Canon

1
Canon

• Means standard or rule
• To be included in the canon means that the book
  has binding authority over the community of
  faith.
• Canonical books are God-given documents his
  people feel constrained to obey.

2
The Hebrew Canon

• Three Sections
• The Law
• The Prophets
• The Writings
• Comparison Chart
• Divisions first mentioned in the apocryphal book
  Sirach (c. 132 B.C.)

3
The Law

• Several passages indicate Moses wrote down events
  and direct speech from the LORD and that the
  written text was regarded as authoritative.
• Ex. 243-4. This passage indicates, for example,
  Moses wrote down everything from 20-243.
• Leviticus 11, 41, 514 61
• Deut. 319, 13

4
The Prophets

• References to authority of Pentateuch Josh.
  11-18 834-5)
• Cf. 2 Ki. 221-2325
• Former prophets (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings)
  were also regarded as authoritative. (e.g. Thus
  Says the Lord
• Isaiah 816, 20 Is. 361-388 is repeated in 2
  Ki. 1817-2011.
• Prophets regard each other as authorities.
  Jeremiah reflects on Hoseas influence (Jer.
  21-37)

5
The Writings

• Moses again regarded as authority (Ezra 32,
  618 Neh. 81
• Proverbs 11
• Ps. 7270

6
Other Matters

• NT canon (Mt. 517 Lk. 2444 2 Tim. 316)
• Apocrypha (Jeromes memo, 4th cent.)
• The Dead Sea Scrolls Tell us that our
  manuscripts closely approximate ancient copies of
  OT books, but since Essenes were a sectarian
  group, they may have only selected a small slice
  of canon.

7
Canonical Process

• Difficulty in Reconstruction
• Pentateuch first (622 - 550 B.C.)
• Prophets (written by 400 B.C., considered
  canonical by 200 B.C.)
• Writings, completed by 1st century as per Jesus,
  Philo, and Josephus claims.
• Maccabean Revolt may have accelerated process.

8
Historical Reliability of OT

• Difficulties for modern observers
• Ancient past not neatly accessible to empirical
  scrutiny.
• Archeology an inexact science.
• Cultural Barriers (uses of language, horizons,
  etc.
• Enlightenment presuppositions.

9
Historical Criticism

• Naturalism and rise of social sciences approach
  to history
• Julius Wellhausens (1844-1918) Prolegomena to
  the Historical of Israel
• Propounded the documentary hypothesis which
  held that the Pentateuch took shape over a vast
  period of time through 4 distinct sources J, E,
  D, P.

10
Documentary Hypothesis

• J - uses Yahweh as personal name for God (early
  monarchy)
• E - uses Elohim as name for God (later northern
  document)
• D - Deuteronomistic writer, Law
• P - Post-exile writer draws Pentateuch together
  with reflection on Israel

11
Difficulties with JEDP

• Differences between sections more illusory than
  real.
• Forces modern literary conventions as normative
  on ancient ones (paralellism, repetition)
• The whole hypothesis is based upon the different
  uses of the divine names which are employed for
  literary and theological reasons, rather than
  indicating radically different sources.

12
Archeological Discoveries

• Discovery of Ur, Nineveh
• 16th cent. B.C. Akkadian tablets employing the
  name Abram
• The Mari tablets (18th cent. B.C.) confirm city
  of Nakhur (Gen. 2410) and speak of the Habiru or
  Hebrews, a term meaning wanderers which
  describes Abraham in Genesis.
• Recently Robert Ballards Black Sea exploration.

13
Conclusion

• Unless one begins with anti-supernatural
  presuppositions and proceeds with an extreme
  hermeneutic of suspicion, the evidence points to
  the fact that given our present albeit limited
  understanding of ancient history, the Old
  Testament emerges as a faithful witness to actual
  historical events and people.