CANON

REVISITED

Establishing the Origins and Authority of the New Testament Books

MICHAEL J. KRUGER

CROSSWAY

WHEATON, ILLINOIS

Canon Revisited: Establishing the Origins and Authority of the New Testament Books

Copyright © 2012 by Michael J. Kruger

Published by Crossway

1300 Crescent Street

Wheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law.

Cover design: Studio Gearbox

Cover image(s): Photos.com

First printing 2012

All English translations of the apostolic fathers, unless otherwise noted, are from Bart D. Ehrman, The Apostolic Fathers. 2 vols. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003.

Unless otherwise noted, English translations cited as Eusebius, Hist. eccl. are from Ecclesiastical History. Translated by Kirsopp Lake. Loeb Classical Library. Harvard: Harvard University Press, 1926.

English translations cited as Origen, Princ. are from On First Principles. Translated by G. W. Butterworth. Gloucester, MA: P. Smith, 1973.

English translations of other church fathers, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Ante-Nicene Fathers. Edited by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, vol. 1. 1885. Repr. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1994.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

All emphases in Scripture quotations have been added by the author.

Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4335-0500-3

ePub ISBN: 978-1-4335-3081-4

PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-3079-1

Mobipocket ISBN: 978-1-4335-3080-7

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Kruger, Michael J.

Canon revisited: establishing the origins and authority of the New Testament books / Michael J. Kruger.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-4335-0500-3 (hc)

1. Bible. N. T.—Canon. I. Title.

BS2320.K78 2012

225.1′2—dc23

2011050116

To my students

Contents

Preface

Abbreviations

Introduction

Part 1 Determining the Canonical Model

1 The Church’s Book: Canon as Community Determined

2 Tracing the Origins: Canon as Historically Determined

3 My Sheep Hear My Voice: Canon as Self-Authenticating

Part 2 Exploring and Defending the Canonical Model

4 The Divine Qualities of the Canon

5 The Apostolic Origins of the Canon

6 The Corporate Reception of the Canon: The Emergence of a Canonical Core

7 The Corporate Reception of the Canon: Manuscripts and Christian Book Production

8 The Corporate Reception of the Canon: Problem Books and Canonical Boundaries

Conclusion

Bibliography

General Index

Scripture Index