Christ the Center: How the Rule of Faith, the Nomina Sacra, and Numerical Patterns Shape the Canon

by Tomas Bokedal

Scripture is a beautiful mosaic of Christ. In Christ the Center , Tomas Bokedal shows how the canon is shaped by numerical patterns of nomina sacra ―scribal reverence for divine names. These patterns, which especially revolve around Christ, reveal the devotional and theological preoccupations of the earliest Christians. The rule of faith is not a later development; it is in the very text of Scripture. Christ the Center shows a remarkable interplay between Scripture and theology.

444 pages, Paperback

Published August 23, 2023

Reviews

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tomas Bokedal’s Christ the Center is as fascinating to read as it is challenging to summarize. The book is a detailed examination of how Christian scribes curated New Testament manuscripts very much like “the artistic crafting of a mosaic” (1). Bokedal’s work shows the incredible detail to which the New Testament canon has been crafted like a mosaic. The challenge for modern students of the Bible is that the evidence for this crafting is in every ancient manuscript, but usually left out of every critical edition of the Greek New Testament. The scribal practice of Nomina sacra evident in all early Christian manuscripts interlinked the New Testament canon in the eyes of centuries of readers and guided the interpretive hermeneutic that came to be known as the Rule of Faith.

Christ the Center opens with an essay (Part A) on “What is this book about?”: an essay which reflects how difficult Bokedal’s multi-layered thesis is to summarize briefly! This is followed by an essay on the nature of Scripture in the second century AD. What was Scripture for in the life of the Church? Part B offers a history of canon development. To anyone familiar with this field, much of the content here will be familiar. But what Bokedal adds with the numerical patterning evident in early canon logic is new and fascinating, and a teaser of the full argument of the book still to come.

Part C gathers all of Bokedal’s impressive data on the evidence for intentional numerical patterning across the New Testament manuscript. The number of times nomina sacra appear in canonical subunits (Gospels, Epistles, etc.) and how that patterning rate consistently matches similar pattern methods in the Hebrew sScriptures to strongly suggest intentionality and a more formal scribal practice among New Testament manuscripts than previously understood (along with a few unexpected nuggets of information. Why do Jesus’ disciples capture exactly 153 fish at the end of John’s gospel? Bokedal offers a very compelling solution). Data heads will be absorbed in this section, the largest of the book. For most other readers, this section is fascinating but skimmable.

Parts D and E reflect on the data of Part C and how the numerical design of nomina sacra suggests certain conclusions about how Bible manuscripts were designed to be interpreted through the early church’s Rule of Faith. “For Irenaeus and Tertullian alike it is imperative to identify the Canon of Truth or Rule of Faith as Scripture’s own intrinsic story-line” (289). Bokedal concludes that the patterning of nomina sacra “could be understood as deliberate attempts by the early church to closely link Christian Scripture to the emerging ‘apostolic’ regula fidei pattern” (309). Nomina sacra also marked continuity between the Church’s emerging testaments: “A major aim of introducing nomina sacra in the Christian scriptures was arguably to graphically identify the Tetragrammaton with the Greek names for ‘Jesus,’ ‘Lord,’ and ‘God’” (349).

The concluding section in Part F draws together all the parts of Bokedal’s thesis to show how “Bible reading in late second-century commonly meant Christ-centered Triune exegesis of the Scriptures” (365). Bokedal reflects further on how nomina sacra frequently marks inclusios within NT books (like the opening and closing of Galatians. They also mark inclusios across subunits of the canon (369).

Tomas Bokedal’s detailed work examines the relationship between the Church’s early development of a summary Rule of Faith and the Christian scribal development of nomina sacra as a visual art that communicates that Rule in the manuscript tradition. The scribal practice of nomina sacra continued the Jewish scribal practice of setting the name of God apart from surrounding text to mark it with reverence and holiness. The repetitive use of nomina sacra in individual books, in broader canonical sub-units, and in the demarcation of the entire New Testament canon as a whole also evidence the continued practice of numerical patterning already extant in the Hebrew Bible. Taken together, Bokedal presents a New Testament text that is shockingly curated to minute degrees. The chapters on numerical name patterns alone attests to the level of detail given to these New Testament texts by the earliest Christian scribes. “Canon consciousness arose at the inception of the Christian church, and lies deep within the New Testament literature itself” (101). The level of attention given to the shape of each New Testament book, each NT sub-unit, and the NT canon as a whole attest to the earliest possible reception of these specific books (and no others) within the worship and study of the Church.

This is a fascinating book, highly recommended to anyone interested in the history of the Christian canon and early Christian scribal practice.

Disclosure: I received a copy of the book for free from the publisher. I was not asked to provide a positive review, and this in no way affected my review.

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is simply a stunning work. If you've ever wondered how the rule of faith, the nomina sacra and the numerical patterns shape the canon (yes, I'm using the subtitle), then you won't be disappointed. It's clear that the early church fathers, and those from this era who helped edit and compile the NT canon, saw the NT as not only Scripture, but Scripture with Christ at the center. An important contribution to the field early Christianity and paratextual interpretation that should be consulted by any serious student or scholar working in these areas.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am struggling to rate this book as it is extremely well researched, but it is incredibly unapproachable and reads like an appendix. Interesting view of Nomina Sacra, but it would have been a much better read if I knew Biblical Greek.

[Daniel]

Fascinating.