Mistakes of Mortal Men and the Bible

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>EDWARDS

>A very good point that appears to be applicable to early Christians and

>perhaps also to Jews of that time.  The Jews of Qumran seem to have taken

>liberties with the texts they copied, to the point of adding words and

>crossing out several sentences at a time (a rather strange practice for

>people who considered these writings the inerrant, inspired word of god).

>The earliest Christians, of course, had no "scriptures" save the Jewish

scriptures.  They later had writings that they didn't refer to as
scripture. They later had writings they referred to as "scripture," but the
term was

>applied unevenly across time and distance.

>snip the rest


BACH
Perhaps you'd like to read the above over again and see if it makes any
sense to you. Did the early Xians have later writings that they could refer
to as "scripture" or not? You seem to say this both ways! Yes.......No!
You also don't give any sources to back up your bold assertions.  Inquiring
minds want to know!!!! :)

EDWARDS
Well, it made sense when I wrote it, but you know how it is - what one is
thinking, what one writes, and how another interprets what is written can be
three different things.  To clarify,

(1) "The earliest Christians, of course, had no 'scriptures' save the Jewish
scriptures."  For the very earliest Christians, "scripture" consisted of the
law, the prophets, and the writings; in other words, the "old" testament.
They basically had no characteristically Christian writings (at least none
that have survived in either quotations or manuscript evidence); those would
come in the decades following Jesus' death.

(2) "They later had writings that they didn't refer to as scripture."  In
the timeframe of 50-60 or so CE, Paul was writing his epistles, and the Q
gospel (and gospel of Thomas?) was composed/assembled.  These were Christian
writings, but the Christians didn't regard them as "scripture" in the
technical sense.  The canonical and other gospels were written over the next
forty years or so.  These, too, can fairly be termed "Christian writings,"
but they were not considered "scripture."  By around 150 CE or so, all (with
one or two possible exceptions) the Christian writings that now constitute
the NT had been written and were in circulation, to greater or lesser
degrees, as well as numerous noncanonical writings.  Still, these writings
were not considered scripture.

(3) "They later had writings they referred to as 'scripture,' but the term
was applied unevenly across time and distance."  It is in the case Justin
Martyr that one begins to see the writings that compose the NT (as well as
others) referred to in scriptural terms.  Even two hundred years later,
however, there was no consensus regarding which books would be regarded as
"scripture" and quoted using the standard scriptural formulas (e.g., "the
scripture says," and "as it is written").  In one region of the empire, for
example, Revelation was regarded as scripture, but not in another area.  In
some areas, 2 Peter as well as 2 and 3 John were not regarded as scripture,
whereas these epistles were accepted as scripture in others.  The same
applies to works that ultimately did not find their way into the canon, such
as the epistle of Barnabas and the Shepherd of Hermas.  Indeed, differences
in Christian canons persist today.  For example, the Nestorian church does
not accept 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, Jude, and Revelation.

The "writings" referred to in (2) and (3) above are the same; I meant only
to imply that their perceived status with regard to "scripture" changed over
the course of time.  Perhaps this is one source of the difficulty.

As to sources, you can check the standard reference on the topic (Metzger's
Canon of the New Testament).  I also think that McDonald's Formation of the
Christian Canon (which discusses development of both the OT and NT) is
outstanding.  Both are available in paperback for less than $20 each, as I
recall.

Hope this helps.

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