Here’s My Answer to One of the Most Common Questions I Get about My Books
“What’s the difference between Canon Revisited and The Question of Canon?”
When it comes to my books, this is one of the most common questions I get. I have answered it so many times over the last few years, that I thought it might make a useful blog post.
While both these volumes are about the origins of the NT Canon, they are primarily distinguished by the fact that they are answering different questions. Canon Revisited is answering questions like, “How do we know if we have the right 27 books?” or “Why these books and no others?”… Continue reading...
Codex and Canon: A Response to John Meade (Part 2)
The conversation between myself and John Meade continues. He offered an initial critique of chapter 7 of Canon Revisited, to which I responded. And now he has responded to my response. (I know, the back-and-forth is hard to keep up with!).
I appreciate Meade’s interaction with my material. In some ways, our conversation is making progress. But in other ways, unfortunately, it is not. Let me offer some reflections on his latest post.
Understanding the Argument from the Codex
In my initial response to Meade, I argued that he has misunderstood the argument I (and others) are making about the codex. The argument is not that the codex … Continue reading...
What Do Manuscripts Tell Us About the Origins of the NT Canon? A Response to John Meade
Over at Evangelical Textual Criticism, John Meade has posted an article reviewing chapter seven of my book, Canon Revisited. In particular, he challenges a number of the arguments I use to show how NT manuscripts may illumine our understanding of the development of the NT canon.
Meade focuses his comments on two issues, namely the number of manuscripts and the use of the codex. Before offering a response to those issues below, let me begin by making a simple observation about the purpose of this chapter. If one understands the flow of the argument in the book, and sets chapter seven in the larger context of the prior … Continue reading...
What Do Manuscripts Tell Us about the Origins of the New Testament? A Preview of the Tarwater Lectures
One of my favorite things about books is not just reading them but holding them. Especially old books. I love the feel of a book in my hand that many people have read before me. There’s that musty bookish smell when you flip through the pages. There’s the worn out covers and notes in the margins.
When you read a book like this you feel like you are walking a well-worn path that many others have trod before.
And it is precisely this sort of experience that is absent with the arrival of modern e-book technology. Whether we are reading on a Kindle reader or off our tablets (or smartphones), … Continue reading...
Looking for More Than Blog Posts? Here are Some Recent Academic Articles on the Origins of the NT Canon
For those reading this blog, I trust you’ve benefited from the variety of posts that deal with issues related to the origins of the NT canon. I have written those posts with a wide audience in mind, hoping they are helpful for just about anybody who wants to learn more.
At the same time, I know some of you may be interested to know of some more academic articles I have written over the last few years that deal with the NT canon, or NT manuscripts, on a more technical level. Those kinds of articles, because they are not “blog” articles, tend to get lost in the shuffle. And even … Continue reading...