Creating the Canon: Composition, Controversy, and the Authority of the New Testament
Digital Logos Edition
Overview
Some questions about the New Testament canon are far from settled, either in the academy or the church—to say nothing of misconceptions and confusion. This is a crucial topic, given the importance of the canon's formation for our understanding of early Christianity and the nature of the Christian faith itself.
In Creating the Canon, Benjamin P. Laird explores misunderstood, disputed, and overlooked matters tied to the composition, collection, and authority of the New Testament canon. His engaging study takes on questions such as:
- Was there a single “original autograph” of each New Testament book?
- Who exactly were the “original readers” or the “original audience” of the New Testament writings?
- Did theological controversies play a decisive role in prompting the canon’s formation?
- How did such a diverse body of writings come together as a single canonical collection?
- Is there a basis for the canon’s ongoing authority?
Wide-ranging yet accessible, Creating the Canon offers constructive insight on the composition, formation, and authority of the New Testament, while also serving as a helpful guide for those new to the study of canon.
This is a Logos Reader Edition. Learn more.
- Explores misunderstood, disputed, and overlooked matters tied to the composition, collection, and authority of the New Testament canon
- Offers constructive insight on the composition, formation, and authority of the New Testament
- Serves as a helpful guide for those new to the study of canon
- Introduction
- The Composition of the New Testament Writings
- The Original Autographs of the New Testament Writings
- The Original Readers of the New Testament Writings
- Theological Controversies and the Formation of the New Testament Canon
- The Primary Witnesses to the Early State of the New Testament Canon
- The Canonical Sub-Collections and the Formation of the New Testament Canon
- Apostolicity and the Formation of the New Testament Canon
- Apostolic Authorship and the Authority of the New Testament Canon
Part One: Questions Relating to the Composition of the New Testament Writings
Part Two: Questions Relating to the Formation of the New Testament Canon
Part Three: Questions Relating to the Authority of the New Testament Canon
Benjamin Laird has written an insightful and helpful introduction to how we got the New Testament. Laird explains everything from ancient writing practices to book production and publication to letter writing in antiquity, as well as the origins and reception of Christian texts, and the importance of apostolic authority. A helpful read for anyone interested in the what and the how of the Bible.
—Michael F. Bird is academic dean and lecturer in New Testament at Ridley College in Melbourne, Australia
Creating the Canon is a dependable guide for the early formation of the New Testament. It not only introduces the major scholarly voices in the debate, it also is structured to answer several common questions regarding the composition, formation, and the authority of the New Testament. Though the questions are common, Laird does not merely offer simple answers; rather, his work engages insights from textual criticism and canon research to address the origin, extent, and authority of the canon. Accessible to the student, yet filled with insights for teachers and scholars, Laird’s volume will be a helpful reference tool for many and provide a gateway into deeper canon studies for others—highly recommended!
—Darian R. Lockett, professor of New Testament at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University
For those who wrestle with the nature and significance of the scriptural canon in modern Christianity and wonder about its ancient origins, Benjamin Laird’s book cuts a lucid and engaging path through many aspects of the canon’s composition, formation, and authority. Laird writes both as a historian and as a Christian, combining critical attention to sources and hermeneutics with a personal sense of the importance of these questions today.
—Jane Heath, Durham University
- Title: Creating the Canon: Composition, Controversy, and the Authority of the New Testament
- Author: Benjamin Paul Laird
- Publisher: IVP Academic
- Print Publication Date: 2023
- Logos Release Date: 2023
- Pages: 258
- Era: era:contemporary
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
- Subject: Bible. N.T. › Canon
- ISBNs: 9781514001110, 9781514001103, 151400111X, 1514001101
- Resource ID: LLS:CRTNGCNNNTSTMNT
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2023-07-14T14:41:57Z
Benjamin P. Laird (PhD, University of Aberdeen) is associate professor of biblical studies at the John W. Rawlings School of Divinity at Liberty University. His recent publications include The Pauline Corpus in Early Christianity, 40 Questions about the Apostle Paul, Five Views on the New Testament Canon, and the forthcoming The New Testament Canon in Contemporary Research. He lives in Lynchburg, Virginia, with his wife and five children.