PROCESS OF CANONIZATION
The word canon comes from the Greek word
‘kanon’ which means a straight inflexible rod. The root word is a Mediterranean
word that appears in the Hebrew as ‘qanch’ which means reed. It became
synonymous with a measuring stick or ruler. In its earliest application, in
Christian writings, it signified a list, specifically the list of Christian
writings that were permitted to be read public in the liturgical assembly.
Different
Stages
A. First Stage
The scriptures of earliest Christianity
were those it inherited from Judaism. They were used in worship and as
resources for Christian preaching, teaching and practices. No distinctively
Christian writings were available in the first decades of Christianity and only
gradually did they come into being. The earliest extant Christian writings were
the letters of Paul, composed between AD 47-63. None of these early Christian
writings were composed as scriptures or initially regarded as such. Yet,
through their distribution and use, especially the reading of these books in
services and worships, along with the OT, many of them soon acquired a similar
religious authority and came to be considered as scripture.
B. Second Stage: The growth of early
small collections
a. The Gospels:
Four
fold Gospel. In the 1st and early 2nd centuries, a great
variety of gospel-type writings were produced. For example, we have the Gospel
of Thomas, Gospel of Peter, Gospel of the Hebrews, Dialogue of the Saviour,
Apocryphon of James etc. The desire for a single self consistent and
theologically adequate gospel produced two conflicting tendencies in the
process of canonization. On the one hand, a proliferation of gospels and on the
other a reduction of their numbers.
Proliferation:
The first attempt was made by Tatian (AD 170) with the production of
Diatessaron). It brought together the text of Matthew, mark, Luke, and John and
some additional materials in order to create a single gospel in place of many.
Reduction:
The problem of multiple texts was also resolved in another way towards the end
of the 2nd century by the creation of a limited collection of
gospels. The first witness to such a collection was Irenaeus, the Bishop of
Lyon (AD180). He criticized the Churches that made use of only one gospel and
insisted that with the aid of elaborate allegorical variants, there could be
wither more nor fewer than four gospels, namely, John, Luke, Matthew and Mark.
b. The Pauline Epistles:
The
first witness to a collection of the Pauline corpus was MArcion (around AD140).
This edition consisted of 10 letters (Galatians, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Romans, 1
and 2 Thessalonians, Laodiceans, Colossians, Philemon and Philippians). During
the 2nd century other forms of the Pauline epistles arose. There was
a form of the collection which included 10 letters of Paul which were
phased/arranged according to their decreasing length – Romans, 1 and 2
Corinthians, Ephesians, Galatians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2
Thessalonians, and Philemon. This is evident in p46 dating to about 82-100.
However, in this mss, Hebrews was not an original element in this edition and
in the first several centuries was current mainly in the East.
c. Pastoral Epistles:
The
Pastoral Epistles like Hebrew did not belong to any of th identifiable early
editions after Pauline corpus. It was apparently objected because they were
addressed to individuals and they lacked catholic relevance. Nevertheless, by
the early 3rd century, they were made an addendum to the other
Pauline epistles and they were valued not only for their apostolic teachings,
but also for their practical administrative directives.
d. General/catholic epistles:
The
third major component collection of the NT canon consists of the 7 letters. The
term catholic appears to have originated in the latter part of the 2nd
century where it was used by Appolonius. The term had nothing to do with the
canonical nature of the letters but rather their general appeal. It was later
used by Eusebius in the 4th century and is the first person to refer
to them as a collection. The reception of the general epistles was mixed in the
Church. 1 John and 1 Peter were generally accepted by the major writers of the
2nd century but 2 Peter had a different reception. The book of James
was a highly disputed book because of its supposed differences from Apostle
Paul on the issue of justification by faith. 2 and 3 John and Jude, likewise,
had a mixed reception in the Church until late in the 4th century.
e. Other writings:
1. Acts: The early history of Acts as a separate
work is obscure. In the 2nd century, Acts was not yet cited as
scripture nor was it found in any of the collections of sacred scriptures. The
main reason could be because of its peculiar literary type. But its depiction
of the Apostolic unity of the early church made it a valuable resource for the
church. The early acceptance of Acts has to do with its association with the
Gospel of Luke. In the 4th century, Eusebius had no hesitation in
placing this book among the sollection of recognized writings.
2. Revelation: It was first mentioned by Justin Martin
and he included it on the basis that John the Apostle wrote the book. At the
end of the 2nd century, Ireneaus frequently referred to this book
and it was apparently well-known in Gaul and Tertullian knew and used it in
North Africa. Thereafter, it was widely received and used in the west although
it came under temporary dispute along with John’s gospel because of the appeals
made to this writings by the Montanists. In the east, however, Revelation fared
less well.
3. Hebrews: The canonical status of Hebrews was insured
when a 2nd century writer Pantaenus of Alexandria (c. 170AD)
incorporated this writing into the Pauline corpus. After that, its canonical
status was never questioned in Alexandria. Eventually, the Syrian churches
agreed that the book was written by Paul and accepted it into the
scripture/canon. However, it was neglected in the west until the 4th
century. The reason was probably because of the authorship. The second was its
teaching against the possibility of repentance after baptism (Heb. 10:26-31; 12:14-17).
It was only in the late 4th century did Hebrew acquire a general use
and authority in the western church.
C. The Third Stage: Shaping of the Canon
a. The canon that was first introduced by Marcion:
Marcion
established the first closed canon in AD140. He included only an edited version
of Luke and 10 letters of Paul excluding the pastorals. The OT was completely
rejected as inferior and he removed from
Paul’s letters all the OT texts.
b. Eusebius:
The
earliest discussion of the authoritative book that approached the form of a
catalog was provided by Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea in his book Church History, written around 320-330.
In this he allocated three categories
i.
The
acknowledged books/Homologoumena: 4 gospels, Acts, Letters of Paul (probably
including Hebrews), 1 John and 1 Peter.
ii.
The
disputed books/Antilegomena: James, Jude, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, Revelation and
also the Gospel of Hebrews, Shepherd of Hermas, Epistle of Barnabas, Didache,
Apocalypse of Peter.
iii. The fabrication
of heretics: Gospel of Peter, Thomas and Matthias, Acts of Andrew and John.
c. Codex Claromontanus
Another
important list of books is preserved in this codex coming from the 6th
century. It is bilingual – Greek and
Latin. It stipulates as comprising the holy scriptures – 4 gospels, 10 letters
of Paul, 7 general epistles, Barnabas, Revelation, Acts, the shepherd of
Hermas, Acts of Paul, Apocalypse of Peter, the omission of Philemon, 1 and 2
Thessalonians. Hebrews is almost certainly accidental. This piece propose a
canon of 31 books. However, a scribal mark stands before Barnabas, the Shepherd
of Hermas, Acts of Paul and the Apocalypse of Peter which indicates some sort
of hesitation about these books.
d. Clutenham Canon
The
Clutenham or Mommsen canon is a stichometric catalogue, a list of documents
stating how many lines each book contains (Matt – 2600 lines)
This
originated in North Africa in about AD360 proposing a canon of 24 books with an
appeal to the 24 elders in Revelation 4:10. It contains the 4 Gospel, 13
letters of Paul, Acts, Revelation, 3 Johannine, Epistles and 2 letters ascribed
to Peter.
Addition
of the phrase “una sola” (one only) after the Johannine and the Epistles of
Peter suggest a preference for only 1 John and 1 Peter.
e. Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem
In
his letter of AD350, he warns against the use of Apocrypha or disputed writings
and he provides a list of 4 gospels, Acts, Seven General Epistles, 14 Epistles
of Paul (including Hebrews) for a total of 26 books. Notable in this is the
absence of Revelation.
f. Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria
In
his 39th Festal letter in AD367, he provided a list of those
writings which, accoding to him were “handed on by tradition and believed to be
divine.” He is the first person to make as exclusively authoritative precisely
the 27 books that belonged to our NT. But he also mentions other books that
though not to be read in the Church, but yet be used by catechumens, namely
Didache and the Shepherd of Hermas.
g. Muratorian Canon
Discovered
in 1740 at the Ambrosian library at Mina by Antonio Muratori which probably
came from the 2nd century, it consisted of the 4 gospels, Acts, 13
letters of Paul, Jude, 1 and 2 John, Wisdom of Solomon, Revelation and the
Apocalypse of Peter for a total of 24 books. It rejected the Epistle of Paul,
Laodiceans and certain unnamed books of heretics. The shepherd of Hermas is
named as suitable for reading, but not in the Church.
D. Fourth Period: The Early Church Councils
Catalogs
of the NT were then drawn out by the Church Councils of the 4th and
5th centuries. One of the earliest of these was adopted by the
council of Laodicea (363AD) and included 26 of these precisely those in out NT.
But Revelation was excluded. Then there were two North African Councils of the
late 4th century that promulgated a list of authoritative books. The
Council of Hippo of 393 named the 27 books. But in accordance with the
disposition towards Hebrews, they speak of 13 letters of Paul and “of the same,
one of the Hebrews.”
The
issue was taken up during the reformation because Luther and others doubted the
Apostolic origin of Hebrews, James, 2 Peter and 2 and 3 John and Revelation. In
response, the Catholic Church issued a decree at the Council of Trent in 1546.
It listed all the books of the OT and the 27 books of the NT and the Apocrypha
as sacred and canonical and pronounced a curse upon anyone who does not regard
them.
Along
with this, the Church of England, in 1562 and 1571 accepted the identical
canon, except for the Apocrypha. But they encouraged the reading of the
additional books for devotional purposes. The Reformed Churches also accepted
the list of books but rejected the Apocrypha as authoritative writings in any
sense.
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