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The
History of the New Testament
The
history of Christianity is a subject seldom explored, even by Christians.
The standard history given out by the church is that orthodox Christianity
was spread by the apostles of Christ, under the leadership of the
apostle Simon Peter as the first Pope. Four of these apostles, Mathew,
Mark, Luke and John, eyewitnesses to the events of Christ's life,
preserved them in the four gospels, and the early Church was of one
accord until beset by heretics in the second century. Of course,
there is very little truth in this version of events.
In
reality, not a lot is known about the earliest days of Christianity,
which is not even briefly mentioned by historians until twenty
years after the assumed date of Christ's death. (I say assumed because
there is no historical record of the crucifixion) In the First century
of Christianity, there was no canonical bible, nor even the beginnings
of one, and the only scriptures used by Christians were Jewish.
In
the beginning, there were numerous small sects operating, all considering
themselves Christian (or Jewish, as many early believers were simply
Jews who followed Jesus as a messianic figure). As Christianity
came to be considered by the Pagan majority to be a dangerous
cult*, it was outlawed, and its practitioners met in secret. This
led to the development of numerous varieties of Christian belief,
from the beginnings of what we would later view as orthodoxy, gnostic
Christianity, etc. The persecution was to continue for three hundred
years, and many believers were put to death.
Early
Christians subscribed to a variety of beliefs. Some believed Jesus
divine and some did not. Some kept kosher and refused entry to non-Jews,
while others entirely rejected the Old Testmant and its God. Some
believed Christ never died, others, that he died for the salvation
of the entire world. In any case, what the ealiest Christian authors
considered scripture consisted of Old Testament writings and sayings
of Jesus they referred to often but never bothered to preserve.
The
biblical canon
Most
people would be surprised to learn that there is no universal canon
of scripture that is accepted by all Christians. The best known are
the Catholic and Protestant bibles, which contain eighty-one and
sixty-six texts, respectively; the
Ethiopian Orthodox Church accepts eight books not recognized by other Churches,
and the Syrian Church, one of the oldest Christian Churches, rejects
five books commonly included in other canons. The
Church "fathers" similarly disagreed with one another; many
offered their own lists of canonical texts. While there was much overlap,
there were no identical lists.
Along comes Paul
The figure who was responsible for the explosive rise
of Christianity was also one who, according to his own admission, had
been one of its most ardent enemies- the 'apostle' Paul, previously
known as Saul of Tarsus.
.
The earliest texts of the canonical bible were letters written by
Paul to various Churches; his letter to the Galatians** is the earliest
book of the New Testament. In the letter, Paul describes the mystical
experience on the road to Damascus that led to his conversion to
Christianity. Paul, a former Rabbi, is ironically responsible for
Christianity's move from heretical Jewish sect to an independent religion
centering around a divine Jesus. It is in all probability that Paul
is the first to propose a divine, rather than human Jesus. The Book
of Acts, written at the end of the First Century,
describes Paul's
disagreements with the Apostles over adherence to jewish religious
laws governing circumcison, purity, and other matters, leading Paul
to prefer non-Jews as targets for conversion. Seven of the letters
commonly attributed to his authorship have been confirmed (Galatians, I
and II Romans, Corinthians,
I Thessalonians, and Philemon, and
Philippians).
The
Four Gospels
The
four 'canonical' gospels were first circulated in the latter half
of the first century, and have been dated as early as 65CE and as
late as 95CE. The four relate similar but not entirely matching stories
of the life, ministry, and death of Jesus. These may have been authored
by witnesses to the events, but were not originally attributed to
the apostles that bear their names today. The earliest of these is
Mark, although there is much evidence in favor of an earlier
gospel (referred to by scholars as "Q," or quelle, source),
now lost, that forms the basis of the gospels of Mathew and Luke.
The gospel of John comes still later, at the end of the first century
or later, and contains traces of gnosticism. All four gospels are
not mentioned together until about 180CE, almost two hundred years
after the death of Jesus.
The
four came to prominence largely through the efforts fifty years later
of the Church-father Irenaeus, who assigned mystical properties to
the number four. Irenaeus believed that these four, and no others,
constituted the Christian canon (which he coined the phrase "New
Testament" to describe). Irenaeus was not the first or the last
to propose such a list, and argument over which of the many gospels
in circulation were acceptable and which were heretical continued for
another hundred and fifty years.
Gnostic texts
Irenaeus not
only made a case for texts he preferred, but argues strenuously against
those he disliked. Those that aroused his ire more than any others
were those of the so-called gnostic sects, which at the time were numerous.
Irenaeus'
influential writings set a tone; the gnostics and their works were
eventually swept away by the rising orthodoxy. Gnostic texts were
routinely destroyed, and until recently, Gnostic theology was
known mostly through the enemies of Gnosticism. This all changed
in the middle of the twentieth century, when a large collection of
gnostic scriptures was discovered hidden in the desert of Nag Hammadi,
Egypt.
Excluded
Texts
A
great many texts vied with one another in the early days of Christianity.
Most were more or less exclusive to one grouip or another, and favored
their author's particular theological views. Many would see revisions
later on that brought them into line with competing gospels. Many
which were very popular were discarded when they contradicted the
doctrines of the emerging church.
Among
the first century gospels that did not make the canon are the Gospel
of Thomas, the Didache,
the Signs
Gospel, the Apocalypse
of Peter, and the wildly popular Shepherd
of Hermas, which formed the basis of Church hierarchy but denied
that Jesus was the son of God.
The
second and third centuries saw several hundred texts, of which very
few made the 'cut.' Additionally, there are several mentions in
(eventually) canonical texts that refer to texts that were not included.
Some of these are irretrievably lost. It was not until near the end
of the second century that ANY New Testament text was regarded as
scripture, and what was regarded depended on who you read. Each had
his own list of preferred scriptures and 'inspired' texts, which
often included apocryphal Jewish & Pagan texts, some of which
were regarded as more 'inspired' than texts now regarded as part
of the NT.
The
first Christian writer to do so was Theophilus of Antioch, who lived
at about the same time as Irenaeus,
and
was also the first to introduce the concept of the trinity in his
writings. Theophilus also counted as inspired several discarded works,
including the Pagan Sybils, who were very popular with early Christians
(Who believed they prophesized the coming of Christ)
The "Bible"
The
first attempt at compiling a canon was undertaken in the middle of
the second century by the Christian teacher Marcion, who rejected
the Jewish scriptures entirely- and any new ones he felt were too
similar. In answer, other groups began frantically compiling their
own lists. It now became common to compile lists and to debate the
authenticity of various texts. Most contentious texts were most often
disputed because they were at odds with the disputee's view of Christian
doctrine.
Even
by the fourth century, the matter was not settled. There was more
consensus than before, but again, no two authorities agreed on the
same two lists. The Christian writer Eusebius made an attempt to
compile a list of what he considered authoritative; it included many
New Testament works known today as canonical, but rejected many others,
including the book of Revelation** so important to modern evangelicals. The
first reference to the list we now call the bible was in the late
fourth century, in a letter by Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria.***
After continuing argument, the list gained acceptance with many influential
Christians. In a meeting in
692CE, a council of Eastern bishops at Constantinople
adopted this list an issued decrees to that effect, even this did not entirely
put an end to the squabbling in every church. The book of Revelation
continued to be controversial well into the sixteenth century. The
role of Constantine
The
fourth century Constantine is often credited with the formation of
the canon through the Council of Nicaea, but this is more or less
completely false. The council was convened in 325CE for the most
part to settle doctrinal differences regarding the divinity of Christ
(and whether or no he had pre-existed before he was 'born') and the
dating of the Passover (Easter) holiday. These disagreements had
led to violent conflict and Constantine, then a Pagan, had recently
legalized the religion and reportedly felt he had a duty to force
a settlement of the issue. What IS notable about the Council, however,
is that it constituted the beginning of Christianity as a powerful
state religion, a powerful position it began to abuse almost immediately.
Once so established, 'alternative' varieties of Christianity would
ever after be treated in the same way the earliest Christians were-
forced conversions, torture, and execution. Where Christians had
once lived simply, they began to acquire wealth and power. Where
they had once pulled down statues, they began to build them.
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Magdalen Resources
*Rumors
of human sacrifice, black magic, and even cannibalism were rampant
**Revelation
was highly controversial, to say the least.
****Athanasius
was dubbed the
"Father of Orthodoxy" in his own lifetime.
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