Abstract
Having dedicated much of his scholarly career to the study of the biblical canon’s formation, Lee Martin McDonald devotes this recent work to the ‘authorities’ that guided and shaped Christianity in the early centuries. Recognizing that the formation of the Christian canon was a lengthy process, McDonald explores the intriguing question of ‘how [early] churches survived and even grew despite the lack of a clear collection of its first scriptures [the OT] and no formed New Testament until centuries later’ (p. ix).
The volume begins with a well-informed treatment of the background and history of early Christianity. The first chapter accounts for the Jewish origin of the faith and explores the major causes for its eventual separation from Judaism. This is followed in the second chapter with a discussion of the unique challenges and hardships facing early Christians. McDonald makes the observation that Christians did not respond to these challenges by producing a canon of scripture, but by appealing to the core doctrines that had long been recognized (p. 64).
McDonald then turns his attention to the various ‘authorities’ which he understands to have guided, informed, and shaped Christian worship and teaching in the early centuries. His treatment considers the lasting influence of the teaching of Jesus, the role of the Hebrew writings, and apostolic instruction in the life of the early church (Chapter Three) as well as influences such as the Episcopate, traditions and creeds, the Rule of Faith, and early songs and hymns (Chapter Four). A number of textual witnesses from the early church are then discussed in the fifth chapter that provide insight about ‘the actual or operative scriptures of the early churches’ (p. 117). Chapter Six builds upon the previous chapter with a treatment of ‘ancient artifacts’ that testify to the early use of the canonical writings. This includes the use of nomina sacra, early translations, the outcomes of the church councils, and various canonical lists. The final chapter explores the thorny issue of pseudepigraphy. McDonald contends that ‘content, usefulness, and coherence with community beliefs apparently took priority over authorship’ (p. 191) in the earliest period of church history and that Christians at this time did not generally have the same ethical objections to the practice as Christians in later centuries. Greater emphasis was placed on apostolic authorship by the fourth and fifth centuries, he concludes, though a number of inauthentic works had already been widely recognized as authoritative scripture by this time.
In sum, the volume provides a useful survey of a broad range of subjects that relate to the life and teaching of the early church. Not all will agree with McDonald’s perspectives on significant issues such as the early reception and influence of the canonical writings or the factors that prompted their recognition, the degree to which certain noncanonical works were embraced as scripture, or with his depiction of early Christian attitudes about pseudepigraphy. Despite this, the work is sure provoke discussion regarding the degree to which early Christians were shaped and formed by scripture and other ‘authorities.’