(Originally written January 5, 2006 in Notebook 20)
The Canon & Transmission of the New Testament text
Definition of Canon - originally meant measuring reed
Metaphorical meaning - standard
Applied to the New Testament - refers to those books accepted by the Church as the standard with governs our beliefs.
The Precanonical Period
- Oral tradition (25 years worth)
(The passion narrative was probably memorized)
- Early Christian Preaching:
1) No New Testament books at this time
2) Early Church had the Septuagint
- Logica = Sayings (A collection of Christ's sayings compiled by Matthew)
- Perhaps like the "Q" Source, namely the 250 or so verses common to Matt and Luke, not in others
- Testimonia = Collection of Old Testament Passages
- Agrapha
- Literally means "unwritten"
- they are the unwritten things that Jesus said
- unwritten means not in the Gospel
- An example of this is Acts 20:35
- Direct revelation from God through the prophets (Acts 11:27-28, Acts 13:1, I Corinthians 11:4-5, 1 Corinthians 12-14)
The collection of individual documents
- New Testament authors regarded their messages as authoritative (I Corinthians 7:40, I Corinthians 14:37, 2 Peter 3:1-2, Revelation 22:18-19)
- Internal testimony: the documents were to be read in the public gatherings of the churches (Revelation 1:3, Galatians 1:1-2, I Thessalonians 5:27, 2 Corinthians 1:1, Colossians 4:16)
- Internal testimony: at least two writers cite other New Testament works as "Scripture" (1 Timothy 5:18, 2 Peter 3:15-16)
The influence of that lead to their collection
- Apostles start to die
- A body of truth was needed for teaching new convents
- Influential heretics arise like Marcion of Sinope: Marcion limited the canon to Paul's letters and Luke's gospel. He was anti-semitic and disregarded other books as Old Testament and of the God of wrath.
Formation of the Canon
- The idea: God superintended the collection of the documents via through his spirit in the churches
Tests of canonicity:
1) Apostolic origin (of an apostle or associate)
2) Apostolic doctrine (first oral, then written)
3) Acceptance by the churches
- Canon confirmed the third council of Carthage
Conclusion
- The Holy Spirit superintended the writing, collection and recognition of the canon
- None of the books were accepted by the church because of ecclesiastical compulsion
- Canon wasn't determined by a council or by individuals' judgments. It was the Spirit guidance.
- Church did not determine the canon, it only recognized it
Textual criticism - the study of the copies of any written composition of which the original autograph is unknown
Foundations of Exposition
-Exposition
- Systematic Theology
- Biblical Theology
- Exegesis
- Hermeneutics
How the Bible came to Us
Thoughts in God's mind --> revelation --> Human author's minds --> Inspiration --> Original Manuscripts of the Bible (Collection of 66 Books) --> Textual Criticism --> Modern Greek and Hebrew Bibles -> Translation --> Modern English Versions --> Illumination and Interpretation --> Thoughts in our minds --> Application --> Change in our lives --> Communication --> to others
The Holy Spirit does not help you to interpret the Bible. It prompts you to act on the Biblical passages you read.
Revelation is the wisdom that cannot be known through human methods, it must be revealed by God
Hermeneutics is the science that teaches us the principles, laws and methods of interpretation.
Differing hermeneutical principles and procedures yield different results and is responsible for varying Christian doctrines.
Evangelicals use the grammatical-historical method of interpretation.
Grammatical - considers the meanings of the words in the text
Historical - considers the meaning of the text within historical contexts
Validation - validating your interpretation
Grammatical-historical method seeks to establish the meaning and the intention of the text as it would have been understood by the original readers.
Competent exegesis must be done in the original languages
Interpret literally
Literal - the natural or usual construction and implication of a writing or expression; following the ordinary and apparent sense of words, not allegorical or metaphorical
There are three elements to every word:
1) Symbol - the actual letters
2) Sense - the meaning attached to the symbol (mediator, intercessor, helper)
3) Referent: the actual thing being related to
Interpret the Bible Contextually
Interpret in accordance with the genre of literature
Understand there are figures of speech: metaphors, similes, overstatements, hyperbole, pun, paradox, irony, parables, fables, myths, riddles
Revelation is accommodated.
Revelation is progressive.
No comments:
Post a Comment