DATE: Saturday, November 8, 1997            TAG: 9711080030

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E3   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: Issues of Faith 
SERIES: UNDERSTANDING THE BIBLE
        Sixth in a series

SOURCE: Betsy Wright

                                            LENGTH:   93 lines

CANON: HOW THE SCRIPTURES CAME TO BE OFFICIAL

ASK ANY CHRISTIAN how many Gospels there are, and you'll most likely hear the reply, ``Four, of course.''

But it wasn't always so. Before those four Gospels were selected as canon, or genuine, more than 200 gospels circulated among early Christians.

So how did that many become only four? Who decided which writings should become Scripture? What is canon?

That last question first.

``When the ancient Hebrews measured something,'' writes Alice Parmelee in ``Introducing the Bible,'' ``they used a tall reed called a kaneh, meaning something `straight.' This Hebrew word for a simple measuring device came metaphorically to mean `measure,' `rule,' `standard' and is the derivation of our word canon. When we speak of the canon of the (Bible) we mean the standard list of books recognized as genuine or inspired Holy Scripture.''

Hebrew Testament canon: The process of canonizing the Hebrew Scriptures, known to Christians as the Old Testament, took hundreds of years. How many hundreds, however, is debated.

Tradition and orthodox scholarship holds that the Torah, Genesis through Deuteronomy, was completed and accepted as binding upon Israel from as early as 1100 B.C.

Other scholars disagree. They say that the idea of a holy, inspired book of Scripture did not emerge until around 625 B.C. and that the Torah was not canonized until the time of Ezra, around 458-398 B.C.

The books of ``the Prophets'' (Joshua through Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the books of the 12 minor proph-ets), were judged canonical almost from the time they were written. They became an official collection by around 200 B.C.

No one knows by whom or by what process the Torah, or the books of ``the Prophets,'' were deemed official. It happened gradually over hundreds of years, based on acceptance by the priests, kings and temple leadership of the times.

The Writings - those remaining 11 books that form the third section of the Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament - were valued and quoted by the Jews and early Christians, but they were not determined canonical until after the fall of Jerusalem when a council of rabbis, meeting in Jamnia in 90 A.D., drew up the final list.

It is interesting to note that even though the collection of Hebrew Scriptures has not changed in almost 2,000 years, it is not officially closed. Theoretically, other canonical Scriptures could yet be added to the Hebrew Bible. That, however, is highly unlikely.

Christian Testament canon: The Bible of the early Christian church was the Hebrew Bible. There were no written gospels for about 25 years, mainly because early Christians thought Jesus was returning soon and so there was no pressing need to write down the memoirs of his disciples.

Once those eyewitnesses began to die off - mostly through martyrdom - it became necessary to write down the stories of Jesus (The Gospels) and the early church (The Acts) for future generations. As mentioned at the beginning of this column, scholars have estimated that there were probably more than 200 gospel accounts circulated among first and second century Christians.

At the same time, Paul and other Christian leaders were writing letters to each other and to new churches as a means of instruction and encouragement. There is absolutely no reason to believe that any of these writers - including Paul himself - understood that their writings would one day become Scripture. Their sole intent was to give pastoral guidance to their growing flock.

The third type of religious literature to spring up at this time were prophecies. Many were written, but only one was eventually accepted an canonical: The Revelation to John.

The letters of Paul were the first Christian writings to be thought of as sacred, divinely inspired Scripture, perhaps as early as 90 A.D. The four Gospels were deemed the only authentic ones sometime between 140 and 200 A.D., based on their harmony, their tie to an eyewitness of Jesus' life and their accordance to the emerging Christian orthodox beliefs.

The remaining books of the Christian Testament, or New Testament, also gained acceptance as authoritative during the period between 140 and 200 A.D.

Around 325 A.D., the church leader Eusebius attempted to distinguish approved from unapproved books. Some he disputed are James, II Peter, Jude, II and III John and The Revelation to John.

Two years later, another church leader, Athanasius of Alexandria, listed as canonical all the 27 books now contained in the New Testament. From 382 through 419, four church councils were held to determine a fixed authoritative list of Christian Scripture. The church leaders who attended used three standards to decide canon: How extensively is a book accepted and used by the general church? How harmonious are the book's contents with the church's traditional teachings? How authentic is the book's claim to apostolic origin (either written or authorized by an apostle)?

By 419 A.D., the Christian canon was officially closed.

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