History of the Bible
Brittany Stewart
Instructor Pursell
English 132
9 December 2009
The History of the Canonization of the Bible The process by which the English Bible, as it is known to the English culture today, was compiled is an extraordinary thing to see. The Bible consists of two parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament. The process by which both Testaments were written and then canonized into one book transpired over a period of many years. Once the canonization of the Bible officially came to an end, it was translated into English. Since then, many versions of the modern Bible have been made. Since the individual books of the Bible became scattered as they were written, people set forth to preserve God’s Word by compiling them into one book. This development began with the writing and canonization of the individual books of the Bible which were then translated into the English language. “The Christian Bible is not really one book at all, but a collection of books written over thousands of years.” It was written by a large sum of various authors. The canonization of the Bible is the procedure by which the books that would become part of the Bible were chosen. This process did not take place all at once, nor was it done by one group of people. The word canon is derived from the word rod (measure) in the Greek language. The books were chosen by resolving which ones met the given standard (Stotesberg). The canonization of the Old Testament took place over a period of many years. Overall, the books of the Old Testament were written from 1000-1050 BC. The first translation of the Bible was the Septuagint or the LXX which in the end consists of forty-six books (“Development of the Difficult Canon”). At this time, only the Torah (the Pentateuch), which were the first five books of the Bible, were translated (Kalvesmaki). There are two different theories as to the exact details of this process. One is that it was translated by rabbis in 200 BC (“Development of the
Instructor Pursell
English 132
9 December 2009
The History of the Canonization of the Bible The process by which the English Bible, as it is known to the English culture today, was compiled is an extraordinary thing to see. The Bible consists of two parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament. The process by which both Testaments were written and then canonized into one book transpired over a period of many years. Once the canonization of the Bible officially came to an end, it was translated into English. Since then, many versions of the modern Bible have been made. Since the individual books of the Bible became scattered as they were written, people set forth to preserve God’s Word by compiling them into one book. This development began with the writing and canonization of the individual books of the Bible which were then translated into the English language. “The Christian Bible is not really one book at all, but a collection of books written over thousands of years.” It was written by a large sum of various authors. The canonization of the Bible is the procedure by which the books that would become part of the Bible were chosen. This process did not take place all at once, nor was it done by one group of people. The word canon is derived from the word rod (measure) in the Greek language. The books were chosen by resolving which ones met the given standard (Stotesberg). The canonization of the Old Testament took place over a period of many years. Overall, the books of the Old Testament were written from 1000-1050 BC. The first translation of the Bible was the Septuagint or the LXX which in the end consists of forty-six books (“Development of the Difficult Canon”). At this time, only the Torah (the Pentateuch), which were the first five books of the Bible, were translated (Kalvesmaki). There are two different theories as to the exact details of this process. One is that it was translated by rabbis in 200 BC (“Development of the
Cited: Barker, Lane, and Michaels. The New Testament Speaks. New York: Harper & Row, 1969. Web. 13 Nov. 2009. Bruce, F. F. “The Canon of Scripture.” Inter-Varsity. Autumn 1954: 19-22. BiblicalStudies.org. uk. March 2008. Web. 06 Nov. 2009. “Development of the Biblical Canon.” Augustine Club at Columbia University. Apologetics Toolkit. Web. 06 Nov. 2009. Kalvesmaki, Joel, comp. “The History of the Septuagint and its Terminology.” The Septuagint Online. Web. 16 Nov. 2009. Stotesberg, Cheryl. “Christianity: history of the modern Bible.” Essortment. Web. 18 Nov. 2009.