The Cannon of Scripture

[Gregory Matthews]

I have decided to write a bit on the Cannon of Scripture.  I will begin with a comment on the material that are found between the Old and the New Testament, in the Bible that most of us use.  I will extend my comments to other Christian era writings the never made it into the Bible.

The reality is that in the early Christian years a lot of writings came to exist that were used    in Christian congregations as Christianity expanded into many places.  Some of those writings were only used in a geographic area.  Others had a wider circulation.    

Finlay early Church leaders decided that they must decide what could be included in Scripture, world-wide.  

[Gregory Matthews]

 The Apocrypha is a set of religious writings that were written during the Intertestamental period. They have been included in versions of the Bible that are generally accepted by Catholics, and also by some Protestants. Ellen White has made some positive comments about those writings. This has become a present study of some SDA Scholars in an attempt to determine what Ellen White actually thought about them. NOTE: My understanding of the Roman Catholic position is that they are of value, but not on the same level as the rest of the Bible. Gustave can correct me if I am wrong. In some cases, those writings consist of complete books, as in the rest of the Bible,,, and in other cases consist of short additions to present books in the Bible. By one count, these consist of fourteen additions to the Bible. 

First Maccabees contains some of the best history that we have of the Intertestamental period=d.

Second Maccabees is of value as a history, but not to the extent of First Maccabees

Judith contains 14-chapters. I consider it to be a nice devotional book, but probably not for children.

Tobit consists of 14-chapters. It contains material SDAs would generally think to be out of harmony with the rest of the Bible.

Susanna is a nice devotional addition to the book of Daniel.

Bel and the Dragon is a fanciful addition to the book of Daniel.

 

[Gregory Matthews]

The Pseudepigrapha is a collection of writings that date to Christian times and probably number in the hundreds. These writings were commonly used in congregations as Christianity spread. They often claimed to have been written by one of the disciples, or some other important Christian figure Such authors include Thomas, Peter, Mark, John, Barnabas , and others.

Those writings were divisive in a sense as they were not uniformly used throughout the Christian world. Some were used in some geographic area and not in other areas. 

Thomas is claimed to have written several, some quite different, versions of the gospel. There are multiple ones that claim to report the life of Christ as a child. Some present Christ as a petulant child who cursed people who offended him and used his powers to best other children. In one example, the village elders beg Joseph and Mary to leave the village as they are tired of the behavior of the Christ child.

Others of those writings presented teachings that were outside of what became mainline Christianity. As example is those that presented a Gnostic version of Christianity.

‘While I find these writings interesting, I remain convinced that God has preserved in the Old and New Testament what God wanted us humans to know about God and Salvation.  I do not look to those other writings for salvation truth.