The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown (13 page)

When the well-known twentieth-century conservative scholar A. Schlatter was considered for a professorial appointment to the university in Berlin, he was asked by a churchman on the committee whether, in his academic work, he “stood on the Bible.” Schlatter's reply: “No, I stand
under
the Bible!”
¹⁹²
This well captures the proper stance of the biblical interpreter. A preparedness to obey and to order one's life on the basis of Scripture is an indispensable prerequisite and predisposition for the proper apprehension and appropriation of the biblical message. Rather than elevating oneself as a supposedly neutral critic of Scripture—and claiming to be totally objective—the student of the Bible ought to take his or her place “beneath Scripture” as one who is addressed by Scripture and who seeks to be changed by “the living and effective” Word of God (Heb 4:12).

STUDY QUESTIONS

1. What is the traditional evangelical position regarding the canon?
   
2. To what date does Sundberg point for the closing of the canon?
   
3. What is D. Trobisch's theory of the origins of the biblical canon?
   
4. What was the status of the OT canon in the first century according to Sundberg?
   
5. What physical evidence points to an early reception of the four-Gospel canon?
   
6. Did an apocryphal Gospel ever circulate with a canonical Gospel?
   
7. When was the NT canon closed from a divine perspective?
   
8. Which NT books were slow to be universally received?
   
9. Which books in the present NT canon were universally rejected in the second century?
   
10. Which NT books are called “Scripture” in the NT?
    
11. What is “formal equivalence”?
    
12. What is “dynamic equivalence”?
    
13. What is an “autograph”?
    
14. What is one advantage resulting from the loss of the scriptural autographs?
    
15. Who was the first to translate the complete Bible into English?
    

FOR FURTHER STUDY

General Reference

Geisler, N. L., and W. E. Nix.
A General Introduction to the Bible.
Rev. and exp. ed. Chicago: Moody, 1986.

Patzia, A. G.
The Making of the New Testament: Origin, Collection, Text and Canon.
Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1995.

Roberts, M. D.
Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
Wheaton: Crossway, 2007.

Canon

General

Bartholomew, C. G., S. Hahn, R. Parry, C. Seitz, and A. Wolters, eds.
Canon and Biblical Interpretation
. Scripture and Hermeneutics 7. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006.

Barton, J.
Holy Writing, Sacred Text: The Canon in Early Christianity.
Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1997.

Beckwith, R.
The Old Testament Canon of the New Testament Church.
Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1985.

Bruce, F. F.
The Canon of Scripture
. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1988.

Lightfoot, N. R.
How We Got the Bible
. 2d ed. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1988.

McDonald, L.
The Biblical Canon: Its Origin, Transmission, and Authority
. 3d ed. Peabody: Hendrickson, 2007.

McDonald , L. M., and J. A. Sanders, eds.
The Canon Debate.
2d ed. Peabody: Hendrickson, 2002.

Metzger, B. M.
The Canon of Scripture: Its Origin, Development, and Significance.
Oxford: Clarendon, 1987.

Miller, J. W.
How the Bible Came to Be: Exploring the Narrative and Message.
New York: Paulist, 2004.

von Campenhausen, H.
The Formation of the Christian Bible.
Philadelphia: Fortress, 1972.

NT Canon

Dunn , J. D. G. “How the New Testament Began.” Pp. 122–37 in
From Biblical Criticism to Biblical Faith: Essays in Honor of Lee Martin McDonald.
Edited by W. Brackney and C. Evans. Macon: Mercer Univ. Press, 2007.

Ellis, E. E.
The Making of the New Testament Documents.
Boston/Leiden: Brill, 2002.

Farmer, W. R., D. M. Farkasfalvy, and H. W. Attridge.
The Formation of the New Testament Canon: An Ecumenical Approach.
Theological Inquiries. New York: Paulist, 1983.

Gamble, H. Y.
The New Testament Canon: Its Making and Meaning
. Guides to Biblical Scholarship. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1985.

Hill, C . E. “The New Testament Canon:
Deconstrucio ad absurdum
?”
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
52 (2009): 101–19.

Trobisch, D.
The First Edition of the New Testament.
Oxford: University Press, 2000.

Westcott, B. F.
A General Survey of the History of the Canon of the New Testament
. London: Macmillan, 1896.

The Fourfold Gospel Collection

Hengel, M.
The Four Gospels and One Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Harrisburg: Trinity, 2000.

Skeat, T. C. “Irenaeus and the Four-Gospel Canon.”
Novum Testamentum
34 (1992): 194–99.

Stanton, G. N. “The Fourfold Gospel.”
New Testament Studies
43 (1997): 316–46.

The Pauline Letter Collection

Murphy-O'Connor, J.
Paul the Letter Writer: His World, His Options, His Skills.
Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1995.

Porter, S. E. “When and How Was the Pauline Canon Compiled? An Assessment of Theories.” In
The Pauline Canon.
Edited by S. E. Porter
.
Boston: Brill, 2004, 95–127.

Richards, E. R.
Paul and First-Century Letter Writing: Secretaries, Composition and Collection.
Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2004.

Trobisch, D.
Paul's Letter Collection: Tracing the Origins
. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2000 [1994].

Inspiration and Inerrancy

Dockery, D.
Christian Scripture: An Evangelical Perspective on Inspiration, Authority, and Interpretation.
Nashville: B&H, 1995.

Geisler, N., ed.
Inerrancy.
Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1980.

Grudem , W. A. “Scripture's Self-Attestation and the Problem of Formulating a Doctrine of Scripture.” In

Scripture and Truth.
Edited by D. A. Carson and J . D. Woodbridge. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1983, 19–64.

Harris, R. L.
Inspiration and Canonicity of the Scriptures.
Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1969.

Henry, C. F. H. “The Authority and Inspiration of the Bible.” In
The Expositor's Bible Commentary.
Vol. 1:
Introductory Articles
. Edited by F. E. Gaebelein. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1979, 1–35.

Köstenberger, A. J., ed.
Quo Vadis? Perspectives on the Past, Direction for the Future: Nine Presidential Addresses from the First Fifty Years of the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society.
Wheaton: Crossway, 2007.

Pache, R.
The Inspiration and Authority of Scripture.
Chicago: Moody, 1969.

Satterthwaite, P. E., and D. F. Wright, eds.
A Pathway into the Holy Scripture.
Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994.

Vanhoozer, K. J.
The Drama of Doctrine: A Canonical-Linguistic Approach to Christian Doctrine
. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2005.

Warfield, B. B.
The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible.
Philadelphia: Presbyterian & Reformed, 1948.

Hermeneutics and Harmonization

Archer, G. L., Jr.
The New International Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties
. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001.

Blomberg, C. L.
The Historical Reliability of John's Gospel
. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2001.

____________.
The Historical Reliability of the Gospels.
2d ed. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2007.

____________. “The Legitimacy and Limits of Harmonization.” In
Hermeneutics, Authority, and Canon
.

Edited by D. A. Carson and J . D. Woodbridge. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1986, 135–74.

Carson, D. A . “The Role of Exegesis in Systematic Theology.” In
Doing Theology in Today's World: Essays in Honor of Kenneth S. Kantzer
. Edited by J. D. Woodbridge and T. E. McComiskey. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1991, 39–76.

Kaiser, W. C., Jr., ed.
Hard Sayings in the Bible
. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1996.

Köstenberger, A. J., and R. D. Patterson.
Invitation to Biblical Interpretation.
Grand Rapids: Kregel, forthcoming.

Osborne, G. R.
The Hermeneutical Spiral: A Comprehensive Introduction to Biblical Interpretation
. 2d ed. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2006.

Textual Criticism

Aland, K ., and B. Aland.
The Text of the New Testament: An Introduction to the Critical Editions and to the Theory and Practice of Modern Textual Criticism.
Translated by E. F. Rhodes. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987.

Comfort , P. W. “Texts and Manuscripts of the New Testament.” In
The Origin of the Bible.
Edited by P. W. Comfort. Wheaton: Tyndale, 1992, 179–207.

Gamble, H. Y.
Books and Readers in the Early Church: A History of Early Christian Texts
. New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 1995.

Metzger, B. M., and B. D. Ehrman
. The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration
. 4th ed. New York/Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 2005.

Wallace, D. B. “Challenges in New Testament Textual Criticism for the Twenty-First Century.”
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
52 (2009): 79–100.

Wegner, P. D.
A Student's Guide to Textual Criticism of the Bible: Its History, Methods and Results.
Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2006.

____________.
The Journey from Texts to Translations: The Origins and Developments of the Bible.
Grand Rapids: Baker, 1999.

Bible Translation

Beekman, J., and J. Callow.
Translating the Word of God
. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1975.

Bruce, F. F.
The English Bible: A History of Translations
. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1961.

Carson, D. A .
The Inclusive Language Debate: A Plea for Realism
. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1998.

Connolly, W. K.
The Indestructible Book: The Bible, Its Translators, and Their Sacrifices
. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1996.

Daniell, D., ed.
Tyndale's New Testament
. New Haven/London: Yale Univ. Press, 1995.

De Hammel, C.
The Book: A History of the Bible.
New York: Phaidon, 2001.

McGrath, A. E.
In the Beginning: The Story of the King James Bible and How It Changed a Nation, a Language, and a Culture.
New York: Doubleday, 2001.

Metzger, B. M.
The Bible in Translation.
Grand Rapids: Baker, 2001.

Noss, P., ed.
A History of Bible Translation
. New York: United Bible Societies, 2007.

Poythress, V. S., and W. A. Grudem .
The Gender-Neutral Bible Controversy: Muting the Masculinity of God's Words.
Nashville: B&H, 2000.

Ryken, L.
The Word of God in English: Criteria for Excellence in Bible Translation.
Wheaton: Crossway, 2002.

Scorgie, G. G., M. L. Strauss, and S. M. Voth, eds.
The Challenge of Bible Translation
. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003.

Strauss, M. L.
Distorting Scripture? The Challenge of Bible Translation and Gender Accuracy.
Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1998.

Table 1.3: Dates of Church Fathers, Patristic Works, and Canonical Lists