Another installment in the series on the Bible taken from the KOC newsletter...Previously, we looked at the inspired character of the Old Testament. Now we turn our attention to the New Testament, specifically, how can we know that these writings are inspired by God & belong in the collection of Christian Scriptures called the Bible?
In the early days of the Church there was not much discussion over what texts were inspired – it was obvious to those who had immediate access to the Apostles & their immediate successors; but eventually the canon of the New Testament had to be settled, because: 1) those more removed from the Apostles wanted to ensure that the accounts of Jesus & the writings of the Apostles were accurately preserved for teaching, preaching, & evangelization; 2) the faithful were being led astray by various semi-Christian heresies that not only brought their alternative “gospels,” but also used the Christian scriptures to support their beliefs.
To further complicate the situation, around the Roman world, different local churches accepted different lists of books; some included The Shepherd by Hermas, The Epistle of Barnabas, or The Revelation of Peter, while some rejected the Revelation of John or other Epistles of Paul, Peter, & John. What about the “extra” endings of Mark’s Gospel that may have been added later? The Letter to the Hebrews seemed very “Paulish,” but because some were not sure if he actually wrote it, should it be included?
While there was vigorous debate over all of this, the Spirit of God worked through the Church to definitively state what He had inspired & what He had not; that is, what really belonged to Sacred Tradition. The councils of Hippo in 393 A.D. & Carthage in 397 A.D. took up the task of defining the canon of the New Testament & produced the list of 27 inspired Christian writings which comes to us to this day. It is interesting that, although Protestants only accept the authority of the Bible, it is only by way of the Catholic Church’s authoritative voice of Sacred Tradition that there is something called the Bible at all. Next, we will look at the role of the Church in defining & teaching the Scriptures.
In the early days of the Church there was not much discussion over what texts were inspired – it was obvious to those who had immediate access to the Apostles & their immediate successors; but eventually the canon of the New Testament had to be settled, because: 1) those more removed from the Apostles wanted to ensure that the accounts of Jesus & the writings of the Apostles were accurately preserved for teaching, preaching, & evangelization; 2) the faithful were being led astray by various semi-Christian heresies that not only brought their alternative “gospels,” but also used the Christian scriptures to support their beliefs.
To further complicate the situation, around the Roman world, different local churches accepted different lists of books; some included The Shepherd by Hermas, The Epistle of Barnabas, or The Revelation of Peter, while some rejected the Revelation of John or other Epistles of Paul, Peter, & John. What about the “extra” endings of Mark’s Gospel that may have been added later? The Letter to the Hebrews seemed very “Paulish,” but because some were not sure if he actually wrote it, should it be included?While there was vigorous debate over all of this, the Spirit of God worked through the Church to definitively state what He had inspired & what He had not; that is, what really belonged to Sacred Tradition. The councils of Hippo in 393 A.D. & Carthage in 397 A.D. took up the task of defining the canon of the New Testament & produced the list of 27 inspired Christian writings which comes to us to this day. It is interesting that, although Protestants only accept the authority of the Bible, it is only by way of the Catholic Church’s authoritative voice of Sacred Tradition that there is something called the Bible at all. Next, we will look at the role of the Church in defining & teaching the Scriptures.
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