Product Description

This is the thoroughly updated and expanded third edition of the successful The Formation of the Christian Biblical Canon. It represents a fresh attempt to understand some of the many perplexing questions related to the origins and canonicity of the Bible.

"What is the origin of our Bible? Who chose the books to be included in our Bible? When were the last discussions on the contents of our Bible? How do we find God's Word and what constitutes 'the Bible'? Such questions are fascinating to many in western culture. L. M. McDonald is the premiere authority on all these crucial questions. He demonstrates that no early council defined or limited the canon. For Jews discussions of the canon continued long after Jamnia (in the first century CE) and into the sixth century. For many Christians the question of canon and its limits continue unabated. McDonald's masterpiece is the place to begin exploring informed answers to all these questions."
--Professor James H. Charlesworth, George L. Collord Professor of New Testament Language and Literature and Director of the Princeton Seminary Dead Sea Scrolls Project Princeton Theological Seminary

"Lee McDonald's magnum opus is the fair fruit of a lifetime's labor. His is an updated and fluent historical reconstruction of the canonical process, marked by the careful consideration of the real evidence that encourages a more precise discussion of the history and idea of a Christian biblical canon. Not only does McDonald seek to understand the complex and variegated phenomena of canon formation within the social worlds of both Judaism and earliest Christianity, he is ever alert to the serious theological and hermeneutical questions his discussion engenders about the nature and role of Scripture within today's faith community. While McDonald's conclusions will surely be debated, no scholar or student interested in these important matters will be unable to neglect his fine book."
--Rob Wall, Professor of the Christian Scriptures, Paul T. Walls Chair in Wesleyan Studies, Seattle Pacific University

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #136826 in Books
• Published on: 2007-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 546 pages

About the Author
Lee Martin McDonald is Professor of New Testament Studies and President of Acadia Divinity College in Nova Scotia, Canada. He is also the co-author of The Canon Debate and Early Christianity and Its Sacred Literature.

Customer Reviews

A Long Needed Perspective
McDonald's book has been judged by many biblical scholars to be a good contribution to the historical inquiry about the origins of the Bible. It is not written from a spiritual perspective nor from the position of biblical inerrancy, which not only gets in the way of a careful historical inquiry and it (inerrancy) is also impossible to defend from a bibical and historical perspective. Inerrancy is a matter of faith and cannot be demonstrated either from the data of Scripture or from the ancient artifacts that remain such as the biblical manuscripts that have survived antiquity and also from the early church's practice of copying the scriptures and their making changes to the sacred texts (both accidental and intentional changes). Those who evaluate books only on the basis of whether the books support their views of biblical inerrancy have limited their focus and demonstrated their inability to review a book criticially and on the book's own merit.

Liberal Perspective
McDonald does not believe in biblical inerrancy, therefore the basis of his approach is from the broader scope of all who claimed to be Jewish or Christian, not just those who followed the orthodox tenants of Christianity. For those seeking a broad understanding of the genre and culture of those early centuries, McDonald has done a solid job of giving it. However, his work, by denying the supernatural involvement of the Holy Spirit in the canon's formation, will not prove helpful to the majority of evangelical students of the biblical canon.

Do not buy this book for a book review
McDonald denies the inerancy of scripture. He attempts to "dance around" and suggest that mere inquries into the tranmission and origin of scripture somehow affects its authority. This book is long, dull, and difficult to interact with in a review. If you are attempting to defend the authority of scripture, it may do well to read it (to get an opposing view). My advice is to pick another book.