History Of The Bible/Biblical Canon

Intertextuality and the Pericanonicity of the Didache: The Dependence and Commentary of Didache 1:2-6 on the Canonical Gospels of Matthew and Luke

by David D. M. King

In this paper, I will look specifically at one section of Didache that contains gospel parallels, Did. 1:2-6. I will... more In this paper, I will look specifically at one section of Didache that contains gospel parallels, Did. 1:2-6. I will argue that Didache, at least this section of it, shows dependency on both Matthew and Luke. This dependency begins to explain two things: why Didache fails to make the cut of official canon and why it still remains close to the canon, in a group of pericanonical texts which are not canon but are still good to read. The later date of Didache, and its derivative nature, exclude it from the canon on the grounds of apostolicity. At the same time, this same dependence on, harmony with, and commentary on Matthew and Luke ensures that Didache will remain “good to read.”

Le Canon des Ecritures, vers la fin d'une fausse question?

by Régis Burnet

Communio 18/3, 2012, p. 5-17.

Depuis la fin du XIXe siècle, une vision très restrictive du canon a triomphé, qui en ferait une sorte de « brevet de... more Depuis la fin du XIXe siècle, une vision très restrictive du canon a triomphé, qui en ferait une sorte de « brevet de vérité ». Une fois pourvus de ce sauf-conduit, les textes se transformeraient en réservoirs à « vérités de foi ». Cette compréhension a multiplié les malentendus qui ont allumé une sorte de « querelle canonique », dont nous entrevoyons peut-être la fin. // Since the late nineteenth century, a highly restrictive view of the canon has won, that would make it a sort of "truth patent". With this safe-conduct, the texts would turn into tanks of "truths of faith." Such an understanding has multiplied the misunderstandings that have leaded to a sort of "canon dispute", whose the end we can maybe see today.

Influence of Montanism on the Formation of the New Testament Canon

by Jonathan Patterson

Written for the seminar "The Canon of the New Testament" for Drs. Daniel Holcomb and Bill Warren, Fall 2011.

Elio Jucci, Il testo biblico e i manoscritti del Mar Morto - 2009

by Elio Jucci

Elio Jucci, "Il testo biblico e i manoscritti del Mar Morto" (pp.29-48) in Franco Gori, Elio Jucci, Michele Carmine Minutiello, Mauro Perani, "La Bibbia: testo di fede e modello letterario”, a cura di Andrea Bacianini, Giovanni Frulla, Simone Mandolini, Stefano Perini - VINCENZO GRASSO EDITORE Padova 2009

Si presenta un quadro della problematica, partendo dai problemi metodologici relativa alla stessa definizione del... more Si presenta un quadro della problematica, partendo dai problemi metodologici relativa alla stessa definizione del testo biblico nel periodo del secondo tempio. Il corpus biblico è ancora in uno stato fluido sia in relazione ai suoi confini esterni, e quindi ai testi incluso od eslusi dal corpus. Sia in relazione al contenuto e alla forma dei testi stessi compresi all'interno del corpus. Ciò rende problematica la stessa definizione all'interno delle testimonianze qumraniche di testi biblici, o parabiblici o di bibbie riscritte. Tenuto conto di questi problemi si rende conto della presenza a Qumran dei testi compresi nei successivi canoni biblici, o nella letteratura cosiddetta apocrifa. Si ricordano le forme letterarie più tipicamente qumraniche di rilettura- riscrittura o commento biblico, e quella letteratura che pur nella sua autonomia riprende ampiamente le tematiche bibliche, come ad es. gli Inni.

De canon: een oude katholieke kerkstructuur?

by Peter-Ben Smit

Published by the University of Utrecht, 2011.

My inaugural lecture as professor of Old Catholicism at the University of Utrecht treats the development and... more My inaugural lecture as professor of Old Catholicism at the University of Utrecht treats the development and hermeneutical importance of the (New Testament) canon in the early Church.

(Pseudo-)Eupolemus and Shechem: Methodology Enabling the Use of Hellenistic Jewish Historians' Work in Biblical Studies

by Łukasz Niesiołowski-Spanò

in: Lester L. Grabbe (ed.), Enquire of the Former Age. Ancient Historiography and Writing the History of Israel (ESHM 9; LHB/OTS 554), New York: T & T Clark 2011, 77-96

On the Formation of the Biblical Canon: An Extended Review of L. M. McDonald's Book

by Juan Carlos Ossandón

published in 'Annales Theologici' 24 (2010) 437-452

Flavio Josefo y los veintidós libros: Nuevas preguntas en torno a Contra Apionem I,37-45

by Juan Carlos Ossandón

published in 'Estudios bíblicos' 67 (2009) 653-694

This paper analyses Against Apion I,37-45, seeking to identify the concept of sacred book reflected in this text. The... more This paper analyses Against Apion I,37-45, seeking to identify the concept of sacred book reflected in this text. The conclusion is that some of the features that Josephus attributes to the 22 books –such as historical reliability– seem to be a creation ad hoc, because they fit well into his apol- ogy of Judaism. On the other hand, the mention of 4 non-historical books and the exclusion of books written later do not agree with the apologetic context and thus should be considered as reflecting authentic facts. The paper includes information about debates concerning the identification of the 22 books’ list and the cessation of prophecy.

« La bibliothèque de Qumrân et la constitution du corpus biblique », Etudes théologiques et religieuses 85/2, 2010, p. 221-232.

by Katell Berthelot

« 4QMMT et la question du canon de la Bible hébraïque », dans From 4QMMT to Resurrection. Mélanges qumrâniens en hommage à Émile Puech, éd. par Fl. García Martínez, A. Steudel et E. Tigchelaar, Boston – Leiden, Brill, 2006, p. 1-14.

by Katell Berthelot

"The Italian Giant Bibles," in The Practice of the Bible in the Middle Ages, ed. Susan Boynton and Diane Reilly, Columbia University Press, 2011

by Lila Yawn

An introduction to the Italian Giant Bibles (Bibbie atlantiche, Bibles atlantiques, Riesenbibeln), their... more An introduction to the Italian Giant Bibles (Bibbie atlantiche, Bibles atlantiques, Riesenbibeln), their historiography, scripts, illustrations, and current ideas about where they were made and by whom. This chapter differs from most other recent works on the Italian Giant Bibles in that it calls into question the widespread hypothesis that much of the group came from one or a few Roman scriptoria associated with the papacy.

To those interested in acquiring a copy of the book: The promotional material I received says that anyone who uses the promo code “PRABO” to buy the book from the Columbia University Press website will receive a 30% discount off the price of the book. Here's the website again: http://www.cup.columbia.edu/book/978-0-231-14826-9/the-practice-of-the-bible-in-the-middle-ages.

“‘You Must Not Add Anything to What I Command You’: Paradoxes of Canon and Authorship in Ancient Israel”

by Bernard M. Levinson

Numen: International Review for the History of Religions 50:1 (2003): 1–51.

For all the debate in the contemporary humanities about the canon, there is little interdisciplinary dialogue on the... more For all the debate in the contemporary humanities about the canon, there is little interdisciplinary dialogue on the issue, nor even meaningful input from the perspective of academic biblical studies, the one discipline that specializes in the formation and interpretation of the canon. Seeking to provide such a perspective, this article shows how cultures having a tradition of prestigious or authoritative texts address the problem of literary and legal innovation. Engaging the work of Jonathan Z. Smith on exegetical ingenuity, the study begins with cuneiform law, and then shows how ancient Israel's development of the idea of divine revelation of law creates a cluster of constraints that would be expected to impede legal revision or amendment. As a test-case, the article examines the idea that God punishes sinners transgenerationally, vicariously extending the punishment due them to three or four generations of their progeny. A series of inner-biblical and post-biblical responses to the rule demonstrates, however, that later writers were able to criticize, reject, and replace it with the alternative notion of individual retribution. The conclusions stress the extent to which the formative canon sponsors this kind of critical reflection and intellectual freedom.

Esarhaddon’s Succession Treaty as the Source for the Canon Formula in Deuteronomy 13:1

by Bernard M. Levinson

Journal of the American Oriental Society 130 (2010): 337–347.

Time purpose of this study is to propose a Neo-Assyrian origin for the so-called “canon formula” found in Deut. 13:1... more Time purpose of this study is to propose a Neo-Assyrian origin for the so-called “canon formula” found in Deut. 13:1 (lxx 12:32). Sections of Esarhaddon’s Succession Treaty, also known as the Vassal Treaties of Esarhaddon (VTE), have previously been recognized as a literary model for both the curses of Deut. 28 and the Deuteronomic series of three laws governing apostasy from a prophet or oneiromancer, a family member, or an entire city (Deut. 13:2–12). Here Levinson proposes a similar origin for the canon formula of Deut. 13:1, as part of Deuteronomy’s larger project of creative literary reworking. Levinson suggests that the adjuration to loyalty of the adê provided a literary model for the authors of Deut. 13. Those authors transformed the Neo-Assyrian formula requiring exclusive loyalty to the “word of Esarhaddon” (abutu ša Aššur-aḫu-iddina) into one that demanded fidelity to “the word” of Israel’s divine overlord, Yahweh, as proclaimed by Moses.

Keywords:

Esarhaddon’s Succession Treaty, Adê, apostasy series, canon formula, Neo-Assyrian literature, form-criticism, adê, loyalty oath, Deuteronomy, literary history, reworking. Kanonformel, neuassyrische, Assurbanipal, Ashurbanipal, Die Assyrer in Palästina, Deut 13; Dtn 13; VTE; Deut 28; Dtn 28; Tell Fekherye; Tel Taʿyinat; ṭuppi adê; qēpu; Josiah's reform, Kanonformel.

The Formation of the New Testament Canon

by Richard Carrier

Technical report prepared for the Secular Web (Internet Infidels, Inc.).

Summarizes the work of Bruce Metzger on how the New Testament canon developed and came to be selected. Summarizes the work of Bruce Metzger on how the New Testament canon developed and came to be selected.

A importância do assim-chamado evangelho de Maria Madalena

by Milton Torres

“EUAGGELION: Orality, Textuality, and the Christian Truth in Irenaeus’ Adversus haereses”

by Annette Yoshiko Reed

Vigiliae Christianae 56.1 (2002): 11–46.

Citation Formulae as Indices to Canonicity in Early Jewish and Early Christian Literature

by Ken M. Penner

Published in Jewish and Christian Scriptures The Function of 'Canonical' and 'Non-Canonical' Religious Texts edited by James H. Charlesworth and Lee Martin McDonald. http://www.continuumbooks.com/books/detail.aspx?BookId=157502&SntUrl=142093

CODEX VERONENSIS QUATTUOR EUANGELIA

by Giulia Motteran

The King James Bible at 400: Scripture, Statecraft, and the American Founding.

by Bernard M. Levinson

Co-authored with Joshua Berman, published as a special supplement in The History Channel Magazine, November 2010, pp. 1-11.

This short article addressed to a broader readership investigates the impact of the King James Bible upon the American... more This short article addressed to a broader readership investigates the impact of the King James Bible upon the American founding. In order to show that impact, the article's first half portrays the political context for the formation of the King James, charts the influence of the Bible upon early modern political thought, and then sketches the impact of the KJV upon the rhetoric and political thought of the Founders. The essay is accompanied by a timeline.

Key Words:
Authorized Version; King James Version; American Founding; Bible and political thought, religion and the founding, founders, Bible and intellectual history, Spinoza, Bible and constitution; Bible and democracy.

“The Neo-Assyrian Origins of the Canon Formula in Deuteronomy 13:1”

by Bernard M. Levinson

Pages 25–45 in Scriptural Exegesis: The Shapes of Culture and the Religious Imagination (Essays in Honour of Michael Fishbane). Edited by Deborah A. Green and Laura Lieber, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.

Kanonformel//Canon formula

The prohibitions against disloyalty in Esarhaddon’s Succession Treaty have previously been recognized as an influence... more The prohibitions against disloyalty in Esarhaddon’s Succession Treaty have previously been recognized as an influence upon the Deuteronomic apostasy series. This chapter proposes a similar origin for the canon formula of Deut 13:1, as part of Deuteronomy’s larger project of creative literary reworking. The implication of this model is that the canon formula, in form-critical terms, represents part of the adjuration to loyalty found in the literary model of the adê. Its origins in literary history emerge as consistent with other key elements of chapter 13. Once Esarhaddon’s Succession Treaty is recognized as the source, the originality of the canon formula to the composition of Deut 13 as a whole is confirmed. This underscores the imaginative power of Deuteronomy, who were astutely conscious of their own relation to literary and religious tradition.

Keywords: Esarhaddon’s Succession Treaty, apostasy series, canon formula, Neo-Assyrian literature, form-criticism, adê, loyalty oath, Deuteronomy, literary history, reworking. Kanonformel, neuassyrische, Assurbanipal, Ashurbanipal.