I recently was a guest on Rebecca McLaughlin’s podcast, Confronting Christianity. We had a fun time discussing a wide range of issues related to the historical reliability of the New Testament, even delving a bit into my forthcoming Oxford volume…
The other day I was telling my kids about how, many years ago, I used to sit in a pub named the Jolly Judge on cold winter days in Edinburgh, Scotland, tucked up close to a coal-burning fire and talking with my doctoral advisor Larry Hurtado about anci…
As I have mention in a prior post, I am thrilled about my forthcoming volume with Oxford University Press entitled, Miniature Codices in Early Christianity. It is in the proof stage now, and should be out sometime this Spring/Summer.
I have been workin…
In the study of the New Testament canon, scholars like to highlight the first time we see a complete list of 27 books. Inevitably, the list contained in Athanasius’ famous Festal Letter (c.367) is mentioned as the first time this happened.
As a resu…
This week I’m headed to San Diego for the annual meetings of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS)—the largest gathering of evangelical scholars in the world. In addition to the normal meals, coffees, and meeting with old friends, here’s a litt…
As I indicated in a prior post, I am starting a new 10-part video series on big questions related to the faith, and particularly the origins and reliability of the New Testament.
So, here’s the next installment in the series: “What is the Importance of…
As I indicated in a prior post, I am starting a new 10-part video series on big questions related to the faith, and particularly the origins and reliability of the New Testament.
So, here’s the next installment in the series: “How Did the New Testament…
Now that it’s officially August, the “back to school” conversations have begun. For many parents, however, it is not back to school for their kids, but “away” to school. Some parents are sending kids to college—perhaps for the first time.
My family has…
In the 1979 film Rocky II, the newly famous Rocky Balboa, fresh off his split-decision loss to Apollo Creed, is hired to do a TV commercial. During the filming of the commercial it quickly becomes clear that he can’t read the cue cards. The direc…
When we want to know how the New Testament canon developed, we have a number of sources at our disposal. Most fundamentally, we have patristic sources—the writings of the church fathers—which can show us when books were known, read, and cited.
We also …
Since this blog is primarily designed to put out lay-level content on the origins of the New Testament (among other issues), I don’t normally talk about the more technical scholarly projects I am working on behind the scenes. So, here’s a l…
One of the most notable features of early Christianity is that it was a religion concerned with books. Particularly, scriptural books.
As Margaret Mitchell observed, “Christianity was a religious movement with texts at its very heart and soul, in its b…
There is more to a text than merely the words on the page.
This is a principle that is often missed, even by modern readers. When a person reads a book, of course the intellectual attention is primarily centered upon the words and the meaning of those …
Back in September of 2023, I published an article on the newly discovered “gospel” manuscript from Oxyrhynchus: “New ‘Gospel’ Manuscript Discovered? (What it Is and Why it Matters).”
That manuscript, labelled P.Oxy. 5575, is a small papyrus…
One of my favorite electives I teach here at RTS Charlotte is “The Origin and Authority of the New Testament Canon.” We cover a lot of ground in that course: why we have a NT canon, what is the earliest evidence for a canon consciousness, w…
Next week I’m headed to San Antonio, TX, for the annual meetings of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) and Society of Biblical Literature (SBL)—two of the largest gatherings for biblical scholars in the world. In addition to the normal m…
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The post How Did We Get the Bible We Have Today? appeared first on Canon Fodder.
Students of the Gospels will know that there has been a long-standing discussion among scholars about the relationship between the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke). These three Gospels are so similar at so many points (often word for word), t…
Exactly one month ago, I published a TGC article on the recently discovered ‘gospel’ manuscript from Oxyrhynchus, P.Oxy. 5575. This new manuscript is noteworthy for many reasons (which I cover in the article), but mostly because it includes…
OK, so I really love my wife’s new book. I know that may seem predictable since I am her husband, but this new kids book really captures some wonderful biblical truths in a winsome, fun, and entertaining way.
Melissa just released Lucy and the Sa…
Next week, Sept 25-27 th , I’ll be headed to Indianapolis to participate in The Gospel Coalition NationalConference entitled, “Hope in the Wilderness.”
The conference this year is unique because TGC is partnering with other organizations to offer “micr…
Next week, Sept 25-27 th , I’ll be headed to Indianapolis to participate in The Gospel Coalition National Conference entitled, “Hope in the Wilderness.”
The conference this year is unique because TGC is partnering with other organizations to offer “mi…
“Who chose the books of the New Testament canon?”
Among the countless questions I have heard over the years about the origins of the canon, this may be the most common. And that’s totally understandable. The Bible didn’t drop fr…
As I noted in a previous blog post, it seems that the issue of the origins of the biblical canon continues to garner quite a bit of scholarly attention. And this is good news. There’s always more issues to be explored and debated.
Let me mention …
I recently did a weekend conference for Christ Covenant Church in Atlanta, GA, on the topic of the where the Bible came from, and why we can trust it. Here’s a video of my lecture, followed by a video of an interview I did with Jason Dees, the se…
My interest in the origins of the New Testament canon began probably 30 plus years ago. At the time, there was a general interest in the subject, but it was still pretty niche. One had to dig around to find works on the canon that went beyond the well-…
I am in the middle of a 6-part series helping Christian students think through how to prepare for life at a big university. This topic is particularly relevant, I hope, given the number of high school seniors who are in the middle of deciding where the…
Well, it’s that time of year. By now, many high school seniors have heard where they have been accepted to college. Others are still waiting. But all are beginning to think about the next stage of their life post-high school.
And for Christian st…
Although most discussions about the development of the canon focus on the patristic period (second century and later), there is much canonical gold yet to mine from the pages of the New Testament itself. Unfortunately, this step is often skipped.
Ther…
“There is no second-century manuscript evidence.” —Helmut Koester
When it comes to the transmission of the New Testament text, the second century has been long recognized as a critical time period. And it is not hard to see why. If the New Testament bo…
