A Biblical Vision, Part II: Mastering the New Testament Witness to Christ

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A B i b l i ca l Vi s i on, Par t I I : Mas ter i ng the New Tes tament Wi tnes s to Chr i s t

h. Peter’s allusion to Paul’s epistles as Scripture, 2 Pet. 3.16

B. Christ is the key to the Bible’s canonization.

1. Canonization: what is the scope and extent of the Old Testament Scriptures? (In other words, which books belong to it?)

2. Council of Trent (1546): 11 books which Protestants exclude should be considered canonical (the Apocrypha) (note: actually there are 14 in the Apocrypha, but one was rejected for its teaching about praying for the dead, e.g., 2 Esdras [IV Esdras by Catholics])

a. Tobit, Judith, the Additions to Esther, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, the Letter of Jeremiah, the Prayer of Azariah, Susanna, Bel and the Dragon, and 1 and 2 Maccabees

b. Books written between 200 B.C. and the time of the appearance of Christ

3. Neither Jewish tradition, Jesus, nor the early Church accepted the Apocrypha to be a part of the inspired OT.

a. The Jews never considered the Apocrypha to be inspired (cf. Rom. 3.2).

b. Jesus and the New Testament writers do not quote any portion of the Apocrypha.