its energetic mission and its commitment, startling to the watching pagan world, to a radical holiness.”
More in this little series later, but I want to end today with this prayer that Wright says has been prayed in his church for centuries:
Blessed Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning, grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of thy holy Word we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life which thou hast given us in thy Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
One more sentence from Wright today (that certainly seems to fit these feeble attempts to reflect on scripture): “Writing a book about the Bible is like building a sandcastle in front of the Matterhorn.”
There is something to that oral tradition that is supremely powerful. I wish we practiced more of that type of retelling of the story, more public reading, and more relection on the text itself. Reading for meaning is tough for most people in this world!
Paul - I agree. I hope to get to the part about public reading later. To recognize that the early history of transmission was through oral tradition isn’t to undermine it, but to (as you have) point to the power of that passing along of the story.
Here’s an interesting article on N. T. Wright’s book, SCRIPTURE AND THE AUTHORITY OF GOD.
http://NTWright.notlong.com
Here’s the first part of the article:
‘Writing a book about the Bible is like building a sandcastle in front of the Matterhorn. The best you can hope to do is to catch the eye of those who are looking down instead of up, or those who are so familiar with the skyline that they have stopped noticing its peculiar beauty.’ So begins Tom Wright in the preface to his latest book.
Dr. Wright’s aim is to get people to ‘look up once more and this time with fresh eyes’. This he manages to do most admirably. The book does not directly address the issues of inerrancy and infallibility, which are crucial, but within its own terms is extremely helpful.
With his usual clarity of thought and mastery of expression, Dr. Wright takes his readers on one of the most refreshing and insightful tours of what the Bible itself presents as the relationship between its authority and God’s authority and how that works itself out in the life of the Church.
Bishop Wright begins with a brief sketch of the place of the Bible within the church, rightly underscoring the fact that it has never simply been a book which is referred to when certain issues are discussed but is integral to its life as a worshipping community.
With the historical high points in place, Dr. Wright considers the relation between Scripture and today’s world, since what is happening in the wider culture invariably shapes and determines the sorts of questions raised about the Bible. The significant shift from modernism to the postmodern scene is skilfully tackled, as are matters of politics, philosophy, theology and ethics.
These form some of the backcloth against which the three following questions are discussed: 1. In what sense is the Bible authoritative in the first place? 2. How can the Bible be appropriately understood and interpreted? 3. How can its authority, assuming such appropriate interpretation, be brought to bear on the church and the rest of the world?
Sounds like we all need to read this book!
Peace.
The DaVinci Code is all about the canonization of the Bible. One of its main tenets is that lots of material was left out of the Scriptures that could have been included. The movie will be coming out soon and many people will be questioning how and why some things were included. Thanks for talking about it now
It is scary, indeed, how many people think The DaVinci Code is somehow based on fact. I wonder how many people in our churches have read that book, and think that it might actually be accurate…
Mike,
Do you think the canon is closed?
In the 4th century, the canon committee had more authority than the scripture itself. This is why I ask.
Leland - Yes, I do. That’s a great question that is worthy of a LONG discussion.
Greg - I read a wonderful review of the Da Vinci Code that said it’s a great book but one of the few books that leaves you stupider after you read it than you were before. That’s only, however, if you buy everything uncritically. The book appeals to our widespread interest in having access to hidden secrets that suddenly explain everything. The book and (soon) the movie are offering opportunites for wonderful discussions.
I have often wondered if the bible was written with the same intent in which Jesus spoke in parables?
I have been doing some writing/research on the Da Vinci Code and I understand that Wineskins is doing an issue on this topic. Is that true?
Peace
Steve - That’s right. Please contact Greg Taylor if you’d like to contribute to that issue. We’d love to have something from you!
This is the greatest series. Thanks for it. So many people hinge their entire faith on the Bible being a word for word literal copying from God with little or no human contribution. I did and it brought me trouble. The only way for me to be confident with that view was to shut everyone else out (except people who agreeed with me), look down on them for being stupid, or at best, pity their ignorance. How strange that such a view of the Bible would produce in me the opposite attitude of Christ. How strange that such an allegiance to the Bible make me less Christ-like.
Viewing the Bible as being developed to its present form as a work in progress is a little frightening at first, but then you get to thinking about it, and it it turns into something hopeful.
1. God goes from being “done” to remaining active today.
2. God goes from being far to being near.
3. God goes from being speaking only to listening as well.
4. God goes from being fixed to being flexible.
5. God goes form forceful sovereignty to providentiual sovereignty.
A God who would treat with me respect rather than a pawn is stunning. What motive would God have for releasing so much to people who have proven so little? Either God is crazy period - or crazy in love.
Mike - Great series! Regarding the closed status of the canon, I, for one, would be very interested in listening in on that “long discussion”.
Its an amazing, intricate puzzle.
I began to see these things that you are saying about the Bible a few years ago and it changed my understanding of the Bible. As a result, I no longer view the Bible as inerrant. There was a very, very difficult process which brought me to this point. I guess it is always tough to change a belief, but this one seemed to be especially tough because I had so much wrapped up in that way of looking at the Bible, including my community (CofC). Of course, this isn’t a favorite CofC view, so I don’t bring it up often. I only bring it up now b/c I think some need to know that you can still love and serve God while accepting some difficulties in this written book and its history (for example, the thorny issue of how the NT canon was put together–what a messy project that was!)
I must be honest..you are shaking my foundation a bit.
Steve, could you please contact me at dunderwood@harding.edu
Great post, Mike!
DU
Beverly -
Trust me — I understand, my friend. I went through a real crisis during my graduate studies — especially studying the synoptics in Greek. Old safeguards like “inerrancy” didn’t protect me.
But scripture is what it is. It’s best not to build on foundations that are themselves shaky!
You’ve listened to my preaching for years, and you know that I believe scripture is formative in the life of the church. What you may not know is that I find the Bible even more insightful, more integrative, more authoritative than I did before I began thinking about these things.
One of the important exegetical correlates of this series, especially the observation in the current one, is that none of the biblical writers knew of such a thing as the Bible in the form we have it–which means that there are no Bible verses that speak about the Bible (as a finished whole).
For those interested in digging deeper, I’d recommend John Barton’s How the Bible Came to Be as a good starting point, with Lee McDonald’s The Formation of Christian Biblical Canon: Revised and Expanded Edition and then The Canon Debate, edited by Lee McDonald and James Sanders, as next steps.
It’s also worth reminding ourselves that just as the Bible didn’t roll off the press as a single volume, when single-volume editions of the Bible were achieved, they weren’t all the same. In ancient times, churches in different parts of the Mediterranean world went in two different directions on the contents of the Old Testament (tending toward a shorter 39-book canon and a longer 46-book canon), and even these were not the only options. Today, the Protestant Bible, Roman Catholic Bible, Eastern Orthodox Bible, Ethiopian Orthodox Bible, and perhaps others are not all the same (in terms of the table of contents, the question of which books are in and which books are out). Educating ourselves about the processes by which this state of affairs came to be should help us resist any temptation to shake Revelation 22:19 in other people’s faces.
Thank you for this series.
I realize circular reasoning may be involved but I believe in scripture because I believe in Jesus rather than vice-versa. By analogy, I can gain insights to my wife when I read notes from/about her but they do not serve as the basis of that relationship. I understand the fear of experiencing relationship with Jesus in a subjective way but at some point “You ask me how I know He lives–He lives within my heart.” In time past, I have suffered from bibliolatry and defended some non-truths in the process. Slowly but surely, I am begining to desire in a greater way, “Beyond the sacred page I seek thee Lord.” There is a difference between faith in God and faith in the ability of a council to determine what to place in book form that will identify/validate the working of God.
This ‘little series’ is so rich on many levels. Thanks, Mike, for helping us peel them back!
Recently, upon the recommend of one of your Blog posts, I looked up the info for the TNIV. We do not have the myriad of ‘Bible bookstores’ or Christian mega-stores in the UK even remotely like the one my husband and I walked through in Abilene last year on a trip to see my folks. So I had to go to the Amazon to acquire it. Today’s commercialisation of the Bible is just astounding – so many trendy renditions. All this dressing up just to have to coax people to delve into the covers — it’s kinda like dousing Brussels sprouts in a ton of cheese sauce to force a kid like me to eat them! I’m just as spoiled, though, because I was so bummed not to find the Study Bible version (I found out it will be available Sept 2006.) I guess that one is too scary to be popular?
It is so amazing that you are doing this series, because one of the recent books that has had such a profound affect on me is Brian Moynahan’s ‘If God Spare My Life: William Tyndale, the English Bible and Sir Thomas More – a Story of Martyrdom and Betrayal’ (Little, Brown). We have come such a long way from the Bible smuggling times of Tyndale’s days. One of the most painful stories I have ever read has to do with Tyndale’s journey to Hamburg, where he hoped to complete his work on the Septuagint. His disastrous shipwreck on the Dutch coast cost him, among most of his precious resources and funds, his just-completed translation of Deuteronomy. Of all the books to have to duplicate and do over again – the thought just exhausts me!
The TNIV might be, in our day and time, a vast improvement over Tyndale’s hard spiritual graft of a lifetime. I am sad that when, as a child in the C of C, I asked questions like ‘Where did my Bible come from? If Jesus spoke Aramaic, then why can I read this in English?’ no one told me the stories of such early erudite Believers as Wycliffe or Tyndale. They were models who were not popular or considered successful in their time. Indeed, for all Tyndale’s arduous work, Sir Thomas More would condemn him as ‘a hell-hound in the kennel of the devil’. With More’s obsession for making Tyndales’s life the thorniest of trials, Tyndale’s passion for communicating the personality of Jesus to the English masses could only be buoyed by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Sorry to write so much … this stuff is just so exciting! Awaiting the B-I-B-L-E #5.
Yes, Mike, I have heard that in your preaching and I do agree that my foundation should not be based on man’s interpretations but on Jesus..
This ‘little series’ is so rich on many levels. Thanks, Mike, for helping us peel back the layers!
Recently, upon the recommend of one of your Blog posts, I looked up the info for the TNIV. We do not have the myriad of ‘Bible bookstores’ or Christian mega-stores in the UK even remotely like the one my husband and I walked through in Abilene last year on a trip to see my folks. So I had to go to the Amazon to acquire it. Today’s commercialisation of the Bible is just astounding – so many trendy renditions. All this dressing up just to have to coax people to open the covers — it’s kinda like dousing Brussels sprouts in a ton of cheese sauce to force a kid like me to eat them! I’m just as spoiled, though, because I was so bummed not to find the Study Bible version (I found out it will be available Sept 2006.) I guess that one is too scary to be popular?
It is so amazing that you are doing this series, because one of the recent books that has had such a profound affect on me is Brian Moynahan’s ‘If God Spare My Life: William Tyndale, the English Bible and Sir Thomas More – a Story of Martyrdom and Betrayal’ (Little, Brown). We have come such a long way from the Bible smuggling times of Tyndale’s days. One of the most painful stories I have ever read has to do with Tyndale’s journey to Hamburg, where he hoped to complete his work on the Septuagint. His disastrous shipwreck on the Dutch coast cost him, among most of his resources and precious funds, his just-completed translation of Deuteronomy. Of all books to have to duplicate and do over again – the thought just exhausts me!
The TNIV might be, in our day and time, a vast improvement over Tyndale’s hard spiritual graft of a lifetime. I am sad that when, as a child in the C of C, I asked questions like ‘Where did my Bible come from? If Jesus spoke Aramaic, then why can I read this in English?’ no one told me the stories of such early erudite Believers as Wycliffe or Tyndale. They were certainly not popular or considered successful in their time. Indeed, for all Tyndale’s arduous work, Sir Thomas More would condemn him as ‘a hell-hound in the kennel of the devil’. With More’s obsession for making Tyndales’s life the thorniest of trials, Tyndale’s passion for communicating the personality of Jesus to the English masses could only be buoyed by the power of the Holy Spirit.
,
Sorry to write so much … this stuff is just so exciting! Awaiting the B-I-B-L-E #5.
“I believe scripture is formative in the life of the church. What you may not know is that I find the Bible even more insightful, more integrative, more authoritative than I did before I began thinking about these things.” from your comment to Beverly.
I too appreciate your series on the Bible, and in some strange way your above comment makes a lot of sense to me. Maybe it’s because this view of scripture is REAL and relational rather than some fragile pattern that we must fearfully tiptoe around as we hold our breath hoping we got it all right.
At a time when this subject is dominating my thoughts, I cannot tell you how much I appreciate this series. I know that God uses you in many, many ways, some you never even know about. But this series in part is an answer to my prayer for wisdom and insight……Thank you!
Mike,
My mom bought me NT Wright’s book The Last Word. I just started reading it and it is excellent. I think his statement that the Bible is an extension of the authority of God in the world today is quite compelling. It leads me to believe that the scriptures are not some static collection of facts about God. They are a part of the living and active voice of God in today’s church. This view of scripture cuts both ways, the liberal viewpoint that the scriptures are a flawed collection of ancient texts that must be re-evaluated and the conservative viewpoint that the scriptures hold authority within themselves as prooftexts. I can’t wait to read more.
This ‘little series’ is so rich on many levels. Thanks, Mike, for helping us peel back the layers!
Recently, upon the recommend of one of your Blog posts, I looked up the info for the TNIV. Today’s commercialisation of the Bible is just astounding – so many trendy renditions. All this dressing up just to have to coax people to open the covers — it’s kinda like dousing Brussels sprouts in a ton of cheese sauce to force a kid like me to eat them! I’m just as spoiled, though, because I was so bummed not to find the Study Bible version (I found out it will be available Sept 2006.) I guess that one is too scary to be popular?
It is so amazing that you are doing this series, because one of the recent books that has had such a profound affect on me is Brian Moynahan’s ‘If God Spare My Life: William Tyndale, the English Bible and Sir Thomas More – a Story of Martyrdom and Betrayal’ (Little, Brown). We have come such a long way from the Bible smuggling times of Tyndale’s days. One of the most painful stories I have ever read has to do with Tyndale’s journey to Hamburg, where he hoped to complete his work on the Septuagint. His disastrous shipwreck on the Dutch coast cost him, among most of his resources and precious funds, his just-completed translation of Deuteronomy. Of all books to have to duplicate and do over again – the thought just exhausts me!
The TNIV might be, in our day and time, a vast improvement over Tyndale’s hard spiritual graft of a lifetime. I am sad that when, as a child in the C of C, I asked questions like ‘Where did my Bible come from? If Jesus spoke Aramaic, then why can I read this in English?’ no one told me the stories of such early erudite Believers as Wycliffe or Tyndale. They were certainly not popular or considered successful in their time. Indeed, for all Tyndale’s arduous work, Sir Thomas More would condemn him as ‘a hell-hound in the kennel of the devil’. With More’s obsession for making Tyndales’s life the thorniest of trials, Tyndale’s passion for communicating the personality of Jesus to the English masses could only be buoyed by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Sorry to write so much … this stuff is just so exciting! Awaiting the B-I-B-L-E #5.
The things I discovered in my personal study of the early church and canon were at first unsettling, but eventually I gained a new appreciation for a God who worked through the warp and woof of everyday life, including the good, the bad and the ugly.
I’ve had the opportunity to teach about canon formation on a number of occasions and these soundbites of mine always raise a few eyebrows:
–the church had to become catholic (universal in canon and creed) before it could possibly survive to become anything else
–scripture is like sausage;everbody loves it, but they don’t like watching it being made
Hello! Good Site! Thanks you! znqqlrebapqgp