NICK ALUOCH

Unit 1 Assigned Reading Review Questions

1. Define the word “Canon” as it is used in the context of the New Testament.

Canon in the New Testament sense refers to a compiled list of standards, measures, normative literary
works, rules, models. For example, laws. It is a word that originated from the Greek word 'kanon'
meaning reed or measuring rod.

2. From the very beginning of the church what books were widely known and referred to by the
church fathers?

The homologoumena - the four Gospels and Acts, the 13 letters of Paul, The First Letter of Peter and the
First Letter of John. Plus, the antilegomena - the Letter to the Hebrews, the Letter of James, the Second
Letter of Peter, the Second and Third Letters of John, the Letter of Jude, and Revelation.

3. According to Justin Martyr, what books were being used in worship services along with the Old
Testament?

The New Testament writings - the Gospels

4. How did opponents of Christianity (heretics) help to solidify and establish the canon?

Heretics such as gnostic Basilides and Valentinus, appealed to the canon and sought by reinterpretation
to base their teachings upon them. The fact they (heretics) could not simply turn their backs on writings
that were, after all, less directly useful to them than their own ' tradition' speaks eloquently of the
authority that the New Testament writings possessed for the Church.

5. What do the writings of Irenaeus, Clement, and Tertullian show us about the development of the
canon?

That all but one of the 27 books were somewhere known and accepted in the Christian Church; the
exception is the Second Letter of Peter. They also show us that there was practical unanimity in the
churches on all except seven of the New Testament books - the Letter to the Hebrews, the Letter of
James, the Second Letter of Peter, the Second and Third Letters of John, the Letter of Jude, and
Revelation.

6. Describe several of Origen’s contributions to establishing the New Testament Canon.

- He had an immense range of learning and wide knowledge of the various branches of the Early Church

- He knew what writings were normative for the church, not only in his home Alexandria, but also in
Rome, Antioch, Athens, and Caesarea.

- Origen knew and used all 27 books of our New Testament canon and was the first ancient authority to
take notice of the Second Letter of Peter; he rejected none of the antilegomena, although he knew that
they had not all won equal acceptance in the churches.

- He tended to be inclusive rather than exclusive, a trait that rather made it difficult to determine the
outer limits of his canon.
7. Briefly describe the process of development that the canon went through from the third century,
when no official list of NT books was established, and the fourth century, when the 27 books of the
New Testament was firmly established.

The third century marks no decisive stage in the growth of the canon. The two things that are
noteworthy in the third century is the fact that the antilegomena are slowly gaining ground in the
churches and the absence of any official action on the canon (no church defines it). 25 years later (AD
350), Cyril of Jerusalem recommends a 26-book canon of the New Testament which differs formally
from that of Eusebius in the omission of Revelation. Before the end of the fourth century, the Western
church strongly influenced by Jerome and Augustine, likewise had a definitive 27-book canon. The 27-
book canon maintained to continue the life of the Church.

8. What are the oldest manuscripts of the Bible available to us today?

The Dead Sea Scrolls penned between c 250 BC and c AD 70.

9. What order did Constantine give to encourage the spread of the Bible? Even with this order, why
were most Christians still without a Bible of their own?

Constantine commissioned 50 complete copies of the bible in Greek for the use in new churches he was
constructing as early examples of a pandect, a complete Bible in one volume, as a step toward creating
the Bible as we know it today, for most of the ancient and medieval eras, these books were too
expensive to purchase and too difficult to carry about.

10. What breakthrough during the middle ages finally allow for widespread access to the Bible?

When Christian scholars and scribes at the University of Paris developed the Paris Bible. It was a one
volume little bible which made it possible for many people to have their own copy. A second
breakthrough came with the invention of moveable type, resulting in Gutenberg’s printing of the Latin
bible in c 1455.

11. What is the Septuagint?

The Greek Old testament, the earliest existing Greek translation from the Hebrew bible.

12. Who was the first person to provide a good English translation of the Bible? What happened to
him?

William Tyndale, he was persecuted in England by the supporters of the pope and had to flee to
Germany, where he translated and published the New Testament. After copies were smuggled to
England, he was captured, strangled, and burned at the stake.