Canonizing, Essay Example

Works in the bible are included in the work through a process called canonization. This process dates back to the early Christians who believed that through holy inspiration, or what is known as the Holy Spirit: thus, the process what not only self-evident, but divinely inspired. This expository paper will explain the canonization process through history, as well as the specific criteria used by synagogues and churches.

As the bible was coming into the printing world, the way by which books were selected was done by a process known as canonization. Church Forefathers were able to choose what books were included in the bible through the Holy Spirit. Thus, the books were chosen in a divine capacity (Britannica para. 1). The Hebrew Bible was canonized during the second century BCE, and contained at this point mainly sections of the Psalms and Wisdom Literature and is described as a “secular or literary canon” (Kooij&Toornxvi). Early canonization of the Hebrew Bible’s scriptures was established at Qumran and it is during this century that other works, such as the Temple Scroll, were not given canonization from the community. Later on, in the third and fourth centuries, both the Christian and the Hebrew Bible the process of canonization was revisited as both establishments were consolidating (Kooij&Toorn xvi).

The Christian Bible’s canonization was instituted as a way to write down religious occurrences that were once carried on through oral tradition. Due to the eye witnesses (Apostles) of such occurrences passing away, and oral tradition lagging behind the times, these stories had to be written down to stand the test of time, thus, canonization was a process needed to decide which stories should be included in holy scripture. During the end of the first century, a plethora of gospels were inundated church procedure and belief. At times these gospels were even seen by the public as superior to apostolic stories and thus the church had to move forward with canonization in order to deem other works heretical (Britannica para. 2). The canonization of its New Testament and is seen as “the product of contradictory Christian attitudes toward Judaism” (Kooij&Toorn xvii). The New Testament is a collection of scriptures that “proto-orthodox gentile Christians” canonized in opposition to Judeo-Christian and Judaism held beliefs.

Under this guise as well, canonization began, and it saw a rise with the influence of Marcion. Marcion held very Gnostic views, and as such, wanted to establish a canon that “repudiated the Old Testament and anything Jewish” (Britannica para. 6). Thus, the canonization of work he chose followed his Gnostic beliefs: one such view being that the God in the Old Testament was cruel. Marcion canonized The Gospel and the Apostolikon which consisted of “ten Pauline letters with Old Testament references and analogies edited out without Hebrews, I and II Timothy, and Titus. This restrictive canon acted as a catalyst to the formation of a canon more in line with the thought of the church catholic (universal)” (Britannica para. 3).

During the second century rules of canonization began to arise. These included “apostolicity, true doctrine (regula fidei), and widespread geographical usage” (Britannica para. 7). Thus, the criteria for a canon was made to be work that was in accordance with the church’s new thought, practices, and beliefs at the time and the way in which they taught as well as the way that they rejected anything the believed to be heretical or against their belief structure: “the criteria of true doctrine, usage, and apostolicity all taken together must be satisfied, then, in order that a book be judged canonical. Thus, even though the Shepherd of Hermas, the First Letter of Clement, and the Didach? may have been widely used and contain true doctrines, they were not canonical because they were not apostolic nor connected to the apostolic age, or they were local writings without support in many areas” (Britannica para. 8). Divine inspiration was a way (or even a ruse) by which the church’s forefathers could include their belief structure on an entire religion, and call it divine inspiration. In actuality, canonization was a system by which rejected from the canon was based on whether or not the material fit the needs of the church.

Canonization of the Christian and Hebrew Bible began through the need to write down oral stories that Apostles were passing on to first century church authorities. These authorities based their canonization on a process whereby the Holy Spirit inspires them. This process changed in later centuries whereby canonization criteria required true doctrine and geographic usage: meaning that stories that weren’t relevant to the location or peoples of an area, or that went against what a particular church was practicing, was not included in the bible and in fact was deemed heretical. The arbitrary nature of canonization, in which stories had to fit the needs of church authorities, is steeped in tradition and dogma.

Works Cited

“Biblical Literature.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Web. 22 June 2014.

Kooij, A., Toorn, K., eds. Canonization and Decanonization: Papers Presented to the International Conference of the Leiden Institute for the Study of Religions (LISOR) Held at Leiden 9-10 January 1997. Leiden: Brill, 1998. Print.