Thus Moses warned the people of Israel, “You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you” ( Deut. To add to or subtract from God’s words would be to prevent God’s people from obeying him fully, for commands that were subtracted would not be known to the people, and words that were added might require extra things of the people which God had not commanded. Thus we can reaffirm the comment of Moses to the people of Israel in reference to the words of God’s law: “For it is no trifle for you, but it is your life and thereby you shall live long in the land which you are going over the Jordan to possess” ( Deut. The words of Scripture are the words by which we nourish our spiritual lives. We must not underestimate the importance of this question. This is the question of the canon of Scripture, which may be defined as follows: The canon of Scripture is the list of all the books that belong in the Bible. Before we can do this, however, we must know which writings belong in the Bible and which do not. The previous chapter concluded that it is especially the written words of God in the Bible to which we are to give our attention. What belongs in the Bible and what does not belong? EXPLANATION AND SCRIPTURAL BASIS What belongs in the Bible and what does not belong?" An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Zondervan, 1994) "Easton's Bible Dictionary".Scholar's Article by Wayne Grudem (may not be edited)Ĭhapter 3 from Systematic Theology. indicates this entry was also found in Baker's Evangelical DictionaryĮaston, Matthew George. Easton M.A., D.D., Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, As to the time at which the Old Testament canon was closed, there are many considerations which point to that of Ezra and Nehemiah, immediately after the return from Babylonian exile.
The Septuagint Version (q.v.) also contained every book we now have in the Old Testament Scriptures.
Thus they endorse as genuine and authentic the canon of the Jewish Scriptures. The appeals to these books, moreover, show that they were regarded as of divine authority, finally deciding all questions of which they treat and that the whole collection so recognized consisted only of the thirty-nine books which we now posses. These quotations and references by our Lord and the apostles most clearly imply the existence at that time of a well-known and publicly acknowledged collection of Hebrew writings under the designation of "The Scriptures " "The Law and the Prophets and the Psalms " "Moses and the Prophets," etc. The quotations in the New from the Old are very numerous, and the references are much more numerous. The Old Testament Canon is witnessed to by the New Testament writers. Each book contained in it is proved to have, on its own ground, a right to its place and thus the whole is of divine authority. Historical evidence shows that from about the middle of the second century this New Testament collection was substantially such as we now possess. The different books as they were written came into the possession of the Christian associations which began to be formed soon after the day of Pentecost and thus slowly the canon increased till all the books were gathered together into one collection containing the whole of the twenty-seven New Testament inspired books. The New Testament Canon was formed gradually under divine guidance. They contain the whole supernatural revelation of God to men. The canonical (i.e., the inspired) books of the Old and New Testaments, are a complete rule, and the only rule, of faith and practice. Such a right does not arise from any ecclesiastical authority, but from the evidence of the inspired authorship of the book. A book is said to be of canonical authority when it has a right to take a place with the other books which contain a revelation of the Divine will. It came to be applied to the Scriptures, to denote that they contained the authoritative rule of faith and practice, the standard of doctrine and duty. Hence it means something straight, or something to keep straight and hence also a rule, or something ruled or measured. This word is derived from a Hebrew and Greek word denoting a reed or cane. Bible Dictionaries - Easton's Bible Dictionary - Canon Canon
0 kommentar(er)
