The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown by Andreas J. Köstenberger, Charles L Quarles Read Free Book Online

publication (Trobisch argued for Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, and Galatians as this first level). Second, after the author's death these editions were expanded, and other editions were published from known letters of the author. Third, eventually all the editions were combined into a comprehensive edition. One of the reasons for this separation is that Galatians is shorter than Ephesians yet before it in the canonical arrangement. Trobisch saw this as evidence of the end of the original letter collection. But J. Murphy-O'Connor ( Paul the Letter Writer: His World, His Options, His Skills [Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1995], 120–30) rightly noted that there were ways of measurement available to scribes other than the number of characters (such as the number of lines) that show very similar lengths for Galatians and Ephesians, and Colossians and Philippians, respectively.
    86 Porter, Pauline Canon , 115–21.
    87 Gamble, Books and Readers , 51–52.
    88 Gamble (ibid., 62–65) has even promoted the idea that the Pauline letter collection actually occasioned the Christian preference for the codex format. He is followed to some extent by Richards ( Paul and First-Century Letter Writing , 223).
    89 Trobisch, Paul's Letter Collection , 22–24.
    90 Dunn, “How the New Testament Began,” 137: “The de facto canon of Jesus and Paul, gospel and epistle, was already functioning with effect within the first thirty years of Christianity's existence.”
    91 John, it is stated, knew the other Gospels. See Eusebius ( Eccl. Hist . 3.24.7)—identified by C. E. Hill (“What Papias Said About John (and Luke): A ‘New’ Papian Fragment,” JTS 2 [1998]: 582–629) as a fragment of Papias—who wrote, “John welcomed the three previous Gospels, which had been distributed to all, including himself, and testified to their truth, noting they omitted the first ministry.” Another legend regarding John is found in a fragment of Origen that he claimed came from an “old writing.” Commenting on the preface to Luke, he reports that “John collected the written Gospels in his own lifetime in the reign of Nero and approved of and recognized those of which the deceit of the devil had not taken possession; but refused and rejected those which he perceived were not truthful” (Origen, Hom. Luke 1 fr. 9).
    92 Ferguson, “Factors Leading to the Selection and Closure of the New Testament Canon,” 304.
    93 Trobisch, First Edition , 103. Others include C. R. Gregory, Canon and Text of the New Testament (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1907), 467–68.
    94 This order is essentially found in the Muratorian Canon and Eusebius. See R. Bauckham, James: Wisdom of James, Disciple of Jesus the Sage , New Testament Readings (London/New York: Routledge, 1999), 115–16.
    95 Bruce, Canon , 243–46.
    96 The International Bible Society has issued a version of the TNIV called “the books of the Bible” that radically rearranges the NT. In a bold move the committee removed the chapter and verse divisions of Robert Estienne (a.k.a. Stephanus) who introduced them in the fourth edition of his Greek NT in 1551 (see P. D. Wegner, The Journey from Texts to Translations: The Origin and Development of the Bible [Grand Rapids: Baker, 1999], 269). Only the range is indicated at the bottom of the page. The NT begins with Luke-Acts, followed by a somewhat curious arrangement of Paul's letters; Matthew is next, and then Hebrews and James; Mark is followed by 1–2 Peter and Jude; and John by 1–3 John and Revelation.
    97 See Trobisch, First Edition , 97–98.
    98 “Length” may not necessarily be a function of word count but pertain to the number of lines or some other form of measurement (Porter, “Pauline Canon,” 115).
    99 Regarding the question of development in Paul's theology, see chap. 21 below.
    100 See R. Bauckham, The Theology of the Book of Revelation , New Testament Theology (Cambridge: University Press, 1993), 144: “It is a work of Christian