The Canon of Scripture

In this text, F.F. Bruce takes his reader through a historical summation of the Canon of Scripture. In other words, he looks at the various time frames - from the 2nd century church Fathers to the Reformation and on into the modern period (the age of printing) - and discusses the views of various thinkers, theologians, etc. and how they responded to certain assertions about the Canon of Scripture, etc. For instance, in the Reformation, Bruce examines why Luther thought that the Book of James should be omitted from the Canon.The last few chapters deal with the Criteria of the Canon; what it took to put the Canon together, how it actually occurred, why certain books were chosen and others not, etc. Bruce also examines the differences between the Roman Catholic view and the Protestant view of the Canon, he discusses criticism and interpretation within the Christian Church (as well as from those outside) in reference to the Canon. Finally Bruce examines the "secret" gospel of Mark, what it is, what is the controversy surrounding it, its historical roots, etc. This is an interesting chapter and has a bit of apologetic value to it. Overall, this is a great basic text for anyone interested in the Canon of the Scriptures, how the Bible was put together, how it has been viewed over the centuries and how interpreting the Bible is possible and the need for good interpretation, criticism, Biblical inerrancy, etc.

FF Bruce does a great job of explaining how the books of the Bible were canonized. I was surprised to learn how many people had different opinions on which books should be canonized. Many people had mized feelings about the book of Revelation because of it being a difficult book to understand. Others felt that James should not be included because it only mentions the name of Jesus twice. Similarly, the books of esther and Song of Songs in the Old Testament barely made it in.And right up to the present day, there are those who feel that the Apocrypha should be included in the canon of Scripture, and the Roman Catholic church regards them as such today.Bruce takes the time to discuss individual theologians such as Jerome, Origen, Tertullian, Augustine, Clement of Alexandria, Irenaeus, Athanasius, and many others and whenever possible, he furnishes their choices for books whoch were deemed fit for the canon of Scripture. Apparently, Athansius' trip to Rome in 350 AD was decisive for helping the western church decide on the 27 books of the New Testament that we now have today. Before this, they were hedging on Hebrews, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, Revelation, James and 2 and 3 John.The book concludes with a couple of the author's lectures on the subect of the secret gospel of Mark (which he rejects) and the difference between the plenary meaning of scripture and the meaning in context.

This is the best single text that I've read dealing with the manner in which the Bible took its shape. So many Christians have the impression that our Bible floated down from the clouds. This book will open the eyes of many--the New Testament Canon wasn't firmly decided upon until nearly three hundred years after the death of Christ (!). This is an excellent piece of scholarship, doctrine, and church history. Not only will readers learn about the Bible, they will also learn about some great theologians of the early Church. A must read for Roman Catholics, Orthodox, Anglicans, Evangelicals and everyone else who wants to understand the Bible and the ancient Christian Church. Inter Varsity Press publishes this book: I've been very impressed by many of the scholarly books they have recently published on doctrine (several books by N.T. Wright) and the ancient catholic Church Fathers (Ancient Christian Commentary on the Scriptures series).

Helpful, in-depth discussion of the issues surrounding the collection of the Old and New Testament canon.Technical note: He uses topic sentences (much easier to follow his reasoning with this method). This book uses footnotes instead of endnotes for easier reference. His documentation is amazingly broad (he does not pull from exclusively contemporary opinion, but source documents). He explains not only OT and NT canon, but also the criteria for canon inclusion. He is lucid. This book is clear and the progression is easy to follow.

Dr. Bruce's monograph addresses both the Hebrew and Christian canon of Scripture, spanning from Moses through the Late Middle Ages. In the final chapters, he briefly addresses some modern issues, notably those regarding original texts used for translations. Readers without a basic understanding of the History of Christianity might find most of the concepts too difficult to grasp without additional study. While targeted to specialists in the field, I would recommend the work to any serious student of Bible History.