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Canonical Theology: The Biblical Canon, Sola Scriptura, and Theological Method
What are the roles of canon and community in the understanding and articulation of Christian doctrine? Should the church be the doctrinal arbiter in the twenty-first century? In Canonical Theology John Peckham tackles this complex, ongoing discussion by shedding light on issues surrounding the biblical canon and the role of the community for theology and practice.
Peckham examines the nature of the biblical canon, the proper relationship of Scripture and tradition, and the interpretation and application of Scripture for theology. He lays out a compelling canonical approach to systematic theology — including an explanation of his method, a step-by-step account of how to practice it, and an example of what theology derived from this canonical approach looks like.
Peckham examines the nature of the biblical canon, the proper relationship of Scripture and tradition, and the interpretation and application of Scripture for theology. He lays out a compelling canonical approach to systematic theology — including an explanation of his method, a step-by-step account of how to practice it, and an example of what theology derived from this canonical approach looks like.
309 pages, Paperback
Published November 27, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 3, 2021
This is a very helpful book on Scripture and theology, with some failings towards the end with Peckham's application. Here is a link to a review paper that I wrote on it for a course. I hope you find it helpful: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1L...
February 21, 2020
Peckham delivers a powerful, well thought-through, and logical approach to a theological method based on the biblical canon. If this approach was practiced across denominational boundaries, it has potential to bring more unity in Biblical truth to Christianity.
October 27, 2023
Well researched, but essentially just a reiteration of Reformation thinking
What the book does well is to reference its sources and locate its discussion accurately in the context of modern theological discussion. It reviews a good range of denominational theology and philosophical perspectives.
What it did less well was to simply reiterate what was said 500 years ago. How do we know whether there are 66 or 73 books in the bible…? Various criteria are given in the book but ultimately it comes down to Revelation being ‘self-authenticating’ (Chapter 2). Biblical books self-authenticate themselves to the religious believer who is rightly inspired by the Holy Spirit. That’s a disappointing approach because it ultimately closes down discussion, as the believer’s reasons are in a private inner subjectivity. It’s a model of religion that is the zealots charter: I feel it is true, therefore it is true. Is that really a responsible approach to religion in the modern era?
One of the problems raised by the book is that it started with a questionable distinction between an Intrinsic Canon of scripture and a Community Canon approach. We are told that an intrinsic canon is a set of books that are divinely inspired whether anyone is aware of it or not. And a Community canon is a set of books where the community has the authority to determine what counts as Scripture. That distinction was then interpreted as a broadly Protestant and Catholic approach.
But the distinction isn’t quite right. Advocates of a Community Canon do not typically claim to have the power to determine Scripture, as if they could have a vote and then turn the works of Shakespeare into Scripture. No, the Community approach agree that there is an Intrinsic Canon, but they reject the idea of individuals being subjectively inspired about it (ie the zealots charter). The Community approach believes, instead, that the community is the locus of Revelation about what is in that canon. That’s why the ancient Church Ecumenical Councils would often claim to be speaking on behalf of the Holy Spirit. (Eg Acts 15, 28).
Overall, the book is clearly expressed and well referenced, with about 12% of the text consisting of notes and bibliographies. The book is readily accessible to readers regardless of background knowledge or expertise, but it will probably appeal more to those with an interest in Reformed approaches.
These comments are based on the 2016 version of the book, read digitally in October 2023.
What the book does well is to reference its sources and locate its discussion accurately in the context of modern theological discussion. It reviews a good range of denominational theology and philosophical perspectives.
What it did less well was to simply reiterate what was said 500 years ago. How do we know whether there are 66 or 73 books in the bible…? Various criteria are given in the book but ultimately it comes down to Revelation being ‘self-authenticating’ (Chapter 2). Biblical books self-authenticate themselves to the religious believer who is rightly inspired by the Holy Spirit. That’s a disappointing approach because it ultimately closes down discussion, as the believer’s reasons are in a private inner subjectivity. It’s a model of religion that is the zealots charter: I feel it is true, therefore it is true. Is that really a responsible approach to religion in the modern era?
One of the problems raised by the book is that it started with a questionable distinction between an Intrinsic Canon of scripture and a Community Canon approach. We are told that an intrinsic canon is a set of books that are divinely inspired whether anyone is aware of it or not. And a Community canon is a set of books where the community has the authority to determine what counts as Scripture. That distinction was then interpreted as a broadly Protestant and Catholic approach.
But the distinction isn’t quite right. Advocates of a Community Canon do not typically claim to have the power to determine Scripture, as if they could have a vote and then turn the works of Shakespeare into Scripture. No, the Community approach agree that there is an Intrinsic Canon, but they reject the idea of individuals being subjectively inspired about it (ie the zealots charter). The Community approach believes, instead, that the community is the locus of Revelation about what is in that canon. That’s why the ancient Church Ecumenical Councils would often claim to be speaking on behalf of the Holy Spirit. (Eg Acts 15, 28).
Overall, the book is clearly expressed and well referenced, with about 12% of the text consisting of notes and bibliographies. The book is readily accessible to readers regardless of background knowledge or expertise, but it will probably appeal more to those with an interest in Reformed approaches.
These comments are based on the 2016 version of the book, read digitally in October 2023.
June 13, 2024
Outstanding work on the topic of the canon and Sola Scriptura. Peckham makes a careful case for an intrinsic canon vs that of a communitarian view of canon.
This is not a light read so I would recommend it for any serious Bible student or apologist. Each page has footnotes and a great deal of valuable material in them. So it is almost like reading two books in one. Added several books to my Amazon cart while I was reading through this book.
I also found ch 9 on Canonical Hermeneutics and Theopathic Language to be very helpful and clarifying on the notion of God possessing true emotions. Rather than dismissing descriptions of God's emotions as merely anthropomophisms we should consider that we cannot assume we know what God is like apart from what He has revealed about Himself in the Scriptures. That God does have emotions, but they are qualified as divine and that our emotions are a reflection in some way of being created in the imago dei. I always found the notion of divine impassibility to be lacking and diminishing of God when you read Scripture and this was a helpful correction.
This is not a light read so I would recommend it for any serious Bible student or apologist. Each page has footnotes and a great deal of valuable material in them. So it is almost like reading two books in one. Added several books to my Amazon cart while I was reading through this book.
I also found ch 9 on Canonical Hermeneutics and Theopathic Language to be very helpful and clarifying on the notion of God possessing true emotions. Rather than dismissing descriptions of God's emotions as merely anthropomophisms we should consider that we cannot assume we know what God is like apart from what He has revealed about Himself in the Scriptures. That God does have emotions, but they are qualified as divine and that our emotions are a reflection in some way of being created in the imago dei. I always found the notion of divine impassibility to be lacking and diminishing of God when you read Scripture and this was a helpful correction.
April 5, 2025
Peckham covers more topics in this book than I was expecting. I was expecting primarily a discussion of the intrinsic canon approach vs the community-determined canon model. He certainly covered that, showing why the intrinsic canon must be the correct way to approach the NT text, and covering shortcomings of the community canon model. He also does not erase the human component of the interpreter, but develops a way to approach the canon that takes into account the history of theological interpretation, personal and institutional shortcomings, and a humble hermeneutical spiral that we should use to always come closer to the truth as God wants us to understand it in the canon. The theological method part was a bit deep for me, and I got most of my value from this book from the discourse on the canon.
April 14, 2020
Good book
Excellent well written and researched.I found it very helpful and informative interesting learned a lot.I would recommend this book challenging as if is.
Excellent well written and researched.I found it very helpful and informative interesting learned a lot.I would recommend this book challenging as if is.
September 6, 2023
The best I've read on the authority of the scriptural canon. Thorough study on the formulation of the bible as we know it and addresses the issue of whether the Canon was created by flawed humans or simply recognized as such based on intrinsic qualities. Readability could be improved, however.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews