A common objection from Protestants on the Canon of Scripture is that “the Jews gave us the Canon, yet we disagree with them theologically– therefore we can take the Jewish OT canon and reject their Theological errors”.
However, the premise that the Early Christians received a Canon from the Jews is false. As stated before, from Lee Martin Mcdonald’s book The Biblical Canon. Mcdonald rightly states that the OT Canon and the concept of a closed list of authoritative texts;
The notion of a standard or a rule eventually led to the formation of a closed canon of authoritative writings (Scriptures) which, as Sundberg argues, was unique for the church since it had not received a closed canon of Scriptures from Judaism. The church, then, inherited from Judaism the notion of sacred Scriptures, but not a closed canon of Scriptures.
McDonald, Lee Martin. 2006. The Biblical Canon: Its Origin, Transmission, and Authority. Baker Academic. (p.54-55)
I’m not sure where this idea of Christians inheriting a OT canon from the Jews, possibly assumed since Protestants side with the Masoretic Text. Which has it’s origin from the Jews in contrast to the Septuagint which was adopted by the Early Christians.
Home 