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The Notion and Definition of Canon 2 The Notion and Definition of Canon Eugene Ulrich Plato may not seem to be the most apt starting point for a discussion of the biblical canon, but I suggest that he might be. Though his views were not always correct, he did manage to make several rather permanent advances in human civilization. Perhaps one of the most frequently applied—or forgotten with resultant peril—is his insistence that intel- ligent argument cannot safely proceed without a clear definition of terms. Socrates: However,whenfriendlypeople...wanttoconversewitheachother,one’sreply must . not only be true, but must employ terms with which the questioner admits he is familiar.... I believe we rejected the type of answer that employs terms which are still in question and not yet agreed upon. You say this and that about virtue, but what is it? . to define so-and-so, and thus to make plain whatever may be chosen as the topic for expo- sition. For example, take the definition given just now . , it was that which enabled our dis- course to achieve lucidity and consistency.1 The purpose assigned to this chapter is to consider and attempt to clarify the notion and definition of “canon.” It is an understatement to say that confusion currently sur- rounds the term and permeates recent discussions of the topic. Some scholars think that canon is a theological terminus technicus with a clear meaning, a specific denotation, and a long history of discussion, while others think that the term may be used more broadly to fit any of several aspects related to the collections of authoritative sacred texts of Judaism or Christianity. While the topic has at times been dormant, in this generation it has gener- ated a great deal of interest due to the new and unexpected light that the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls contributes to the rather scant body of available evidence. When topics are intermittently vigorous and dormant, continuity and valuable ad- vances in the discussion sometimes get lost. It is quite predictable that the discovery of a cache of ancient manuscripts of books that came to form the Bible of Jews and Christians would excite both popular and scholarly hopes of sharpening our knowledge of the history 1 Plato, Meno 75d and 79d, and Phaedrus 265d. The translations are by W. K. C. Guthrie and R. Hackforth, The Collected Dialogues of Plato (ed. E. Hamilton and J. Cairns; Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1961), 358, 362, and 511. 22 Eugene Ulrich of the formation of the Bible. Indeed, great gains have been made in that knowledge. But many recent discussions bemoan the lack of clarity and agreement regarding terminology. So in this paper we will attempt to clarify the definition of canon and discuss some partially overlapping concepts. The specific histories of various aspects of the process leading to the Jewish and Christian canons will be dealt with in other chapters of this volume.2 After some preliminary considerations, this chapter will turn to the definition of canon, survey- ing a spectrum of theological dictionaries, isolating the essential elements of the concept of canon, and distinguishing it from other related concepts that tend to cause confusion. 1. Preliminary Considerations A. Etymology Although much ink has been spilled discussing the etymology of “canon,”the results are only mildly helpful, because the word as used in later theology or biblical studies does not exactly coincide with ancient usage. The word can be traced to the Sumerian gi, gi-na, meaning “reed” and then extended to mean “standard.” Hebrew and other Semitic lan- guages received these meanings, as did Greek, though the last multiplied additional meta- phorical uses.3 Forpracticalpurposesregardingthecanonofscripture,BruceMetzgeriscorrect that “the word ‘canon’ is Greek; its use in connection with the Bible belongs to Christian times; the idea of a canon of scripture originates in Judaism.”4 Thetermasusedinrelation to the Bible arose in Christian circles, though it was borrowed from the Hellenistic world. In Greek the term originally had a concrete meaning and then several metaphorical exten- sions. It meant a “rod” or “measuring stick” and acquired the figurative senses of “norm” or “ideal”: in the realm of sculpture it meant the “perfect form of the human frame”; in philosophy, the “basis . by which to know what is true and false”; in law, “that which binds us, . specific ideals”; and also a “list” or “table.”5 Anumberofmetaphoricaluses also pervaded Latin and derivative languages and literatures. Interestingly, no similar term is attested in Jewish writings, including the Septuagint, or in the Hebrew language until comparatively late. Although qnh (“reed, stalk”) is used, 2 For a discussion of the relation of the biblical Dead Sea Scrolls to the issue of canon, see Eugene Ulrich, “Canon,” Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls (ed. Lawrence H. Schiffman and James C. VanderKam; New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), 117–20. The scrolls preserved at Qumran are not “sectarian” but are characteristic of general Judaism at the time (see Ulrich, “The Qumran Biblical Scrolls—The Scriptures of Late Second Temple Judaism,” in The Dead Sea Scrolls in Their Historical Context [ed. Timothy H. Lim et al.; Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 2000], 67–87). They dem- onstrate that the Jews clearly had books that were considered authoritative scripture and thus in a sense canonical; but they date from a period when, as will be argued below, there was not yet a canon of scripture properly speaking. 3 See Gerald Sheppard, “Canon,” The Encyclopedia of Religion (ed. Mircea Eliade; New York: Macmillan, 1987), 3:62–69, esp. 62–63; and H. W. Beyer, “KanÆn,” TDNT 3:596–602. 4 Bruce Metzger, The Canon of the New Testament: Its Origin, Development, and Significance (Oxford: Clarendon, 1987), v. 5 Beyer, “kanÆn,” 596–602. The Notion and Definition of Canon 23 principally in Ezekiel (40:3, 5; 41:8; 42:16–19; see also Isa 46:6), in the derived meaning of measuring rod (six cubits), no biblical use of the word is attested in the extended meta- phorical sense of a moral measure, as, for example, ’nk (“plumb line”) is used in Amos 7:7–8. In the New Testament the only relevant occurrence of kanÆn is in Gal 6:16, where it is used in the general sense of “measure of assessment,”“norm of one’s own action,”“norm of true Christianity.”6 But precisely what Paul is referring to in his summary blessing “for those who will follow tÆ kanoni toutÆ” is not exactly clear; what is clear is that it does not refer to a set of books of scripture.7 Thus, the term and discussion of it are absent from the Hebrew and Greek Bibles, suggesting that the term is postbiblical. If canon as such had been an important concept or reality in Judaism or nascent Christianity, one would expect that authors would discuss or at least mention it. Though that is admittedly an argument from silence, that silence is possibly significant. A further indication that the term is a postbiblical phenomenon is that it has no entry in The Dictionary of Biblical Theology and it does not figure in any meaningful way in the theologies of Walther Eichrodt and Gerhard von Rad.8 B. The Canon for Different Faith Communities Clearly the contents of the canon are different for different faith communities, but the concept of canon is the same for each. Jews, Catholics, Protestants, and others will list differentbooksintheircanons,butthedefinitionremainsthesameforall. C. Mentalities Some of the confusion arises from the different mentalities or approaches of those addressing the topic. It would seem that the proper stance of one using this book would be that of the (religious) historian. One looks at the realities in antiquity as neutrally as pos- sible and describes them as accurately as possible and with terminology appropriate for the period being described. A contrasting mentality would be that of the pastoral apologist, who starts with modern conceptions, categories, views, and conclusions (whether specific to one denomination or not) and imposes them upon, or at least sees them in, the evidence preservedinantiquity.9 The stronger this mentality, the more one is tempted to find 6 Ibid., 598, 600. 7 That is, unless one could successfully prove both that Paul was referring to his full letter to the Galatians and that he was convinced that his letter was scripture. 8 Xavier Léon-Dufour, ed., Dictionary of Biblical Theology (trans.P.J.Cahilletal.;2ded.:New York: Seabury, 1973). Walther Eichrodt has two brief, vague mentions of canon in Theology of the Old Testament (trans. J. A. Baker; 2 vols.; Philadelphia: Westminster, 1961, 1967), 2:66, 348. Gerhard von Rad, speaking almost at the end of his second volume of Old Testament Theology (trans.D.M. G. Stalker; 2 vols.; New York: Harper & Row, 1962, 1965) about the written publication of Deuter- onomy at the time of Josiah, does have the single sentence: “Thus the process of forming a canon began” (2:395). He has another mention of “canonical saving history”; it refers, however, not to the biblical canon but to a tradition used by Ezekiel that ends with the conquest, though it “was appar- ently not that of any of the source documents which form our Hexateuch” (2:227–28). 9 For a similar critique of this mentality see Andrew E. Steinmann, The Oracles of God: The Old Testament Canon (St. Louis: Concordia, 1999), 183. 24 Eugene Ulrich today’s beliefs planted as far back as possible in yesterday’s evidence. Yet another mentality is that of theneophyteorgeneralistwho comes to the topic without the disciplined training in philosophy or theology required to enter the discussion with sufficient clarity.
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