...Running Head: THE NEW COVENANT FOR ALL MANKIND The New Covenant: New Testament Canionization? Abstract The canonization of the New Testament evolved over 400 years following the death of Jesus, influenced by social upheaval, different cultures, and political pressures of the era. This paper examines how the 27 books of the New Testament were formulated, recognized as Holy Scriptures, and eventually declared for inclusion in the new canon. It will examine how the new scriptures were evaluated using a new four-step criterion, determining which books were divinely inspired. It will also examine a new classification system, created to help determine which writings were acceptable, disputed, or rejected from consideration. Finally, the decision of which books to include in the New Testament is addressed during four major councils held by the church during the fourth century. The New Covenant: New Testament Canonization. After the death of Jesus, the apostles, and other followers, spread the word of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. The primary method of teaching was by way of oral communication, spreading the message by word of mouth. As time went by, and the Apostles started to die, the first efforts were made to capture their life with Jesus into written word. The dissemination of these works was a slow process due to the hindrance in transportation and the inability to mass produce the writings. The ability to capture and fully understand these divine works...
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...The Canonization of the New Testament When we think about the New Testament in our Bibles today most of us pay little attention to, or have little regard for the history that surrounds how it came to be. This is partly because of the high position we as Evangelicals have for our Bibles. We are taught that the Bible is infallible and never contradicts itself. I agree whole heartedly that the Bible is God's Holy Word and infallible non contradictory. But two weeks ago if you were to ask me how the Bible was put together or "canonized", I would have told you that there was some sort of council that decided which books should be in there, but ultimately it was God's sovereign will. Now the last part would be correct, but the rest is at best debatable. So how was the Bible put together? Since the argument is extremely complex and much of the details are lost or were never recorded, we will be exploring the different events that drove the movement, along with several different opinions of when the Bible was Complete or Canonized. There were two particular movements during the second century that made the Church realize a need to have a compilation of books that were universally accepted. The first movement, although not as well know, was Marcionism. This heretical sect was started by Marcion who was born into Christianity but had a deep dislike for Judaism and the material world. He believed that the God and Father of Jesus are not the same as the creator Yahweh, and it was...
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...Bible comprising the canonical Gospels and Epistles and also the book of Acts and book of Revelation” (Merrium-Webster.com, 2015); however, the meaning goes much deeper than that. It is the testimonial recollection of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ; a guide to salvation and eternal life. The New Testament is the canonization of several manuscripts written over a fairly large period of time after the death of Christ. A process of study, group debate, and political influences brought the New Testament to the twenty-seven books we see today. While some debate still exist as to the authorship of the individual books, most believe that God directed the early founders of Christianity to form the text as a basis for others to find the truth of God and Christ. Canonization. Early founders of the church consisted of multicultural backgrounds, each with its own set of political influences, cultures, and belief structures. The word of Christ was very important as a common theme; however, the authority and authorship of the individual works was just as important (Schenck, 2010). Early founders of the book we currently see as the Bible wanted the scripture to be a true recollection of the original testimony of Christ’s life, and the purpose for which he died and was resurrected. To do so, over the course of centuries, great debates took place over what should or should not be included. Furthermore, the text states that there are other possibilities to the books of the Bible...
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...their faith and without equivocation embrace the authority of God's word for what it is. The eternal battle as to the inerrancy and infallibility between orthodoxy and orthopraxy demands significant attention and largely determines the positions on which a person will side. In my view, biblical inerrancy of the Bible is at the core of the Christian Doctrine is, and rightfully so. The attestation of the authority of the Bible as the Word of God requires an understanding of the belief in its inspiration, inerrancy, and authority of the Bible. 2 Timothy 3:16 calls the Bible is the "breath of God" and that all scripture was given under the inspiration of God. The Christian doctrine is like every other religion without the truth that the Bible is the inerrant, infallible, authoritative Word of God.” The close central biblical doctrine to inspiration and inerrancy of scripture is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 1 Timothy 3:15 refers to the church as the pillar of truth because of the inspired and inerrant word of God, "if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth." We cannot talk about inspiration and inerrancy without establishing that Bible is the revelation of God himself to humanity. The fact must clearly accept that the Bible is the Word of God by ascribing God’s revelatory message to it. The term revelation has to do with...
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...Table of Content I. Introduction: How do Evangelicals agree or disagree with contemporary Catholicism? II. This paper will explore the different motif within Contemporary Roman Catholicism while examining the differences between Evangelicals and Contemporary Roman Catholics. A. Origin of the Roman Catholic Church. 1. Different views of Church History. 2. Apostolic Succession. 3. Veneration of the Saint/ Virgin Mary. B. Mass/ Sacraments/ Eucharist/ Purgatory. III. Protestant Reformation. A. Council of Trent. 1. Vatican Counsel II. 2. Biblical Canonization/ Apocrypha B. Evangelical Attitude toward Contemporary Roman Catholicism? 1. Areas of Agreement. 2. Area of Disagreement. 3 Different views of Church of Authority. 4. Different view on Salvation on justification. IV. Conclusion: Evangelicals persist that some of the Contemporary Roman Catholic teachings can be misleading, in spite of this salvation to the believer can still be achieved. Introduction Since the Vatican Council II commenced in 1963, the Roman Catholic Church had a paradigm shift in regard to its interaction with Protestant believers. The Catholic Church reformed their...
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...The Life of St. Dominic de Guzman The life of St. Dominic is very interesting, as he traveled widely and met people from every level of society. His strong belief in education was cemented in the early 13th century whenhe accompanied the Bishop of Osma on a diplomatic mission that crossed into the south of France. There they encountered the Cathars, a group of educated people who were yet heretics. His attempts to preach to them failed, but he came away from the experience having seen a successful model: learning faith through schooling. The Life of Saint Dominic De guzman was so inspirational that his life was made a film by the Dominican community of the Philippines. Through the aid of divine providence, this team was able to shoot a magnificent film in a country whose culture far differs from theirs. His life, filled with values of, self-sacrifice, mercy, humility, and love for god, was a stepping stone for the growth of Catholic population in Rome. Through an apostolic crusade to change the world, he and a couple of monks ventured in different parts of Europe, with only a staff and a bible, and preached of the real truth. With the approval of the pope, this mission became official and lasted for a couple of years, making them travel on foot. He had people help him along the way and that made him very thankful, of everything. On the later part of the movie, he died of being tired, many mourned but he said that they should not. He’s me of more help where he is going...
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...Life of Saint Dominic St. Dominic (sometimes spelled St. Domonic) was born Dominic Guzman around 1170 in Old Castile, Spain. He was born into a family of privilege and educated in Spain where he attended university for ten years, studying the arts and theology. Education and learning were centerpieces of his life, as were kindness and charity. Saint Dominic Guzman is the patron saint of scientists and astronomy, among others. The life of St. Dominic is very interesting, as he traveled widely and met people from every level of society. His strong belief in education was cemented in the early 13th century whenhe accompanied the Bishop of Osma on a diplomatic mission that crossed into the south of France. There they encountered the Cathars, a group of educated people who were yet heretics. His attempts to preach to them failed, but he came away from the experience having seen a successful model: learning faith through schooling. He returned to the region later and established the first Catholic nunnery at Sainte Marie de Prouille, and the nuns later became known as the Sisters of Saint Dominic. He worked very hard in the following years to spread education about Christ. One well-recounted miracle associated with the story of St. Dominic occurred when he was in Fanjeaux, participating in a theological disputation or debate. His manuscripts and those of his adversaries were compared and various points highlighted. Someone suggested that the manuscripts of both...
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...GETTING TO KNOW THE CHURCH FATHERS An Evangelical Introduction JoHanna Gilyard-Woodward History of Christianity 1 CHHI 520 July 20, 2012 Getting to Know the Church Fathers: An Evangelical Introduction By Bryan M. Litfin: BrazosPress, 2007, pp301 softback. Bryan M. Litfin at the writing of this book states that he earns his living as “a professor whose academic expertise is the early church fathers” (p.7). He is a husband and an associate professor of theology at Moody Bible Institute. He summarizes himself by saying that he is one who has been “taught to think like a Christian; taught to think like a scholar; and taught to think like a catholic” (p. 7). Litfin begins and ends this book with an overall theme and challenge to see how the church fathers impacted the Christian church and the life of an individual Christian on the whole. Secondary to the overall theme he lays out three misconceptions with regards to the church fathers, (1) the church fathers were not biblical; (2) the ancient church fathers were Roman Catholics; and (3) the church fathers represent the “fall” of Christianity (pp. 20-25 & pp. 255-257), and through the ten church fathers discussed in his book he seeks to prove how those misconceptions have misled some individuals. As he introduces the church fathers and deals with the misconceptions, he deals with his third theme, the historical events and places of the life of the church father. Each chapter begins by giving a modern day application...
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...1948; Rigauld, 1904). Once retired and still living in Monte Paolo, a superior asked a group of Franciscan and Dominican friars to speak a few words to the assembled brethren (Huber, 1948). Due to being unprepared, all the other friars respectfully declined and did not step forward which gave the superior the authority to choose who would deliver the sermon, he chose Anthony (Huber, 1948). The superior instructed him to say whatever the spirit of God put into his mouth and when Anthony spoke completely knowledgeable about the Holy Scriptures, people, especially the superior, were intrigued by the value of his words (Huber, 1948; Rieti, 1895). The superior selected him to be a preacher in order to have the responsibility to “announce the divine Word to the people within the limits of the province of Emilia” (Rieti, 1895, p.32). While in Vercelli, Anthony talked with his friend, abbot Thomas Gallo, about “the mystical theology of the sacred Scriptures” (Huber, 1948). Later, he taught successfully, preached, and read theology to his fellow members, after earning permission from St. Francis, in Bologna, Montpellier in 1224, and later at Toulouse (Dal-Gal, 1907; Huber, 1948; Rieti, 1895). In Bologna, he established a school of theology for the friars and then taught at the convent school of the Order in Montpellier and Toulouse (Huber, 1948). While in Toulouse, in 1225, Anthony was chosen for his first superior ship as guardian of the convent at De Podio (Rieti, 1895). Throughout the...
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...the Bible A. The “A Priori Argument” B. The revelation of Jesus Christ C. Fulfilled prophecy of Scripture D. The suffering of the apostles E. The power of the message of the Bible F. The inexhaustible infinity of revelation G. Unity of the Bible H. Transcultural Appeal I. The honesty of the Scriptures J. The superiority and influence of the Bible K. The test of personal experience and the inward witness of the Spirit L. The indestructibility of the Bible M. History and archaeology gives credibility to the Bible N. The completeness and timelessness of the Bible O. The claims of the Scriptures themselves IV. Closing Bibliology is simply “the study of the Bible.” For Christians, the Bible is the most sacred of books and on it hinges the entire religion of Christianity. Were the Bible to ever collapse, Christianity would have no foundation on which to rest and it too would follow suit shortly thereafter. For the skeptic, the Bible is a book in which good ideas, morality, fables, myths, and oftentimes blatant lies are contained. It is the express purpose of this paper to examine the evidences which give rise to the credibility of the Biblical text. There are a great many different aspects of bibliology which could be discussed. Inerrancy, inspiration, sufficiency, preservation, apocryphal books, canonization, infallibility, and interpretation are but a few of those areas. In many of these different aspects of bibliology...
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...Applying Concepts At Mass The service I attended was at St. Mary’s Catholic Church on the corner of South Fifth Avenue and Ann Street in Wilmington, NC. I went there on March 27, 2011 at 11:00 am. St. Mary’s Catholic Church is a post-Vatican II parish of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Raleigh. The Mass I attended celebrated the Third Sunday in Lent. As I entered the Church, the priest, Father Bob, was standing at the door greeting people. As I was looking around in the lobby, Father Bob noticed I was not a regular and approached me. He was very kind and eager to answer questions. He handed me the Church’s newsletter and an Order of Mass. The building was a large brick building. It is a Spanish Baroque style structure with no wood beams, framing, or nails. It is constructed of only bricks and tile. Ground was broken for the church on May 20, 1908 and the first mass held there was on December 17, 1911. The Roman Catholic Church is based in Christianity and is a theistic religion. In greater detail it is a monotheistic religion. There are many hierophanies in the Catholic Church. An example of a sacred place would be the church itself. An example of a sacred person would be the priest or Father Bob at St. Mary’s. Also in the Catholic Church Saints and Popes would be regarded as very sacred people. The mass I attended was during the sacred time of Lent, which is a forty day period. The Catholic Church is not iconoclastic at all. At St. Mary’s there were multiple depictions of the...
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...Liberty University Speaking in Tongues: an evaluation of the corporate use of tongues through the book of acts A research paper submitted to Dr. paul brewster In Partial Fulfillment of the requirements For BIBL364 Liberty University Online By Michael Douglas Lynchburg, Virginia August 16th, 2013 Table of Contents Introduction2 The Meaning of Speaking in Tongues in the Church Today--------------------------------------2 The Use of Tongues in Acts3 The Precedent and Purpose of Tongues as Established in Acts----------------------------6 Conclusion7 Bibliography-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------8 Introduction The debate over tongues is one that will not be settled in one session of writing or discussion; men will be having their say on the subject until the day we meet Christ face to face in heaven. In the modern sense, this spiritual phenomenon is closely associated with the Pentecostal movement which originated in the Azusa St. Revival of 1906 and has caused a severe split in the church. This division has been caused, primarily, by an incorrect interpretation of the gift of tongues in the New Testament through the exclusion of studying the gift through the Biblical precedent of the gift established by Luke in the book of Acts. In order to properly interpret and comprehend the references...
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...sensible. Religion negatively affects rationality with its doctrines, scriptures, and governance because it promotes ignorance. Ignorance comes in many forms; ignorance of evidence, moral perspective, other faiths, equality, etc. Theorizing a higher force is neither illogical nor dangerous, but piling on details contrary to what reason dictates does just that. It was sensible for ancient civilizations to do such things, and the same goes for primitive cultures today. However, these ideas should not subsist in the modernized parts of the world. The rise of religious beliefs within past civilizations does seem reasonable when considering the time period. Calling the ancient Egyptians “dumb” or their beliefs “stupid” is naïve since they lacked scientific knowledge and the means to obtain it. To the Egyptians, the sun and moon appeared as if they were moving and switching places periodically. The “mover” responsible for these actions was labeled Ra, the sun god. Now we know that Earth’s rotation affects the amount of sunlight in a region, which causes the occurrence of day and night. Supernatural belief back then was an attempt to explain the world and peoples’ experiences of it. Bill Maher in Religulous demonstrates that religion today contradicts reason, and that religious followers need their consciousness raised. Having faith does not lead to the right path but instead leads one astray. He attacks scriptures...
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...Old Columbia Pike Silver Spring, MD 20904 USA Symposium on the Bible and Adventist Scholarship Juan Dolio, Dominican Republic March 19-26, 2000 Introduction I have not always held the view of Scriptural revelation and authority that I now maintain. Having journeyed through a different perspective on the revelation/authority of Scripture and then returning to the position that I now hold, I am convinced that this issue is basic to all other issues in the church. The destiny of our church depends on how its members regard the revelation and authority of the Bible. In the following pages I have summarized the biblical self-testimony on its revelation and authority. The major focus of the paper is biblical authority, but a short statement concerning revelation-inspiration-illumination introduces the subject, and other biblical testimony on the nature of revelation is subsumed under the discussion of biblical authority. The paper also includes a brief historical treatment of the Enlightenment and post-Enlightenment understandings of biblical revelation/authority and an analysis and critique of their basic presuppositions in light of Scripture. Following the conclusion, a selected bibliography of sources cited and other useful books and articles on the subject is provided. Appendices include: (1) a chart schematizing the two major modern approaches to the Bible's revelation and authority (Appendix I, A-D); (2) some of Ellen White's insights on biblical revelation/authority (Appendix...
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...Dominican Republic March 19-26, 2000 Page 1 of 33THE BIBLE: REVELATION AND AUTHORITY 3/2/2014http://fae.adventist.org/essays/26Bcc_017 -055.htm Introduction I have not always held the view of Scriptural revelation and authority that I now maintain. Having journeyed through a different perspective on the revelation/authority of Scripture and then returning to the position that I now hold, I am convinced that this issue is basic to all other issues in the church. The destiny of our church depends on how its members regard the revelation and authority of the Bible. In the following pages I have summarized the biblical self-testimony on its revelation and authority. The major focus of the paper is biblical authority, but a short statement concerning revelation-inspiration-illumination introduces the subject, and other biblical testimony on the nature of revelation is subsumed under the discussion of biblical authority. The paper also includes a brief historical treatment of the Enlightenment and post-Enlightenment understandings of biblical revelation/authority and an analysis and critique of their basic presuppositions in light of Scripture. Following the conclusion, a selected bibliography of sources cited and other useful books and articles on the subject is provided. Appendices include: (1) a chart schematizing the two major modern approaches to the Bible's revelation and authority (Appendix I, A-D); (2) some of Ellen White's insights on biblical revelation/authority...
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