Scholarship

I'm reminded of an exchange we had not too long ago where we discussed how we rely on the testimony of others for a good deal of what we think we "know" in this world. In this discussion on the Bible, you refer to one set of scholars, and I would refer to another.

You wrote:

Scholars say that in the first three centuries that Christianity existed, there were many competing and conflicting forms of that faith, and disagreements regarding the canon. In short, there was little unity of faith then.

I've heard and read the same thing ... there was indeed some intense conflict over various critical doctrine. I think way early on there was disagreement among others outside the original apostolic group, but little disagreement inside that group. (Paul mentions some conflict, related to the question of how much Jewish custom is necessary to be a disciple of Christ. Paul's conviction -- not much.) Later, after the original apostles had died off, others took up the good fight. Much of the conflict surrounded the nature of Jesus, not the basic facts of his life and death. There's a laundry list of heresies that existed during this time ... I can never remember them all. I'm sure Wikipedia has a list. :-)

Note: Wikipedia is a nice source of sensible information on SOA, by the way.

As for the canon, I've heard that by the fourth century the canon had pretty well settled down. The formalization of the canon into what we see now was just that -- a formalization of what was generally accepted. I can't personally cite references on this ... I am, good sir, relying on the testimony of others. :-)

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Last night I was in a bookstore here in Chicago, and I went to the Bible section. I was looking for a more compact Bible I could carry with me on my travels. There was one that was a nice compact size, but good golly the type face was about 3 point. There was no chance I was going to be able to read that.

The other thing that amazed me was that a good many of the Bibles were sealed in plastic so I couldn't inspect the typeface and readability of it. I wonder why ... few other books in the store were, except perhaps the big books with photography. Is there a particular problem with people mauling Bibles? Or is it the case where Bible buyers want their Bible pristine when they purchase it?

I left the bookstore and had some chinese food ... beef with brocolli and Kung Pao chicken combination with some lo mein on the side. :-)