J.E. Solinski
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Books
  • About
  • Contact
  • Resources
  • My Favs!

CRAAP Test, Part 5 . . . Authority

6/24/2023

0 Comments

 
Picture
Who are these guys?  

One of the first questions we often ask ourselves (or should ask ourselves) when reading any non-fiction book is —  who is this author and is he or she an authority on the subject. The author’s credibility is most often linked to his or her qualifications to speak on the subject and our willingness to believe him/her.

So what do we do with the 40 writers of the Bible?




This was not an easy question, neither for those "canonizers" of the Old Testament and even more so for those of the New. Both, however, started from the same point—that the ultimate author of the Bible was God: All Scripture is breathed out by God . . . (2 Timothy 3:16). From there, it was a mater of creating a “measuring stick” (canon in the Greek) by which to test each book.

Though little is written about the canonization of the Old Testament, there seemed to be universal acceptance of those books included, primarily because of the care the scribes compiling the canon took into account:

     *The reputation of each book’s human author

     *Doctrines and statements within a given manuscript that conflict with the clear teachings of established biblical writings

     *Historical inaccuracies and/or spurious prophetic utterances that would cast a shadow of doubt on a manuscript

     *A book’s widespread acceptance or rejection by respected scholars

Even the Jewish historian Josephus mentions these books as “containing the history of all time, books that are justly believed in.” (Process of deciding the Old Testament canon)

The New Testament canon took a bit more time, going through four councils until the “measuring stick” was ultimately decided in AD 393:

*First, each book was written by an apostle or one closely associated with an apostle.
    
*Second, the contents of these books were revelatory in nature.
    
*Third, these books were universally recognized by the church in their teaching and preaching ministry.
   
*Fourth, these books were considered inspired because they bore the marks of inspiration. (Canon)

Again, many would argue against the Bible as being divine because of the difficulty in agreeing on what books should be included and because of their fallible human authors. But, as always, we must come back to the truth of the matter. Who is the ultimate author? And as one source said. “The human process of collecting the books of the Bible was flawed, but God, in His sovereignty, and despite our ignorance and stubbornness, brought the early church to the recognition of the books He had inspired.” (How was the canon . . .)

Join me next week for the final CRAAP criteria—Purpose.





0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Jody Eileen Solinski spent her career teaching in the California public school system where she enjoyed helping young adults take their place in society. A native Californian, she enjoys the outdoors and so loves living in Northern California where she can enjoy the beauty of God’s creation up close.

    Picture
    Subscribe

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015

    Categories

    All
    Anger
    Appreciation
    Art
    Attitude
    Balance
    Beauty
    Belief
    Books
    Bravery
    Bullies
    Calm
    Change
    Christian Bloggers
    Christian Living
    Christmas
    Cleansing
    Conflict
    Consistency
    Coronavirus
    Costs
    Demands
    Disappointment
    Discontent
    Easter
    End Times
    Evil
    Faith
    Fatigue
    Fear
    Fires
    Focus
    Foolishness
    Forgiveness
    Frustration
    God's Protection
    God's Sovereignty
    God's Timing
    Good Intentions
    Grace
    Grief
    Healing
    Hell
    Holy Spirit
    Hopes
    Hymns
    Hypocrisy
    Ingenuity
    Isolation
    Jesus
    Legacies
    Listening
    Love
    Memories
    Money
    Mornings
    Mothers
    Music
    New Years
    Opportunities
    Order
    Pain
    Patience
    Peace
    Perfection
    Perseverance
    Perspective
    Prayer
    Pressure
    Promises
    Purpose
    Readiness
    Reading
    Reduction
    Refreshed
    Relationship
    Relevance
    Relief
    Remembering
    Renewed
    Reset
    Rest
    Sacrifice
    Salvation
    Science
    Seeing
    Self-Centeredness
    Service
    Sin
    Sleep
    Spiritual Diet
    Spiritual Life
    Storms
    Strength
    Suffering
    Summer
    Talents
    Temptation
    Thanksgiving
    The Bible
    The Tongue
    Troubles
    Trust
    Truth
    Unity
    Water
    Weaknesses
    Wise Counsel
    Worry
    Writing
    Youth

J.E. Solinski ©2015