2.  Establishment of Judeo-Christian Scriptures

 

I.  Historical Development

 

A.  Introduction

        The purpose of this brief article is to help you, the reader of the Holy Scriptures, to have some basic understanding of the development of the Judeo-Christian Scriptures as used by Christian communities.  By understanding the history, you are better able to appreciate the Scriptures and make better application to your life.  Because of the complexities known in the historical development of the Scriptures, it is important that you seek understanding from the Spirit of God, who inspired its writing, for your ease, assurance and comfort with it.

        The Scriptures or Bible consists of two major sections, commonly known as the Old Testament and the New Testament.  These testament designations are Christian terms for the Hebrew or Jewish Scriptures and the Christian Scriptures, respectively.  In this article use of the latter terms recognizes that the Hebrew Scriptures are just as viable and applicable today as the Christian Scriptures.  The term, the Scriptures, used herein, refers to both testaments combined as one unit.  (Each of the testaments of the Scriptures is also referred to as the Hebrew canon and Christian canon, respectively.  Canon is from the Greek word kanōn meaning standard or limits within sphere of activity.1) 

        The Scriptures is a collection of ancient writings concerning the standard for one’s relationship with God.  The cultures are distant and distinct from today’s, not only in time and space but also in character.  Thus, you are encouraged to enter another world when reading and studying the Scriptures.2  As you understand the peculiarities and the integrity of the religious and political developments in the Scriptures, you are better able to build a bridge of understanding for today’s application.

 

B.  Origins in General

        The Scriptures was compiled over one thousand years in three languages: Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek.  Thus the Scriptures is written in a variety of literary forms, such as—legend; history; fiction; legal codes; poetry; sermons; letters; hymns; prayers; collections of proverbs, maxims and aphorisms, and riddles; and reports of mysterious revelations of heavenly figures.2,3  These literary forms also underwent changes through the centuries of the development of the Scriptures which make for additional complexities of translation and interpretation.  As far as is known all of the Scriptures was transmitted orally before being written down.  And then, only later, the Hebrew and Christian religious leaders deemed certain writings to be authentic and authoritative.  These are known as the Hebrew and Christian canons.

        There are two major contrasting ideas about the origins of the Scriptures.  Each has its own set of implications for application today:

  1. The Scriptures has its origin in the hearts and minds of the people.  They are explaining their understanding and experience of seeking and meeting God.3,4  In this approach one sees in the Scriptures a progressive development of religious thought over time.  God’s inexpressible Presence is sensed through what is known of the oral expression of worship, and later the writings touch the development of people’s beliefs, cultures and interactions with neighboring communities.  These expressions and developments are characteristic of all cultures from the earliest to the most innovative today.5-9  Thus the Spirit of God is working today just as in the times when the oral texts of the Scriptures were formulated and provides guidance for today’s human conditions beyond the written Scriptures.

  2. In contrast to this thought on origins, many today believe that the Scriptures is literally the Word of God and by definition truth which cannot be contradicted and has been closed with the canons for all time.4  In this approach every word was dictated by God to humans first orally and then to writers.  Every word must carry meaning and not one letter is extraneous. 4  This gives rise to many apparent contradictions within the Scriptures.  Literalists have explanations that don’t appear to be supported by the Scriptures itself and by the scientific workings of God’s universe.10  Although there is evidence that the Scriptures were sometimes taken literally by the Hebrews before Christ11 and by the early Christian Church12, literalism as understood today did not develop until the eighteenth century CE when scientific findings were viewed suspiciously as contradicting the Scriptures.  At that time, literalism was the religious leaders’ response to the challenge that science presented to their power and control over peoples’ beliefs concerning the workings of God.

C.  The Hebrew Canon

        There are no originals of any of the Hebrew Scriptures existing today.  The oldest-existing complete Hebrew Scriptures is called the Leningrad Codex 1009 CE and it is the basis for modern translations of the Hebrew Scriptures.13  As originally written the Hebrew has only consonants with no vowels or spacing to mark words or symbols to indicate pronunciation.  These latter conditions were taught to each succeeding generation of scribes until the 6th century CE when the masorah was introduced.  The masorah refers to everything transmitted with the Scriptures except the consonant text.13  The additional transmissions are the vowel signs, the accent signs for reading, the arrangements of poetry, marginal notes and endnotes, as well as separate treatises on the copying and use of manuscripts.13,14  This tradition of copying the Hebrew Scriptures exactly from an existing to a new copy has helped to preserve accuracy.16  However it is known from existing fragments and translations into other languages, that variations existed in the consonant text.  These variations were made by the scribes as the Scriptures evolved over time. 

        A couple of ancient works are the Mishnah and the Targums.  The Mishnah is the systemization of the Oral Torah in use from 450 BCE to 200 CE.15  The Oral Torah was sacred and diverse in its supplement to and clarification of the Written Torah.16  It is probably the Oral Torah that Jesus was taking exception to with the religious leaders of his time.  The Targums are the interpretation of the Torah in Aramaic when it became the common language during the Babylonian captivity and continued to the destruction of the temple in 70 CE.3

        The earliest known translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into another language is the Septuagint, a Hebrew to Greek translation commissioned by the Egyptian ruler Ptolemy Philadelphus 285-247 BCE.13,17,18  The Septuagint derives its name from the number of Hebrew scribes (seventy or seventy-two) who were responsible for translating the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek.13,17,18  The Septuagint is helpful because:

  1. It has been used to translate the Hebrew Scriptures of an earlier period than the Leningrad Codex back into the Hebrew language.13

  2. The individual writings of the Scriptures are ordered as the Hebrew Scriptures used today in the Christian communities rather than the order of the Hebrew Scriptures in the TANAKH19 as used by the Jewish communities. 

  3. It also contains the Apocrypha of the Hebrew Scriptures that are not in the texts with Masorah.  The oldest extant copy of the Septuagint, Codex Vaticanus B, (4th century CE) also contains the Christian Scriptures.20 

  4. It is the Scriptures including the Apocrypha that early Christians used and were referenced by the Christian Scriptures’ writers.13,18

D.  The Christian Canon

        Again there are no existing original manuscripts of any of the writings of the Christian Scriptures.  Instead of the complete scrolls and codices like the Hebrew Scriptures, the Christian Scriptures, as it is known today, has been deduced from other writings that give quotes or the thoughts of what are now the writings of the Christian Scriptures.22 

        The approved Christian Scriptures underwent many changes as to what writings were considered authentic and authoritative.  The Christian Scriptures as compiled today has its earliest known listing in the Festal Epistle 39 of Athanasius in 367 CE and was approved at the Synod of Carthage in 397 CE.22  Christian leadership needed authoritative writings to combat various heresies from the 4th to 8th centuries.23  Since the actual criteria is not known for the selection of writings for the Christian Scriptures, some criteria that scholars have discerned for a writing to be included in the Christian Scriptures are:22

  1. Acceptance was dependent on general and long use of the writing in public assemblies of Christian communities throughout the Roman Empire.

  2. The writing had to be written by an eyewitness to Jesus, or close associate to an apostle as Mark was supposedly to Peter, or by the Apostle Paul whose vision was considered an eyewitness.

  3. The style was similar to usage during the time of the apostles.

  4. The writing aligned with what was considered true orthodoxy or what Christian beliefs were acceptable to the majority of Christian religious leaders up to setting the canon.

        You may have noticed in reading some of the modern translations that a verse number is missing, such as John 5:4 in the New Revised Standard Version.  This is because there are two major Greek versions of the Christian Scriptures:

  1. The Textus Receptus24 was the text for the King James Version and the only readily available Greek text into the 1800’s.25  Because the King James Version is still highly esteemed today, this Greek text remains highly regarded.

  2. The Nestle’s Greek New Testament26 is followed by many of the newer translations, such as the New Revised Standard Version.  With the development of textual criticism and the finding of additional ancient Greek manuscripts, the Greek text was modified to adhere more closely to many Greek manuscripts deemed more reliable, thus some verses, phrases, and original Greek words are changed or omitted. 

        Having explored on the surface the historical development of the Scriptures outside of itself, what is one to think of the Scriptures’ authenticity and authoritativeness?

 

 II. Significance within Scriptures Itself

 

        You are able to discern that our ancestors found the written Scriptures to be significant because of reference to it within itself. 

  1. Some references of reading to the people, so they could know and apply the commands of God are:  

    1. Ex 24:3-7 relates Moses receiving the word of God orally, reciting it to the people, writing it down and reading it again to the people. 

    2. Deut 17:14-20 speaks of a future time when the Israelites will have a king.  He is to have a copy of the Law so that he may read it all the days of his life to learn to fear the Lord his God by observing the Law and not turning aside to self. 

    3. 2Chr 34:1-33 recounts the activities of King Josiah applying the Word that brought peace during his reign instead of the destruction that God intended for Israel’s disobedience.

    4. Jer 36:1-32 relates God’s command to Jeremiah to write down all that was given him.  Then it was read to the people so that they may repent and avoid destruction. 

    5. Neh 8:1-18 speaks of the daily reading of the Law with translation so that the people could understand it.   

     

  2. Two references in the Hebrew Scriptures of private study with the intent to practice keeping the requirements of the  Law are:

    1. Ezra 7:10 states that Ezra while still in Babylon set his heart to study the Law of the Lord and to practice it, and to teach the Lord’s statutes and ordinances to the Israelites.

    2. Ps 119:1-176 speaks of the psalmist’s love for studying the Law and what it meant to live it.

     

  3. Jesus referenced the written Scriptures.  For example He stated in:

    1. Matt 5:17-18 that He came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets and not one stroke will pass until all is fulfilled.

    2. Luke 24:44 that He was written about in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms, i.e. the Hebrew Scriptures.

     

  4. Two references in the Christian Scriptures of both corporate and private study with the intent to know the truth and to practice keeping the requirements of God are:

    1. Acts 17:10-11 speaks of Paul and Silas explaining the Hebrew Scriptures in the synagogue at Berea.  Then, the Bereans who heard went and searched the Hebrew Scriptures to determine whether these things were true.

    2. 2Tim 3:14-17 Paul encourages Timothy to continue what he has learned and that the Hebrew Scriptures were profitable for teaching, correction and training in righteousness.

     

  5. Quoting and referencing of the Hebrew Scriptures in the Christian Scriptures:

    1. The Christian writers quoted freely from the Hebrew Scriptures showing that Christ’s work and actions were foretold and sharing how to live the Christian life as understood from the Hebrew Scriptures.  Twenty-five of the thirty-nine books in the Hebrew Scriptures are quoted from in the Christian Scriptures per New International Version (NIV) cross-references.27

    2. The Christian writers referenced all books of the Hebrew Scriptures and the Apocrypha except Ezra and Song of Songs as per the New American Bible cross-references.28  The Apocrypha are writings deemed worthy of study but not authoritative by Jews and Protestants, but are authoritative for the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christian communities.29  They are not included in the Scriptures used by most Protestant communities.

        From these references you see that the Scriptures themselves speak of writings that were considered to be the words of God and worthy of study and application to life and leading to a right relationship with God. 

 

III.  Conclusion

        The Scriptures has had a varied development and this may leave you wondering how to make sense of them today.  Scholarly work is invaluable in understanding and in translating the ancient languages and relating the historical findings to those not educated in these fields.  In this brief description of the establishment of the Scriptures you may have noted a significant human role as to what is considered the authentic and authoritative words of God and whether inspired by God to the writers. 

        Often Christian religious leaders fail to help people bridge the gap between the development and the application of the Scriptures to daily life.  Also people fail to ask for or respond to help for various reasons.

        Hopefully you, the reader, will explore further the complexities of the establishment of the Scriptures and reach your own conclusion of the authenticity and authoritativeness of the words of God and its application in your life.  However, the only true way to understand and apply the Scriptures is to seek and trust the guidance of the Spirit of God. 

 

IV.  References

 1Thayer, Joseph Henry, “A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament,” Zondervan Bible Publishers, Grand Rapids, MI

 2Meeks, Wayne A, General Editor, Introduction to the “Harper Collins Study Bible, New Revised Standard Version” HarperCollins Publishers, 1993

 3Hayes, John H., “Introduction to the Bible,”, The Westminster Press, Philadelphia, 1971

 4Plaut, W. Gunter, Ed., General Introduction to “The Torah A Modern Commentary,” Union of American Hebrew Congregations, New York, 1981

 5Fields, Karen E.. A New Translation of Emile Durkheim’s “The Elementary Forms of Religious Life,” The Free Press, New York, 1995

 6Campbell, Joseph, “The Masks of God:  Primitive Mythology,” Arkana, New York, 1987

 7Campbell, Joseph, “The Masks of God:  Oriental Mythology,” Arkana, New York, 1962

 8Campbell, Joseph, “The Masks of God:  Occidental Mythology,” Arkana, New York, 1964

 9Campbell, Joseph, “The Masks of God:  Creative Mythology,” Arkana, New York, 1968

10Archer, Gleason L., “Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties,” Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI, 1982

11Kugel, James L., “The Bible as It Was,” The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1997

12Reventlow, Henning Graf, “The Early Church,” The Oxford Illustrated History of the Bible, Oxford University Press, 2001

13Khan, Geoffrey, “The Hebrew Bible,” The Oxford Illustrated History of the Bible, Oxford University Press, 2001

14 Stein, Rabbi David E. Sulomn, Managing Ed. Preface to “JPS Hebrew-English Tanakh,” Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia, 1999

15“Mishnah,” Encyclopaedia of the Orient, http://I-cias.com/e.o/mishnah.htm

16Alexander, Philip, “The Bible In Judaism,” The Oxford Illustrated History of the Bible, Oxford University Press, 2001

17Brenton, Sir Lancelot C.L., “Preface and Introduction, An Historical Account of the Septuagint Version,” The Septuagint with Apocrypha, Hendrickson Publishers”

18”The Letter of Aristeas “The Forgotten Books of Eden,” World Bible Publishers, 1927

19“JPS Hebrew-English Tanakh,” Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia, 1999

20 “Codex Vaticanus,” Catholic Encyclopedia, Robert Appleton Co. 1908

21Mastrantonis, Rev. George, “Introduction to the New Testament,” OLOGOS, St. Louis, MO

22Davies, Margaret, “The New Testament,” The Oxford Illustrated History of theBible, Oxford University Press, 2001

23Shelly, Bruce L., “Church History in Plain Language” Word Books Publisher, Waco, TX 1982

24Berry, George Ricker, “The Interlinear KJV Parallel New Testament in Greek and English,” Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids MI

25Parker, David, “The New Testament,” The Oxford Illustrated History of the Bible, Oxford University Press, 2001

26“The Zondervan Parallel New Testament in Greek and English,” Zondervan Bible Publishers, Grand Rapids, MI, 1975

27 “The Holy Bible, New International Version,” Zondervan Bible Publishers, Grand Rapids, MI, 1984

28“The New American Bible,” Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, 1971

29Davies, Philip, “The Apocrypha,” The Oxford Illustrated History of the Bible, Oxford University Press, 2001

 

© 2004 Christ the Master Ministries

Contact:  Jerome V. Scholle

Email:  jscholle@christianbear.org

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