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Summary: A Brief but Complete Explanation of the Canon
Review: ... Bruce organizes this indispensable volume in simple chronological order using simple language. He explains how every book of the canonized Christian Scriptures achieved its canonical status and why other popular Jewish and Christian works did not. A layperson with no knowledge whatever of how the Bible came to be recognized as authoritative would do well to read this succinct, yet complete, work.
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Summary: Scholarly with plenty of resources
Review: Bruce is a great biblical scholar, and The Canon of Scripture is an excellent book. He deals with the historicity/veracity of both the Old and New Testament documents and why our Bible can be trusted today. Not a book to be skimmed, Bruce concentrates on early church history, showing the background of how our Bible came to be, all the way through the age of printing. His conclusion and 2 appendices are also very valuable. I might suggest "From God to Us" by Geisler/Nix as well as Bruce's "Are the New Testament Documents Reliable?" as additional sources. I am glad to have read this book and have a better understanding of textual criticism.
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Summary: Scholarly monograph
Review: Dr. Bruce's monograph addresses both the Hebrew and Christian canon of Scripture, spanning from Moses through the Late Middle Ages. In the final chapters, he briefly addresses some modern issues, notably those regarding original texts used for translations. Readers without a basic understanding of the History of Christianity might find most of the concepts too difficult to grasp without additional study. While targeted to specialists in the field, I would recommend the work to any serious student of Bible History.
Rating:
Summary: Scholarly monograph
Review: Dr. Bruce's monograph addresses both the Hebrew and Christian canon of Scripture, spanning from Moses through the Late Middle Ages. In the final chapters, he briefly addresses some modern issues, notably those regarding original texts used for translations. Readers without a basic understanding of the History of Christianity might find most of the concepts too difficult to grasp without additional study. While targeted to specialists in the field, I would recommend the work to any serious student of Bible History.
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Summary: Very well written survey of how the Bible came to be.
Review: FF Bruce does a great job of explaining how the books of the Bible were canonized. I was surprised to learn how many people had different opinions on which books should be canonized. Many people had mized feelings about the book of Revelation because of it being a difficult book to understand. Others felt that James should not be included because it only mentions the name of Jesus twice. Similarly, the books of esther and Song of Songs in the Old Testament barely made it in.And right up to the present day, there are those who feel that the Apocrypha should be included in the canon of Scripture, and the Roman Catholic church regards them as such today. Bruce takes the time to discuss individual theologians such as Jerome, Origen, Tertullian, Augustine, Clement of Alexandria, Irenaeus, Athanasius, and many others and whenever possible, he furnishes their choices for books whoch were deemed fit for the canon of Scripture. Apparently, Athansius' trip to Rome in 350 AD was decisive for helping the western church decide on the 27 books of the New Testament that we now have today. Before this, they were hedging on Hebrews, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, Revelation, James and 2 and 3 John. The book concludes with a couple of the author's lectures on the subect of the secret gospel of Mark (which he rejects) and the difference between the plenary meaning of scripture and the meaning in context.
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Summary: Quick Review
Review: Helpful, in-depth discussion of the issues surrounding the collection of the Old and New Testament canon. Technical note: He uses topic sentences (much easier to follow his reasoning with this method). This book uses footnotes instead of endnotes for easier reference. His documentation is amazingly broad (he does not pull from exclusively contemporary opinion, but source documents). He explains not only OT and NT canon, but also the criteria for canon inclusion. He is lucid. This book is clear and the progression is easy to follow.
Rating:
Summary: Quick Review
Review: Helpful, in-depth discussion of the issues surrounding the collection of the Old and New Testament canon. Technical note: He uses topic sentences (much easier to follow his reasoning with this method). This book uses footnotes instead of endnotes for easier reference. His documentation is amazingly broad (he does not pull from exclusively contemporary opinion, but source documents). He explains not only OT and NT canon, but also the criteria for canon inclusion. He is lucid. This book is clear and the progression is easy to follow.
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Summary: "A standard -- to be prized!"
Review: How did the books of the Bible come to be recognized as Holy Scripture? Who decided what the shape of the canon should be? What were the criteria that influenced these decisions? If you don't know the answers to these important questions, you can! And there is no better book to read than this scholarly classic by F.F. Bruce.
Rating:
Summary: "A standard -- to be prized!"
Review: How did the books of the Bible come to be recognized as Holy Scripture? Who decided what the shape of the canon should be? What were the criteria that influenced these decisions? If you don't know the answers to these important questions, you can! And there is no better book to read than this scholarly classic by F.F. Bruce.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Basic History of the Canon of Scripture
Review: In this text, F.F. Bruce takes his reader through a historical summation of the Canon of Scripture. In other words, he looks at the various time frames - from the 2nd century church Fathers to the Reformation and on into the modern period (the age of printing) - and discusses the views of various thinkers, theologians, etc. and how they responded to certain assertions about the Canon of Scripture, etc. For instance, in the Reformation, Bruce examines why Luther thought that the Book of James should be omitted from the Canon. The last few chapters deal with the Criteria of the Canon; what it took to put the Canon together, how it actually occurred, why certain books were chosen and others not, etc. Bruce also examines the differences between the Roman Catholic view and the Protestant view of the Canon, he discusses criticism and interpretation within the Christian Church (as well as from those outside) in reference to the Canon. Finally Bruce examines the "secret" gospel of Mark, what it is, what is the controversy surrounding it, its historical roots, etc. This is an interesting chapter and has a bit of apologetic value to it. Overall, this is a great basic text for anyone interested in the Canon of the Scriptures, how the Bible was put together, how it has been viewed over the centuries and how interpreting the Bible is possible and the need for good interpretation, criticism, Biblical inerrancy, etc.
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