RLG241Y1 Lecture : RLG 241 Lecture 1.docx
Document Summary
List of books considered to be authoritative as revealed scripture by a particular christian group. Determination of what would be included & excluded in the canon took over several centuries. Long time to solidify: different claims from diff & competing christian groups so as to what constituted scripture. Neither the old testament (hebrew bible/ tanakh), or gospels (matthew, mark, luke, john)/ paul s letters were unanimously received as scripture by early christian heterodoxy. Diversity of christianity scriptures battle to decide christian canon is epiphenomenal (related to grander battle to decide who could speak for. Battle for the christian canon: battle for apostolic authority. Consensus that the 1st 3 centuries of the christian movement did not come to know an institutional apparatus (orthodoxy), no unified project of canon, no ultimate scripture. Heterodoxies competed against each other w/ varying degrees of antagonism. Uncanny unity of the early church between paul & church (brother of jesus)