The New Testament Canon (Part 2)
Last week we began a series of posts on the development of the New Testament canon. In that post, we considered the divine authority given to the apostles by Jesus Himself. But does this extend to their words? Are they too given divine authority?
It is clear that apostles believed that their authority extended to their words. For example, consider the following passages:
1 Thessalonians 2:13 And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe.
1 Thessalonians 4:2 For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.
Note that in these passages both Paul claims that his words were the very Word of God. Therefore, their words are given by the authority of the Lord Jesus Himself. Paul’s words were not his own; Jesus was speaking through him.
Peter says something similar, and even extends this to the whole company of apostles:
2 Peter 3:1–2 Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. 2 I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.
Notice that Peter does not claim that it was only he who spoke with the authority of the Lord; it was “your apostles.” It was all the apostles who had this authority, not just Peter (and Paul). Furthermore, note that these words are put on par with the “words spoken in the past by the holy prophets” – the Old Testament!
From these passages it is clear that the authority given by Jesus to His apostles included not only their person but also their words. Furthermore, it is clear that this authority was of the same sort as that given to the Old Testament prophets. Thus the words of the apostles were of equal authority with the Old Testament Scripture.
But did this authority extend to their writings? The obvious implication is yes, but next week we will see where they claimed this specifically.
In Christ,
Bret