Formation of the Bible: The Story of the Church’s Canon

by Lee Martin McDonald

Publisher:

Hendrickson

, 2012

Overview

Well-known for his scholarly works on the formation of the biblical canon, Lee McDonald has written a carefully researched and reasoned explanation on the history of the formation of the Bible expressly for the interested pastor and curious layman.

Combining a lifelong commitment to the Scriptures, both as a pastor and as a scholar, McDonald approaches his task with sensitivity to the importance of these sacred texts as well as with the thoughtful practice of a person steeped in the process by which these texts were brought together to form the Bible as the church knows it now. From the collection (and translations) of the Hebrew Scriptures through the collection of the New Testament Scriptures, and finally the process of settling on the final forms for these collections, McDonald leads his reader right up to the present moment.

Key Features

• Helps readers fill in some of the important background information on the formation of the Bible
• Answers common questions
• Enables the whole church to understand the origin and development of its Bible

Contents

• Introduction
• What is the Bible? An Overview
• The Origin of the Old Testament Scriptures
• The Closing of the Old Testament Scriptures
• The First Scriptures of the Earliest Christians
• How the New Testament Came to Be
• What the Ancient Manuscripts Tell Us
• Canons, Councils, and Catalogues
• Epilogue

Product Details

• Title: Formation of the Bible: The Story of the Church’s Canon
• Author: Lee Martin McDonald
• Publisher: Hendrickson
• Print Publication Date: 2012
• Pages: 192
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Resource ID: LLS:FRMTNBBLCHRCCNN
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2020-09-03T19:20:51Z

About Lee Martin McDonald

Lee Martin McDonald is President Emeritus and Professor of New Testament Studies at Acadia Divinity College and past President of the Institute for Biblical Research. He is the author or editor of over thirty books and more than 160 articles and essays and writes extensively on canon formation, including The Canon Debate; The Biblical Canon: Its Origin, Transmission, and Authority; Formation of the Bible: The Story of the Church’s Canon; The Origin of the Bible: A Guide for the Perplexed; and The Story of Jesus in History and Faith: A Introduction. He also coedited with James Charlesworth Jewish and Christian Scriptures: The Function of “Canonical” and “Non-Canonical” Religious Texts and coedited with Joel B. Green The World of the New Testament: Cultural, Social, and Historical Contexts. He has lectured widely in the United States, Canada, Europe, and the Middle East.

Sample Pages from Formation of the Bible: The Story of the Church’s Canon