New Testament: It’s Books value

Since the Canon is composed only of inspired writings, are all the books of equal value? What was Luther’s view?

Yes, they are all of equal value. However, Luther viewed them with unequal value. He has list of several books that he considered as higher than the rest of the New Testament canon. 

The New Testament Canon composed of inspired writings as proven by former and later Biblical Scholars in the Christian world. They were agreed of their inspiration and authority as the message of God to man. God has not given indication to which book is superior to the other but rather, He sent His message to certain group of people in a certain occasion or situation. Thus, each has its significance. One book is most needed in the time of its relevance and other book is highly needed also in another time which its most relevance. Example, the book of Mathew is most needed to the Jews who have not understood Jesus as the Messiah but not as that relevance to the Gentiles because they could not understand the Old Testament terms but Luke and Paul’s epistles are better for them. However, they were not in contradiction each other but they were dealing with “different occasion” or “situation.”  

However, James was dealing with another situation or problem. Paul epistle is most needed to those who do not know and accepted the grace of God in Christ, to those who were legalist while James was most needed in the times of people who abuse God’s grace and or those having presumption faith. Each book has its own emphasis according to the occasion or problem it’s dealing with. Thus, each is very important and valuable and most of all, all of them are of God, the most Superior one. All have come from the same one ultimate Author with the same inspiration.

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[1] Viertel, Wieldon E. The Bible And Its Interpretation. Makati, Philippines: Church Strengthening Ministry, Inc., 1973, p. 141.

What historical circumstances contributed to the origin of the Gospels and the Pauline Epistles?

The historical circumstances that contributed the origin of the Gospels and the Pauline Epistles can be stated into two aspects: the apostles were getting gone to death and the fast spreading of the Gospels to the Gentile world.

In the time of Jesus until the writing of Gospels, “oral tradition” is their way of passing information (Viertel, 108). Jesus did not write any book (Viertel, 104). However, He spoke many words and performed many wonders and ministries. When Jesus ascended, the disciples did not write immediately but rather they proclaim by their voice about the good news- the life and messages of Christ which is known as the gospel, because the writing is very expensive and slow and their expectation of Christ return was very near (Viertel, 108-09). In AD 66 – 70, when the rebellion of the Jews broke out against the Roman Government, persecution had come to the Jews including Christians (Viertel, 105). Here, apostles and Christians were disappearing through death. Viertel said that the death of the Apostles endangered the “source of authentic teachings” (Viertel, 109). William Farmer supported the same idea when he said; “the disappearance of the first Christian generation… endangered the continuity of oral tradition” that conveys the gospel of Christ (Farmer, 114).  Thus, Farmer added, “the urgency of producing more permanent vehicles of transmission for the Christian message appears in this context fully” (Ibid.). The need of concrete preservation through written form of testimony about the life and messages of Christ was urgent.

The Gospel was preached to the Gentile world unhindered. Thus, many Gentiles were coming to know Christ. The Gentiles who did not have background or copy of the Scripture or Old Testament needs authenticated reading materials to read and study (Viertel, 109). However, the life and teaching of Jesus were enough for them to know about the truth and salvation as Dr Janapin mentioned (Janapin, class). Thence, the Four Gospels were come into existence. The letters of Paul are also about the life and teaching of Christ. It was Christ was his inspiration in his writing. He became the “interpreter” of Christ’s gospel to the Gentiles, Viertel said (Viertel, 116). Here, it shows a reason that the letters of Paul were collected as Scripture for the Gentiles Christians and for all Christians.

References

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Farmer, William R. and Farkasfalvy, Denis M. The Formation of the New Testament Canon. New York: Paulist Press,                                  1983.

Michael R. Hanapin, Class notes for BI, Bible Introduction, PBTS, Baguio City, Philippines, June 2010. 

Viertel, Wieldon E. The Bible And Its Interpretation. Makati, Philippines: Church Strengthening Ministry, Inc., 1973.

Can the Pentateuch be both Mosaic in origin and sixth century?

Yes, it can be because the Pentateuch was written in third person point of view yet originated from Moses. The writing/s was probably in the sixth century because of some implications from the books which called “anachronisms.”

 The Pentateuch contains the writings of Mosaic origin and the sixth century scribe/s handwritings.  it contains the Book of the Law, Covenant, curses and blessings, and wars that had been recorded by Moses’ authority given by God in his time as God told him to do so (Ex. 34: 27, 28; Ex. 24: 7; Num 5: 23; Ex. 17: 14; Numbers 21: 14) and the words of the writer/s who wrote the Pentateuch in third person that can be dated in the sixth century when after the kings of Israel as critical scholars claimed because of the anachronisms as found in Gen. 36: 31.

In reading the verses above, it is clear that Moses and others under his command wrote books. Moses wrote a book of “wars” and “covenant” (Ex. 17: 14; 34:27, 28; 24:7) while the priest wrote the book of “curses” (Num. 5: 23). However, the Israelites tradition called all those writings as “Book of Moses” (Ezra 6: 18; Neh. 8: 1; 13: 1).  In Ezra’s and Nehemiah’s time they mentioned their use of the book of the Law of Moses. It appears that the book of Moses still existed in their time. It appears that the writer of Pentateuch took all the “Book of Moses” as his main reference and had quoted directly. Beside the book, the writer had used also “oral” sources originated from Moses like Moses’ speech in Deut. 9 and the following chapters because Moses doesn’t need to communicate in letter with them for he was with them. The writer of the Pentateuch had written the content of the “Book of Moses” and the oral words of Moses into narrative form as Doctor Mac said, “Moses was the source.” Thus, the Pentateuch is Mosaic in origin but also contains the handwriting and words of narration of the sixth century scribe/s that compiled them and filled them more with information about the creation, patriarch, and the Israel Journeys from Egypt which the laws and book of Moses didn’t mentioned which probably from other minor sources.

How does our English Old Testament relate to the Hebrew Canon and to the Alexandrian Canon?

The English Old Testament Bible relate with the Hebrew Canon in its content while its divisions was patterned after the Greek Canon.  

Dr. Viertel mentioned that there are two Jewish canons that exist: “Palestinian Canon” and the “Alexandrian Canon.”[1] These canons were formed and named according to where they were canonized. The Palestinian cannon  was formed when the Jewish Scholars who went to Jamnia held a council in 90 AD to discussed which book should be bound in the Old Testament and its resulted to “24 books” as “officially” accepted.[2] They rejected the apocrypha.  In the other hand, the Jewish people at Egypt, they formed their own canon which was known as “Alexandrian Canon” with the Apocrypha.[3]  Thus, they have more than books in the canon than the Jewish in Palestine.

 The old English Bible had followed the content of the Palestinian canon as Viertel said that the 24 books Hebrew Old Testament as recognized by the “council of Jamnia” is what the “39 book in the English Bible.”[4] The apocrypha was not included in the English old Bible because of some reasons like: The New Testament had never been quoted apocrypha and the Jewish at Palestine did not recognize apocrypha as inspired,[5]prophetic authorship, and Spirit guided.[6] However, the English Old Testament “followed” the pattern of division of the Greek Bible. Both have the same arrangement: “Law, History, Poetry, and Prophecy.”[7] Dr. Mac once said, “Our Old testament” adopted the “Hebrew Old Testament” yet “we followed the Greek arrangement.”[8]

Another thing that appears possible that the Old English Bible relates with the Palestinian canon is because Christianity rose up from the Jewish community that used the Hebrew Old Testament. Christianity was not started in Egypt where Greek canon was formed but rather in the Palestine side. However, since the Old Testament has contained also history, the English Old Testament Bible rather adopted the Greek canon divisions.  Here, it has shown that the English Old Testament is both related with the Hebrew and Greek Old Testament. However, it can be said that the English Old Testament relates far heavier with the Hebrew Old Testament than the Greek Old Testament.

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[1] Viertel, Wieldon E. The Bible And Its Interpretation (Makati, Philippines: Church Strengthening Ministry, Inc., 1973), 86.

[2] Ibid

[3] Ibid

[4] Ibid

[5] http://www.answering-islam.org/Bible/pbotapoc.html

[6] Viertel, 89.

[7] Viertel, 90.

[8] Michael R. Hanapin, Class notes for BI, Bible Introduction, PBTS, Baguio City, Philippines, June 2010.  

Christ against Culture

 from the book Christ and Culture by H. Richard Niebuhr

The Christ-Christ-against culture movement appeared to be as logically and chronologically. It is logically for it appears in line with the “common Christian principle of the Lordship of Christ.” It is chronologically for it is generally typical picture of the first Christians. The movement began with the theology pictured or stated explicitly in the First epistle of John, the doctrine of Love and the Lordship of Christ. Thus, two themes broke out: the faith in Jesus and love one another. This strong emphasis of loyalty to Christ and loving your brothers in the community of Christianity brought Christianity into “rejection of cultural society.” Hence, anything that does not belong to Christ’s “commonwealth” is of evil authority. This draws a line between two ways: life (“Christian way”) and death (“vicious course of life”). The clearer cut between Christians and non-Christians is “obedience to the law of Christ and simple lawlessness.” The Christians as New people because of their new culture and the World as the old society- the non-Christian culture.

The first visible representative of Christianity of the typical “Christ-against culture” apart of the NT writers is Tertullian.  Other notable in this movement is Tolstoy. They carried the “absolute authority” of Christ. They strongly promote on loyalty to the Lordship of Christ and obedience to His commandments.  Tolstoy is extreme than Tertullian. He is a legalist and strong opposition of culture. For him, Jesus is “always the great Lawgiver.” He was bound to legalist than grace of God by concentrating more on the commandments than the person Jesus Christ. The loyalty and obedience to Christ is an action synonymous to opposition of institutions of culture. He was a crusader against culture under the banner of the law of Christ. He looks all culture’s or state’s government even institutionalized churches as bad for they are chief offender against life and are “equally far removed from the Christianity of Jesus” because, they are all alike in betrayal of Christ’s law.”

Here are things as theology of the radical Christians as appeared in the study. 1.) Revelation as only the basis of life and theology, reason is absolutely erroneous. They tend also to make distinction between revelation through inner light and Scriptures. 2.) Culture and nature as where sin arises thus needs separation.  3.)  Emphasis more on precise Commandments than the working grace of God. 4.) According to the author, the most problem theological developed by the Christ-against-culture movement is the relation of Christ with the “Creator of nature” and “Governor of history” and also to the “Spirit immanent in creation” and in the “Christian Community.” Their “reliance on the Christ” of the radical Christians is often turned to reliance on inner light or spirit (“Spirit immanent”) that had led them to substitute the “historical Jesus” by “spiritual principle.” They divided the world into two: “material realm governed by principle opposed to Christ and a spiritual realm guided by the spiritual God.”

The Christ-against-culture movement took an unwavering strong allegiance with Christ have passed and endured suffering of mental and physical in deciding to leave their wealth, government, and society until they were filled with conviction and willingness. Thus, they stood with feet in their testimonies and preaching against culture. They have sustained the “distinction between the Christ and Caesar, between revelation and reason, between God’s will and man’s.” Their influence brought reformation in both church and state though it was not their intention for their intention like Tolstoy and Quakers were the total abolition of “all methods of coercion, to limit armaments,” and to build a peaceful world. However, the reformation had done successfully by other believers like Origen, Francis, and others. The renunciation and withdrawal movement is “necessary element in every Christian life.”However, culture will never separate from the person. It dwells in the mind of human. Thus, radical Christians are always use part of the culture which they reject. God doesn’t reject culture but only the sinful practices and beliefs. This can only be eradicated by the grace of God by having a constant relationship with Christ by faith and knowing Him and His words in the Scripture and devotional experience with Him.