Today I wanna talk about the canon of the Hebrew Bible.
Again, when I say “canon”, I’m referring to those books of the Bible that have been officially recognized as being genuine and inspired.
In discussing this topic, the first issue we have to deal with is another big time falsity promoted by modern Christianity.
Ironically, even though the “Old” Testament came before the New Testament (obviously), the history of how its canon was decided and put into place is actually easier to analyze and prove.
But first, what Christian falsehood am I talking about?
Well, according to the Christian position, they say the “Old” Testament canon was decided about 20 years after the Romans destroyed Jerusalem at around 90 A.D.
Based on their concocted story, one quiet day in the tiny village of Jamnia, a bunch of Rabbis who had been keeping themselves undercover after the destruction of Jerusalem gathered together and it was during this meeting that the canon of the Hebrew Bible was determined.
This story is a bunch of booooooooool sheeeeeeeeeeeeeet for a variety of reasons.
All one has to do is examine the other Jewish writings that detail what went on at this council and you’ll see that these Rabbis met to discuss multiple issues and not just those dealing with Scripture.
In fact, the only major issue concerning Scripture that was discussed was whether or not to include the books of Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon in the canon.
And there isn’t any solid record or proof that a conclusion was reached on the issue of those two books.
All we can really know for sure is that the Rabbis met and argued for the merit of these two books.
Honestly, the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls should have been the final death blow to the ridiculous Christian assertion that the canon of the “Old” Testament wasn’t put together until after Yeshua came.
But unfortunately it takes a long time for old ways of thinking and agendas to die.
Here are two indisputable facts we know about about the Dead Sea Scrolls.
FACT ONE:
They were written around 100 B.C.
FACT TWO:
In the Dead Sea Scrolls, every book of the “Old” Testament was discovered except for Esther and Nehemiah.
But we don’t need just the Dead Sea Scrolls to debunk the modern Christian position.
The historian Josephus informs us that by his generation (around the time of Yeshua and the destruction of the Temple), the canon of the Hebrew Bible had loooooooooooooooooooooong been fixed at 22 books.
I’m well aware that number is different than the modern count of 39 books but we have to keep in mind that several books such as Kings and Chronicles were divided up by gentile editors because they were so long.
And other books such as the Psalms and Proverbs were separated based on their literature type.
But wait, I’m not done.
How about we go back even further to the first Greek translation of TANAKH known as the Septuagint?
That took place around 250 B.C. and you wanna know what?
That’s right homies.
Every book of the “Old” Testament that we now study and love and revere was included in that translation.
Don’t get me wrong.
I’m not saying there wasn’t any furious debate about whether to add or subtract a book here or there.
Of course there was!
We have records that such heated discussion did take place.
But so what and who cares?
My whole point is that every book of the “Old” Testament was in existence and considered Holy Scripture by the Jewish people a heck of a lot earlier than 250 B.C.
What’s that you say?
Oh, you were wondering about all the other Hebrew religious books that were in existence at the time?
Well, here’s the thing.
These other writings, although not accorded the same merit as the Hebrew Bible, were placed right next to it.
They may not have carried the same weight as the Tanak, but their content was considered both valid and inspired!
Think of it like this.
The Book of Deuteronomy was positioned right next to but not inside the Ark that contained the 10 Words of God.
Well, in the same way, the other religious writings known as the Apocrypha were placed “next to” the Hebrew Bible by the Hebrews but were deemed not to be of equal weight to them.
They were considered inspired but just not inspired enough to be on the same level as “Holy Scripture”.
And I would say the exact same thing applies to the New Testament as well.
That’s right.
Do I consider the New Testament to be on the same level as the Hebrew Bible (AKA the “Old” Testament)?
Are you freakin’ kidding me?!
HEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLL NO!
This is something we’ll get into the next time we meet.
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