Master 251: Living Long and Living Well

How can we live long and live well? That question certainly sums up one of the most basic human concerns. What makes for a good life? How can I acquire that good life? And how can I enjoy that good life without worrying about it being cut short through untimely debilitation or death?

We regularly receive reports and figures related to life-expectancy. How long can the average American, born in the 1980s, expect to live? How does that compare with Americans from a century ago? How does it compare to people from other countries? How do Californians compare to the rest of Americans?

Certain groups of people have come to the conclusion that the answer lies in controlling the material stuff around us. More and more, we are trying to manage emotions and feelings using medications. Psychiatrists and therapists look for the causes and explanations of our various dysfunctions in the events of our past, patterns in our upbringing, and the chemistry in our brains. Politicians and policy-makers look for resource-distribution and money-distribution strategies to resolve the local and global problems of poverty and starvation. Every day the news media reports the findings of new research--indicating that sitting for long periods may shorten one's life-span, drinking green tea reduces risk of cancer, coffee is good for you, coffee is bad for you, ingesting a certain multivitamin daily…, drinking eight cups of water…, exercising just fifteen minutes a day…, avoiding trans-fats…, avoiding cholesterol…, avoiding sodium…, etc., etc., etc. Our culture is becoming increasingly obsessed with physical fitness and exercise. Even those who do not engage in regular exercise have absorbed the idea: "Well I know I ought to…".

Others, especially those reacting against the inadequacies of naturalism, physicalism, and scientism, have taken to focusing on the spiritual. But much of the popular and best-selling material consists just in a rehashing of pagan and pre-Christian ideas, inconsistent appropriations of Eastern mysticisms and philosophies, and shallow pop-psychology. Some people are actually advocating a return to some form of pluralistic polytheism (appropriately updated). Most of us are familiar with people who have dabbled in faux feng shui, yoga, meditation, and other forms of "returning to nature." And there is no shortage of pop-culture icons advocating the power of positive thinking under various guises.

We could multiply examples of responses to these basic questions. And, of course, there are some really serious candidate answers out there. But a lot of what comes to us through the media, Internet, talk shows, and break-time conversations just consists of this messy assortment of answers. What answers do Jesus and His followers give to these questions? Consider, first, these words of the Apostle Paul to His apprentice, Timothy:

"But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come." (1 Timothy 4:7-8)

You've heard of "old wives' tales", yes? An awful lot of what gets absorbed as the latest and greatest word on living long and living well is little better than that stuff. Paul suggests that we take up an alternative strategy: godliness. He affirms that godliness is useful for the present life as well as the life to come. Can that be right? Is godliness really useful for my life now and the stuff I care about and have to deal with? You might still be skeptical. Consider, then, this conversation that Jesus had with one of the religious leaders of His day.

'And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and put [Jesus] to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" And He said to him, "What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?" And he answered and said, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." And He said to him, "You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live."' (Luke 10:25-28)

I claim that Jesus, here, affirms that godliness is useful for present life as well as the life to come.

"But, wait!" you may say to yourself, "That can't be right. The lawyer's question has to do with eternal life, not the present life." Or does it? Is Jesus giving the lawyer advice about the present life or about eternal life?

I've brought this whole thing up because I think it serves as another example of how our close acquaintance with religion and religious language can actually undermine our ability to recognize the relevance of Jesus' words and teaching to the matters of our daily lives. When many of us hear words like "eternal life" and "spiritual," that immediately begins to conjure images of the ethereal, ideal, and distant future. But go back to the questions I raised at the beginning of this blog and think about them for a moment.

How can we live long and live well? What makes for a good life? How can we acquire that good life? And how can we enjoy that good life without worrying about it being cut short through untimely debilitation or death? These are questions that concern all human beings, and they are at the heart of this lawyer's question to Jesus. Of course the language of "eternal life" comes out of the Jewish tradition. They took for granted that the good life was one appropriately related to God and so this lawyer asked about how one could be properly related to God. The language and particular way of formulating the question was Jewish--but the underlying concern was and remains universal. It may require a little mental work for us to see it, but it's there. When the lawyer asks, "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" he is, in essence, asking, "How can I live long and live well?"

Getting clear on this question is important because only in this way can we really hear Jesus' answer as addressing this universal human concern.

And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and put Jesus to the test, saying, "Teacher, how can I live long and live well? What makes a good life? How can I acquire that good life? And how can I enjoy that good life without worrying about it being cut short through untimely debilitation or death?" And He said to him, "What did all your forefather's learn about this? What can you conclude from their experiences?" And he answered and said, "I should love God with my entire being--with every part of who I am, acknowledging Him as Lord--and act in accordance with that love, toward God and toward others." And He said to him, "You have answered correctly; do this and you will have the good life that even death cannot bring to an end--that will go on forever."

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God is in this place,
And that reality, seen and understood by the grace of God in Christ Jesus through the work of the Holy Spirit, makes all the difference in the world.

Master 250: Are Jesus' Words Relevant?

Rafting Reflections, Part 3

Is Jesus relevant to your life? Does Jesus have anything to offer your life? Does He have anything to say about your life, or is there anything that He says that touches on some point in your life?

These sorts of questions filled my mind as I interacted with the junior high and high school students at this church youth camp. But let me give a little more background before expanding on that:

When it comes to teaching children or young people, the question often comes up: Are these kids (or students) able to engage seriously with spiritual questions and spiritual matters? Obviously, young people at different stages of cognitive and spiritual development will be able to do so only to varying degrees. Sometimes it is the case that, "We can't really talk about that 'til you're older." In other cases, lack of maturity may just rule out the possibility of "serious discussions." But I do find myself wondering (and I think it's a good thing for all teachers and youth workers to wonder often about) whether kids and students are more ready to have these discussions than we sometimes think.

Here's the big question that comes to my mind: Is it the case that so many children and youth are simply not ready or willing to have conversations about spiritual matters? Or is it the case that the real obstacle to their meaningful and serious engagement with issues related to spirituality lies in our failure (as teachers) to articulate spiritual truths in such a way that the relevance of those truths to the their actual lives is communicated clearly?

Let me step back, again, before continuing. What I've presented here are two possible explanations for the (apparent) lack of engagement with spiritual questions by young people. Obviously there are other answers that one might give or consider. Also, one might simply deny that there actually is any such lack of engagement. But I take it that there are plenty of people (including, parents, church workers, and other concerned adults) who worry that young people simply are not connecting with the values, ideals, and concepts that their devout forbears might take for granted.

The explanation (or, at least, possible contributing cause) of this that I want to consider here is that those of us who would be teaching/educating these young people are not successfully communicating the relevant concepts and ideas to them in terms and vocabulary that they can understand. In suggesting this, I am not trying to lay blame on anyone. Rather, I'm raising the question as a rhetorical device and heuristic in order to get us thinking, again, about our communication styles and their effectiveness.

Consider that, when it comes to raising children, especially through adolescence, there's a constant tension between expecting too little of them and expecting too much of them. At the moment, I'm pulling in one direction, while recognizing that that is only half the story. I'm asking whether we can expect more of our children and youth. If the answer is 'yes,' then we need to get clear on how to go about doing that. It's not enough to just say, "We're going to start expecting more of you." The solution may not lie in just "pushing harder," but rather in "pushing smarter." Perhaps a reevaluation of our communication techniques--the ways in which we go about raising spiritual questions--can do a lot to create greater openness and receptivity to engaging with these topics.

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What are some things to consider as we go about this? (Eventually we'll get around to taking up the particular questions that I opened with: Is Jesus relevant to your life? etc.)

One thing to consider is that the whole topic of "spiritual questions" may, itself, be standing in our way. I used the expressions "spiritual question(s)" and "spiritual matter(s)" five times in the last section. Did you notice? What ideas or images did those conjure in your mind? What is a "spiritual question"? What is the difference between a "spiritual question" and a "non-spiritual question"? Can you give a clear definition?

What sorts of things would you list under the heading "spiritual"? God? The Bible? Church, angels, heaven, non-material things, eternal things, praying, "spiritual" experiences, meditation, holy things, rituals, fasting, hymns, monasteries, cathedrals, pastors, saints, relics? What sorts of things would you list under the heading "non-spiritual." Your job? Your home? Family, cars, vacations, bills, school, television, the Internet, airplanes, grocery stores, shopping malls, summer barbecues, little leagues, politics, foreign policy, the economy?

If you agree with me that many people would generate lists like these under the headings "spiritual" and "non-spiritual", I hope that you can also see the problem. On this construal, to take up spiritual questions and topics just is to take up things that are completely separate from the issues and concerns that dominate our everyday lives. We may even find ourselves saying things like, "Set aside your job, home-life, medical issues, etc., and focus on God." Properly understood, that's a fine thing to say, but what many people may hear in that is a suggestion to stop thinking about the important and immediate concerns in order to think about something that will only really matter once we've died.

Now some may eagerly point out that, properly understood, there is no such opposition between the spiritual and non-spiritual. And that's quite correct, properly understood. But now consider, have we done the hard work of communicating that to children and youth? Or have the older adults, long-time Christians, and teachers in our churches just continued to throw around "spiritual" language, all-the-while assuming that young people understand what it means when they really don't. Have we taken the time to really explain what we mean by words like, "spiritual"? Do we really understand what that word means, or have we simply become accustomed to using it and responding appropriately to it in certain contexts?

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The general point is that we need to be very careful about how much we take for granted in our talk about God and Jesus. I think more children and youth than we think are ready to have spiritual conversations, but in order to do that they have to have some command of a body of conceptual vocabulary. [1] Are we making sure that they really understand what we're talking about, or are we only assuming that they do?

I'll talk about "spiritual" as an important vocabulary term in another entry. I'll wrap up this entry by resurfacing the question, "Is Jesus relevant to your life?" How would you answer this question? Does Jesus have anything to offer your life? Do the words He spoke touch relevantly on anything that you're dealing with?

Long-time Christians may jump quickly on this one: "Of course Jesus is relevant. In fact, His teachings and commands should have absolute authority in our lives, governing every choice that we make and how we live every moment of every day." Ah! But there's an awful lot that's being assumed in that response. Do you see that? And especially if people already associate the "spiritual" with a range of matters wholly distinct from the stuff that they deal with on a daily basis, that answer will immediately strike their ear as unconvincing. What can we do to correct this problem?

Here's one suggestion: we can remind our students (and ourselves) that in the case of God's own special self-revelation, even He did not begin by simply asserting His own absolute authority. That might strike some as a surprising claim, but think about it: What concept of God did Abram have at the time that God called Him out of his homeland? It was probably very different from the concept that we have inherited from the five-thousand or so years of subsequent history. Very likely Abram thought that God was just another one of the many deities that populated the spiritual world of the Ancient Near-East. But that Deity made him a promise:

"Go forth from your country, and from your relatives, and from your father's house, to the land which I will show you; and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing; and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." (Genesis 12:1-3)

Did Abram know that this was the one true God speaking to Him? Did he know that this was the one who created him and the entire universe? [Did he know that this was the one who, at the end of time, would judge all peoples? Did he know that this was the one against whom he, Abram, had sinned? Did he know that this was the one whose only begotten Son would serve as the propitiation for the sins of all who believe in Him?] Did Abram know that this was the one whom he ought to acknowledge as absolute authority in His life? Probably not.

Abram probably understood little to nothing of what was true about God's nature and character. But He did understand that God was relevant to His life. The words of God pretty clearly had something to do with Abram's life and the things he cared about. Abram cared about his family, about his descendants, about his future, about his well-being later in life and God had things to say about all these matters. But at this early stage, God did not come in with just commands. He came, rather, with an invitation and a promise. He did not say, "Go to a land that I will show you or else I'll punish you." He did not say, "Go to a land that I will show you because I'm your creator and Lord." Instead, He said, "Go to a land that I will show you and I will bless you." It was Abram's choice, to follow God and receive that blessing or else to refuse God and miss out.

God did not begin his relationship with Abram by demanding that he acknowledge Him as Lord of all. Even though He was and is Lord of all, He did not come right out and say that. He did not expect Abram to believe that. Instead, He began a long process of showing Abram who He was and what He was like. Abram decided to follow God's instructions and God took care of Him. In the course of doing so, Abram began to learn a number of things about this God. He learned that He would have to wait on this God's timing. He learned that this God did expect to be able to place obligations on Abram. He learned that this God could touch him wherever He went. But because He chose to be obedient, He also learned that this God is faithful, that this God does keep His promises, that this God could be relied upon to take care of Him.

This progressive self-revelation of God's character continued. God came to Isaac and revealed Himself as the God of Abraham--the God who had been with Abraham and had revealed Himself as faithful and as trustworthy in all these areas of life. (Genesis 26:1ff) God invited Isaac to the same kind of trust in God that Abraham had.

God revealed Himself, then, to Jacob, as the God of Abraham and Isaac--the God who had been with them and who would be with Jacob if he would trust in Him. (Genesis 28:13) Do you see what's going on? He worked in the life of Joseph, one of Jacob's sons as well. The God who is almighty, the God who created the cosmos, the God to whom all are accountable, the God who is sovereign over all things, revealed His character over time in the context of these special relationships.

Jump forward from Joseph, 400 years, and we find the burgeoning nation of Israel in captivity in Egypt and God comes to them. He tells them that He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob--the God who came to them, was faithful to them, and took care of them. (Exodus 3) He demonstrates His power over Pharaoh and the gods of Egypt by bringing the ten plagues against them. He demonstrates His power over nature by parting the red sea, bringing water from rocks in the desert, and feeding the multitude with both natural and non-natural foods.

It is within this context that God reveals to Moses, from Mt. Sinai, and states clearly and definitively that He is not just one of many gods but the one and only true God. He relates to Moses how He created the world and humankind, how Adam and Eve sinned, the judgment that He visited on the world in the time of Noah and the consequences of the arrogance that came with the Tower of Babel. These records were not just human (in origin), but neither did they simply drop out of heaven. What we see here, instead, is the God whom the people already knew from the experiences of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, revealing more about His nature and character.

Keep thinking about this with me: Why would the people of Israel take seriously that the history they received from God was the truth? Why would they take seriously (eventually) that this God, alone, was the proper object of their worship and devotion? Why would they take seriously (eventually) that this God, alone, was to be obeyed and could properly claim to have all authority in their lives? Answer: Because God gave them abundant evidence to that effect. He demonstrated, again and again, that He had power over all things political, all things natural, and all things supernatural. No ruler or king could stand up against the God of heaven. No prophet, priest, or spiritual force could stand up against the God of heaven. No famine or plague or other natural disaster was outside of His control. This God revealed to prophets what would happen 500 years in the future, and it happened. When we actually think about all this, it's not surprising at all that they would conclude that the God of heaven, alone, is God. When this God, then, placed demands on people, it was appropriate for them to treat them as having absolute authority. When this God revealed things about the dim, dark past or the far-distant future, it was appropriate for the people to take those statements as true.

How did a man who knew almost nothing about God give rise to an entire nation of people who acknowledged His absolute authority over their lives? Let's be clear on this: this did not come about through their being especially concerned with "spiritual" things. What they experienced was actually God's authority and sovereignty over their very practical concerns. It was precisely God's relevance to the everyday concerns of people that they came to their clear understanding of how He works and His relevance and authority over all areas of life (including the non-physical and the afterlife).

Hopefully this helps us to see that these various dichotomies that we often set up--between the spiritual and non-spiritual, the religious and secular--are false dichotomies. Your job, your home, your family, how you spend your money and your various financial obligations, your entertainment, travel, food and daily needs, friendships, recreational activities, political and cultural involvements--God has things to say about all of these. And the things he says aren't limited to "Do it my way or I'll punish you," or "Do it my way because I have absolute authority." Men and women, throughout history, who have taken seriously what God says about all these things, have found that what He has to say is the best that there is to be found anywhere.

Now, very often, what God has to say about these things runs contrary to conventional wisdom. He says that we should love our enemies, forgive those who hurt us, give generously and even sacrificially, spend lots of time in His word and in prayer, esteem only lightly the opinions of those in power, and always always always speak the truth. People may have a hard time taking these instructions seriously (just as it must have been hard for Abram to take seriously God's instruction to abandon everything that he had ever known and every form of stability and security that he had ever known to go into a foreign country). But what people have learned who have followed God's words (what Abram also learned) is that God really is the only true God, with authority over all things, fully trustworthy, reliable, and good.

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Now we in the church, today, have inherited this body of knowledge about God's nature and character. We should, unequivocally, preach and proclaim that God is only One, that He is sovereign over all things, that He is the one creator and sustainer of the cosmos, the one righteous judge of all, the one to whom all will be held accountable. But we should not assume that everyone accepts that--that even the "Christians" in our churches take that for granted. We need to help people understand, not only these facts about God, but also His absolute relevance to their everyday lives. After all, if the stuff Jesus says has nothing to do with the stuff that people care about, if what He has to say really doesn't touch on the stuff that people actually have to deal with, can they really be expected to trust that He has things like the afterlife well in hand? As people learn about Jesus' relevance to their lives, as they begin to act in accordance with His instructions and experience how He really has the best things to say about how to live, they will come to acknowledge His absolute authority.

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FOOTNOTE:

[1] Footnotes hopefully allow me to make qualifying remarks without interrupting the flow of thoughts. Again, I don't think that just clarifying some conceptual and vocabulary issues will make just anyone or everyone more receptive to talking about God and their relationship to Him. People also need to be exposed to the reality of God's work. And they must be willing to open their eyes long enough to see and recognize what is going on all around them. There's a lot more to the story, still. I'm just emphasizing one aspect of that.

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God is in this place,
And that reality, seen and understood by the grace of God in Christ Jesus through the work of the Holy Spirit, makes all the difference in the world.

Master 249: To Be Free

Two friends of mine have formed an electronic music group, based out of Los Angeles, that goes by the name "Holy Buckets." Although relatively new, they are producing work that is unique within the electronic music scene, being technically well-grounded and drawing upon a variety of music styles. Both have strong musical performance backgrounds (especially in percussion, trumpet, and voice) and training (both studied music at the college level and one has a master's degree in performance) that enrich their songs. They are currently working on putting together an album of their own work, while looking for remix opportunities as well. Logic Pro is their exclusive workstation.

The most recent song that they've produced, I especially like. It is entitled, To Be Free.

To Be Free by Holy Buckets

In his letter to the Galatian church, the Apostle Paul says, "It was for freedom that Christ set us free." Freedom is an integral part of the gospel and the life that God has offered to us in Jesus Christ.

I've been thinking a lot about this lately. (Or, rather, I believe that God has been directing my attention that way.) I won't say more here, but I will recommend listening to this song. Lyrics are available here.

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God is in this place,
And that reality, seen and understood by the grace of God in Christ Jesus through the work of the Holy Spirit, makes all the difference in the world.

Master 248: Christian Doctrine Series, Part 3

Doctrine of the Word of God, part 2.

So I'm continuing, in my Sunday school class, to move through this doctrine series. We're now into the Doctrine of Humanity. I've been slowly organizing the material we've covered. Here's an outline of the stuff I put together on the Doctrine of the Word of God. Some of it may repeat stuff I covered in the part 1 entry, but at least now it's all together. For those who are interested, I hope it's helpful. (I'm also going to try really hard to format this all well for blog posting. We'll see how it goes. It will probably show up less well on the Facebook version. Be aware.)

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The Doctrine of the Word of God

Outline

I. Introduction
II. Attunement
III. Context
A. The Word of God – Various Manifestations
B. The Son of God as the Word of God
IV. The Bible – the Word of God
A. A Living Legacy
V. Major Doctrinal Points
VI. The Canon of Scripture
A. The story of Marcion
B. Canonicity and Inspiration
C. Development and History of the Old Testament Canon
D. Development and History of the New Testament Canon
E. Reflection on the Four Gospels

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I. Introduction

The Attunement is intended to reorient our thinking about the Word of God. The Bible may have become so familiar to us that we actually take it for granted and fail to esteem it as we ought. Francis Chan's very open way of speaking about his experience with the Bible is both challenging and disarming. He invites us to consider that there is much more to be found in the Word of God than we might have thought. The words of the Psalmist contribute to this reorientation.

To properly understand how the Bible fits into God's redemptive plan, it is helpful to consider how the word of God operates in general and in various different ways. So, in the Context section, we begin by considering the important role that words play in the divine and spiritual world. It is also helpful, along these lines, to consider the role and power of words in our own human social context. Our experience with the power of human words is but a dim reflection of the power that God's words have. Consideration of the role of words in God's economy climaxes in the revelation of the divine Word of God--the Son and Second Person of the Trinity.

The third section, The Bible – the Word of God, moves away from talking about the word of God, in general, and the Word of God that is the Son of God to focus on the Bible as the Word of God. Passages from various Scriptures and authors are introduced. One of the main points that I want to emphasize, in this connection, is that the Bible is not just the record of the words of God that were spoken in the past. Rather, in the Bible, we encounter the living and dynamic word of God. The Word of God is alive in the same way and for the same reason that anything is alive, because it is imbued with a spirit--in this case, the Spirit of God.

In this connection, it's especially interesting to consider the works cited in A Living Legacy. Those works and passages were among the last of the New Testament to be written. Paul and Peter and John must have been conscious of the fact that the church would outlive them all and thus must have been concerned about how best to prepare for the future. It's interesting that they don't direct the people to human teachers, to any sort of priestly or apostolic succession. Instead, they enjoin the Christians to return to the Scriptures. John, in several places, seems to indicate that, through the Scriptures, people can enjoy the same kind of face-to-face interaction with God that the apostles enjoyed with Jesus. How is that possible and why would the apostles place such an emphasis on the Scriptures?

This question, more or less, is what guides the section on Major Doctrinal Points, which actually enters into (albeit extremely briefly) the formal elements of the doctrine of the Word of God. The treatment is very brief but can serve as an outline for further study and hopefully (perhaps, more importantly) shows how the different parts of the doctrine fit together. That section closes with an excerpt from the Westminster Confession of Faith that, I think, nicely sums up how we can helpfully think of the doctrine of the Word of God. Again, reflection on this doctrine cannot replace but rather should drive us to deeper direct engagement with the Word of God.

The last section focuses on just one part of the Doctrine of the Word of God: the Canon of Scripture. Someone in my Sunday school class asked about this point in particular; that is why it is treated at such depth. The Story of Marcion helps us to understand why anyone would care about the canon of Scripture and why it is important. Canonicity and Inspiration clarifies how the question of canonicity fits into our larger understanding of the Scripture and its inspiration.

The Reflection on the Four Gospels is my attempt to help us think a little differently about the gospels in particular. (Material for that is borrowed from a message delivered by Dr. Fred Sanders as part of Biola University's Chapel series on John 1. Some people wonder about why there are four separate accounts of the ministry and work of Jesus Christ. Others also wonder about whether there might not be other works that should be considered on par with those gospels or with the other New Testament writings. Regarding just the four gospels, here's an interesting thought to consider. The four gospels present an ever-increasingly-expansive picture of the ministry of Jesus Christ. Mark was the first gospel to be written and offers the shortest and most straightforward presentation of the works of Jesus. But even he takes time to connect what Jesus did with the history of the nation of Israel. In the first chapter of Mark, he refers back to the prophecies of Isaiah (c. 600 A.D). He wants to make the point that Jesus did not just show up on the scene to do a bunch of cool stuff. Rather, He came in fulfillment of a plan that was at least 600 years old. Matthew, makes a similar move by laying out a genealogy of Jesus Christ. But he goes past Isaiah and traces the significance of the work of Jesus all the way back to Abraham--the founding father of the Jewish nation. Matthew was written primarily for a Jewish audience and, in that work, Matthew presents Jesus as the fulfillment of God's purposes for the Jewish people. Luke was written next and primarily with a Gentile audience in mind. In his genealogy of Jesus (in chapter three) Luke traces the ancestry of Jesus back to Adam. In doing so he underscores the fact that what Jesus accomplished was not just for the Jewish people but for the entire human race. John completes this movement of the gospels by opening his own gospel with the words, "In the beginning". He highlights, definitively, the absolute, complete, and cosmos-encompassing significance of the work of Christ.

With this in mind, now consider: If there were a fifth gospel, where would it begin? What would it add to the story of Jesus? Not just any collection of stories about Jesus can count as a divinely-inspired, authoritative, word-of-God account of Jesus' life and actions. This is not a knock-down argument for the completeness of the canon, but at least with respect to the gospels this should give us pause when considering the words and arguments of those who claim that other sources should be considered or added to the Bible. Though the various works that compose the Old and New Testament were written at various times and places, from various perspectives, and reflect the characteristics, quirks, and attributes of their human authors, they also bear the signs of God superintendence. They testify to their having been divinely-inspired, and so we should treat them as such.

Bible quotations are taken from the NASV. Some Scripture passages and book quotations are cited multiple times.

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II. Attunement

Francis Chan. "Texting God."
 Cornerstone Church, Simi Valley. Sermon, 18-October-2009. 
URL: http://vimeo.com/9481300 (Time: 8:59-19:55).

For, "All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls off, but the word of the Lord abides forever." [1 Peter 1:24-25]

"...like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord." [1 Peter 2:2-3]

"All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." [2 Timothy 3:16-17]

"...but these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name." [John 20:31. See also 1 John 1:3-4.]

'May Your lovingkindnesses also come to me, O LORD,
Your salvation according to Your word;
So I shall have an answer for him who
reproaches me,
For I trust in Your word.
And do not take the word of truth utterly out of my mouth,
For I wait for Your ordinances.
So I will keep Your law continually,
Forever and ever.
And I will walk at liberty,
For I seek Your precepts.
I will also speak of Your testimonies before kings,
And shall not be ashamed.
And I shall delight in Your commandments,
Which I love.
And I shall lift up my hands to Your
commandments,
Which I love;
And I will meditate on Your statutes.' [Psalm 119:41-48]

'Princes persecute me without cause,
But my heart stands in awe of Your words.
I rejoice at Your word,
As one who finds great spoil.
I hate and despise falsehood,
But I love Your law.
Seven times a day I praise You,
Because of Your righteous ordinances.
Those who love Your law have great peace,
And nothing causes them o stumble.
I hope for Your salvation, O LORD,
And do Your commandments.
My soul keeps Your testimonies,
And I love them exceedingly.
I keep Your precepts and Your testimonies,
For all my ways are before You.' [Psalm 119:161-168]

--

III. Context

A. The Word of God – Various Manifestations

God created through His word.

'By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,
And by the breath of His mouth all their host.
 ...
For He spoke, and it was done;
He commanded, and [the earth] stood fast.' [Psalm 33:6, 9]

[Hebrews 11:3. 2 Peter 3:5-7]

God rules through His word.

'He sends forth His command to the earth;
His word runs very swiftly.
 ...
He sends forth His word and melts [the snow];
He causes His wind to blow and the waters to flow.
He declares His words to Jacob,
His statutes and His ordinances to Israel.' [Psalm 147:15, 18-19]

[Numbers 20:8-12. Psalm 29; 119:89-91. Isaiah 55:10-11]

[Jeremiah 23:29. Matthew 8:5-13. Luke 7:1-10]

God redeems through His word.

'Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble;
He saved them out of their distress.
He sent His word and healed them,
And delivered them from their destructions.' [Psalm 107:19-20]

[Psalm 119:81-82, 123. Psalm 130:5-6]

'All the commandments that I am commanding you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to give to your forefathers. And you shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. And He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD.' [Deuteronomy 8:1-3]

Consider, in addition, God's decrees, commands, promises, and prophecies.

The power of the Word of God

'Thy word is a lamp to my feet,
And a light to my path.' [Psalm 119:105]

'Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been bounded upon the rock. And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act upon them, will be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and it fell, and great was its fall.' [Matthew 7:24-27]

'It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.' [John 6:63]

'If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you.' [John 15:7]

'Jesus therefore was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."' [John 8:31]

'Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth.' [John 17:17]

Response to the Word of God

'[L]ike newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow in respect to salvation... ' [1 Peter 2:2]

'Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of God. For, "All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls off, but the word of the Lord abides forever." And this is the word which was preached to you.' [1 Peter 1:22-25. Quotation from Isaiah 40:7-8]

'Therefore putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.' [James 1:21-24]

'Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth.' [2 Timothy 2:15]

'And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.' [Ephesians 6:17]

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B. The Son of God as the Word of God

'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. ... And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.' [John 1:1-3, 14]

'God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high; having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.' [Hebrews 1:1-4]

[1 John 1:1-3. Revelation 19:11, 13]

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IV. The Bible – the Word of God

"The Bible is God's written Word, uniquely inspired by the Holy Spirit. It bears unerring witness to Jesus Christ, the living Word. As attested by the early church and subsequent councils, it is the trustworthy record of God's revelation, completely truthful in all it affirms. It has been faithfully preserved and proves itself true in human experience.

The Scriptures have come to us through human authors who wrote, as God moved them, in the languages and literary forms of their times. God continues, by the illumination of the Holy Spirit, to speak through this Word to each generation and culture.

The Bible has authority over all human life. It teaches the truth about God, His creation, His people, His one and only Son and the destiny of humankind. It also teaches the way of salvation and the life of faith. Whatever is not found in the Bible nor can be proved by it is not to be required as an article of belief or as necessary to salvation." (Book of Discipline: Free Methodist Church – 2007
. Articles of Religion: The Scriptures – Authority, ¶108.)

--

Here are affirmed: the inspiration of the Scriptures, the authority of Scripture, the unity of the Scriptures, the inerrancy of Scripture, and the sufficiency of Scripture.

The canon of Scripture consists of the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament and the twenty-seven books of the New Testament.

"The Bible is one of the results of God's speaking. It is the unique written Word of God. It is inerrant in its original form and infallible in all of its forms for the purpose of guiding us into a life-saving relationship with God in his kingdom. It is infallible in this way precisely because God never leaves it alone.

The inerrancy of the original texts is rendered effective for the purposes of redemption only as that text, through its present-day derivatives, is constantly held within the eternal living Word. ...

The Bible has its own special and irreplaceable role in the history of redemption. We can refer any person to it with the assurance that if they will approach it openly, honestly, intelligently and persistently, God will meet them through its pages and speak peace to their souls. ...

The word of God in the larger sense portrayed in the Bible is therefore available to every person through the Bible, the written Word of God. All may hear the living Word by coming to the Bible humbly and persistently, with burning desire to find God and live in peace with him.

As for others the Bible may prove a deadly snare, as it did for those in Christ's earthly days who actually used Scripture to dismiss him and his claims on them (Jn 5:36-37). Because of this we are warned in the Bible that we can even destroy ourselves by Bible study: specifically by the study of Paul's epistles, for "some things in them [are] hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures" (2 Pet 3:16).

Our only protection from our own pride, fear, ignorance and impatience as we study the Bible is fellowship with the living Word, the Lord himself, invoked in constant supplication from the midst of his people... ." (Dallas Willard, Hearing God, 141-143.)

'[C]ontinue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them; and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.' [2 Timothy 3:14-17]

'For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.' [Hebrews 4:12]

'For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, "This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased"--and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. And so we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.' [2 Peter 1:16-21]

'[Jesus speaking to the Pharisees:] You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that bear witness of Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me, that you may have life.' [John 5:39]

"God speaks in and through the Word. It is not that God [spoke] long ago, and that the record of His acts and words, His revelation, was embodied in a perfect manner, and preserved for us in Scripture. This is true. But God gave us the Bible not to be silent now and let the Bible speak instead of Him, and be a guarantee for Him, but that He Himself may through His word speak, comfort, and confirm the soul, filling it with His light and love." (Adolph Saphir, The Hidden Life: Thoughts on Our Communion with God, 93.)

"We cannot speak, think, and feel too highly of Scripture in its vital connection with Christ and the Spirit; but there may be a way of viewing Scripture by itself apart from Christ and the Holy Ghost, and transferring to this dead book our faith, reverence, and affection; and this surely would come under the category of idolatry--substituting something, however good and great in itself, or rather in its relation to God, in the place of the living God." (Adolph Saphir, Christ and the Scriptures, 124-125.)

'And for this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received from us the word of God's message, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.' [1 Thessalonians 2:13]

'And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your heart to God.' [Colossians 3:15-17]


'Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her; that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless.' [Ephesians 5:25-27]

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A. A Living Legacy

2 Timothy – the last letter of Paul.

2 Peter – among the last writings to be composed of the New Testament.

The Gospel of John (especially chapter 20) and 1 John – the last gospel to be written and a letter from the last living apostle.

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V. Major Doctrinal Points

Guiding Question – Formula A: What must be the character and nature of this text, such that (1) it had the impact that it did on the lives of the men and women who interacted with it and (2) we can expect to share in those same experiences by so interacting with it?

Guiding Question – Formula B: What explains the impact that the Bible has had and continues to have in the lives of the people who abided and abide in it?

1: The Bible is "God-breathed," or "inspired by God".

'[C]ontinue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them; and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.' [2 Timothy 3:14-17]

'For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, "This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased"--and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. And so we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.' [2 Peter 1:16-21]

This inspiration extends to the very words of the Bible, and to all the words in the Bible.

Vocabulary: "Verbal plenary theory of inspiration."

Notice Jesus' argument in Mark 12:26-27.

Or, for another example, note the language of Ephesians 5:23.

The human authors were active and engaged in producing the biblical text.

'And for this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received from us the word of God's message, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.' [1 Thessalonians 2:13]

2. The Bible (in the original manuscripts) is inerrant in what it teaches.

3. The Bible has been faithfully and accurately preserved through copying and translation over the centuries.

'Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of God. For, "All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls off, but the word of the Lord abides forever." And this is the word which was preached to you.' [1 Peter 1:22-25. Quotation from Isaiah 40:7-8]

"The inerrancy of the original texts is rendered effective for the purposes of redemption only as that text, through its present-day derivatives, is constantly held within the eternal living Word." (Dallas Willard)

Note the significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls finding and of the New Testament textual evidence.

Tacitus, Annals of Imperial Rome. Composed A.D. 116. Earliest extant manuscript: A.D. 850.

Josephus, The Jewish War. Composed in the first-century A.D. Earliest extant manuscript: fourth-century, one Latin translation. Tenth-century, nine Greek translations.

Gospel of John. Composed between A.D. 60 and 100. Earliest extant manuscript: A.D. 150.

4. The Bible includes all and only those books that God intended for it to contain.

66 books, including 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament.

In the case of the New Testament books, was the book marked by apostolic authority, did it accord with the rule of faith, and was it widely used and recognized as useful by the churches?

Consider the example of the gospels and their progression: Mark, Matthew, Luke, John.

Consider the case of Marcion.

5. The Bible contains all that is necessary for coming to saving knowledge of and relationship with Jesus Christ.

"The Bible has its own irreplaceable role in the history of redemption. We can refer any person to it with the assurance that if they will approach it openly, honestly, intelligently and persistently, God will meet them through its pages and speak peace to their souls." (Dallas Willard)

6. The Bible is authoritative in all matters on which it speaks.

7. The Bible presents us with a single, unified revelation of the Person, will, and work of God.

8. God continues to speak through the Bible.

'For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.' [Hebrews 4:12]

"The word of God in the larger sense portrayed in the Bible is therefore available to every person through the Bible, the written Word of God. All may hear the living Word by coming to the Bible humbly and persistently, with burning desire to find God and live in peace with him." (Dallas Willard)

"But God gave us the Bible not to be silent now and let the Bible speak instead of Him, and be a guarantee for Him, but that He Himself may through His word speak, comfort, and confirm the soul, filling it with His light and love." (Adolph Saphir)

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"We may be moved and induced by the testimony of the Church to an high and reverent esteem of the Holy Scripture. And the heavenliness of the matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, the majesty of the style, the consent of all the parts, the scope of the whole (which is, to give all glory to God), the full discovery it makes of the only way of man's salvation, the many other incomparable excellencies, and the entire perfection thereof, are arguments whereby it doth abundantly evidence itself to be the Word of God: yet notwithstanding, our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth and divine authority thereof, is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts." (Westminster Confession of Faith (1643-1646), chap. 1, para. 5.)

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VI. The Canon of Scripture

A. The story of Marcion

(Justo L. González, The Story of Christianity.)

"Marcion, whose father was a bishop of Sinope in Pontus, knew Christianity from an early age. But he had a profound dislike towards both Judaism and the material world. He thus developed an understanding of Christianity that was both anti-Jewish and anti-material. About A.D. 144 he went to Rome, where he gathered a following. But eventually the church at large came to the conclusion that his doctrines contradicted several fundamental points in Christian doctrine. He then founded his own church, which lasted for several centuries as a rival to the orthodox church.

Since Marcion was convinced that the world is evil, he came to the conclusion that its creator must be either evil or ignorant. ... According to him, the God and Father of Jesus is not the same as Jehovah, the God of the Old Testament. It was Jehovah that made this world. That Father's purpose was that there be only a spiritual world. But Jehovah, either through ignorance or out of an evil intent, made this world and placed humankind in it... .

This means that the Hebrew Scriptures are indeed inspired by a god, although this is Jehovah, and not the Supreme Father. Jehovah is an arbitrary god, who chooses a particular people above all the rest. And he is also vindictive, constantly keeping an account on those that disobey him, and punishing them. In short, Jehovah is a god of justice--and of an arbitrary justice at that.

Over against Jehovah, and far above him, is the Father of Christians. This God is not vindictive, but loving. This God requires nothing of us, but rather gives everything freely, including salvation. This God does not seek to be obeyed, but to be loved. It is out of compassion for us, Jehovah's creatures, that the Supreme God has sent his Son to save us. ... Naturally, at the end there will be no judgment, since the Supreme God is absolutely loving, and will simply forgive us.

All this led Marcion to set the Hebrew Scriptures aside. If the Old Testament was the word of an inferior god, it should not be read in the churches, nor used as the basis of Christian instruction. In order to fill this gap, Marcion compiled a list of books that he considered true Christian Scriptures. These were the epistles of Paul--according to Marcion, one of the few who had really understood Jesus' message--and the Gospel of Luke. All other ancient Christian books were plagued by Jewish views. As to the many quotations from the Old Testament in Luke and Paul, Marcion explained them away as interpolations--the handiwork of Judaizers seeking to subvert the original message.

...

Marcion's list was the first attempt to put together a "New Testament." When early Christians spoke of "Scripture," what they meant was the Hebrew Scriptures, usually in the Greek version known as the Septuagint. It was also customary to read in church passages from one of several Gospels, as well as from the epistles--particularly Paul's. Since there was no approved list, different Gospels were read in different churches, and the same was true of other books. But Marcion's challenge required a response, and thus the church at large began to compile a list of sacred Christian writings. This was not done in a formal manner, through a council or special meeting. What actually happened was that a consensus developed gradually. While very soon there was a general agreement as to the basic books to be included in the canon of the New Testament, it took a long time to come to an absolute consensus on every minor detail."

--

(Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology.)
(Norman Geisler and William Nix, A General Introduction to the Bible.)
(Walter A. Elwell (ed.), Evangelical Dictionary of Theology)

B. Canonicity and Inspiration

Canon: from the Gk., kanon, meaning rule, rod, or staff.

Canonization refers to the process whereby human beings came to recognize what books God had determined to be canonical and form part of the canon. Strictly speaking, the canonicity of a book is determined by God and is a consequence of His inspiring act. When people find those books to be valuable or beneficial, that is a consequence of and evidence of canonicity, not what determines canonicity.

"When the Word of God was written it became Scripture and, inasmuch as it had been spoken by God, possessed absolute authority. Since it was the Word of God, it was canonical. That which determines the canonicity of a book, therefore, is the fact that the book is inspired of God. Hence a distinction is properly made between the authority which the Old Testament possesses as divinely inspired, and the recognition of that authority on the part of Israel." (Edward J. Young, "The Canon of the Old Testament.")

In looking at the writings of the early Church Fathers, we can see that they sought to be sensitive to five considerations when it came to determining what writings belonged to the canon of Scripture.

(1) Is the book authoritative? (2) Is the book prophetic? (3) Is the book authentic? (4) Is the book dynamic? (5) Has the book been widely received?

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C. Development and History of the Old Testament Canon

For the most part, the authority and inspiration of the books of the Old Testament were recognized almost immediately following their publication.

The books of Moses (or the Law: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) were immediately recognized as authoritative and preserved beside the ark of the Covenant. (Deut. 31:24-26) They continued to be treated as authoritative throughout the subsequent history of the Jewish people.

Ezekiel (13:9) makes reference to a "register of the house of Israel" which would have included authoritative writings, either having a prophetic character or authored by a prophet. The writings of Joshua (24:26) and I and II Samuel (see I Samuel 10:25) were added to this list. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel*, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi would have been immediately recognized as prophetic. Psalms, Proverbs*, Ecclesiastes*, Song of Solomon* were authored by David, Solomon, and other men recognized as having spoken prophetically at different times. At many places in I and II Chronicles (I Chronicles 29:29; II Chronicles 20:34; 26:22; 32:32) reference is made to the history of the kings of Israel (e.g. I and II Kings) having been recorded by different prophets. Judges, Ruth, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther* were probably recognized as worthy of inclusion in the canon on similar grounds or were connected to other history books. Ezekiel (14:14, 20) makes reference to Job, suggesting that the book of Job was, at that time, recognized as belonging to the Scriptures.

(*) The canonicity of five books of the Old Testament was disputed for some time: Song of Solomon (possibly for its sensual content), Ecclesiastes (because of the skeptical views expressed therein), Esther (for the conspicuous absence of the name of God and, alleged, lack of spiritual content), Ezekiel (some sections of this book were taken to be contrary to Mosaic law), and Proverbs (because of the contradiction in 26:4-5).

Other writings composed a large body of Hebrew religious literature--including the Book of Jasher (Joshua 10:13); the Book of the Wars of the Lord (Numbers 21:14); the Visions of Iddo the Seer (II Chronicles 9:29); and the Book of the Acts of Solomon (1 Kings 11:41)--but these were not included in the Old Testament canon--in "the Law and the Prophets."

The composition of the book of Malachi (c. 435 B.C.) coincides roughly with the writing of the last historical books (458-423 B.C.). The subsequent history of the Jewish people was recorded in other writings but these were not considered to be part of God's word.

Reference is made, in those books (1 Macc. 4:45-46; 9:27; 14:41), to the fact that the prophetic spirit of God departed from Israel.

Josephus (born c. A.D. 37/38) explained, "From Artaxerxes to our own times a complete history has been written, but has not been deemed worthy of equal credit with the earlier records, because of the failure of the exact succession of the prophets".

The Babylonian Talmud says concerning this period, "After the latter prophets Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi had died, the Holy Spirit departed from Israel".

Jesus and the New Testament authors quote 295 times from the Old Testament, but never from the Apocryphal books.

The earliest Christian list of Old Testament books that exists today is by Melito, bishop of Sardis, writing about A.D. 170, "When I came to the east and reached the place where these things were preached and done, and learnt accurately the books of the Old Testament, I set down the facts and sent them to you." His remarks are referenced in Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History (written c. A.D. 325). Melito lists all the books of the Old Testament canon except Esther.

Early church fathers did, in various places, quote from the Apocryphal books. Athanasius acknowledges this in a letter from A.D. 367, but points out that these were still not accepted as part of the Canon.

A number of concerns about doctrinal and historical inconsistencies have been raised against the Apocryphal books.

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D. Development and History of the New Testament Canon

"But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you." (John 14:26)

2 Peter 3:16 and 1 Timothy 5:17-18 both suggest that, even at that early stage, the writings of Paul and of Luke were recognized as on par with the Old Testament Scriptures.

The main criteria for assessing canonicity of the New Testament writings was apostolic authority and acceptance.

Matthew and John (who also wrote I, II, III John** and Revelation*) were both apostles. Mark was a companion of the Apostle Peter (who also wrote I and II Peter*) and Luke, who also wrote Acts, was a companion of the Apostle Paul. Paul also wrote Romans, I and II Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, I and II Thessalonians, I and II Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. James* (who led the Jerusalem church) and Jude* were half-brothers of Jesus. Hebrews*

All of the books of the New Testament canon were cited or quoted in the writings of the early church fathers. (Note, in particular, Polycarp (A.D. 150), Justin Martyr (A.D. 140), and Irenaeus (c. A.D. 170).

The authorship and authority of various writings was discussed throughout the second century.

(*) The canonicity of seven books of the New Testament was disputed for some time: Hebrews (because of its anonymity), James (because of its apparent conflict with Paul's epistles), II Peter (because of doubts about its authorship), II and III John (because of doubts about authorship and limited circulation), Jude (because it quotes the pseudepigraphal Book of Enoch), and Revelation (because of doctrinal disputes).

Though some of the writings of the early church fathers were circulated (apocrypha), they were not ultimately recognized as Scripture. In some places, the authors draw a clear distinction. For instance, Ignatius, about A.D. 110, said, "I do not order you as did Peter and Paul; they were apostles, I am a convict; they were free, I am even until now a slave". These works are not recognized as canonical by the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant Churches.

A large body of literature (over 280 works by the ninth century) were almost universally rejected. Though important names were often attached to these works, many of them were written after the second century, many contain fanciful stories, and many betray the influence of later heretical movements like Gnosticism and Docetism.

Athanasius, in 367, lists the twenty-seven New Testament books as canonical.
The earliest ecumenical councils (e.g. Nicea, 325) did not take up the question of the canon of Scripture. The first council decision on the matter was at Carthage in 397.

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E. Reflection on the Four Gospels

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God is in this place,
And that reality, seen and understood by the grace of God in Christ Jesus through the work of the Holy Spirit, makes all the difference in the world.

Master 247: Then You Shall See

How does service fit into the Christian life? Lots of Christians will talk about the importance of service and plenty of Christians will engage in service, but do we really understand it?

That might seem an odd question to ask. "Do we really understand service?" What's to understand. You go out and help people. It's simple. Isn't it?

I certainly don't want to overcomplicate something that is simple, but I think that reflection reveals that service actually is naturally shot through with shades of complexity. A person who engages in community service voluntarily is different from a person who is required by a judge to perform the same service. When we hear about a wealthy CEO donating money or volunteering time--in certain contexts--we may wonder whether that is from a sincere desire to help or a sincere desire for a tax-break. And motivations aren't the only point of complexity.

Even people who sincerely desire to help others can become stressed out and weighed down by the logistics of doing so. How much organization is required to run a homeless shelter, coordinate volunteers for community events, run a day-care or baby-sitting service? Many people who set out to help people end up buried under the heavy burden of all the means involved.

And what happens when our best efforts fall short? When the teenager we've been counseling decides to commit suicide? When the addict we've been trying to help returns to his drugs? When we don't meet our goals? When we let down the people we're trying to help? Some people are very good at picking up and moving on--at standing strong under the weight of opposition or lack of help. But others struggle with that.

Plenty of people aren't troubled by any of these questions just because they never actually do engage in service. Maybe they would if they could, but their schedules are just too busy. Family, school, kids' sports, entertaining, hobbies, health problems, may all give the sense that there just isn't the time to reach out to other people and help them. Is that right?

These sorts of reflections prompt all sorts of questions: Are some motivations for service better than others? (And this is not just an academic question, for if there is an answer to it, we should try to adjust our lives accordingly.) Are some ways of going about service better or more effective than others? What is the goal or aim of service? (The answer to this question will have important implications for how we deal with apparent failure.) Is service the sort of thing that everyone ought to do? And why?

These have been just a few reflections to, hopefully, help to motivate this question--to help us see that there is something here worth investigating. Now I'm not going to take up all these questions. Some of these questions (like the question about proper means) can only be answered by considering particular cases. Instead, I want to reflect on a very general question: How does service fit into the Christian life? I won't try to give an exhaustive answer but just point to some things for us to consider.

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The church that I attend just completed a "weekend of service." On Friday, we hosted an event called "Summer Splash" on our campus. It's the last event in a two-week day camp for children with autism that's hosted by one of the larger churches in our area. We had over three hundred people (kids, parents, volunteers) on our campus with waterslides, water obstacle courses, wading pools, snow cones, popcorn, hamburgers and hotdogs. This is the second year that we've hosted this event as part of this camp and, we were told, it's the highlight of the camp for many of the kids.

On Saturday, groups from our church went to two homes, each belonging to elderly couples in our congregation. At one home, the group did a bunch of yard work and lawn maintenance--weeding, trimming, mowing. At the other, they painted and touched up the exterior of the house.

On Sunday morning, a group went out to one of the local elementary schools to paint the picnic tables and benches. Groups at the school and back at the church were gathering, preparing, and organizing school supplies for teachers and students. Gift sets of school supplies were prepared to give to children. Another group of volunteers, working with the local MOMS of the Military group, prepared "cool ties" for the soldiers and wrote letters of encouragement. A number of people also passed out fliers for a Del Taco fundraiser, the proceeds of which went to support Riverside Life Services, an organization that supports and resources women in crisis pregnancy.

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At the end of the day, about fifty of the volunteers got together for a short service--a time of sharing, singing, prayer, and communion. It was during that time that a few thoughts about service crystalized for me and I'd like to share those now.

I raise the question, "How does service fit into the Christian life?" just because I'm concerned that a lot of people don't know the answer. Or if they do know the answer, they have a hard time applying that beneficially to their lives.

Whether or not they have ever been taught this explicitly, a lot of people have absorbed the idea that the Christian life involves something like working for God. People might not be able to articulate this thought, but the grip that it has on people's minds and imaginations is made clear by their behavior and attitude. Service, for many people, is frustrating--in much the same way that work is frustrating. We would rather not do it if we didn't have to. We are happy to get out of it if we can. Service is a burden and inconvenience. It always manages to crop up on my days off when I'm supposed to be relaxing from my job. Instead of doing that, I'm volunteering time, manual labor, effort and energy.

Notice the picture of the Christian life that emerges from considering these reactions of people. In our ordinary lives we have all sorts of responsibilities and concerns--job, family, bills, cleaning house, cooking meals, driving the carpool, maintaining the lawn, participating in community events, club or sports activities. And the Christian life is then conceived of as adding on a whole bunch of other things: Sunday morning church services, midweek Bible studies, prayer meetings, committee meetings, quiet times, weekend retreats, and also service and ministry projects. As if life weren't already busy enough, becoming a Christian seems to involve adding even more to the pile. Can that be right.

One of the ideas that I keep on trying to emphasize in my writing and teaching on Christian living is that service is not just something that we do. It's not just one more item on the list that God hands down to us from heaven. And it is not an end in itself. Obviously service does take time and effort and energy, but that's not the whole story. Hobbies all require time, effort, and energy. But the result of a few hours spent making crafts or playing games or hiking or whatever often is that the person is more energized and refreshed. Now are service projects the sort of thing that are more likely to energize people or more likely to drain people of energy? That depends on how you approach it. If you approach it like so many people approach their work, you probably will come out of it drained and empty. But (especially) if you're open to God's working through you, you can expect that energy and refreshment will follow. What was neat about this weekend is that that's what we saw.

As different people shared, during our celebration service, about their experiences of the weekend, we heard over and over about how people took away a great deal from the activities. A few people commented on the strong sense of unity that they felt watching and interacting with the various people who were working. Through working alongside people that, previously, some had only ever seen in church and never talked to, new relationships were formed. Both of the couples who were helped on Saturday expressed their deep gratitude and talked about the love that they felt and had received. One woman shared about how, in the course of the day's activities, she managed to break two sewing machines. The whole group of volunteers laughed together about what had happened, and despite the setbacks, a lot of good work was accomplished and people were uplifted. A few people drew our attention to the many different ways in which members of our church have served the community--encouraging us to celebrate and look beyond just the work of this one weekend.

My favorite comment came from one man who helped paint on Sunday. In the heat of the morning and amidst the hard work, he began to reflect, with gratitude, on the fact that Christ has delivered us from the necessity of earning our salvation. The biblical authors make clear that we cannot stand before God or in relationship with Him on the basis of merit. Our disobedience and rebellion against God have placed us under His righteous judgment and condemnation. From our estranged position, it is impossible for us to heal or repair that relationship. But God, through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, has opened the way for our reconciliation.

And that thought is exactly right: aren't you glad that Christ has delivered us from the necessity of earning our salvation. Sure we undertook some hard tasks and work over that weekend, but none of it was with the aim of meriting God's favor. What would it be like if that was what we were trying to do? Can you imagine? --that we had to do all that manual labor and time in the hot sun in order to get on God's good side. --that the only thing about that counted about that weekend was the fact that we accomplished things that counted on God's good list. --that when all was said and done, the real take-away value consisted just in our being one step closer to getting on God's good list. (Only 5,798 more good things to do.) Can you imagine? --what that would mean for the woman who broke those sewing machines. (Her chances of getting one more good deed to her name would have been shot.) A theology that insists that we must earn God's favor, merit his regard, work for His love, etc., etc. ends up draining so much of the richness and joy from these activities.

On the other hand, consider how much good we were able to draw from this weekend of service, in part because it wasn't just about earning God's favor. We were able to celebrate all the relationships that were built, the love that was communicated, the fun that was had, the experiences that were shared--all of this above and beyond the work that was accomplished. Even when the sewing machines malfunctioned, that didn't destroy the possibility for good being accomplished that day--because the sewing that needed to be done was not the only (or even the main) goal of the day.

What reflection on all these good things does is help us to see that service projects (within the Christian life) really are intended to be points of access through which God can pour His blessings into our lives. Service and service projects are so much more than just items on God's list of things that we have to do. They are opportunities for grace to move into our lives. When we're open to that possibility, especially when we are serving with eyes wide open--looking for what God can and will do in the midst of our work--sometimes even in spite of the hiccups and problems that crop up--, then we are in the best position to receive. If we are narrowly focused (as with tunnel-vision or blinders) on just the task, then unexpected problems will tend to frustrate us and we'll miss out on all the other stuff (above and beyond the mere "work") that God wants to give to us.

This is why those who have really cultivated a life of service will so often affirm that, when serving, the recipient of real blessing is the one who serves. So many of us go into service with the mentality: I'm going to help this person. I'm going to help this group. I'm going to bless this person. But if we approach service in the right way, we'll usually find that the person who serves is as blessed as the person who is served. "It is more blessed to give than to receive." That's really true. But it only works for those who recognize that giving is not just something that I do. Rather, it is a point of access through which God can pour His blessings into my life. Why should this be so? Because when we give and do so in the right attitude, we are coming alongside the work that God is doing. (This is at His invitation, of course.) To work alongside God is for Him to become involved in our lives. And God's presence in our lives is the greatest blessing of all. And as the blessed presence of God enters our lives, it manifests itself in all sorts of ways--in feelings of affirmation, in relationships built, in love communicated, and, yes, in work accomplished.

[I didn't think about this at the time, but as I continue to reflect. When we teach in the church about giving, we often go to Malachi 3:10. '"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this," says the LORD of hosts, "if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows."' The problem with our common ways of thinking about this verse is that we do so in transactional terms. We imagine God to be speaking here of a transaction. You do this for me and I will do this for you. Bring the tithe into the storehouse and I will bless you. But that misunderstands how God works. You can even see the shadow of "earning" and "meriting" images infiltrating our thinking here. God does not work in this transactional way, fundamentally. When we bring our tithe into the storehouse, we come alongside the work that God is doing, we open up a point of access through which he can move into our lives; and as He moves into our lives, His presence, which is the greatest blessing of all, manifests itself in all sorts of ways. Psalm 37 and Proverbs 11, 19, and 22, speak of the good condition of the generous person. Is this so because God gives special rewards to the generous because of their deeds? Or is it just because generosity draws God into the life of that person?]

With this all in mind, consider this thought: if we do, indeed, believe that salvation is not earned, that our work does not merit God's favor, that service is just one more way in which our generous God can move into and through our lives--then why do we get so stressed out about service? This is especially relevant for those on the administrative/logistical end of things. When planning something like a weekend of service, administrators are likely to get all bent out of shape. They worry about whether they've accounted for all the details, whether there will be enough volunteers, whether the work will get done, and whether people will get along. They can become very impatient with volunteers who make mistakes, forget things, don't get the job done correctly, or otherwise fall short of expectations. Of course there's something to this. When engaging in service, we should try to do good work, be conscientious, attentive to and concerned for people--all these things are good. But the kind of stress and anxiety that so many go through seems to go above and beyond just caring for people. What's going on there?

Are we worried that failure will result in God's disfavor? Are we worried that people will be disappointed in us or angry with us? Are we worried that we will fail to measure up to our personal high standard of quality and accomplishment? The last point probably strikes closest to home. Can you imagine what it's like to finish up a monthly service activity and the most you can say is, "Well we were able to pull this month off. Now we've got to get ready for next month." Some of you can imagine that all too well because that's how you think. You slave away under the anxiety and fear of failure. When a project is finished well, the most you can say is, "Thank goodness this didn't blow up in my face." But of course, the next project might, and so there's never a let-up in the pressure and anxiety.

So many well-meaning Christians end up approaching service as if a job well-done lifted them just over the threshold of minimal acceptability. Anything less and they wouldn't have made it. The truth is that Jesus Christ has already carried us over that minimum threshold. Service, then, and all of our life with God is then just an opportunity for God to pour even more abundance and blessing and grace into our lives. The most colossal failure won't dropus below the line and, even when we do fail, those with eyes wide open will always find some good in what happened--because God was there all along and His presence is the greatest blessing.

Are you starting to get the picture?

What was so exciting about this weekend of service, for me, was that I actually got to see how God works in this way. In my teaching, I try to emphasize to people that service is more than just accomplishing the work. Service is more than just doing stuff for God. And through this weekend of service I saw that happen. It happened in the life of the church members and they were the one's talking about it. Whether they fully understood what they were saying and what was happening is a further question. That's part of the reason I blog about these sorts of things, to help draw people's attention to what is going on in their lives and to help them see that their experiences are not just random. Rather, they fall into an intelligible pattern.

One of the reasons that it's important to draw our attention to this pattern is that it allows us to make informed and intelligent decisions about our behavior. You see, Satan has a way of working on our minds. We hear about service opportunities or are asked to donate money or volunteer time and our first thoughts may be: "How inconvenient," "This is going to ruin my weekend," "But I wanted to do something else with that money," "But I volunteered last month," "I don't even know these people," "Why do they keep asking?" etc., etc., etc. These are the thoughts that come to us first, so often, and we forget all of the good that comes from service.

I've had this experience so many times. For two summers in high school I helped to lead neighborhood Vacation Bible School programs. Every morning I struggled to motivate myself for work. Every morning I questioned whether or not it was worth it to do this. I complained to myself about the inconvenience and worried about how the day would go. And at the end of every day I marveled at my recalcitrance just because the days went so well and were so full and good. For two summers, in Riverside, I helped with a two-week camp for kids with autism, hosted by one of the churches in our community. And on so many mornings I would ruminate on the inconvenience of the whole thing and consider skipping out. Yet every day was good. So many good things happened through that camp.

Yet it is so easy for us to lose focus, to see service as drudgery, to forget about and not even look for (and so miss out on) all the good that comes through faithful obedience, submission, and sacrifice. Have you experienced that? If we're to make progress in this area, we have to be able to make decisions based on more than just our immediate feelings--because our feelings will often betray us. We need to be able to recognize the truth and to act in light of that. And one of the most important truths that we need to internalize is that service really is a good thing.

Unfortunately we're so used to people telling us that things are "good for us" that really aren't. We're used to well-meaning but misguided people putting us through the dull, tiresome, inconvenient, tedious, banal, all the while telling us "it's good for you." When Jesus pushes us in that direction, His call is different. He's not just feeding us a line. He wants to give us life abundant.

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What a long post. And I could still go on. During that celebration service, I made brief reference to Paul's exhortation in Ephesians: "Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you, and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma." (5:1-2) If I had had much more time, I would also have talked about Jesus' mission statement in John 5: "My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working." (v. 17) The last thing I would have done, and I'll wrap up here with that, is cite a letter from the second century in which one of the Apostolic Fathers shares with a non-Christian about what it means to be a follower of Christ.

This letter is written by an anonymous Christian whom historians have referred to as Mathetes, a word that just means "disciple". He was writing to Diognetus, defending the movement of Christianity. After explaining what Christianity is all about and how it is superior to the various pagan religions, he says this:

"If you also desire to possess this faith, you likewise shall receive first of all the knowledge of the Father. ... And when you have attained this knowledge, with what joy do you think you will be filled? Or, how will you love Him who has first so loved you? And if you love Him, you will be an imitator of His kindness. And do not wonder that a man may become an imitator of God. He can, if he is willing. For it is not by ruling over his neighbours, or by seeking to hold the supremacy over those that are weaker, or by being rich, or showing violence towards those that are inferior, that happiness is found; nor can any one by these things become an imitator of God. But these things do not at all constitute His majesty. On the contrary he who takes upon himself the burden of his neighbour; he who, in whatsoever respect he may be superior, is ready to benefit another who is deficient; he who, whatsoever things he has received from God, by distributing these to the needy, becomes a god to those who receive his benefits: he is an imitator of God.

[When you do these things, t]hen you shall see, while still on earth, that God in the heavens rules over the universe; then you shall begin to speak the mysteries of God; then shall you both love and admire those that suffer punishment because they will not deny God; then shall you condemn the deceit and error of the world when you shall know what it is to live truly in heaven, when you shall despise that which is here esteemed to be death, when you shall fear what is truly death, which is reserved for those who shall be condemned to the eternal fire, which shall afflict those even to the end that are committed to it. Then shall you admire those who for righteousness' sake endure the fire that is but for a moment, and shall count them happy when you shall know the nature of that fire."

Mathetes ("disciple"), Epistle to Diognetus (c. 130 A.D.)

Did you catch it? What does Mathetes tell Diognetus will be the result of his imitating God? He says, "Then you shall see, while still on earth, that God in the heavens rules over the universe." Notice, he doesn't say, "Then all the people you help shall see that God rules over the universe." Of course that is also true. But the thing he focuses on is that you (the one serving) shall see that God rules over the universe.

Again, this is why I so love hearing about what God is doing in other people's lives--because it reminds me and affirms that what God has revealed in His Word is true--that God really is present and active in this world. It's so easy, in the hurried frenzy of our every day lives, for the presence and promises of God to seem very distant and remote. But people's experiences of God working remind me that God really is present and active. They challenge me to step out and do more in faith. And service, again, is one of those points of access, through which God can enter into our lives, work, and in doing so remind us that He really is present and active. This has the effect of calling us out to do more, to step our in faith more, to submit more, and in doing so to enter more fully into what God desires for us and into fuller experience of His life in us.

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God is in this place,
And that reality, seen and understood by the grace of God in Christ Jesus through the work of the Holy Spirit, makes all the difference in the world.