The Formation of the New Testament
Steve Patton
Dan Brown's theory about the formation of the Bible is expressed in The Da Vinci Code by the fictional character Leigh Teabing. an authority on the ancient documents in question. He argues the New Testament record is unreliable saying there was an alternate account of Jesus that was expunged by the church in the 4th century. The remaining documents were doctored by Constantine and powerful bishops in the 4th century to redefine Christ and His teaching and these are the books included in the canon set by the Council of Nicea in 325 AD. How did the New Testament come into being? What evidence do we have that the New Testament books were accepted by early Christians?
The Biblical Canon refers to the recognized list of authentic books that make up the Bible. The Da Vinci Code suggests this list was created in the fourth century at the Council of Nicea. This late date is necessary so that claims there were earlier gospels and teachings can be given plausibility. But there are major problems with saying the New Testament books as we know them were not accepted by the early disciples of Jesus. How can we determine what the early disciples believed and taught?
Listening to the Opposition
In the 2nd century Marcion (AD 96-160) from Pontus (modern Turkey) began to preach another gospel. He holds the distinction of being regarded as the first great heretic of the early church. Expelled by his home church for adultery (where his own father served as a bishop) he began to develop his own form of Christianity. He was later expelled from the church in Rome for doctrinal heresy as he denied the essentials of Christianity and created his own Bible.
Marcion's Bible consisted of the Gospel of Luke and ten of Pauls letters, all cleansed of Old Testament influences. The books Marcion rejected he nonetheless acknowledged as being accepted by the church as a whole and as being written by the original apostles and prophets. He just thought he was right and they were wrong. The response to him was harsh. Polycarp (AD 69-155) who knew the apostle John personally, upon meeting Marcion, called him the first-born of Satan.
Thus the issue of what writings were inspired and authentic was raised 150 years before the Council of Nicea. It indicates clearly there was already a general agreement on what books were accepted by Christians as being from God. Most scholars recognize that the canon of scripture was clearly set by the end of the 2nd century AD. Thus Dan Browns 4th century date for the setting of the canon of scripture is out of the question.
Marcion is not the only one to refer to the books accepted by the early church. Other lists predating the Council of Nicea by over 100 years are known.
How was the canon of the NT decided upon? Actually there was no voting process involved. Nonetheless it is not difficult to understand how the Bible came into being and that we can trust that the 27 books in the New Testament were the books accepted by early Christians as being from God.
The Situation in the Early Years of the Church
The New Testament claims that the Apostles and prophets were speaking the Word of God with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Letters were written by Spirit guided men like Paul, Peter, James, etc. The four gospels were written the same way by men who either accompanied Jesus personally (Matthew and John) or by men who knew the eyewitnesses and recorded their words (Luke and Mark).
The early church knew who was inspired and who wasnt. They accepted the inspired writings from those recognized as apostles and prophets. However, it took time for all documents to circulate to all the world. But in time the acceptance of the 27 books was pretty much universal.
Evidence of the New Testament documents in their present form from the late 1st or 2nd century.
The Apostolic Fathers. Some early Christians writings have survived to the present day. These so called church fathers were men who lived in the late 1st to 3rd century A D. They include Irenaeus, Polycarp (a personal friend of the apostle John), Clement of Alexandria and others. These extensive writings not only refer to all 27 books but quote from them extensively. In fact, it has been said if every copy of the New Testament was destroyed, it could be re-created from the quotations found in the writings of the Apostolic Fathers. The writings of the apostolic fathers refer to most of these books as scripture, i.e., from God. Their writings are almost universally accepted as authentic.
Since we essentially have the New Testament embedded in the writings of the Apostolic Fathers, their testimony leaves no room to suggest the writings were changed at a later date.
All of this evidence points to one clear conclusion - the New Testament books we have today were known in the first century church and regarded as scripture.