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The Formation Of Scripture: Part One

7/25/2020

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TBC Glassboro Sermons and More · The Formation Of Scripture - Part One
As God spoke the Law to Moses, he recorded it on clay tablets and papyrus scrolls.  

  • And he wrote upon the tablets (lûaḥ) the words of the covenant, - Exodus 34:28b
  • And it came about, when Moses finished writing the words of this law in a book (sēper), - Deuteronomy 31:24

In these passages, tablets translates the term lûaḥ (i.e., clay tablet) and book translates the term sēper (i.e., a scroll).  The clay tablets were written before the papyrus scrolls.  Thus, the tablet is the autograph, and the scroll is the apograph.  This two-fold method of near simultaneous inscription demonstrates that an apograph existed which was an exact facsimile of the autograph. When finished, the papyrus scroll was placed beside the Ark of the Covenant.  

  • It came about, when Moses finished writing the words of this law in a book until they were complete, […] The Lord saying, Take this book of the law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may remain there as a witness against you. - Deuteronomy 31:9, 24, 26​

The placement of the Torah besides the Ark shows that it was finished.  Also, by placing it beside the Ark, in the Holy of Holies, limited access to a select few and protected it from alteration.   Protecting the Torah from alteration was significant for two primary reasons.  One, the Torah was the standard or canon by which all other sacred writings were tested.  Two, the Torah was the standard by which the kings and the nation were evaluated and judged (cf. 2 Kings 21:8, 10-13).  If the Torah were in a continuous state of flux, it would lose its authority to be God’s standard.
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The Canonicity of the New Testament

7/22/2020

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TBC Glassboro Sermons and More · The Canonicity Of The New Testament
The Torah continued as the standard used to determine the God-inspired writings, which comprised the New Testament.  Along  with  the seven-point tests used for the Old Testament, four more tests were added:
  1. Did the book reflect the same quality of inspiration as the writings of the Old Testament? 
  2. Was the human writer an apostle or an associate of an apostle? 
  3. Was the book consistent with established, orthodox doctrine?  
  4. How was the book received by the churches? 

As the Apostolic Age came to a close, books were being identified as inspired by God.  The term Scripture was a common designation in First Century AD Judaism for the canonical books.  Paul quoted from both Luke’s Gospel and Deuteronomy referring to them as Scripture. 

  • For the Scripture says, You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing, and The laborer is worthy of his wages. - 1 Timothy 5:18

Peter identified Paul’s epistles as Scripture.

  • as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures ... - 2 Peter 3:15-16

John placed the book of Revelation on par with the rest of Scripture by quoting the Deuteronomic curse for changing the Scriptures.

  • I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city .... - Revelation 22:18-19

The New Testament canon was accepted long before the church councils of the Third and Fourth Centuries AD.  Shortly after Revelation was penned, Clement of Rome (AD 95), Ignatius of Antioch (AD 115), and Polycarp, a disciple of the Apostle John (AD 108) testified to the acceptance of the New Testament canon.  In fact, between AD 70 and AD 170, all the New Testament books were quoted and recognized as canonical.
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The Canonicity of the Old Testament

7/22/2020

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TBC Glassboro Sermons and More · The Canonicity Of The Old Testament
The Torah was used as the standard to determine the God-inspired writings, which comprised the Old Testament.  Each potential writing went through a seven point test.  
  1. Did the book claim divine authorship?
  2. Was the book a product of God speaking through a mediator?  
  3. Was the human writer identified as a spokesman for God?  
  4. Did the human writer have the prophetic gift?  
  5. Was the book historically accurate? 
  6. Was the book a record of actual facts? 
  7. How was the book received by the recipients?  

There are three periods in Israel’s history when it was recorded that the writings were viewed as divine.  The first was at the receiving of the Torah.  Six hundred thousand men acknowledge that the words were from God and committed to obey them.

  • All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient! - Exodus 24:7

The second period was during the reforms of King Josiah.  The Book of the Covenant was read before the people.  The people accepted it as divine and committed to obey it.

  • The king made a covenant before the Lord, to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes.. to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people entered into the covenant. - 2 Kings 23:3

The third period was during the rededication of the Post-Exilic Temple.  Ezra read the Scripture to the people.  The people wept and committed to obey it.

  • For all the people were weeping when they heard the words of the law. - Nehemiah 8:9

Ezra collected the inspired books and ordered them as the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms (i.e. the Writings).  Jesus’ use of the phrase, the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms shows His acknowledgment of the Old Testament canon.

  • Now He said to them, These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. - Luke 24:44​
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The Canonicity of Scripture

7/18/2020

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TBC Glassboro Sermons and More · The Canonicity Of Scripture
The term canon refers to a measuring stick or standard used to determine, which books God inspired and are therefore authoritative and orthodox.  Canon does not make the Scriptures inspired.  At no time has a church council ever made a book inspired. 

The first five books of the Bible, known as the Torah, are the standard by which all other Biblical writings are tested.  One, God, the divine author, spoke His revelation directly to Moses, the human writer, as witnessed by 600,000 men.  Two, Moses was a prophet second only to Jesus.  Three, God specifically stated that nothing could be added to or taken away from the Torah.

  • You shall not add (yāsap) to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away (gāraʿ) from it. - Deuteronomy 4:2

The term add (yāsap) means to increase the size or scope.  The term take away (gāraʿ) means to take away or reduce. Thus every book that came after the Torah, had to be in agreement with God’s truths as revealed in the Torah.

Jesus, acknowledged that the Torah was the standard by which His own words should be tested.

  • For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words? - John 5:46-47

The implication of this is that Jesus could not speak anything contrary to the Torah.  Jesus testified to this fact.

  • Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill (plēroō). - Matthew 5:17

The term fulfill (plēroō) means “to cause God’s will (as made known in the law) to be obeyed as it should be, and God’s promises (given through the prophets) to received fulfillment.”1

ENDNOTES:
1. James Strong, Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon (Woodside Bible Fellowship, 1995).

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    WHY TWO MINUTES?

    The Two-Minute Rule states “When you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do.”   The idea behind the rule is to make a habit easy to start.
    One of the goals for 2-Minute Theology is to help believers develop a theological habit.
    Another goal is to provide believers with a resource they can use to 'test the spirits' to see if they are from God.

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