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EduFixersReligionCanonization of the Bible Analysis

Canonization of the Bible Analysis

Subject: Religion
Pages: 5
Words: 1602
Reading time:
6 min
Study level: PhD

Introduction

Canonization was the process in which the sixty-six books of the bible were written and chosen to be included in it. Canons see canonical books as authoritative writings meant to spiritually inspire and nourish. These are books that were written under the influence of the Holy Spirit of God, and thus they are believed to be the breathed word of God. (Foss 1875, p. 46).

The key events and movements that were influential in the recognition of the canonical

Books

Canon determination was a process or an event that was conducted by the Jewish teachers, scholars and Christians. Originally it was God who had the decision on which books belonged to the biblical canon. He is the one who convinced man what books were supposed to be in the Bible. Therefore, during the recognition of the canonical books, there were three stages that were influential, and these included: from the apostles time up to about 170AD, the last years of the 2nd century and the beginning of the 3rd 170-220AD, and the 3rd and 4th centuries. The first stage involved bringing up the New Testament books, which became available by the end of the 21st century. The canonical books were respected so much by different churches and were greatly perceived to be containing Lord’s message and his teachings. Jesus teachings had been completely realized in all churches in the world.1 While the work of Jesus followers was that of translating His teachings to churches that were still young, The Lord’s life and His teachings led to the removal of the Old Testament. The churches began to grow and the followers of Jesus left, thus emphasizing the proceedings which the New Testament writers had left behind. There was much willingness to acquire the profits from the instructions given thus resulting in the interchange of Christian writings. Emergency in the value of the Gospels and the Old Testament as the truth about Jesus and his disciples marked the beginning of canonization. In the end, there was a movement towards the claiming of the authoritativeness of these books against false teachings.

In the second stage of the canonization process, there was clear evidence of the Christian history where there was no question or judgment of the New Testament canon. Irenaeus was considered to be the representative of this process. By the end of the second stage, “there was evidence of canon as it had taken shape throughout the Christian churches” (McDonald 2009, p. 57). The process of canonization was so fast because of the catalytic events of the groups. And finally, in the third and fourth centuries (between 170 and 220), there was the fixing of the greater exclusiveness, strengthening of the boundaries of the canon and wide recognition of the increase of the canon as many people were accepting it (McDonald 2009, p. 57).

Methods and processes employed by individuals and councils in the canonization process

The canonization process was done by the spiritually conscious people of God. For instance, people who engaged in bible writing activity were those who were influenced by the Holy Spirit. This is proved to be true from the scriptures and the experiences that are as a result of the Holy Spirit. Therefore “people became wise only when they allowed the Holy Spirit to work in them through instructions, thus write in the canonization process” (Gleick 1928, p. 54). Another process and method that was employed in the canonization were through the church and the councils making decisions about acknowledging the apostle’s authority and being in a position of accepting their writings and those who were intimately involved with them as a form of Holy Scripture. Gleick (1928) observes, “A canon was not just put together by the church or the council to make the books authoritative as they were already included in it” (p.54). Individuals and the council did acknowledge only what was instructed by the apostles and added books in the canon because these apostles had acquired authority from the Holy Spirit. These publications were also seriously regarded as canonical books and not just any other written material. Therefore, the process of self-authentication was very necessary as no church council did the work of bible writing.

The canonization process also involved the councils and individuals debating on which books to be considered as canons. This was done by bringing together the apostle’s writing and putting them together into a canon so as to stop or eliminate false teachings and teachers who demanded to know the authority of the works as they were not coming to any consensus on the content of the book.2 “Individuals and council, therefore, combined all the writings, which were eventually approved by apostles”, because the church had recognized them to be part of the readings (Gleick 1928, p. 55). This method led to the formation of the bible so as to distinguish between false teachings and the real word of God.3

The methods and processes involved in the canonization of the bible included ensuring that specific standards like time, authorship and language were was met during the writing process. There was a revolution of many writing of certain books by the Godly people and these books were considered to be inspired by the Holy Spirit, hence being taken as the canonical books. The individuals and councils expected that a bible had to have a completion and a closure. Thus no more books were expected to be taken as canonical a fresh. For example, “the Old Testament books were written by the year 400Before Christ, while the New Testament books were written by the council at 378 After Death” (Gleick 1928, p. 56).

How /why they deemed books as the inspired word of God

The books were deemed as the inspired word of God as they were believed to have been God–breathed. Thus the Roman Catholic confirmed them, though they were not authoritative by this time. The first churches used a rigorous method in determining the books that were inspired by God during the writing period or process. 4 Those books were supposed to have been written by the prophets of the bible, or apostles.

Also, the book was deemed to be the word of God because it was believed to belong to God Himself. The words were considered inspired by God, and thus implied that God provided the exact words and concepts that necessitated the writing process to be a success.5 Though the words were from God, human beings were the author and the whole process required faith and it also needed accuracy so as to get what the bible says. For example, we are told that “in the beginning, the word was already in existence, and this word was with God Himself, and the word was God” (Ryrie 1972, p. 66). This lays a foundation as to how it was deemed to be the word of God.

These books were deemed to be the word of God, as many Christianity and other religions claimed the teachings written were by particular people who were seriously inspired by God. These books were also deemed to be the word of God because they do not contain mythical stories and legends like otherworldly books. For instance, in the Latin American creation books, the gods are assumed to be cutting other gods so as to create the earth and heaven, but God is believed to have made the world on nothing; it is just hanging in the air.6This was proved to be true by a certain researcher called Newton Isaac. He discovered that truly the earth is suspended on air (Ryrie 1972, p. 67).

Conclusion

The recognition of the canonical books went through a process, which involved different events and movements. There are also methods and processes that were undertaken in order to consider canonical books as books of the bible. Lastly, the canonical books are considered or deemed to be the true word of God because the scriptures found in them can never be broken. This is proven to be true because they contain a unity of thought that is not easy to contradict. The books also have no mythical stories like those other books, therefore, it was up to an individual to determine whether to believe in these canonical books and their teachings or not. All these required individuals to have faith in the word of God after the canonization.

Works cited

  1. Foss, Brooke Saul. A general survey of the history of the canon of the New Testament, 4th. Ed, London: Macmillan, 1875.
  2. Gleick, James Kim. The Official Catholic yearbook: a comprehensive summary of the history, Activities and accomplishments of the Roman Catholic Church.United States of America: Kennedy and Sons, 1928.
  3. McDonald, Martin Paul. Forgotten Scriptures: The Selection and Rejection of Early Religious Writings. United States of America: Penguin, 2009.
  4. Ryrie, Charles Mill. A Survey of Bible Doctrine, Chicago: Moody Press, 1972.

Footnotes

  1. James Gleick Kim, The Official Catholic yearbook: a comprehensive summary of the history, Activities and accomplishments of the Roman Catholic Church (New York: Kennedy and Sons, 1928), 72.
  2. Martin McDonald Paul, Forgotten Scriptures: The Selection and Rejection of Early Religious Writings (United States of America: Penguin, 2009), 34.
  3. Martin McDonald Paul, Forgotten Scriptures: The Selection and Rejection of Early Religious Writings (United States of America: Penguin, 2009), 34.
  4. Martin McDonald Paul, Forgotten Scriptures: The Selection and Rejection of Early Religious Writings (United States of America: Penguin, 2009), 34.
  5. Brooke Saul Foss, A general survey of the history of the canon of the New Testament, 4th. Ed (London: Macmillan, 1875), 46.
  6. Charles Mill Ryrie, A Survey of Bible Doctrine (Chicago: Moody Press, 1972), 67.