19. The Canon of the Bible
13. Meaning of Canon: Criteria of Canonicity
The word canon in Greek means “measuring rod” or “ruler.” The expression “canon of the Bible” indicates the list—established by the Church—of inspired books that form the Bible.1 Thus, we distinguish them from the non-inspired books. The canonicity of a book presupposes that it was inspired. It is canonical because it is inspired, not vice versa.
The earliest complete list of the inspired books is mentioned in the writings of the provincial Council of Hippo (a.d. 393) and the Third and Fourth Councils of Carthage (a.d. 397 and 419). St. Augustine was present at these councils. The documents were sent to Rome for confirmation and approval.
In a.d. 405, Pope Innocent I confirmed the traditional canon in reply to the request of a French bishop.
In 1441, the Council of Florence confirmed the canon of the African councils and Innocent I.
Strangely, doubts lingered on. So, the biblical canon was solemnly declared by the Council of Trent (1546) to combat Protestant errors, and it was declared again by the First Vatican Council (1870).
The biblical canon is not found in the Bible itself. It is part of the deposit of revealed truths kept by the Church. Through the Apostolic Tradition, the Church knows the catalog of inspired books with certainty.
The Protestants rejected the authority of the Church. Thus, they lost solid objective criteria to establish the canon. They developed subjective criteria.
Luther classified the books of the New Testament according to their supposed conformity with his own doctrine of “justification through faith alone.” Thus, he rejected St. Jude’s epistle, Apocalypse, St. James, and Hebrews. Calvin had a different criterion, as did other Protestant leaders. They could not accept that Tradition is the basis for determining the canon—this would go against their theory of sola scriptura.
14. History of the Old Testament Canon
It is believed that Moses substantially wrote the first five books of the Old Testament (the Pentateuch), ordered them to be read in public every seven years, and required that a copy of them be placed in the Ark of the Covenant (cf. Dt 31:9–13).
In 700 b.c., King Hezekiah compiled the proverbs of Solomon and ordered that the Psalms of David be sung in the temple.
In the fifth century b.c., Nehemiah built a library and ordered the books of Kings, Prophets, and David to be placed in it (cf. 2 Mc 2:13).
By the time of our Lord’s coming, the canon of the Old Testament was established, with the books divided into three parts: the Law (Torah), the Prophets (Nebi’im), and the Writings (Ketubim).
The three parts of the Old Testament appear as such in the Septuagint (a Greek version of the Old Testament made in Alexandria) in the second century b.c. This version was used by the apostles and the early Christians.
The Jews of Palestine had the same canon of Old Testament as those of Alexandria. However, after the destruction of Jerusalem (a.d. 70), the scribes and Pharisees excluded some books from their canon, based on the following arbitrary criteria:
· Antiquity
· Original language of composition
· Conformity with their interpretation of the Law
After both the Levitic priesthood and the temple had ceased to exist and the Christian Church was established, an official decision was made by the Jewish Synod of Jamnia (a.d. 95–100) to exclude Tobias, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, 1 and 2 Maccabees, and fragments of Esther and Daniel from their canon. These books were later called deuterocanonical; the rest are called protocanonical books.
In the Catholic Church, the complete canon (following the Septuagint) was accepted from the beginning of her existence.
The Protestants of the sixteenth century went back to the ruling of the Jewish Synod of Jamnia. They rejected the deuterocanonical books, calling them apocryphal.
15. The History of the Text of the Old Testament
The original language of Abraham was Hebrew. During the Babylonian exile (586–536 b.c.) the Jews learned Aramaic, the language of a nomadic people of the Middle East. Aramaic became dominant in Syria and Mesopotamia. After the conquest of Alexander the Great, Aramaic gave way to vulgar Greek, koiné. Thus, Greek was the language of the Jews of the Diaspora (dispersion), and it was the working language of Rome until a.d. 150.
Three languages were used in the Old Testament:
i) A large part of the Old Testament was written in Hebrew.
ii) A small portion was in Aramaic: Daniel 2:4–7:28; Esdras 4:8–6:18; 7:12–26.
iii) Two books were written in Greek: Wisdom, 2 Maccabees.
The texts were often written on scrolls of papyrus (a kind of paper made from a plant abundant in Egypt) or parchment (goat skin). The codices (singular: codex) are very much like our books.
None of the original texts have reached us. The oldest texts we possess are dated after the second century b.c.: the Nash Papyrus (found in Egypt in 1902), and the scrolls from Qumran, discovered near the Dead Sea between 1947 and 1956. Dating from the second century b.c. up to the first century a.d., these scrolls contain fragments of most of the books of the Old Testament in Hebrew.
Vowels were not usually indicated in written Hebrew. When Hebrew was still a spoken language, the vowel pronunciation was transmitted orally. Between the sixth and tenth centuries—when Hebrew was a dead language—the Massoretes (Jewish scholars of tradition) collected and arranged the old texts. To facilitate the correct reading of the text, they added the assumed vowels and other grammatical punctuation; they also numbered the verses. The document they produced is called the Massoretic version.
In 1445, with the advent of the printing press, the Hebrew text began to be published without the Massoretic notations. This is the usual text now. The first printed text of the Old Testament in Hebrew is the Spanish Complutensian Polyglot Bible (1520).
16. History of the New Testament Canon
Tradition is clear about the New Testament books. They were written between a.d. 40 and 100. After the death of the last apostle (St. John), the canon of the New Testament was complete.
Between the first and second centuries, the canon of the New Testament was consolidated, as the Muratori Canon (end of the second century) attests.
Between the third and fourth centuries, the canonicity of seven New Testament books (Hebrews, Apocalypse, James, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, Jude) was doubted in some places. These books are the deuterocanonical books of the New Testament. The doubts were due to:
· difficulties in communication;
· the existence of apocryphal books written by heretics; and
· the lack of a dogmatic definition.
17. History of the New Testament
Text The Gospels are the heart of the Sacred Scripture “because they are our principal source for the life and teaching of the Incarnate Word, our Saviour.”2 There are three stages in the formation of the Gospels:
i) The life and teaching of Jesus until the day when he ascended into heaven. The historicity of the events cannot be doubted.
ii) The oral Tradition. “The apostles handed on to their hearers what he [Jesus] had said and done, but with that fuller understanding which they, instructed by the glorious events of Christ and enlightened by the Spirit of truth, now enjoyed.”3
iii) The written Gospels. “The sacred authors, in writing the four Gospels, selected certain of the many elements which had been handed on, either orally or already in written form, others they synthesized or explained with an eye to the situation of the churches, the while sustaining the form of preaching, but always in such a fashion that they have told us the honest truth about Jesus.”4
St. Matthew wrote his version of the gospel in Aramaic. The rest were written in Greek koiné with some Semitic influences.
More than 4,970 codices related to the New Testament currently exist; 53 contain the entire New Testament. Among them are the Codex Alexandrinus (fifth century), the Vatican Codex (fourth century), the Sinaiticus (fourth century), and the Beza codices. The first printed text of the New Testament in the original Greek is the Complutensian Polyglot (1520).
There are also parts of the New Testament quoted by the Fathers of the Church and ecclesiastical writers.
Footnotes:
1. Cf. CCC, 120.
2. DV, 18.
3. Ibid., 19.
4. Ibid.
The word canon in Greek means “measuring rod” or “ruler.” The expression “canon of the Bible” indicates the list—established by the Church—of inspired books that form the Bible.1 Thus, we distinguish them from the non-inspired books. The canonicity of a book presupposes that it was inspired. It is canonical because it is inspired, not vice versa.
The earliest complete list of the inspired books is mentioned in the writings of the provincial Council of Hippo (a.d. 393) and the Third and Fourth Councils of Carthage (a.d. 397 and 419). St. Augustine was present at these councils. The documents were sent to Rome for confirmation and approval.
In a.d. 405, Pope Innocent I confirmed the traditional canon in reply to the request of a French bishop.
In 1441, the Council of Florence confirmed the canon of the African councils and Innocent I.
Strangely, doubts lingered on. So, the biblical canon was solemnly declared by the Council of Trent (1546) to combat Protestant errors, and it was declared again by the First Vatican Council (1870).
The biblical canon is not found in the Bible itself. It is part of the deposit of revealed truths kept by the Church. Through the Apostolic Tradition, the Church knows the catalog of inspired books with certainty.
The Protestants rejected the authority of the Church. Thus, they lost solid objective criteria to establish the canon. They developed subjective criteria.
Luther classified the books of the New Testament according to their supposed conformity with his own doctrine of “justification through faith alone.” Thus, he rejected St. Jude’s epistle, Apocalypse, St. James, and Hebrews. Calvin had a different criterion, as did other Protestant leaders. They could not accept that Tradition is the basis for determining the canon—this would go against their theory of sola scriptura.
14. History of the Old Testament Canon
It is believed that Moses substantially wrote the first five books of the Old Testament (the Pentateuch), ordered them to be read in public every seven years, and required that a copy of them be placed in the Ark of the Covenant (cf. Dt 31:9–13).
In 700 b.c., King Hezekiah compiled the proverbs of Solomon and ordered that the Psalms of David be sung in the temple.
In the fifth century b.c., Nehemiah built a library and ordered the books of Kings, Prophets, and David to be placed in it (cf. 2 Mc 2:13).
By the time of our Lord’s coming, the canon of the Old Testament was established, with the books divided into three parts: the Law (Torah), the Prophets (Nebi’im), and the Writings (Ketubim).
The three parts of the Old Testament appear as such in the Septuagint (a Greek version of the Old Testament made in Alexandria) in the second century b.c. This version was used by the apostles and the early Christians.
The Jews of Palestine had the same canon of Old Testament as those of Alexandria. However, after the destruction of Jerusalem (a.d. 70), the scribes and Pharisees excluded some books from their canon, based on the following arbitrary criteria:
· Antiquity
· Original language of composition
· Conformity with their interpretation of the Law
After both the Levitic priesthood and the temple had ceased to exist and the Christian Church was established, an official decision was made by the Jewish Synod of Jamnia (a.d. 95–100) to exclude Tobias, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, 1 and 2 Maccabees, and fragments of Esther and Daniel from their canon. These books were later called deuterocanonical; the rest are called protocanonical books.
In the Catholic Church, the complete canon (following the Septuagint) was accepted from the beginning of her existence.
The Protestants of the sixteenth century went back to the ruling of the Jewish Synod of Jamnia. They rejected the deuterocanonical books, calling them apocryphal.
15. The History of the Text of the Old Testament
The original language of Abraham was Hebrew. During the Babylonian exile (586–536 b.c.) the Jews learned Aramaic, the language of a nomadic people of the Middle East. Aramaic became dominant in Syria and Mesopotamia. After the conquest of Alexander the Great, Aramaic gave way to vulgar Greek, koiné. Thus, Greek was the language of the Jews of the Diaspora (dispersion), and it was the working language of Rome until a.d. 150.
Three languages were used in the Old Testament:
i) A large part of the Old Testament was written in Hebrew.
ii) A small portion was in Aramaic: Daniel 2:4–7:28; Esdras 4:8–6:18; 7:12–26.
iii) Two books were written in Greek: Wisdom, 2 Maccabees.
The texts were often written on scrolls of papyrus (a kind of paper made from a plant abundant in Egypt) or parchment (goat skin). The codices (singular: codex) are very much like our books.
None of the original texts have reached us. The oldest texts we possess are dated after the second century b.c.: the Nash Papyrus (found in Egypt in 1902), and the scrolls from Qumran, discovered near the Dead Sea between 1947 and 1956. Dating from the second century b.c. up to the first century a.d., these scrolls contain fragments of most of the books of the Old Testament in Hebrew.
Vowels were not usually indicated in written Hebrew. When Hebrew was still a spoken language, the vowel pronunciation was transmitted orally. Between the sixth and tenth centuries—when Hebrew was a dead language—the Massoretes (Jewish scholars of tradition) collected and arranged the old texts. To facilitate the correct reading of the text, they added the assumed vowels and other grammatical punctuation; they also numbered the verses. The document they produced is called the Massoretic version.
In 1445, with the advent of the printing press, the Hebrew text began to be published without the Massoretic notations. This is the usual text now. The first printed text of the Old Testament in Hebrew is the Spanish Complutensian Polyglot Bible (1520).
16. History of the New Testament Canon
Tradition is clear about the New Testament books. They were written between a.d. 40 and 100. After the death of the last apostle (St. John), the canon of the New Testament was complete.
Between the first and second centuries, the canon of the New Testament was consolidated, as the Muratori Canon (end of the second century) attests.
Between the third and fourth centuries, the canonicity of seven New Testament books (Hebrews, Apocalypse, James, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, Jude) was doubted in some places. These books are the deuterocanonical books of the New Testament. The doubts were due to:
· difficulties in communication;
· the existence of apocryphal books written by heretics; and
· the lack of a dogmatic definition.
17. History of the New Testament
Text The Gospels are the heart of the Sacred Scripture “because they are our principal source for the life and teaching of the Incarnate Word, our Saviour.”2 There are three stages in the formation of the Gospels:
i) The life and teaching of Jesus until the day when he ascended into heaven. The historicity of the events cannot be doubted.
ii) The oral Tradition. “The apostles handed on to their hearers what he [Jesus] had said and done, but with that fuller understanding which they, instructed by the glorious events of Christ and enlightened by the Spirit of truth, now enjoyed.”3
iii) The written Gospels. “The sacred authors, in writing the four Gospels, selected certain of the many elements which had been handed on, either orally or already in written form, others they synthesized or explained with an eye to the situation of the churches, the while sustaining the form of preaching, but always in such a fashion that they have told us the honest truth about Jesus.”4
St. Matthew wrote his version of the gospel in Aramaic. The rest were written in Greek koiné with some Semitic influences.
More than 4,970 codices related to the New Testament currently exist; 53 contain the entire New Testament. Among them are the Codex Alexandrinus (fifth century), the Vatican Codex (fourth century), the Sinaiticus (fourth century), and the Beza codices. The first printed text of the New Testament in the original Greek is the Complutensian Polyglot (1520).
There are also parts of the New Testament quoted by the Fathers of the Church and ecclesiastical writers.
Footnotes:
1. Cf. CCC, 120.
2. DV, 18.
3. Ibid., 19.
4. Ibid.