The Authority of the New Testament Scriptures
Overview
The Authority of the New Testament Scriptures is Herman Ridderbos’ succinct classic on the canonicity of the New Testament. “The very ground or basis for the recognition of the canon is therefore, in principle, redemptive-historical, i.e. Christological. For Christ himself is not only the canon in which God comes to the world, but Christ establishes the canon and gives it its concrete historical form.”
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- Explores the history of redemption as the foundation for the Canon
- Presents a succinct classic on the canonicity of the New Testament
- Discusses three key categories of theological debate: kerygma, marturia, and didache
- The Canon of the New Testament
- Recent Reflections
- Luther’s Standpoint
- The Reformed View
- The Apostolate
- Tradition
- Tradition as Scripture
- The Redemptive-Historical Concept of Canon
- The A Priori of Faith
- The Formation of the Canon
- The Limitation of the Canon
- The Authority of the New Testament
- The Redemptive-Historical Character of the Authority
- Kerygma (Proclamation)
- Marturia (Witness)
- Didache (Doctrine)
Top Highlights
“But the work of Jesus is also here visible because Jesus himself established the means, the formal authority, by which what was seen and heard in the fulness of time was to be transmitted and communicated. And it was from this very authority that all future preaching of the gospel was to derive the content and be measured.” (Page 14)
“The first category to be noted in ascertain the nature of the New Testament tradition is that of the kerygma, the proclamation and declaration of redemption. This term, kerygma, is the most characteristic designation of the qualitative content of the New Testament, at least with respect to its primary meaning and significance.” (Page 53)
“In the third place, such a canon could only find permanent existence in a written form.” (Page 28)
“What is specific and unique about ‘teaching,’ and ‘doctrine,’ in distinction to kerygma, does not lie so much in the content,49 as in the form. While kerygma is the work of the herald, the didache belongs to another sphere, that of religious instruction.” (Page 74)
“This brings us to the New Testament concept of paradosis or tradition.” (Page 17)
- Title: The Authority of the New Testament Scriptures
- Authors: Herman Ridderbos
- Publisher: P&R
- Publication Date: 1963
- Pages: 93
- Christian Group: Reformed
- Resource Type: Biblical Theologies
- Topic: Canon
Herman N. Ridderbos (1909–2007) was an influential New Testament scholar and theologian. Ridderbos studied at the Theological School of the Reformed Churches of the Netherlands and Free University of Amsterdam. He was a pastor for eight years and a professor for over forty. Ridderbos is most widely known and respected for his work on the history of salvation (Heilsgeschichte) and biblical theology. Many of his books appear in the Herman Ridderbos Collection, including Paul and Jesus.