Canon Revisited: Establishing The Origins And Authority Of The New Testament Books (2012) - Plot & Excerpts
Christians believe that the Bible is God's book. It's what He has to say to people, and we use it as a guide to life and religion. This has come under attack. Guys like Walter Bauer and Bart Ehrman have given quite a challenge to the Canon. (Canon is a fancy word for which books belong in the Bible). Kruger argues that you can't separate Christian history from Christian theology. He shows how the apostles and the early church recognized which letters were solid and which weren't. Ultimately, your presuppositions will affect what you think of the Bible. If you're willing to accept that God exists, and that he cares enough to make Himself known, then you're going to accept the Bible. If you're convinced going in that there is no God, then no amount of evidence will change your mind. With Canon Revisited, Kruger shows that the Christian is justified in accepting the Bible. He might not change any skeptical minds, but not much will. That in itself is an act of God. This was a very timely book. Michael Kruger is president of RTS in Charlotte, NC whose specialization is in canonical studies. He has interacted with various scholars and published this fine work establishing intellectual grounds for the Christian belief in the NT canon. In the first part of the book, he looks at various methods for establishing canon -- community determined models and historically determined models -- but argues that the canon is self-authenticating and thus other models fall short because they use some outside source of authority for justification. Even still, the self-authenticating model, contra historically and community determined models, is three-dimensional in that it has divine qualities, apostolic origins, and community reception. Thus, "canon has an ecclesiological dimension, a historical dimension, and an aesthetic/internal dimensions. It is when a single aspect of canon is absolutized at the expense of the others that distortions inevitably arise." (p. 293)The second half of the book defends the model put forth by Kruger and convincingly puts to death various myths surrounding canon such as the idea that there were all sorts of "competing factions" (i.e. rejected books like Gospel of Thomas) putting their books in for consideration, as well as showing that the idea of canon was not a Constantinian invention but was already present in earliest Christianity (c. 2nd century).All in all this was a very fine book. I have always wanted to find a book that discusses the history of the canon as well as trying to understand "what to do" with texts like the Shepherd of Hermas and other books valued by early Christians. This book not only does what other books do in exploring the history of the canon (e.g. Canon of Scripture by F.F. Bruce) but also goes one step further in showing how Christians throughout the ages have understood how to understand canon. The one thing I wish Kruger would have done additionally is explore the church's understanding of the canon not only in the patristics but also in later generations (i.e. Reformers). But alas, one book simply cannot do it all, nor would that be particularly necessary for what he was arguing for. I am deeply grateful for Kruger's work and will forward sections of the book to Christians struggling with the historicity of the Scripture, as well as those who just want to know how we got the Bible as we have it today.
What do You think about Canon Revisited: Establishing The Origins And Authority Of The New Testament Books (2012)?
Dr. Kruger has done great work here. I hope to turn to this book again in the future.
—marinemom
Excellent. All Bible origins' theorists must contend with this book.
—churia
excellent discussion on the formation of the NT canon!
—abanks94
