Book Suggestions from the Pros

Which book or books in Logos are a helpful resource for analyzing the texts that are part of the Jewish and Christian canons of Scripture and which are not? Additionally, I want to investigate the social contexts in which certain works of literature were seen as authoritative and others as uninspired or heretical. I am not looking for exegesis of the texts in these canons. I am looking to do a social, socio rhetorical and literary analysis. It seems to me that McDonald, Craig Evans and John Collins are the major scholars on this field of study. If I am not being as in depth or irrational in my question please tell me. I have read the factbook entries on these canons. I also read some encyclopedia articles from AYBD, Hastings, Lexham Bible Dictionary. I want to go deeper but am hesitant to find more sources and make unecessary purchases. Also, I have sent in a few inter-library loans for these books below. I think they are possibly benefical to my study of the social contexts of these canons of ancient literature.

Jewish and Christian scriptures: the function of'canonical'and'non-canonical'religious texts by James H Charlesworth, Lee M McDonald

Early Biblical Interpretation by Rowan A. Greer

Ancient Jewish and Christian Scriptures: New Developments in Canon Controversy by John J. Collins, Craig A. Evans, Lee Martin McDonald

I have a copy of the following books but I have not read them yet. Are they good on my topic?

Forgotten Scriptures: The Selection and Rejection of Early Religious Writings by Lee M McDonald (print version)

The Concept of the Messiah in the Scriptures of Judaism and Christianity by Shirley Lucass (Logos version)

Christian Conceptions of Jewish Books: The Pfefferkorn Affair by Avner Shamir (print copy)

Behind the Text edited by C. Stephen Evans, Craig Bartholomew (print copy)

Pseudonymity and Canon: An Investigation into the Relationship of Authorship and Authority in Jewish and Earliest Christian Tradition by David G. Meade (print copy)

I will post my Logos searching when I get home in the morning.

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Comments

MJ. Smith

I'm not sure what you are looking for. Are you looking for why books were or were not chosen for the canons? Or are you looking for how the rejected books were used? or ... The Canon Comparison tool has a decent bibliography embedded in the list mode.

My collection of canon-setting resources in Logos:

Ridderbos, Herman. The Authority of the New Testament Scriptures. Translated by H. De Jongste. Grand Rapids, MI: The Baker Book House, 1963.
Gebreananaye, Meron T., Logan Williams, Francis Watson, and Chris Keith, eds. Beyond Canon: Early Christianity and the Ethiopic Textual Tradition. Vol. 643. Library of New Testament Studies. London; New York; Oxford; New Delhi; Sydney: T&T Clark, 2021.
Flint, Peter W., and Tae Hun Kim, eds. The Bible at Qumran: Text, Shape, and Interpretation. Studies in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Related Literature. Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2001.
McDonald, Lee Martin. The Biblical Canon: Its Origin, Transmission, and Authority. Grand Rapids, MI: Hendrickson Publishers, 2011.
Bruce, F. F. The Books and the Parchments: The Original Languages, the Canon, Transmission and How We Got Our English Bible. Revised Edition. Nashville, TN; Bath, England: Kingsley Books, 2018.
Lyons, William John. Canon and Exegesis: Canonical Praxis and the Sodom Narrative. Vol. 352. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series. London; New York: Sheffield Academic Press, 2002.
Bruce, F. F. The Canon of Scripture. Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1988.
Gaussen, L. The Canon of the Holy Scriptures: From the Double Point of View of Science and of Faith. London: James Nisbet and Co., 1862.
Warfield, Benjamin B. The Canon of the New Testament: How and When Formed. Philadelphia: American Sunday-School Union, 1892.
Alexander, Archibald. The Canon of the Old and New Testaments Ascertained, or the Bible Complete without the Apocrypha and Unwritten Traditions. Philadelphia: Presbyterian Board of Publication, 1851.
Peckham, John C. Canonical Theology: The Biblical Canon, Sola Scriptura, and Theological Method. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2016.
Evans, Craig A., Emanuel Tov, and Lee Martin McDonald, eds. Exploring the Origins of the Bible: Canon Formation in Historical, Literary, and Theological Perspective. Acadia Studies in Bible and Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008.
Müller, Mogens. The First Bible of the Church: A Plea for the Septuagint. Vol. 206. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1996.
Bokedal, Tomas. The Formation and Significance of the Christian Biblical Canon: A Study in Text, Ritual and Interpretation. London; New Delhi; New York; Sydney: Bloomsbury, 2014.
McDonald, Lee Martin. The Formation of the Biblical Canon. Vol. I & II. London; Oxford; New York; New Delhi; Sydney: Bloomsbury; Bloomsbury T&T Clark: An Imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2017.
Lim, Timothy H. The Formation of the Jewish Canon. Edited by John J. Collins. The Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library. New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2013.
Williams, James B., and Randolph Shaylor, eds. From the Mind of God to the Mind of Man: A Layman’s Guide to How We Got Our Bible. Greenville, SC; Belfast, Northern Ireland: Ambassador-Emerald International, 1999.
Breen, A. E. A General Introduction to the Study of Holy Scripture. Second Edition. Rochester, NY: John P. Smith Printing Company, 1908.
Gigot, Francis Ernest. General Introduction to the Study of the Holy Scriptures. New York; Cincinnati; Chicago: Benziger Brothers, 1900.
Burkitt, F. Crawford. The Gospel History and Its Transmission. Third Edition. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1911.
Bird, Michael F. The Gospel of the Lord: How the Early Church Wrote the Story of Jesus. Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2014.
Watson, Francis. Gospel Writing: A Canonical Perspective. Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2013.
Carbajosa, Ignacio, Paul Stevenson, and Adrian Schenker. Hebraica Veritas versus Septuaginta Auctoritatem: Does a Canonical Text of the Old Testament Exist?. Eugene, Oregon: Pickwick Publications, 2024.
Carson, D. A., and John D. Woodbridge, eds. Hermeneutics, Authority, and Canon. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2005.
Allert, Craig D. A High View of Scripture?: The Authority of the Bible and the Formation of the New Testament Canon. Edited by D. H. Williams. Evangelical Ressourcement. Grand Rapids, MI: BakerAcademic, 2007.
Reuss, Eduard Wilhelm Eugen. History of the Sacred Scriptures of the New Testament. Translated by Edward L. Houghton. Vol. I & II. Boston; New York; Cambridge: Houghton, Mifflin and Company; The Riverside Press, 1884.
Sumner, Tracy Macon. How Did We Get the Bible?. Uhrichsville, OH: Barbour Books, 2009.
Hays, J. Daniel, and J. Scott Duvall. How the Bible Came to Be (ebook Shorts). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2012.
Smith, Charles Merrill, and James W. Bennett. How the Bible Was Built. Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2005.
Byrum, E. E. How We Got Our Bible. James L. Fleming, 2005.
Thomas, William. How We Got Our Bible. Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2013.
Thomas, W. H. Griffith. How We Got Our Bible and Why We Believe It Is God’s Word. Chicago: Moody Press, 1926.
Lightfoot, Neil R. How We Got the Bible. Third Edition, Revised and Expanded. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2003.
Publishing, Rose. How We Got the Bible. Torrance, CA: Rose Publishing, 2011.
Porter, Stanley E. How We Got the New Testament: Text, Transmission, Translation. Edited by Lee Martin McDonald and Craig A. Evans. Acadia Studies in Bible and Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2013.
Patzia, Arthur G. The Making of the New Testament: Origin, Collection, Text & Canon. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1995.
Patzia, Arthur G. The Making of the New Testament: Origin, Collection, Text & Canon. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2011.
Hahneman, Geoffrey Mark. The Muratorian Fragment and the Development of the Canon. Oxford Theological Monographs. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992.
Theissen, Gerd. The New Testament: A Literary History. Translated by Linda M. Maloney. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2012.
McDonald, Lee Martin, and James H. Charlesworth, eds. “Non-Canonical” Religious Texts in Early Judaism and Early Christianity. Jewish and Christian Texts in Contexts and Related Studies. London; New Delhi; New York; Sydney: Bloomsbury, 2013.
Evans, Craig A. Of Scribes and Sages : Early Jewish Interpretation and Transmission of Scripture: Ancient Versions and Traditions. Vol. 50–51; 9–10. Library of Second Temple Studies; Studies in Scripture in Early Judaism and Christianity. London: T & T Clark International, 2004.
Evans, Craig A. Of Scribes and Sages : Early Jewish Interpretation and Transmission of Scripture: Later Versions and Traditions. Vol. 50–51; 9–10. Library of Second Temple Studies; Studies in Scripture in Early Judaism and Christianity. London: T & T Clark International, 2004.
Beckwith, Roger T. The Old Testament Canon of the New Testament Church and Its Background in Early Judaism. London: SPCK, 1985.
Saebo, Magne. On the Way to Canon: Creative Tradition History in the Old Testament. Vol. 191. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series. Sheffield: Sheffied Academic Press, 1998.
Comfort, Philip Wesley, ed. The Origin of the Bible. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale, 2004.
McDonald, Lee Martin. The Origin of the Bible: A Guide for the Perplexed. London; New York: T&T Clark, 2011.
Wrede, William. The Origin of the New Testament. Translated by James S. Hill. Harper’s Library of Living Thought. London; New York: Harper & Brothers, 1909.
Charlesworth, James H., Lee Martin McDonald, and Blake A. Jurgens, eds. Sacra Scriptura: How “Non-Canonical” Texts Functioned in Early Judaism and Early Christianity. Vol. 20. Jewish and Christian Texts in Contexts and Related Studies. London; New Delhi; New York; Sydney: Bloomsbury, 2014.
Meade, John D., and Peter J. Gurry. Scribes and Scripture: The Amazing Story of How We Got the Bible. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2022.
Hengel, Martin, Roland Deines, and Mark E. Biddle. The Septuagint as Christian Scripture : Its Prehistory and the Problem of Its Canon. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 2002.
Souter, Alexander. The Text and Canon of the New Testament. Studies in Theology. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1913.
Hill, Charles E. Who Chose the Books of the New Testament?. Edited by D. A. Carson. Questions for Restless Minds. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2022.

Christian Alexander

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1304236#Comment_1304236

I keep forgetting about the canon comparison tool. I cannot get it on web app not sure why. I may not be looking in the right place. I cannot seem to find it anywhere. I am looking to determine the ways Non-Canonical texts functioned in Early Judaism and Early Christianity and how the rejected books were used in Early Judaism and Early Christianity.

Charlesworth, James H., Lee Martin McDonald, and Blake A. Jurgens, eds. Sacra Scriptura: How “Non-Canonical” Texts Functioned in Early Judaism and Early Christianity. Vol. 20. Jewish and Christian Texts in Contexts and Related Studies. London; New Delhi; New York; Sydney: Bloomsbury, 2014.

This looks particularly important.

Graham Criddle

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1304275#Comment_1304275

I keep forgetting about the canon comparison tool. I cannot get it on web app not sure why. I may not be looking in the right place. I cannot seem to find it anywhere

It is only available in the desktop app

Christian Alexander

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1304275#Comment_1304275

I am looking to determine the ways Non-Canonical texts functioned in Early Judaism and Early Christianity and how the rejected books were used in Early Judaism and Early Christianity

Based on my refined area of analysis what is a good way to mine my Logos search for good results. Is it true that this symbol * functions as a wild card in Logos? I used the following search strings

Non-canonical OR Extra-biblical NEAR Function OR Use OR Usage

Non-canonical OR Extra-biblical NEAR Reject

MJ. Smith

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1304348#Comment_1304348

Try

(Non-canonical OR Extra-biblical) NEAR (Function OR Use OR Usage)

(Non-canonical OR Extra-biblical) NEAR Reject

although I doubt they will get you far ...I'd need to play around to find the terms most likely to work. However I have just read (99+) Enoch and Jubilees in the Canon of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church | Leslie Baynes - Academia.edu which is very relevant to your concerns.

Christian Alexander

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1304361#Comment_1304361

Those searches got me a total of 53 hits instead of the 17 I was getting. Thank you for that. I am going to read the paper you cited above right now. Thank you once again.

Christian Alexander

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1304361#Comment_1304361

Thank you very much. Those new searches helped a bit as they got me to 53 hits. I will assess those later. I think you are correct on the article. That looks good going to read it now.