Canon Formation: Tracing the Role of Sub-Collections in the Biblical Canon

Description

Contributors to this volume examine the various collections of canonical sub-units in the canon, considering the state of the question regarding each particular collection. The chapters introduce the issues involved in sub-collections being accepted in the canon, summarize the historical evidence of the acceptance of these collections, and discuss the compositional evidence of “canonical consciousness” in the various collections. The contributors consider paratextual evidence, for example, the arrangement of the books in various manuscripts, the titles of the books, and also include evidence such as the presence of catchwords, framing devices, and themes. The book begins with a consideration of the two overarching collections – the Old and New Testaments. Next, several sub-collections within the Hebrew Bible (OT) are considered, including the Torah, Prophets, the Megilloth, the Twelve (both in their Masoretic Text and Septuagint forms), and the Psalter. In addition, sub-collections in the New Testament include the four-fold Gospel, the Pauline Collection (usually with Hebrews in the early manuscripts), the function of Acts within the New Testament, the Praxapostolos (Acts along with the Catholic Epistles), and the function of Revelation as the end of the canon. Cover Halftitle page Title page Copyright page Contents Tables Foreword Acknowledgments Permissions Abbreviations Introduction Section One The Bible as a Whole and the Old and New Testament as Canonical Units 1 The Bible Canon and Its Significance: Textual Comprehensiveness, Function, Design, and Delimitation Apostolic address and authority Comprehensiveness: appeal to the “full” apostolic text Th e NT canon—a collection of prior text collections Function: the Bible canon as intensified scriptural address and criterion Delimitation and design: numerical appeal and the shaping of biblical canonicity Paratextual arithmetical design patterns and the canonical text corpus Canonical shaping and alphabetical all-comprehensiveness Codicological design patterns: alphabetical paragraph division Codicological design patterns: alphabetical and divine-name figures 2 The Canonical Shape of the Hebrew Old Testament The fundamental shape of the Hebrew Bible The Arrangement of the books in the divisions The tripartite structure and theories of canonization 3 The Canonical Shape of the Greek Old Testament Contents of the Greek Old Testament Shape of the Greek Old Testament Conclusions 4 The Canonical Shape of the New Testament “A collection of collections” Which order? What shape? Interpreting the shape of the NT canon Moving forward Conclusion Section Two Old Testament Canonical Sub-Units 5 The Pentateuch as Canon Latitude versus Longitude Undisclosed commitments Canonical context Pentateuchal privilege Canonical format The Law, the Prophets, and the Writings 6 The Canon of Psalms Origins and authorship Critical approaches to the text—Classical period Critical approaches to the text—the Modern period The Shape of the Psalter The “story” of the Psalter The shaping of the Psalters Concluding remarks 7 The Canonical Role of Israel’s Wisdom Collection Canon as list and the OT wisdom books Canon as authority Canon—not as authority—and the OT wisdom books Canon as rule and the OT wisdom books OT wisdom and the OT OT wisdom and the New Testament OT wisdom today 8 The Macro-Structure of the Megilloth 9 The Canonical Function of the Nebi’im The Prophets as a canonical section in the Scriptures of Israel: overview Former and Latter Prophets: Prophets in history The three: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel The Twelve Prophetic inspiration Conclusion 10 Prophetic Intentionality in the Twelve Prophetic intentionality and the canonical location of the Twelve Prophetic intentionality in the Twelve: books or Book? Prophetic intentionality and the unity of the Twelve Prophetic intentionality in the books of Hosea and Malachi Conclusion 11 The Book of the Twelve in the Septuagint LXX Twelve Reading the Twelve as a unit Two different orders The location of the Twelve in Hebrew and Greek Bibles Early textual evidence for the Twelve Literary coherence in LXX Twelve A theological theme in LXX Twelve? LXX Twelve as a tripartite work LXX Twelve and a Christian reading of Scripture Section Three New Testament Canonical Sub-Units 12 The Four-Fold Gospel Collection State of research Development of the Gospel canon Implications of a Four-Fold Gospel 13 Corpus Apostolicum Catholic Epistles as a collection The association between Acts and the Catholic Epistles The function of the Corpus Apostolicum in the New Testament canon 14 The Pauline Corpus Early Lists Early writers Manuscript evidence Conclusions about evidence for the Corpus Paulinum Hebrews and the Corpus Paulinum Collection theories 15 Revelation as the Ending of the Canon Why canon formation was necessary Inclusion of the Book of Revelation into the canon Acceptance, status, and use of Revelation Canonical order: historical issues and theological significance Implications arising from Revelation as the canon ending Section Four Hermeneutical Considerations of Canon 16 Hermeneutical Reflections on Canonical Sub-Collections: Retrospect and Prospect Relating history, theology, and hermeneutics in canon studies The formation and function of canonical sub-collections Sub-collections and canonical contextuality Sub-collections and canonical intentionality Sub-collections and canon-consciousness Sub-collections and biblical theology Closing reflection Contributors Index of Biblical/Extra-Biblical References Index of Ancient Sources Index of Modern Authors