5.3: How is Scripture formed?

As the discussion of scripture continues, we need to introduce a new term: canon. (Please note the spelling! Do not confuse canon with cannon, which is a type of artillery.) A canon is a body of scripture everyone agrees upon as accepted, authentic, and complete. When a canon is being formed, it is known as an open canon, content is being added and removed. Those items that did not make it into the canon are called noncanonical. When complete and finalized, it is called a closed canon. When a canon is closed, no one would even think of adding or removing from it. The process of forming the canon is known as canonization.

To help the paragraph above be less abstract and dense, let us consider the following case study...

Case Study: the Canonization of the New Testament

Jesus of Nazareth lived, conducted his ministry, was crucified, and according to Christian teachings, was resurrected, and ascended to heaven around 30 - 35 CE. Just as when he was alive, people began to tell stories about him and to share his teachings after his death. As covered in the previous chapter, this is known as the oral tradition, the formation of myths. These stories were told, retold, and retold again with changes being made with each telling, as is expected with anything that is part of the oral tradition.

This continued for decades until the first generation of eye witnesses, his disciples and close followers, began to die about thirty years after Jesus' death. Then, an unknown author recognized the importance of writing a narrative of Jesus' life and his teachings and wrote today what is called The Gospel According to Mark around 65 - 75 CE, roughly thirty to forty year after Jesus' death. (Though many claim the Gospel of Mark was written by Mark, an associate of Paul and Peter, this view is not held by scholars. In fact, the gospel itself makes no claim of authorship, just like the other gospels found in the New Testament. They are all anonymous. For the sake of clarity, we will still refer to the Gospel According to Mark as such and its author as Mark.)

Papyrus 46, one of the oldest New Testament papyri, showing 2 Corinthians 11:33-12:9

However, before Mark could write his gospel, he first had to gather the different teachings and stories people told about Jesus by listening. He likely had heard many already. He kept some stories and rejected others. With this seemingly simple act, the formation of what we call today Christian teachings and the religion of Christianity itself began. The canonization had begun by his collecting myths, those stories told and retold for decades as part of the oral tradition. Then, he either wrote his gospel or had someone write it for him; after all, in the ancient world being literate was rare. About ten percent of the population was literate; this would be the ruling and upper classes, and since Jesus of Nazareth associated himself with the poor and rejected in Jewish society, the fact of a literate follower makes it even less likely.

Mark's gospel was written in Greek, as were all the other gospels and all books in the New Testament. Of interest, not all events in the life of Jesus of Nazareth were included in the Gospel According to Mark. This is partly explained by the continued role of the oral tradition to early Christians, as well as the need to only record important teachings and actions. In other words, the gospels were not written to be read like a biography of a president or a celebrity that listed every minute detail of his or her life. In addition, it is important to restate at this time the religion today we call Christianity was still forming and growing; as such, its teachings at this stage are referred to heterodoxy, which is from the Greek and can be translated as "different teachings."

When Christians gathered in the first century CE and heard Mark's gospel read and reread, something amazing happened: it did not change! Unlike before when relying upon something from the oral tradition, a text remained the same with repeated readings. This led to the idea of books being more authoritative than the oral tradition. Soon, other gospels were written, and these, as with Mark's gospel were copied and copies made from those. They began to spread throughout the Roman Empire for decades. By approximately 100 CE, the end of the first century, there still was no New Testament; however, certain books were emerging as being more authoritative and respected than others. For example, the first mentioning we have of the gospels of Mark and Matthew is around 130 CE when Papias, the bishop of Hieropolis, refers to them in his writings. This is important as it reflects the recognition that some books were more highly regarded, valued, and authoritative than others.

Then, around 140 CE early leaders in the Christian church and Christians themselves recognized the need for a consistent set of texts. By this time, many different accounts of Jesus' life and teachings were being read at worship services and gatherings of Christians, some very different than others. These early collections were heavily influenced by the beliefs of the collectors, who often edited books and even left others out of their collection. This continued for decades. By about 200 CE the four gospels (today known as Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), the letters of Paul the Apostle, and other books of the New Testament were generally accepted as being authoritative. In addition, others were also included, such as The Shepherd of Hermes, Clement, and the Letter of Barnabas.

At this point, we need to remember Christianity was still developing and was slowly moving from heterodoxy, "different teaching," to orthodoxy, "straight teaching." During this time there were many debates and disputes about Jesus' teachings and about Jesus himself. The canonization continued through writing, collecting, editing, evaluating, disputing, and debating for decades and decades. The process of canonization was generally guided by a few basic ideas: consistency was one; books that presented widely different views or teachings were frowned upon as being odd. Utility was important. After all, in a new religion the followers need useful advice on what to do, how to pray, and so on. Age was of primary importance. The older a text was, the better. Slowly, the canonization continued.

Constantine

Then, on October 27, 312 CE the Roman general Constantine experienced a world-changing event on the eve of the Battle of Milvan Bridge; the armies were preparing for battle when he had a vision of a cross, which led him to fight under the protection of the Christian god. The next day Constantine's forces won the battle, and Constantine began his conversion to Christianity. Some scholars argue when he was emperor, Constantine realized how immense the Roman Empire was and how he needed to unify it as much as he could to make his rule more secure. Constantine knew Christianity was a rapidly growing religion in the empire, and soon he learned how the differences in teachings, or heterodoxies, specifically the nature of Jesus, could divide his new faith and possibly the empire.

Today, this teaching of Christianity is called the Holy Trinity, the belief held by Christians that Jesus is three persons in one: the father, the son, and the holy spirit. However, in the fourth century CE, this was a point of debate; some believed Jesus was not divine. Others held Jesus was completely divine, and still others something different. Each group of Christians had its own texts that reflected these beliefs. As a result, Constantine in 325 CE called for a meeting to be held: the Council of Nicea. Many today think the New Testament was canonized at the Council of Nicea: they are wrong.

The Council of Nicea

The council confirmed and asserted the teaching of the Holy Trinity. As such, this aspect of Christian teaching became orthodox, and any other teaching was declared to be heresy, a belief that is contrary to orthodoxy. Afterwards, those who believed or taught Jesus was not three persons in one were labeled heretics. The Council of Nicea unknowingly accelerated the New Testament's canonization since it helped to clarify and develop Christian doctrine and teachings. For example, just a few decades later, in 367 CE, Bishop Anthanasius, in his Easter letter to the Christians of Alexandria, Egypt, listed the 27 books that today are contained in the New Testament, so believers would not be deceived by heretical gospels. Then, in 397 CE, the Council of Catharage pronounced no other readings were allowed in churches other than those listed by Athanasius and officially labeled that list in his Easter letter as scripture. Any book not on Athanasius' list was judged to be noncanonical since it was not part of the canon, and the New Testament's canonization was complete: it was now a closed canon.

It is important to remember books initially considered to be part of the New Testament around 200 CE, such as The Shepherd of Hermes, Clement, and the Letter of Barnabas listed earlier, were in 397 CE noncanonical, as were others, including The Gospel of Peter, The Gospel of Mary, The Gospel of Thomas, and many others. We know of this because these noncanonical gospels are widely available today even though they are not part of the New Testament nor do they reflect Christian teachings.

The canonization of the New Testament took more than 300 years, a fact many today are unaware of. Another key fact to be aware of is the Christian faith is older than the New Testament.

The above case study illustrating the movement from the oral tradition to scripture is also true for Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Of course, each religion has its own set of key players and events in its canonization. It is important to note that Islam is not included in this list. In other words, the Koran was not canonized and came before Islam. It is not a faith that rose from the oral tradition.