how & when the Bible was defined & listed, & by who

[04ctd]

so the Apostle John lived the longest,

Polycarp was a disciple of John the Apostle, so he had first hand knowledge of what John taught.

Irenaeus was a disciple of Polycarp, so by 180 AD (basically two generations?) Irenaeus was preaching out of most of the 27 books we have in our New Testament.



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you got these guys who were taught by the Apostle John, and then they started hearing all this crazy talk, so they figured they had to make a list of was REALLY scripture, and what was not, and so by 180 AD, they were making a list (the "canon") of what was acceptable to be taught.

so Irenaeus, who was taught by Polycarp, who was taught by John, who was taught by Jesus, began defining the Bible we use today.

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the basic tests for what were allowed were:

1) it had to come from an Apostles who had seen Jesus.

2) or, it had to come from an associate of an Apostle.
(Mark learned from the apostle Peter, and Luke wrote what Paul did)

3) does it follow the teachings of Jesus & the Apostles?


those three are usually all that is mentioned, but this link has some more:
https://www.biblicaltraining.org/blo...anon-scripture

[04ctd]

FWIW, I never knew it was that simple, I always though the Bible floated around and was never really defined until the KJV in 1611.

http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/King-James-Version/

here's the paper I had to write, which basically forced me to learn all the above stuff. I hope you guys get some use of it. Apologize in advance for any mistakes or typoes.


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The canon was created by church leaders very recently after Jesus’ death, because as the eyewitnesses began to die of old age, it became apparent that others were going to write false texts. This would have been readily apparent from the viewpoint of church leaders during this time, if we consider how many false preachers and teachers would want to twist Jesus’ teachings to make them wealthy or powerful. It was apparent to them that other church leaders would need to know what books were officially considered inspired scripture.

Irenaeus of Lyons (AD 177) was a disciple of Polycarp, who was a disciple of the Apostle John. Irenaeus therefore was a second-generation eyewitness, and he wrote “Against Heresies” (in five volumes) to begin debunking the heresies that had already surfaced. He was one of the first to firmly expound that Churches in Germany, Spain, or France use the same scriptures as those established by the first generation eyewitnesses, and that all these churches, however far spread, do indeed use teach the same gospel from the same texts. Irenaeus was actively preaching and teaching around AD 180, and he quoted over 1000 passages, from all except a handful of the modern 27 texts, and described them as the scriptures given by the Holy Spirit. Irenaeus further defined that the four Gospels were set in stone. As such, Irenaeus was the first church leader to define the Canon, to preach from the Canon, and his direct accountability to the Apostle John through Polycarp gives him great authority.

The earliest list of books was the Muratorian Canon dated around AD 150, and the Muratorian Canon claimed it’s list (4 Gospels, 13 letters from Paul, John’s letters, Acts, Jude and Revelation) was accepted by the universal church at the time. By AD 180, the New Testament Canon as we know it was widely acknowledged as true Scripture. Only a few churches were still unsure of James, Jude, second and third John, Second Peter, Hebrews, and Revelations. However all other churches had accepted the modern Canon by AD 180.

In AD 240, Origen of Alexandria was fully using all 27 books of the modern New Testament without reservation, indicating formal acceptance and closure of the New Testament Canon. Origen also referred to these books as the “New Testament” and believed them to be inspired by the Holy Spirit.

In AD 325, Eusebius of Caesarea, the first “Church Historian” and an advisor of Constantine, the first Roman Emperor to proclaim his Christianity, surveyed all the churches across Rome (could this have done under the authority of Constantine to define the correct scripture to use?). Eusebius found twenty-two books to be in unquestioned usage, and noted five outliers (James, Jude, second and third John, Second Peter) which were also widely recognized.

In AD 367, we see the first full list exactly matching the modern New Testament with all 27 books being recognized by Athanasius of Alexandria, and he stipulates to let no one add to them, or take away from them.

It was by the common churches in normal use that the Canon was decided, long before the Council of Carthage in AD 367. We can see by this list that the earliest church leaders took an active part in defining the Canon: to defend against heresy, to prevent false teachings from creeping in, and because the authority of these inspired books was self-evident. Another reason for the Canon to be stipulated would that in ancient times, all these texts could not physically be bound as one large book, therefore each book would have to be on it’s own scroll, therefore, the church leaders felt it necessary to define which books/scrolls are to be used to teach the Gospel.

Brian Edwards, Why 27? (Darlington, England: Evangelical Press, 2007), notes from video presentation from Answers in Genesis.

The video is apparently not available on their website, and neither is the book: https://answersingenesis.org/store/p.../?sku=10-4-049.

Details on Brian Edwards:
https://answersingenesis.org/bios/brian-edwards/
http://exiledpreacher.blogspot.com/2...n-edwards.html

[04ctd]

so he's one bad dude, the Romans come to tie him to the stake, and he says they don't have to, he will just stand there.

so they the fire...and he DOES NOT BURN. You gotta GOOGLE it & read some of the descriptions.


https://www.christianhistoryinstitut...dule/polycarp/

15. A MIRACLE
Then the fire was lit, and the flame blazed furiously. We who were privileged to witness it saw a great miracle, and this is why we have been preserved, to tell the story. The fire shaped itself into the form of an arch, like the sail of a ship when filled with the wind, and formed a circle around the body of the martyr. Inside it, he looked not like flesh that is burnt, but like bread that is baked, or gold and silver glowing in a furnace. And we smelt a sweet scent, like frankincense or some such precious spices.

16. THE DEATH OF POLYCARP
Eventually, when those wicked men saw that his body could not be consumed by the fire, they commanded an executioner to pierce him with a dagger. When he did this [a dove flew out and] [*this may well be a later interpolation or transcription error] such a great quantity of blood flowed that the fire was extinguished. The crowd were amazed at the difference between the unbelievers and the elect ÔÇô of whom the great Polycarp was surely one, having in our own times been an apostolic and prophetic teacher, and bishop of the Catholic Church in Smyrna. For every word he spoke either has been or shall be accomplished.



http://www.earlychristianwritings.co...lightfoot.html

http://www.baptistpillar.com/article_512.html