1514 | The Formation of the New Testament
Old Testament Canon but rather they received Scripture moving in the direction of being considered a Canon . Because of this , Sundberg believed Harnack ’ s answer was difficult to sustain . The church fathers cited documents not in the closed Old Testament Canon as Scripture . Thus , one cannot claim , as Harnack did , that citation of a document as Scripture proves canonicity . If the church did not receive a closed Old Testament from Judaism , but rather Scripture on the way to canonization , then the comparison of the citations of Chris tian literature with Old Testament citations cannot establish canonicity for Chris tian writings .
Sundberg ’ s research has led some to agree that an essential distinction be made between the terms “ Scripture ” and “ Canon .” 6 Sundberg thus argued that “ Scripture ” should be understood as writings that are held in some sense as authoritative for religion . “ Canon ,” on the other hand , should be understood as a defined collection that is to be held as exclusively authoritative with respect to all other documents . The issue here is one of anachronism : We should not refer to a document as “ Canon ” that would historically have been referred to as “ Scripture .” Thus , we cannot claim canonicity for a New Testament document that is cited with the same formula as an Old Testament document unless we are prepared to say that the church fathers had a larger Old Testament Canon than we currently have . Based on these conclusions , Sundberg argues that a New Testament Canon did not appear in Chris tian ity until the latter half of the fourth century when lists of canonical books begin to appear .
The definition of the term “ Canon ” — which has become increasingly narrow — is influential in determining the date and therefore composition of the New Testament Canon . Zahn and Harnack understand “ canonical ” as referring to a writing that functions authoritatively . If we accept this definition , then a Canon emerges quite early ( later first to the end of the second century ). Sundberg , on the other hand , views “ Canon ” in a stricter sense — as a closed list of writings . If we accept this definition , a Canon emerges much later in the fourth century when such lists began to appear .
These three answers are often viewed as mutually exclusive . However , as John Barton points out , when we look at the actual arguments , each position makes some good points . 7 Zahn is correct that most New Testament documents did have authority in the late first and early second centuries ; Harnack is correct that these books were discriminately added to in the second and third centuries ; Sundberg is correct that it is only from the fourth century onward that authoritative rulings about the exact limits of the Canon appear .
However , we could also call each position overstated . Zahn asserted that the New Testament books would one day form a Canon , but it is an overstatement to claim that this was the intent of first-century Chris tians . Harnack does not give enough attention to the reality that , in the second century , there was still an openness to receive other books — that is , to add them to the “ Canon .” Sundberg states that the latter part of the fourth century is decisive because this is when strict canonical lists began to appear , but it is probable that these lists were documenting what were already accepted earlier lists .
The frequency with which a particular book was cited by church fathers appears to be a more helpful consideration . As Barton explains , “ The picture that emerges is surprisingly clear . From the Apostolic Fathers onwards , the Synoptic Gospels ( especially Matthew ), the Fourth Gospel , and the major Pauline letters are cited much more often than one would predict , if one supposed that the whole of the New Testament we now have was equally ‘ canonical ’ or important . Correspondingly ,
6 Harry Y . Gamble , The New Testament Canon : Its Making and Meaning ( Minneapolis : Fortress Press , 1985 ); compare Christopher R . Seitz , The Goodly Fellowship of the Prophets ( Grand Rapids : Baker Academic , 2009 ). 7 John Barton , Holy Writings , Sacred Text : The Canon in Early Chris tian ity ( Louisville : Westminster John Knox Press , 1997 ), 11 – 14 .