The Question of Canon: Challenging the Status Quo in the New Testament Debate
Digital Logos Edition
Overview
Did the New Testament canon arise naturally from within the early Christian faith? Were the books written as Scripture, or did they become Scripture by a decision of the second-century church? Why did early Christians have a canon at all? These are the types of questions that led Michael J. Kruger to pick apart modern scholarship?s dominant view that the New Testament is a late creation of the church imposed on books originally written for another purpose. Calling into question this commonly held "extrinsic" view, Kruger here tackles the five most prevalent objections to the classic understanding of a quickly emerging, self-authenticating collection of authoritative scriptures. Already a noted author on the subject of the New Testament canon, Kruger addresses foundational and paradigmatic assumptions of the extrinsic model as he provides powerful rebuttals and further support for the classic, "intrinsic" view. This framework recognizes the canon as the product of internal forces evolving out of the historical essence of Christianity, not a development retroactively imposed by the church upon books written hundreds of years before. Unlike many books written on the emergence of the New Testament canon that ask "when?" or "how?" Kruger focuses this work on the "why?"—exposing weaknesses in the five major tenets of the extrinsic model as he goes. While The Question of Canon scrutinizes today?s popular scholastic view, it also offers an alternative concept to lay a better empirical foundation for biblical canon studies.
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Top Highlights
“When these three definitions are viewed together they nicely capture the entire flow of canonical history: (1) the canonical books are written with divine authority; →(2) the books are recognized and used as Scripture by early Christians; →(3) the church reaches a consensus around these books. The fact that these three definitions are linked together in such a natural chronological order reminds us that the story of the canon is indeed a process; and therefore it should not be artificially restricted to one moment in time.” (Page 43)
“The definition of canon as a fixed, final and closed list of books—what might be called the exclusive definition[5]—was put forth originally by A. C. Sundberg in 1968.” (Page 29)
“We shall now argue that the lack of literacy does not necessarily mean the lack of textuality. Keith defines textuality as ‘the knowledge, usage, and appreciation of texts regardless of individual or majority ability to create or access them via literate skills.’” (Page 86)
“Rather than being yet another introduction to canon, it will focus narrowly upon five tenets of the extrinsic model. Each chapter will focus on one of these tenets, offering an assessment and response.” (Page 20)
“First, as noted above, it is important to remember that the intrinsic model does not reject all the claims of the extrinsic model.” (Page 21)
- Title: The Question of Canon: Challenging the Status Quo in the New Testament Debate
- Author: Michael J. Kruger
- Publisher: IVP Academic
- Print Publication Date: 2013
- Logos Release Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
- Subject: Textbooks
- ISBNs: 9780830864973, 9780830840311, 0830864970, 0830840311
- Resource ID: LLS:WS_993DC438006C48328B9B4870235EB18A
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T04:18:06Z
Dr. Michael Kruger serves as the President and Samuel C. Patterson Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the Charlotte campus of Reformed Theological Seminary. He earned his Ph.D. under one of the world’s leading text-critical scholars, Larry W. Hurtado, at the University of Edinburgh, where he researched a parchment fragment of an apocryphal gospel, P.Oxy. 840. He graduated summa cum laude with a M.Div. from Westminster Seminary California, and received his B.S. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research interests center upon Christian Origins, particularly the development of the New Testament canon within the context of the early church.
Prior to joining the RTS faculty, Dr. Kruger served in the pastorate for several years at Church of the Redeemer in Phoenix, AZ. There he developed a passion for preaching and ministry which he passes on to his students in the classroom. Dr. Kruger has been a member of ETS for 18 years serving on the editorial board of the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, as well as vice-president in 2017 and president in 2019. He is the co-founder and co-chair of the ETS study group, “NT Canon, Textual Criticism and Apocryphal Literature.” In addition to his faculty duties, he currently serves part-time as the Pastor of Discipleship Training at Uptown Christ Covenant Church in downtown Charlotte.
He is the author of thirteen books, including Bully Pulpit: Confronting the Problem of Spiritual Abuse in the Church (Zondervan, 2022, Book of the Year” award from The Gospel Coalition, ministry category). His book Surviving Religion 101: Letters to a Christian Student on Keeping the Faith in College (Crossway, 2021, “Book of the Year”, Southwestern Baptist Journal of Theology, Worldview/Apologetics category), and Christianity at the Crossroads: How the Second Century Shaped the Future of the Church (SPCK, 2017; IVP Academic, 2018, “Book of the Year”, The Gospel Coalition, history and biography category).
Dr. Kruger regularly speaks, lectures, and teaches throughout the United States and the world—including conferences such as The Gospel Coalition and the Ligonier Conference. In addition to his academic publications, his popular-level articles have appeared in places like Modern Reformation, Tabletalk Magazine, The Gospel Coalition, and the Wall Street Journal. He also blogs regularly on his own website, Canon Fodder.
Dr. Kruger and his wife Melissa B. Kruger have been married for almost 25 years and have three children.
Reviews
1 rating
Patrick
1/19/2022
I've always enjoyed reading anything by Kruger. This is my first book I've read of his but his articles on his blog and elsewhere have been fantastic. In this book, he carries on his style and subject even more so. It should be noted that his other book "Canon Revisted" deals with the questions of what is the canon and why the books of the Bible are the ones. In this book, the question he focuses on is the canon authoritative? The focus even more is really "Did the early church have a canon of Scripture? Did the writes think they were writing with authority? Did the early church even recognize written Scripture?" and other such questions in this vein. The amazing thing in Kruger's writing is how often and fairly he gives time to the other side of the issue. He always presents the other side first and looks at both strengths and weaknesses of the claims. He then deals with the claims and when confronted with difficult points on his side he will always point them out. I would think some might even claim he wasn't being forceful enough. However, he recognizes the flaws in his own field of history and it's pretty refreshing to have a historian give probability for difficult or "fuzzy" information rather than just present it, unethically, as fact to promote an agenda. This book was such a great read and I learned a lot from it. I can't wait to read the other side of the coin in "Canon Revisted". Although Kruger is a highly recognized academic in the field, he writes with clarity and presents the information so that anyone could understand what is being said. He builds his argumentation really well and doesn't make leaps to draw his conclusions. If I had to pick the one part I learned the most, almost unfairly, I would say the presentation on why the early church who were a majority illiterate would accept and trust written Scripture. But like I said, there's a ton that I did learn and I would highly recommend this book for those that struggle with the question of the formation of the canon of The Bible and/or those dealing with challenges from badly informed critics. Final Grade - A+