De Moor II:14: The Canon and the Church, Part 3

When now we proceed unto the Arrangement of the Canonical Books, our AUTHOR observes that this Order or Arrangement of the Books is human, and that it was not bound necessarily to flow from the same Infallible Spirit.  It was sufficient that through the illumination and infallible direction of the Holy Spirit the Canonical Books, all and only, were gathered and acknowledged by the Church as the permanent rule of faith and manners:  whether one or another was found in an earlier or later place, in this very little was placed; and so here God willed to leave something to human industry.

Hence the Arrangement of the Books is not the same among all.  We saw in § 13 the great difference between the Arrangement of the Books of the Old Testament among today’s Jews and Christians.  We observed at the same time what difference obtains in the placement of the five Megilloth,[1] and the reason for it.  Moreover, in Bava Bathra,[2] chapter I, folio 14, Jeremiah holds the first place among the Prophets, which some Manuscript Codices imitate, and of which matter this reason is given, that the Book of Kings is concluded in the destruction, of which Jeremiah and Ezekiel also treat: consult WOLF’S Bibliothecam Hebraicam, tome 2, book I, section I, § 15, pages 47, 48.  Hence this is the order of the Prophets:  The Books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, the Twelve Prophets.

In the recension of the Books of the New Testament, AUGUSTINE, de Doctrina Christiana, book II, chapter VIII, opera, tome 3, part I, column 18, subjoins the Acts of the Apostles to all the Epistles, and sets it immediately before the Apocalypse:  perhaps he thought that this twofold Books was to be more closely conjoined because, just as Acts contains the matters conducted in the first Church, so the Apocalypse of John reveals matters to be conducted thereafter in the Church unto the end of the world.  But Acts has too close a tie with the Books of the Gospels, especially of Luke himself, than that it is able to be so far removed from them.

Afterward, Athanasius, the Laodicean Canon, and Philastrius place the Catholic Epistles before the Pauline Epistles, and join them immediately with Acts, contrary to which it was wont to be done in the preceding second and third centuries, contrary to which the other most excellent Writers of the fourth century also do.  Perhaps the reason for this transposition is:  1.  That many, when all the Books were to be copied with the pen, did not have the complete Canon, but only the Catholic Epistles subjoined to the Gospels and Acts; as briefer and more easily to be copied, without so great expense:  just as to the present day Manuscript Codices are found that contain only the Catholic Epistles with Acts.  2.  Or, that, because of the hesitation of some concerning some of the Catholic Epistles, others set them before the Epistles of Paul as altogether worthy of reception.  The Catholic Epistles themselves, arranged in a fivefold order among themselves, appear in the works of the Ancients, which variety was able to arise easily from the hesitations of many concerning five of the seven, whether they were rightly inserted in the Canon or not.  Their present order is found among the most illustrious collectors of the Canon, Athanasius, the Laodicean Council, Gregory Nazianzen, Amphilochius, Jerome, Leo,[3] and Isidore:  see ENS’ de Canone Librorum Novi Testamenti, chapter VIII, division II, § 34-41, pages 229 and following.

And the Arrangement of the Books of Sacred Scripture was established, only not according to the Time of Writing, which in the case of many one may conjecture, but not likewise prove.  Thus Jonah is everywhere supposed to be first with respect to age among the latter Prophets, yet his book does not occupy the first place.  Concerning the time of the prophecies of Joel nothing certain is able to be determined.  Among the Pauline Epistles, by general consensus those to the Thessalonians were first in time, yet not in order.  Concerning the other Epistles, all things are uncertain:  thus concerning the first to Timothy, when it was written, the Learned greatly differ; and, with all things duly considered, the greatest Men conclude that nothing is clear; see the Note subjoined to my Sermon on 1 Timothy 3:16 in the volume entitled Gedachtenis, etc., page 307.

But it was established according to the Order of Things, or the Magnitude of the Books, or the Fame of the Churches.  You may see observed the Order, partly of Time, partly of Things, in our Arrangement of the Old Testament into its Divisions.  Where, after the Mosaic Pentateuch, most certainly the first and most ancient of all the sacred volumes, the Historical Books follow, which set forth the matters conducted in the immediately following times, in successive and continuous order unto the end of the Sacred History of the Old Testament.  Next are added the Dogmatic and Poetic Books, almost all written after the Mosaic times by holy Men, of whom mention was made in the preceding Historical Books:  and in the series of these Books, Job, David, and Solomon, you see the Order of Time again observed.  Finally, the Books of the Prophets are bound together in one volume, who principally treat of matters that were going to be afterwards.

Likewise, in the principal Division of the Books of the New Testament you see the Order of Things and of Time observed together.  The Gospel, according to the Order of the Time in which they were written, follow one another.  That of Matthew is everywhere believed to have been written before the first of the Pauline Epistles that we have.  Again, the first Epistle of Paul is thought to have been written before the Epistle of James.  Revelation seals all the Books:  see ENS’ de Canone Librorum Novi Testamenti, chapter IX, division II, subdivision I, § 15-33, pages 254-277.  The Gospels narrate the history of Christ dwelling on earth; Acts narrates the first founding of the Church of the New Testament after the exaltation of Christ; the Epistles make for the confirmation of the Churches already established in the faith; the Apocalypse foretells matters to be expected especially in the Churches of the future, unto the consummation of the ages.  Thus several Epistles, sent by the same Apostle to the same Churches or persons, are read according to the Order of Time in which they were written, of which sort are Paul’s First and Second Corinthians, First and Second Thessalonians, and First and Second Timothy; and Peter’s First and Second:  see ENS’ de Canone Librorum Novi Testamenti, chapter IX, division II, subdivision III, § 68-76, pages 317-325.

The Magnitude of the Books certainly appears to have been considered in ordering the Books of the Prophets, in which the Major Prophets are distinguished from the Minor; just as among the Minor Prophets Hosea exceeds most of the others in mass.  Indeed, Zechariah by this reckoning would also deserve to be placed among the first in the series of Minor Prophets:  but the three, who did not prophesy until the last period after the Babylonian Captivity, are with good reason placed after the others, who had preceded this Captivity.

In the case of the Pauline Epistles, those are observed to precede, which were sent to the Gentiles, first entire Churches, then individual people; that Epistle to the Hebrews follows:  either because the Jews with their ancient prerogative and dignity above the Gentiles had now been cut off under the New Testament, or that the latter might be more closely connected with the other Apostles’ Epistles sent to that nation.  That the prior thirteen Epistles were also arranged according to the Dignity of the Churches and persons to which they were sent, the Most Illustrious ENS strenuously contends, de Canone Librorum Novi Testamenti, chapter IX, division II, subdivision II, § 34-57, pages 278-305.  Others maintain that the weight of the Argument was considered, as thus the Epistle to the Romans is characterized by the most excellent argument, and exhibits a compendium of all Christian doctrine, whence long ago it was called the Christians’ Catechism.  Again, others maintain that attention is given to the Magnitude of the Books, which both appears to militate in some measure for the contemporary order of the Epistles; and also, besides the argument drawn from temporal order, was able to explain why the greater Volume of the Pauline Epistles was set before the lesser Volume of the Catholic Epistles.

Whatever the case may be, that the Arrangement of the sacred Books that we use is exceedingly ancient, is established with respect to the Old Testament from the consent of the Septuagint Version, prepared long before the times of Christ; but with respect to the New Testament, from the primeval Ecclesiastical writers, so that this order of Books hardly appears later in time than the first collection of the Canonical Books.

The Names or Inscriptions of the Books vary in the Original Text and Versions.  Thus, for example, the Mosaic Books in the Hebrew Bible draw their names from their initial words; in the Versions they are denominated chiefly by Greek terms from the principal subject matter:  The Book בְּרֵאשִׁית/Bereshit, In the Beginning, is called Genesis;[4] וְאֵלֶּה שְׁמוֹת, Veeleh Shemoth, These Are the Names, is called Exodus;[5] וַיִּקְרָא/Vayikra, And He Called, is called Leviticus;[6] בְּמִדְבַּר/Bemidbar, In the Wilderness, which is the fifth word of verse 1, and Jehovah spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, is called Numbers;[7] אֵלֶּה הַדְּבָרִים, Elleh Hadebarim, These Are the Words, is called Deuteronomy.[8]  According to the Inscription in the Hebrew Text, we have two Books of Samuel, שְׁמוּאֵל א/ב, and two of Kings, מְלָכִים א/ב; but in the Greek Version these are four Books of βασιλειῶν/ Kings.

Likewise, whenever the Subscriptions of the Epistles are erroneous, they are altogether human.  So in the Subscription of the First Epistle to the Corinthians it is related that it was written in Philippi, a city of Macedonia:  but from 1 Corinthians 16:5, 8, it is most clearly evident that the Apostle had not yet come into Macedonia, but was at that time in Ephesus; see TILLIUS’ Isagogen in Epistolam Priorem ad Corinthios, article II, page 2; VAN ALPHEN’S[9] Prolegomena in Epistolam Priorem ad Corinthios, article IV, pages 19-21.  Thus the Epistle to the Hebrews in the Subscription is said to have been sent by Timothy; while it appears from Hebrews 13:23 that Timothy, at the time of the sending of this Epistle, was absent from Paul.  The First to Timothy in the ὑπογραφῇ/subscription is said to have been written at Laodicea, the chiefest city of Phrygia Pacatiana:  but in Colossians 2:1 the Laodiceans are reckoned among those that had never seen Paul’s face; and the cognomen of Pacatiana, by which the other part of Phrygia was distinguished from Phrygia Salutaris,[10] which is of far more recent origin:  see BEZA’S Annotationes; SPANHEIM’S Geographiam Sacram et Ecclesiasticam, opera, tome I, column 94; and HOLLENHAGEN’S[11] de Septem Ecclesiis Asiaticis, § 37, in Thesauro Novo Dissertationum in Vetus et Novum Testamentum, tome 2, page 1041.  The Epistle to Titus is subscribed as sent from Nicopolis of Macedonia:  but Titus 3:12 teaches that Paul had not yet come to Nicopolis, but was proceeding thither before winter; for he does not say ἐνταῦθα/here, but ἐκεῖ/there, κέκρικα παραχειμάσαι, I have determined to winter.  But if this Epistles was now sent from Nicopolis, of which mention is made in Titus 3:12, doubt would remain whether Nicopolis of Macedonia or Thrace, or rather Nicopolis of Epirus,[12] was to be understood:  see BACHIENE’S[13] Geographiam Sacram, part III, section III, chapter XI, pages 877-884.

[1] Namely, the Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther.

[2] Bava Bathra is a Talmudic tractate dealing with property rights.

[3] Leo I (c. 400-461) was bishop of Rome from 440 to 461.  He is remembered for persuading Attila to turn back from his invasion of Italy, and for his influence over the Christology of the Council of Chalcedon.

[4] Greek:  ΓΕΝΕΣΙΣ.

[5] Greek:  ΕΞΟΔΟΣ.

[6] Greek:  ΛΕΥΙΤΙΚΟΝ.

[7] Greek:  ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ.

[8] Greek:  ΔΕΥΤΕΡΟΝΟΜΙΟΝ.

[9] Hieronymus Simons Van Alphen (1665-1742) was a Dutch Reformed Theologian; he served as Professor of Theology at Utrecht (1714-1742).

[10] The western and eastern portions of Phrygia respectively.

[11] Jacob Friedrich Hollenhagen (1677-1710) was a German clergyman.

[12] On the Western coast of Greece.

[13] Willem Albert Bachiene (1712-1783) was a Dutch Reformed pastor.