Hello, my name is Pastor Dave Parker, and I have a member who believes in the Apocrypha, which is th
Hello, my name is Pastor Dave Parker, and I have a member who believes in the Apocrypha, which is the additional books which are not considered canon. And I’m trying to locate information on the canon, like how it was established and the dates it was made authoritative, please? I do have a logos gold but I don’t know how to use it correctly. Please, if you could help me get the information I need ASAP.
Best,
Pastor Dave
Hi Pastor Dave,
You could pull your library up and search for "canon" and see if it produces any resources in your library. In my library, F.F. Bruce has a book on the subject, as do Archibald Alexander and B.B. Warfield.
You can also pull up any systematic theologies in your library and they may have some treatment of the canonicity of Scripture.
You can also check any Bible dictionaries for an entry of the term "canon" as well.
Go to Michael Kruger's blog, Canon Fodder: 
Home - Canon Fodder
He's an authority on the NT Canon.
Robert
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Windows 11 -- Max
Unfortunately, this is an area where much misinformation is repeated by the best of scholars. This is not so much trying to push a particular stance but rather a repeating of information they believe to be accurate because it has been reported as true for so many centuries. Unless you consider the Council of Trent in 1546 to be an ecumenical council - a debatable position as it occurred after the great schism - the canon of scripture has NEVER had a universally accepted definition. In addition, St. Jerome's strongest argument for the Masoretic canon was severely undercut by the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
A most basic text that gives a firm grasp of the majority side of the canon is
A solid history of a variety of positions is provided by
A brief overview (with a couple of errors) is provided by the interactive by Evans, Eli. Canon Comparison. Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2014. in Logos
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
Note while is a book worth reading, it is New Testament in its orientation and therefore, doesn't answer your question relating to the aporcrypha/deuterocanonicals.
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
I appreciate dynamic pricing. I was able to get the first book you linked to, @MJ. Smith, with around 40 other resources for less than what it would cost me to buy the book by itself. Studying the formation of the canon can challenge the preconceived notions some of us grew to believe. Before I discovered Anglicanism, I loved the Book but did not have much interest in those who gave it to us. I also didn’t know or care much about the disciples of the Apostles. My world has changed and I am better for it.
Personally, I think Pastor Dave should just ask his member why the Apocrypha? Useful? Historical? Traditional? Inspired or? The whole subject gets mixed up in 'what exactly is a canon'? Or 'what is authoritative?' Or 'exactly how … ?'
"If myth is ideology in narrative form, then scholarship is myth with footnotes." B. Lincolm 1999.