Class 2, Canon and Translation

Here are the handouts from last night's class.
Outline for Class 2: 10/13/2009: How did we get the Bible that we have?


Canon: kanon Greek word for rule. Its first meaning is the rule of faith. Only after the rule of faith was applied to the books of Scripture did the Bible itself become considered Canonical. See Harrington 17-31.



Edition: Alphabet soup: NAB, RSV, KJV, NIV, etc



Translation: We must remember that the Bible was originally written in Hebrew and Greek, so we are always at the mercy of a translator. Some examples of the original languages below.

Genesis 1:1

.`#r ~yIm:ßV'h; taeî ~yhi_l{a/ ar"äB' tyviÞarEB

Genesis 1:1 evn avrch/
evpoi,hsen o` qeo.j to.n ouvrano.n kai. th.n gh/n
(As you can tell the internet doesn't like Greek and Hebrew...)

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth,



Transmission: Textual Criticism is the discipline for coming up with the best Greek and Hebrew versions of the Bible based upon the extant manuscript evidence. There are over 5400 Greek manuscripts of the New Testament. We do not have the original letters of Paul or gospels. Rather, we have copies of copies of copies. This makes us rely upon the Church. Sola Scriptura folks have huge problems with this, but not Catholics.

Here is the second handout, these are pictures from ancient manuscripts.  I will talk about them next week.