“Antilegomena” is a word that appears more often in New Testament studies than it does in those of the Hebrew Bible. Still, it’s an important part of the discussion of “the Bible,” especially since Heaven stands at the end. Antilegomena is the Greek word for “disputed texts.” You see, when the Bible was being compiled, there were many books from which to choose. The twenty-seven books generally recognized as the New Testament included several that were disputed. The Antilegomena included these books: the Gospel of the Hebrews, the Apocalypse of Peter, the Acts of Paul, the Shepherd of Hermas, the Epistle of Barnabas, and the Didache, all fine and good. But the list continues: James, Jude, Hebrews, 2 and 3 John, and Revelation. This final half-dozen made the cut, although Revelation is still disputed in some quarters. All of these books were, however, in some early Christians’ Bibles. The exact date that the New Testament canon was fixed isn’t certain, but it wasn’t widely recognized until the fourth century C.E., that is, over 300 years after Jesus.
The first time I learned about canonization in college I was shocked.Like most people raised on the Bible, I believed that it had come, fully written, from the hand of God.Maybe there was even an autographed copy somewhere.Grove City College, at the time, disputed the Documentary Hypothesis of J, E, D, and P, but to the credit of the religion department they did tell us about it.Moses, of course, we were taught, did the actual writing.But then there was the problem of the New Testament.There were other gospels, some as old as those that made it into the Bible.The realization dawned that “the Bible” was much more complicated than I had been led to believe.And what was up with the Apocrypha?
One of my professors said that the problem with inerrancy is that it proposed a Bible more perfect than God.I’m not sure that I follow the logic there, but I take his point (they were all “he”s, whoever he was).The Bible may not be a perfect book There are parts missing and repeated bits.It is nevertheless one of many sacred books from around the world, and it is the holy book of much of Christianity.From the very beginning some of the contents were disputed.Even as an undergraduate I had some inklings that a journey that involved taking the Bible seriously was going to lead to some strange places.That single book that had always been presented to me with a definite article—“the” Bible—was actually a book that the earliest followers of Jesus didn’t know.And they seem to have got along fine, as far as getting to Heaven goes.
