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TMS.Edu Volume 30 Spring 2019 Number 1 the Master’S Seminary Journal Volume 30, Number 1 Spring 2019 Do the Canonical Gospels Reflect Greco-Roman Biography Genre or Are They Modeled after the Old Testament Books? F. DAVID FARNELL Evangelical Versus Islamic Canonization JAMES R. MOOK Implication and Application in Exposition CARL A. HARGROVE How to Fix a Broken Relationship BRYAN MURPHY Veiled in Flesh the Godhead See MIKE RICCARDI Polishing Brass on a Sinking Ship SCOTT ANIOL How Would Paul Engage Today’s Secularizing Society? CHRIS BURNETT TMS.edu Volume 30 Spring 2019 Number 1 The Master’s Seminary Journal CONTENTS Editorial ............................................................................................................... 1-4 Nathan Busenitz Do the Canonical Gospels Reflect Greco-Roman Biography Genre or Are They Modeled after the Old Testament Books? ..................................... 5-44 F. David Farnell Evangelical Versus Islamic Canonization ........................................................... 45-63 James R. Mook Implication and Application in Exposition ........................................................ 65-91 Carl A. Hargrove How to Fix a Broken Relationship ..................................................................... 93-102 Bryan Murphy Veiled in Flesh the Godhead See ........................................................................ 103-127 Mike Riccardi Polishing Brass on a Sinking Ship ...................................................................... 129-146 Scott Aniol How Would Paul Engage Today’s Secularizing Society? .................................. 147-167 Chris Burnett Reviews ................................................................................................................ 169-179 Greg Harris The Face and the Glory: Lessons on the Visible and Invisible God and His Glory ...................................................................................................... 169-176 Reviewed by Kevin D. Zuber Jongkind, Dirk, Peter J. Williams, Peter M. Head, Patrick James, Dayton C. Benner, James R. Covington, and Andrew Zulker The Greek New Testament Reader’s Edition ......................................................... 172-174 Reviewed by Brian Biedebach James Montgomery Boice The Life of Moses: God’s First Deliverer of Israel ................................................. 175-176 Reviewed by Iosif J. Zhakevich Greg Harris The Bible Expositor’s Handbook: New Testament ................................................ 177-179 Reviewed by William D. Barrick MSJ 30/1 (Spring 2019) 1–4 EDITORIAL Nathan Busenitz Dean of Faculty The Master’s Seminary * * * * * A number of the articles in this issue of The Master’s Seminary Journal relate to the topic of canonicity. Others center on the person of Jesus Christ and the procla- mation of His gospel. The point at which those two topics—Christ and canon—meet provides the foundation for a Protestant evangelical bibliology, where Scripture is rightly viewed as the supreme authority for faith and practice. For a movement defined by the Reformation slogan sola Scriptura, confidence in the integrity of the biblical canon is of paramount importance. This is especially true in an age of best-selling skeptics and celebrated critics. Evangelical scholarship must be ready with solid answers for the earnest questions raised by both believers and unbelievers alike. It is outside the scope of an editorial to engage with every line of inquiry that might be raised regarding canonicity. Space permits only one question to be ad- dressed, and that in an admittedly brief fashion. The question is this: How can evan- gelicals be confident that the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments comprise the entirety of the written Word of God? The Roman Catholic Church, for example, claims that the apocryphal books of the intertestamental period ought to be regarded as part of Scripture. Heretical cult movements, like Mormonism, add their own writings to the Bible. Popular skeptics suggest that Roman emperors like Constantine are responsible for shaping the canon. So, what confidence can believers have in knowing that “all Scripture” (2 Tim. 3:16) consists of these 66 books and no more? That question might be answered in a number of ways. In fact, seminary stu- dents spend weeks studying these issues over the course of multiple semesters. But in this article, the intent is to offer a simple answer that gets to the heart of the matter. It is this: Evangelicals accept the 39 books of the Old Testament, because the Lord Jesus Christ affirmed the canon of the Old Testament. They similarly embrace the 27 books of the New Testament, because the Lord Jesus Christ authorized His apostles to write the New Testament. 1 2 | Editorial At its core, the doctrine of canonicity is grounded in the lordship of Jesus Christ. Insofar as Christians believe in Him and submit to His authority, they will simulta- neously believe in and submit to His Word (cf. John 10:27). Because Jesus affirmed the Old Testament canon, His followers affirm it with Him. Because He authorized His apostles to write the New Testament, His followers embrace it too. The Roman Catholic Church did not determine the canon. Nor did false proph- ets like Joseph Smith, or emperors like Constantine. No, the biblical canon rests on the authority of Christ Himself. The Old Testament Canon Regarding the Old Testament, Jesus Christ affirmed the Jewish canon of His day—consisting of the same content that comprises the Protestant Old Testament canon. A study of the Gospels shows that, throughout His ministry, Jesus affirmed the Old Testament in its entirety (Matt. 5:17–18)—including its historical reliability (cf. Matt. 10:15; 19:3–5; 12:40; 24:38–39), prophetic accuracy (Matt. 26:54), suffi- ciency (Luke 16:31), unity (Luke 24:27, 44), inerrancy (Matt. 22:29; John 17:17), infallibility (John 10:35), and authority (Matt. 21:13, 16, 42). He affirmed the Law, the Writings, and the Prophets and all that was written in them; clearly viewing the Old Testament Scriptures as the Word of God (Matt. 15:16; Mark 7:13; Luke 3:2; 5:1; etc.). The first-century Jews did not consider the apocryphal books to be canonical. Neither did Jesus. He never affirmed or cited the apocryphal books—and neither do any of the writers of the New Testament. (Some may wonder about Jude’s reference to the Book of Enoch. But the Book of Enoch is not part of the Roman Catholic apocrypha. It was simply a well-known piece of Jewish literature at that time, which Jude cited for the purpose of an illustration, much like Paul did when he quoted pagan poets on Mars Hill in Acts 17.) Many of the early church Fathers also did not regard the apocryphal books as being canonical. They considered them to be edifying for the church, but not author- itative. Even the fifth-century scholar Jerome (who translated the Latin Vulgate— which became the standard Roman Catholic version of the Middle Ages) acknowl- edged that the apocryphal books were not to be regarded as either authoritative or canonical. In sum, then, the canon of the Old Testament is confirmed on the basis of the authoritative affirmation of the Lord Jesus. Conversely, the canonicity of the apocry- phal books is rejected because those books lack that kind of affirmation from Christ. The New Testament Canon The same principle applies to the New Testament canon. Jesus not only af- firmed the Jewish canon of the Old Testament, He also promised to give additional revelation to His church through His authorized representatives—namely, the apos- tles. Christ made this point explicit in John 14–16. On the night before His death, Jesus said to His disciples: The Master’s Seminary Journal | 3 These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you (John 14:25–26). That last line is essential for the doctrine of canonicity. Jesus promised the apostles that the Holy Spirit would help them remember all that He had said to them. The fulfillment of that promise is found in the four gospel accounts—where the things that Jesus did and said are perfectly recorded. Two chapters later, in the same context, the Lord promised the apostles that He would give them additional revelation through the Holy Spirit: I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak of His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; there- fore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you (John 16:12–15). Where is that additional revelation found? It is found in the New Testament epistles and the book of Revelation, wherein the Spirit of Christ guided the apostles to provide the church with inspired truth. The New Testament was pre-authenticated by Christ Himself, as He authorized the apostles to be His witnesses in the world (Matt. 28:18–19; Acts 1:8). As followers of Jesus, Christians embrace and submit to the New Testament writings because they were penned by Christ’s authorized representatives, being inspired by the Holy Spirit in the same way as the Old Testament prophets (cf. 2 Pet. 3:19–21). A book-by-book survey of the New Testament demonstrates that this criteria was met. The Gospels of Matthew and John were both written by apostles. The Gos- pel of Mark is a record of the memoirs of the apostle Peter, written by Mark under Peter’s apostolic authority. The gospel of Luke (and the book of Acts) were the prod- uct of a careful investigation and eyewitness testimony (Luke 1:2), research that would have included apostolic sources. Moreover, as the companion of the apostle Paul, Luke wrote under Paul’s apostolic oversight. (For instance, Paul affirmed Luke 10:7 as being part of the Scripture in 1 Tim. 5:18.) The Pauline Epistles (Romans–Philemon) were all written by the Apostle Paul.
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