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When considering which works are Scripture, or canonical, it is first necessary to determine who held the authority to sanction any writing as Scripture. As strange as it may seem the task of determining the apostolic complement to the Hebrew Scriptures was not left to a future generation. The authority to set aside writings of the apostles as Scripture did not reside with the later Latin Western church centered at Rome nor with the Greek Byzantine church in the East. Nevertheless, the Byzantine, rather than the Latin Western church, came to preserve the Christian Scriptures as the Jews preserved the Hebrew Scriptures.
The task of selecting writings for inclusion in an apostolic compendium of Christian Scripture was not left to chance, custom, or tradition, but to the apostles themselves. The burden of responsibility for sanctioning specific writings of the apostles as Scripture for the church, and its assembling into a recognized set of apostolic writings, belonged to the apostles. This duty did not rest with Judeo-Christians of later generations nor with Gentile Christian groups not in their fellowship. When the apostle John sealed the final twenty-seven apostolic writings they constituted, together with the Hebrew Scriptures, the complete set of Scriptures for Christians of all generations. These writings provided the people of God with a means of knowing the teachings of Jesus and the apostles for all time.
When Peter wrote his second epistle, he knew his death was near. As to its time, and manner, Peter said it would be "just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me" (II Peter 1:14 NASB).F1 Peter then stated his intent to bequeath the church a legacy far greater than his two short epistles. "Moreover," he wrote, "I will see to it that after I am gone you will have means of remembering these things at all times" (II Peter 1:15 NEB).
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The implication is that the apostle Peter was at the time in process of bringing about a permanent written reminder of apostolic teachings regarding the New Covenant for the church to inform future generations of the Way.F2 The compendium he was in the process of organizing not only included Paul�s epistles but the gospel of Matthew and the epistle of James. While Peter undertook initial responsibility the final task of completing the approved set of apostolic writings as approved Scripture was left to the apostle John.
Peter was a determined man. So long as he lived, he worked to further the spiritual well-being of the church. He established the selected writings of the apostles, in consort with the remaining apostles into a recognized collection of additional Scripture for the church. The purpose of this official set of selected writings of the apostles was to ensure that a reliable record of the life and teachings of Jesus and the apostles� doctrines would be preserved no matter what heresies, fables, lies, and fabrications would come later. Perhaps he took courage in his task from the haunting charge of Isaiah. "Blind up the testimony," wrote Isaiah, "seal the law among my disciples" (Isaiah 8:16).
The collection of apostolic writings would serve to protect the church by ensuring that future generations would have an accurate account of "The Way" (Hebrews 13:7; II Peter 1:15; John 14:6).F3 The people of God were to rely on this set of apostolic writings as authentic and apostolic. As Scripture these writings were to shield and protect the church from false letters and spurious documents and to preserve the apostles� doctrine for all ages.
Peter warned the people of God to be on guard, for he perceived that spurious teaching and apostasy would spread (II Peter 5:17). He did not want the brethren to be ignorant of the truth but rather to know the facts relating to the ministry and teaching of Jesus Christ and the work of the apostles. "For we did not follow cunningly devised fables" he wrote, "when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but [we apostles] were eyewitnesses of His majesty" (II Peter 1:16). Peter called their attention to dissident Christian groups who circulated cleverly devised fables (II Peter 1:16) and false words (II Peter 2:3).
Peter and the other apostles understood what a powerful resource the Hebrew Scriptures were in preserving the truth of God. They knew God entrusted the Jews with the oracles, that is, the divine revelations, of God (Romans 3:2) which were then preserved in the Hebrew Scriptures, albeit the church was the intended ultimate beneficiary (Romans 15:4; I Corinthians 10:11; II Timothy 3:16). It was a simple step to follow in this tradition by assembling a collection of apostolic works to preserve Christian truth. Peter, and finally John, made sure that this reliable witness would survive by means of the collection of works they set aside as further Scripture for the whole church throughout all ages.
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F1In 1953, Italian archaeologist Bellarmino Bagatti excavated an ancient cemetery at Dominus flevit in Jerusalem where he found an ossuary dating to the first century CE bearing an unusual Hebrew inscription. It reads tnwy rb wrxmv (Shimon Bar Yonah) translated Simon son of Jonah paralleling the Greek Simw Bariwa of Matthew 16:17. Their is some difficulty in discerning the last four characters but they appear to read tnwy (Finegan 1992:368-369).
F2Michael Green favors Mark�s gospel rather than a broader compendium (Green 1983:80).
F3The apostle Paul depicts Christianity as "a new and living way which He [Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah] inaugurated for us [as Christians]" (Hebrews 10:20). Paul writes that it is a "way of life" (Hebrews 13:7). Luke writes of it as "the Way" (Acts 9:2; 18:25f; 19:9, 19:23; 22:4; 24:14, 24:22). Peter records that it is "the way of the truth" (II Peter 2:2), "the right way" (II Peter 2:15), and the "way of righteousness" (II Peter 2:21).
Taken from The First Christians by Michael P. Germano and edited for the World Wide Web.
Copyright �1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 2000 by Michael P. Germano. All Rights Reserved.
Page last edited: 11/28/04 08:44 AM
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