Today (Jan 7) Is Canon Day!

According to Dr. Fred Sanders, resident theologian of the Torrey Honors Institute at Biola University, St. Athanasius most likely wrote his famous Easter letter of 367 on January 7th. It is in this letter (almost as a passing thought) that Athanasius nearly defines the Canon as we (Protestants) have it today.

Read Dr. Sanders' article here.

Happy Canon Day!

Upcoming

I am currently looking through questions surrounding Melito's list. Some scholars such as Dr. McDonald and De Wette believe he includes the Wisdom of Solomon, while others such as Sundberg and Beckwith reject this idea. My opinion on the matter is still in process (expect an upcoming post) and will be greatly shaped by the information provided by Dr. Lee and Dr. Finley along with whatever else I can collect on my own. It is an interesting topic and if anyone has anything that might aid in the matter the contribution would be much appreciated.

Some of the questions being posed:

Dr. Lee (Notable Expert on Canon)
1) Is the translation: “the Psalms of David, the Proverbs of Solomon and his Wisdom, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Songs, Job…” that apparent? Only judging from the Greek, is Beckwith and Bruce’s translation reasonably plausible?
2) Granted that the Wisdom of Solomon was common in early Christianity, but isn’t Melito’s list coming from the Jews? Did the Jews in the area he got his list from regard the Wisdom of Solomon as Scripture?
3)I asked my teacher Dr. Finley about Melito’s list and he suggested that it might not be a minority view (or that the subject itself is more controversial). He cites... My question: How big is the disagreement? What other scholars take your view (so far I’ve got De Wette and Lake) and are there others that would side with Beckwith and the rest?

Dr. Finley (Professor and Chair, Old Testament & Semitics)
1) ...you also included that it conforms more closely to Codex B of the LXX and is closer in its titles of books. My question: If it is conforming more closely to LXX titles of books wouldn't the Wisdom of Solomon's addition have a better chance? I ask this because Dr. Lee appeals to the citing of Wisdom along with Proverbs in Vaticanus, Sinaticus and Alexandrinus. How do the titles applied to these books correspond with the title in Melito's list?
2)The ref in Eccl. Hist 4.22.9...is there something in the Greek that might tip us off that it is not being used as a title but rather something more descriptive?

(Greek Professor)
1) According to the Greek, which way would you translate it? What reasons do you see against and in support of the two translations? With the presence of the other sources, how would you translate it?

A Note To The Reader

For anyone who still checks here regularly, I wanted to let you know that the three authors here at By Whose Authority? are all graduate students, and as such we're insanely busy with school work at the moment. I am currently working on several posts that I hope will be ready in the near future, but school must always take priority.

So, our posting will likely continue to be sporadic for the next few weeks, but don't lose heart! We'll be back to normal in no time!

Thank you all for your patience.

Irenaeus (130-200) AD (Cont)

What is the Ground and Pillar of our faith?

"We have learned from none others the plan of our salvation, than from those through whom the Gospel has come down to us, which they did at one time proclaim in public, and, at least a later period, by the will of God, handed down to us in the Scriptures, to be the ground and pillar of our faith. For it is unlawful to assert that they preached before they possessed 'perfect knowledge,' as some do even venture to say, boasting themselves as improvers of the apostles..." Shortly after this, Irenaeus mentions the writings handed down by the apostles and work of Paul.
-ANF, Vol.I, Against Heresies, 3.1.1

What is the Tradition that binds and unifies the Church?

"The Church, though dispersed through out the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, has received from the apostles and their disciples this faith: [She believes] in One God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them; and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who became incarnate for our salvation; and in the Holy Spirit, who proclaimed through the prophets the dispensations of God, and the advents, and the birth from a virgin, and the passion, and the resurrection from the dead, and the ascension into heaven in the flesh of our beloved Christ Jesus, our Lord, and His [future] manifestation from heaven in the glory of the Father 'to gather all things in one,' and to raise up anew all flesh of the whole human race, in order that to Christ Jesus, our Lord, and God, and Savior, and King, according to the will of the invisible Father, 'every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess' to Him, and that He should execute just judgment towards all; that He may send 'spiritual wickednesses,' and the angels who tansgressed and became apostates, together with the ungodly, and unrighteous, and wicked, and profane among men, into everlasting fire; but may, in the exercise of His grace, confer immortality on the righteous, and holy, and those who have kept His commandments, and have persevered in His love, some from the beginning [of their Christian course], and others from [the date of] their repentance, and may surround them with everlasting glory.

As I have already observed, the Church, having received this preaching and this faith, although scattered throughout the whole world, yet, as if occupying but one house, carefully preserves it. She also believes these points [of doctrine] just as if she had but one soul, and one and the same heart, and she proclaims them, and teaches them, and hands them down, with perfect harmony, as if she possessed only one mouth. For, although the languages of the world are dissimilar, yet the import of the tradition is one and the same."
-ANF, Vol. I, Against Heresies 1.10.1-2.

What if...

"For how stands the case? Suppose there arise a dispute relative to some important question among us, should we not have recourse to the most ancient Churches with which the apostles held constant intercourse, and learn from them what is certain and clear in regard to the present question? For how should it be if the apostles themselves had not left us writings? Would it not be necessary, [in that case,] to follow the course of the tradition which they handed down to those to whom they did commit the Churches?...Since, therefore, the tradition from the apostles does thus exist in the Church, and is permanent among us, let us revert to the Scriptural proof furnished by those apostles who did also write the Gospel, in which they recorded the doctrine regarding God, pointing out that our Lord Jesus Christ is the truth, and that no lie is in Him.
-ANF, Vol. I, Against Heresies 3.4.1; 3.5.1

Recommended reading list:

1) all primary sources dealt with
2) Holy Scripture: The Ground and Pillar of Our Faith Vol.I David T. King
3) Holy Scripture: The Ground and Pillar of Our Faith Vol.III David T. King and William Webster
4) The Shape of Sola Scriptura Keith A. Mathison
5) Tradition, Scripture, and Interpretation: A Sourcebook of the Ancient Church D.H. Williams
6) Byzantine Theology: Historical Trends and Doctrinal Themes John Meyendorff

The Infallible Interpreter

I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.

- 1 John 2:26-27

For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you

- Ephesians 1:15-18

It is written in the Prophets, 'And they will all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me

- John 6:45*

Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant Christians all agree that the Bible is infallible. We also agree that an infallible interpreter is needed in order to truly understand what the Bible teaches. But who is that infallible interpreter?

Orthodox and Catholics say that the infallible interpreter is the church, and that may well be true. But these Scripture passages at least give credence to the Protestant response that the infallible interpreter is the Holy Spirit Himself. And moreover, each of these verses seems to suggest that the Holy Spirit works in such a way as to illuminate the individual believer in a direct manner, and not necessarily through a magesterium or councils.



* All Scripture quotations are from the ESV.

Restricted Canon in the East?

“There are many lists of canonical Old Testament books from various church fathers and councils. The lists from the Eastern churches tend to support a restricted canon very much like that of the Hebrew tradition. In several cases (Origen, Athanasius, Cyril of Jerusalem, and Epiphanius) Baruch and the Letter to Jeremiah are included as parts of Jeremiah-Lamentations, with no other apocrypha mentioned.”

--Daniel J. Harrington, S.J.

------------------------------------------------
More information:
*Also take a look at Melito, Gregory, Amphilochius and note the different lists for Epiphanius

*Origen only includes the "Letter of Jeremiah"
*See previous posts for a brief defense of the Hebrew canon (2/29/08)

Sources:
* The Canon Debate: The Old Testament Apocrypha in the Early Church and Today Daniel J. Harrington, S.J. (Ch.12 p.199).

* The Canon Debate Appendix by Lee McDonald p.585-586.
*The Canon of Scripture F.F. Bruce p.74-75.