The Biblical Canon: Its Origin, Transmission, And Authority

by Lee Martin McDonald

This is the thoroughly updated and expanded third edition of the successful The Formation of the Christian Biblical Canon . It represents a fresh attempt to understand some of the many perplexing questions related to the origins and canonicity of the Bible. "What is the origin of our Bible? Who chose the books to be included in our Bible? When were the last discussions on the contents of our Bible? How do we find God's Word and what constitutes 'the Bible'? Such questions are fascinating to many in western culture. L. M. McDonald is the premiere authority on all these crucial questions. He demonstrates that no early council defined or limited the canon. For Jews discussions of the canon continued long after Jamnia (in the first century CE) and into the sixth century. For many Christians the question of canon and its limits continue unabated. McDonald's masterpiece is the place to begin exploring informed answers to all these questions."
--Professor James H. Charlesworth, George L. Collord Professor of New Testament Language and Literature and Director of the Princeton Seminary Dead Sea Scrolls Project Princeton Theological Seminary "Lee McDonald's magnum opus is the fair fruit of a lifetime's labor. His is an updated and fluent historical reconstruction of the canonical process, marked by the careful consideration of the real evidence that encourages a more precise discussion of the history and idea of a Christian biblical canon. Not only does McDonald seek to understand the complex and variegated phenomena of canon formation within the social worlds of both Judaism and earliest Christianity, he is ever alert to the serious theological and hermeneutical questions his discussion engenders about the nature and role of Scripture within today's faith community. While McDonald's conclusions will surely be debated, no scholar or student interested in these important matters will be unable to neglect his fine book."
--Rob Wall, Professor of the Christian Scriptures, Paul T. Walls Chair in Wesleyan Studies, Seattle Pacific University

Genres: Theology, Biblical Studies, Religion, Christian, Christianity, Nonfiction, Church History

546 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2006

About the author

Lee Martin McDonald (PhD, University of Edinburgh), before his retirement, was professor of New Testament studies and president of Acadia Divinity College. He is the author or coauthor of several books, including The Biblical Canon, and coeditor of The Canon Debate (with James Sanders), and The World of the New Testament (with Joel Green). He lives in Mesa, Arizona.

Reviews

[Madeline Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off, this book is highly academic, and there were numerous concepts, historical events and figures, and ancient documents that I have no experience with. I had to adjust my reading focus to gleaning themes and overarching ideas from dense comparisons of different scholars' theses and views on the canon of the Bible. There were many chapters in which I was reading with the intention of only retaining simple statements and concepts that would build up my beginner's working knowledge of canon development.

All that said, I greatly appreciate how thorough this book is! The author does a wonderful job of connecting Jewish history with that of the early church. I am walking away from this book with a deeper understanding of Christianity's rich connections to the God of the Old Testament and the history of Judaism.

My main takeaways are the following:

1) The ancient canons of both Judaism and Christianity were highly fluid, and this should have an effect on how we view Holy texts today. They are not LESS inspired because different spiritual communities valued and included some writings in their canons over others.

2) Debate over which texts should be included in Biblical canon, both historically and in modern times, reflects the spiritual temperature of respective Christian communities. As church bodies and leaders discern which Jewish and Christian writings should be considered as part of Biblical canon, factors such as church needs, theology, and views on what qualifies as "inspired" text have been (and continue to be) taken into account.

3) As the early church was emerging, the tradition of teaching and theology gradually transitioned from being transmitted orally to being put in writing. This was due to the church's eventual separation from Judaism, persecution and burning of church writings, and the desire to have written documentation of the apostles' accounts of Jesus' life. The original intent of these writings was NOT to prove God's existence or the validity of Christianity, for which many attempt to utilize the Bible now. Rather, writings were intended to encourage and train up believers, unify believing communities, and testify to Jesus' life, the man who has always been the cornerstone of His church!

The Biblical canon is a wonderful, historically unique document and can absolutely be used for apologetics, historical study, and as reliable, eye-witness testimony to Jesus' life. It is important, however, for believers to take into account the dynamic relationship the early church had with this collection of writings. They included some writings and excluded others, and there was variation between believing communities on which writings made the cut. Ultimately, the writings we have today were selected between the 4th and 6th centuries C.E., and there is still variation in this collection between different church traditions. God's Word remains forever, blessing and benefitting His church through written testimony passed down through history. Variation in included canonical writings does not invalidate the Bible, but rather is a reflection of diversity within church theology and tradition.

[David Scarratt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anyone with a serious interest in the emergence of the Christian Bible should read this book. It is a comprehensive overview of essential information and arguments and the variety of perspectives adopted in canon studies. It has very useful appendices and an excellent bibliography. It is easy enough to read, and its organization is quite clear. Unfortunately, it is not completely even-handed in its treatment of different positions. There is a disposition to accept certain points of view (e.g., a first-century date for the closing of the rabbinic canon) as a kind of default, as acceptable despite counter-arguments, where other views are expected to face up to counter-arguments. The trouble is, as the author himself points out, the evidence is sparse and often inferential; from time to time the same empirical premise is used to support opposing conclusions. In such circumstances I would prefer to admit ignorance and wait for either better data or a theory with broader explanatory appeal than to opt for one or another weakly-supported case. The book is not unique in this, though: I would say much the same about any book I have read in the field so far. I think the academic debate is still in a pretheoretical phase where no clear conceptual foundation has yet emerged -- perhaps one could say that the discourse of canon studies has not yet engendered a public criterion of validity. Perhaps it never will. Nevertheless, for up-to-date coverage of and guidance through a potentially vast field this book serves the reader well.

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Highly technical, fairly thorough, excessively dense, and occasionally marred by liberal biases. He attempts to cover each topic from several different points of view, which makes the book repetitive. It's a bit too biased to be good reference material, but it's too dense to be anything else.

[Griffin Duffey]

this was very long and dry but I actually loved it and learned tons.

[Dr. Bill Creasy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent review of how the biblical canon was formed!

[Tovis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a wonderful book, filled with information. The information was well organized and goes into great depths. I also love all of the footnotes, I purchased a few books mentioned in those footnotes. The book also has detailed lists in the end of the book that will prove to be useful as reference material in the future.

[Blair Hodges · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book's chief problem is its frequent repetition. It's very comprehensive, but in its comprehensiveness the author repeats himself too often for my taste. Still, a good overview with very useful appendices.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply the best, most comprehensive book on the canon of the Bible

[Tony · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting detailed account on how we got the bible