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lesson 4 THE
CANON OF THE BIBLE The Term "Canon" Is Used To Refer
To The Collection Of Books Inspired By God.
Because There Have Been Many "Religious" Documents Written
During The Time Covered By The Scriptures, The Faithful Had To Decide Which
Ones Would Be Included As Scripture, That Is,
Which Ones Were Inspired By God. I. THE CANON OF THE OLD TESTAMENT A.
It Consists Of: 1) The Law, 2) The
Prophets, And 3) The Writings B.
In A General Way It Seems That The Old Testament Books Were Accepted By the
People Of God At The Same Time It Was Being Produced. Note Joshua 1:7 And Nehemiah 8:8 With
Regard To The Law. C.
The Old Testament Canon Was Closed With The Writing Of Malachi As There
WereNo More Prophetic Voices To Be Heard. D. During The Time Of Jesus The O.T. Canon
Was Complete - Lk. 24:44 (It Is
Likely That The O.T. Was Recognized
As Being Complete Many Years Before Jesus' Arrival.) II.
THE CANON OF THE NEW TESTAMENT A.
The N.T. Books Were Used As Scripture From The Time They Were Written. B. Nevertheless, The Use Of Other Writings
As Scripture In Some Areas (Up Till The End Of The Third Century)
Showed The Necessity For Clearly Defining The Canon. C.
Criteria Used For Determining If A Writing Should Form Part Of The Canon 1. Did it have apostolic character? It had to be written by a true apostle or
someone having a close relationship
with an apostle. 2. Did it have content that was in
agreement with sound doctrine and the teachings of Christ and the apostles? 3. Was it accepted by all the churches (congregations)? 4. Did it offer clear and evident proof of being inspired by God? D.
By 400 A.D. All The Churches In The West Recognized The Canon Of The N.T. As
It Is Today. III. HOW DID WE GET THE BIBLE? A. The Original Manuscripts - Scripture Was
Written In Two Languages, The O.T. In Hebrew, And The N.T. In Greek. B.
The Preservation Of The Scriptures 1. The Copies - In order to preserve the scriptures copies were made
of the originals. 2. The Copiers - They counted the words and
letters and pronounced them orally before writing them on papyrus
or leather. There are still
several copies preserved in some European libraries. 3. The oldest O.T. manuscript is from the
second century B.C. The oldest N.T.
manuscript is from the second century A.D. IV. THE
ENGLISH BIBLE There have been many translations of the
Bible into English, particularly in the last 40 years. Here we will only note some of the more
influential translations (versions), principally Protestant. A. The Wyclif (Wycliffe) Bible - The First
Edition Came Out Between 1380 and 1384.
It Was Based Upon The Latin
Vulgate Version And Was Very Literal, Even Preserving Latin Word
Order. Probably Several Members Of
The Wyclif
Movement Contributed To
This Translation. B. The Coverdale Bible - 1535 - The First
Complete Printed English Bible. Based
Upon The German And Latin Translations
And Tyndale's Work. C. The Authorized (AV) Or King James
Version (KJV) - 1611 - Based On Many Former Translations, Particularly Those
Of Tyndale And Coverdale.
Widely Accepted And Used, Even Up Till The Present Time. D. The Revised And American Standard
Versions - 1881-1901 - A Scholarly Revision By Committee Of The AV Based Upon
Greek And Hebrew Texts. E.
The Revised Standard Version (RSV) - 1952 - A Revision Of The AV By
Committee. Widely Accepted Though Not
Without Its Detractors. G.
The New English Bible (NEB) - 1970 - A New Translation Not Just A
Revision. Not A Word For Word
Translation,
But Rather An Attempt To Preserve The Meaning Of The
Original Text. H.
The New American Standard Version (NASV) - 1963 - It Tries To Be Faithful To
The Original Texts. Some Feel It To Be The Best Revision (Updating) Of The
ASV. I.
Today's English Version (TEV) - 1976 - A Dynamic Equivalence Version That
Attempts To Have The Same Impact Upon
Its Readers As The Original Did Upon Its Audience. Aimed At Those With Little Christian
Background And/Or For Whom English Is Not Their First Language. J.
The New International Version (NIV) - 1978 - Done By Committee, This Version
Has Been Warmly Received By The Evangelical Community. QUESTIONS - LESSON 4 1. T F The
O.T. canon is composed of: 1) the
law, 2) the prophets, and 3) the writings. 2. What did the copier do? 3. The Bible was originally written in what
two languages? 4. How was it decided if a writing should
form part of the N.T.? |