The Question of Canon

Challenging the Status Quo in the New Testament Debate

De: Michael J. Kruger

Narrado por: Brian P. Craig

Did the New Testament canon arise naturally from within the early Christian faith? Were the books written as Scripture, or did they become Scripture? Why did early Christians have a canon at all?

These are the types of questions that led Michael J. Kruger to pick apart modern scholarship's dominant view that the New Testament is a late creation of the church imposed on books originally written for another purpose. Calling into question this commonly held "extrinsic" view, Kruger tackles the five most prevalent objections to the classic understanding of a collection of authoritative scriptures.

Kruger addresses foundational and paradigmatic assumptions of the extrinsic model as he provides powerful rebuttals and further support for the classic, "intrinsic" view.

Unlike many books written on the emergence of the New Testament canon that ask "when?" or "how?" Kruger focuses this work on the "why?"—exposing weaknesses in the five major tenets of the extrinsic model as he goes. While The Question of Canon scrutinizes today's popular scholastic view, it also offers an alternative concept to lay a better empirical foundation for biblical canon studies.

©2013 Michael J. Kruger (P)2022 Tantor

Excellent read!

Excellent read! Well thought out and supported arguments that are absent the mudslinging towards opposing positions. Well done.

Logical and biblical

A great scholarly, biblical and logical treatment of the origin of the canon. Highly recommended.

Effectively argues for the early establishment of the NT Canon

Thoroughly refutes the Bauer/Ehrmann claims about the diversity of the Christian faith in the first few centuries and the notion that the N.T. Canon was dictated by church edict. The Bible was not created by the Church, the Church was created through the Bible.

Sound argumentation

The book clearly and concisely lays out argumentation for intrinsic, ontological as well as extrinsic development of canon. The narrator navigates the work quite well.

Good partial introduction

The book does not address all issues pertaining to the question of canon, neither does it pretend to. If the specific issue of WHY we have any canon at all (not the issue of WHICH books were included) interests you, then I recommend this book as a solid introduction.

Some warnings: the book includes a lot of parenthetical biblical citations that are all read by the narrator—this can be distracting and often disrupts the flow of the author’s argument; the narrator’s voice is a bit nasally—may not be for everyone; the author asks A LOT of rhetorical questions—probably won’t be a problem for anyone else, but it bothered me just a little.

Overall, I’m glad I listened to this audiobook and am grateful to the author and narrator for their hard work in producing this helpful resource.