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RE: NT canonical expansion
Several important factors, some of which have been mentioned already in this
thread, speak against reopening the canon of the New Testament. In fact, this
is the appropriate way to approach the matter--reopening the canon rather than
expanding it. If we reopen the canon, there is just as much justification for
questioning some of the documents already contained in it as for considering
the inclusion of documents left out. Such reopening would be unwise and
unproductive. Whatever my personal confession about the status of the present
formulation of the New Testament, my objection to this is primarily pragmatic.
The New Testament is a document common to the vast majority of Christians. On
practical grounds, for better or worse, it is a document fixed by the concensus
of early Christians and transmitted to their successors. All attempts to reopen
the debates of the second through fourth centuries, such as Luther's gradation
of the NT documents according to his own theological criteria, have been
unsuccessful. The same will be the fate of any such contemporary effort. It
can only lead to the shattering of concensus. If the NT loses the common
commitment of the community of faith, it loses its authority and becomes simply
an ancient collection of even earlier documents.
Warren
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