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The Origin of the New Testament

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The Origin of the New Testament The Origin of the New Testament Author(s): Harnack, Adolf (1851-1930) Publisher: Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Classics Ethereal Library Description: For Harnack, applying the methods of historical criticism to the Bible signified a return to true Christianity, which had become mired in unnecessary and even damaging creeds and dogmas. Seeking out what ªactually happened,º for him, was one way to strip away all but the foundations of the faith. In The Origin of the New Testament, Harnack explores the early history of the biblical canonÐhow it came to be what it is, and why. In particular, he explores the ideologies driving people to accept some texts as biblical cannon and not oth- ers. Controversially, Harnack finds some of these ideologies anything but Christian, and he hints that a re-evaluation of what the church considers canonical is necessary. Kathleen O'Bannon CCEL Staff i Contents Title Page 1 Prefatory Material 2 I. The Needs and Motive Forces that Led to the Creation of the New Testament 9 § 1. How did the Church arrive at a second authoritative Canon in addition to 11 the Old Testament? § 2. Why is it that the New Testament also contains other books beside the Gospels, 31 and appears as a compilation with two divisions (“Evangelium” and “Apostolus”)? § 3. Why does the New Testament contain Four Gospels and not One only? 44 § 4. Why has only one Apocalypse been able to keep its place in the New 52 Testament? Why not several—or none at all? § 5. Was the New Testament created consciously? and how did the Churches 58 arrive at one common New Testament? II. The Consequences of the Creation of the New Testament 67 § 1. The New Testament immediately emancipated itself from the conditions of 68 its origin, and claimed to be regarded as simply a gift of the Holy Spirit. It held an independent position side by side with the Rule of Faith; it at once began to influence the development of doctrine, and it became in principle the final court of appeal for the Christian life. § 2. The New Testament has added to the Revelation in history a second written 71 proclamation of this Revelation, and has given it a position of superior authority. § 3. The New Testament definitely protected the Old Testament as a book of the 73 Church, but thrust it into a subordinate position and thus introduced a wholesome complication into the conception of the Canon of Scripture. § 4. The New Testament has preserved for us the most valuable portion of primitive 76 Christian literature; yet at the same time it delivered the rest of the earliest works to oblivion, and has limited the transmission of later works. § 5. Though the New Testament brought to an end the production of authoritative 80 Christian writings, yet it cleared the way for theological and also for ordinary Christian literary activity. ii § 6. The New Testament obscured the true origin and the historical significance 82 of the works which it contained, but on the other hand, by impelling men to study them, it brought into existence certain conditions favourable to the critical treatment and correct interpretation of these works. § 7. The New Testament checked the imaginative creation of events in the scheme 84 of Salvation, whether freely or according to existing models; but it called forth or at least encouraged the intellectual creation of facts in the sphere of Theology, and of a Theological Mythology. § 8. The New Testament helped to demark a special period of Christian Revelation, 86 and so in a certain sense to give Christians of later times an inferior status; yet it has kept alive the knowledge of the ideals and claims of Primitive Christianity. § 9. The New Testament promoted and completed the fatal identification of the 88 Word of the Lord and the Teaching of the Apostles; but, because it raised Pauline Christianity to a place of highest honour, it has introduced into the history of the Church a ferment rich in blessing. § 10. In the New Testament the Catholic Church forged for herself a new weapon 90 with which to ward off all heresy as unchristian; but she has also found in it a court of control before which she has appeared ever increasingly in default. § 11. The New Testament has hindered the natural impulse to give to the content 92 of Religion a simple, clear, and logical expression, but, on the other hand, it has preserved Christian doctrine from becoming a mere philosophy of Religion. Conclusion 94 Appendices 95 I. The Marcionite Prologues to the Pauline Epistles 96 Appendix II. Forerunners and Rivals of the New Testament 98 Appendix III. The Beginnings of the Conception of an “Instrumentum 107 Novissimum”; the Hope for the “Evangelium Æternum”; the Public Lection, and the quasi-Canonical Recognition, of the Stories of the Martyrs in the Church Appendix IV. The Use of the New Testament in the Carthaginian (and Roman) 114 Church at the Time of Tertullian Appendix V. “Instrumentum” (“Instrumenta”) as a Name for the Bible 122 Appendix VI. A Short Statement and Criticism of the Results of Zahn’s 127 Investigations into the Origin of the New Testament Indexes 133 Index of Scripture References 134 Greek Words and Phrases 136 iii Latin Words and Phrases 139 Index of Pages of the Print Edition 149 iv This PDF file is from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library, www.ccel.org. The mission of the CCEL is to make classic Christian books available to the world. • This book is available in PDF, HTML, ePub, and other formats. See http://www.ccel.org/ccel/harnack/origin_nt.html. • Discuss this book online at http://www.ccel.org/node/2784. The CCEL makes CDs of classic Christian literature available around the world through the Web and through CDs. We have distributed thousands of such CDs free in developing countries. If you are in a developing country and would like to receive a free CD, please send a request by email to [email protected]. The Christian Classics Ethereal Library is a self supporting non-profit organization at Calvin College. If you wish to give of your time or money to support the CCEL, please visit http://www.ccel.org/give. This PDF file is copyrighted by the Christian Classics Ethereal Library. It may be freely copied for non-commercial purposes as long as it is not modified. All other rights are re- served. Written permission is required for commercial use. v Title Page Title Page NEW TESTAMENT STUDIES VI THE ORIGIN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT AND THE MOST IMPORTANT CONSEQUENCES OF THE NEW CREATION BY ADOLF VON HARNACK TRANSLATED BY THE REV. J. R. WILKINSON, M.A. FORMERLY SCHOLAR OF WORCESTER COLLEGE, OXFORD AND RECTOR OF WINFORD Published by Williams and Norgate, 1925 iv 1 Prefatory Material Prefatory Material PREFACE The purpose of the following pages will be fulfilled if they serve to forward and complete the work accomplished by the histories of the Canon of the New Testament that already v exist. The history of the New Testament is here only given up to the beginning of the third century; for at that time the New Canon was firmly established both in idea and form, and it acquired all the consequences of an unalterable entity. The changes which it still under- went, however important they were from the point of view of the extent and unification of the Canon, have had no consequences worth mentioning in connection with the history of the Church and of dogma. It is therefore appropriate, in the interests of clear thought, to treat the history of the Canon of the New Testament in two divisions; in the first division to describe the Origin of the New Testament, in the second its enlargement. Moreover, it is necessary—though this is a point that hitherto has been seldom taken into account—that the consequences that at once resulted from the new creation should receive due consider- ation as well as its causes and motives. For the origin of the New Testament is not a problem in the history of literature like the origin of the separate books of the Canon, but a problem of the history of cultus and dogma in the Church. vi A. v. H. BERLIN, 22nd May 1914. CONTENTS Introduction xv I. The Needs and Motive Forces that led to the Creation of the 1 New Testament The five chief problems— § 1. How did the Church arrive at a second authoritative 4 Canon in addition to the Old Testament? A. What motives led to the creation of the New Testa- 6 ment? (1) Supreme reverence for the words and teaching of Christ (“The Holy Scriptures and the Lord”), p. 7. (2) Supreme reverence for the history of Christ (“The Holy Scriptures and the Gospel”)—the synthesis of prophecy and fulfilment, p. 9. (3) The 2 Prefatory Material new Covenant and the desire for a fundamental document, p. 12. (4) Supreme reverence for what was orthodox and ancient (the motive of Catholic and Apostolic), p. 16. B. Whence came the authority necessary for such a 20 creation? (1) Teachers from the beginning that were authoritat- ive and inspired by the Spirit (“Apostles, Proph- ets, and Teachers”), p. 20. (2) The right of the as- sembled community to accept or reject books, P.viii 21. (3) The inward authority of Apostolic-Cathol- ic writings that asserted itself automatically, p. 23. C. How did the New Testament, assumed to be neces- 25 sary in idea, come into actual existence? (1) The existence of appropriate works, p.
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