Bible Class

Tuesday, September 19th

 Warm Up
The Answer Is

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 What does canon mean?
Referred to a reed, which was used as a measure.

The word came to mean standard.

It refers to the books that pass the standards required

to be considered Scripture.
 Hebrew Canon
Around 450 BC, Ezra reestablished temple worship in
Jerusalem.

According to tradition, Ezra collected and edited many

texts of Scripture.

Rabbis met periodically to affirm that specific books were

indeed the Word of God and thus were part of the
canon.
 Hebrew Canon
As Jewish people scattered after their return from exile,
Hebrew was spoken less and less.

Because of the conquests of Alexander the Great, Greek

became the dominant language in the ancient world.
 Hebrew Canon
A group of scholars translated the Hebrew Scriptures into
Greek.

This translation, which was known as the Septuagint, was

completed around 250 BC.

The selection process of the translators helped establish

the Hebrew canon.
 Hebrew Canon
The final canon was affirmed by the third or second
century BC.

The Septuagint was the version of the Hebrew Scriptures

used by Jesus and the early church.

When you read the word Scripture in the New Testament,

the writer or speaker is referring to the Hebrew canon.
 Hebrew Canon
The Hebrew canon had 24 books in 3 divisions.

The Law: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,

Deuteronomy

The Prophets: Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings (Former

Prophets); Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, The Twelve (Latter
Prophets)
 Hebrew Canon
The Writings: Psalms, Proverbs, Job (Poetical Books);
Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Esther,
Ecclesiastes (Five Rolls); Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah,
Chronicles (Historical Books)
 Hebrew Canon
The Christian church accepts the Hebrew canon as
Christian Scriptures.

However, the Christian church divided some of the books

of the Hebrew canon.

Therefore, the Christian Old Testament consists of 39

books instead of 24.
 Christian Old Testament
Pentateuch:
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy

Books of History:
Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings,
1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther

Books of Wisdom and Poetry:

Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs
 Christian Old Testament
Books of Prophecy:

Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel (Major

Prophets)

Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum,

Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
(Minor Prophets)
 New Testament Canon
The early church accepted the books in the Hebrew canon
as the Word of God.

Church leaders wrote letters of encouragement and

instruction. They also wrote documents to explain
Christian teachings.

These texts were copied and circulated among the

churches.
 New Testament Canon
A small number of these texts became especially valued.

These special texts were considered sources of apostolic

authority.

They were written by apostles or by people who had been

close associates of apostles.
 New Testament Canon
Early church leaders (in the first two centuries after
Christs death and resurrection) referred to these
apostolic books.

They distinguished between their own writings and the

apostolic ones. They considered the apostolic books to
be inspired by God.
 New Testament Canon
Other texts were written that were not considered apostolic
in origin.

Though some of these texts proved helpful to some

churches, they did not have apostolic authority.
 New Testament Canon
In AD 393, the Synod of Hippo affirmed our current 27
New Testament books as Scripture.

In AD 397, the Third Synod of Carthage reaffirmed the

same list.
 New Testament Canon
The early church councils did not form the New Testament
canon. They simply recognized the books that the
churches already considered to be Scripture and
published an official list.
 New Testament Canon
Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John

History: Acts

Epistles: Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians,

Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians,
1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy,
2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James,
1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude

Prophecy: Revelation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFEBwfYZBJY