Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews The Dawn of Christianity Between the Testaments and the Early Church Age Lesson 3 The Sacred Writings Steve Plaster

Lesson Structure Clash of Cultures: Judaism and Hellenism People of the Book The Sacred Writings Apocryphal Literature, Messiahs, and Resurrection The Essenes and the Maccabees The Herodians, the Romans, and the Prophets Trials and Tribulations of Jesus Resurrection and the Birth of the Church Paul’s Missionary Journeys Paul’s Letters and Trials Jewish Revolt Groups and the Temple Destruction How We Got the Bible

The Old Testament canon is comprised of the 39 books which are considered “authoritative,” the “normative” which are the literature of the oral tradition, and the “extraneous” which are outside rabbinical literature. The Torah (Pentateuch) was completed between 400-350BC and in general use by 200BC. The Prophets were collected and completed between 250-200BC. The Writings were completed about 165BC and included the Book of Daniel. By 90AD, the Old Testament canon was closed at the Council of Jamnia by the rabbinic School of Hillel.

The Torah was translated into Greek in 250BC, the Prophets were translated into Greek in 132BC, and the Writings which were fluid were available in Greek by 50AD. The “normative” literature is comprised of the oral tradition identified with a group known as the Sopherim and passed on until the time of Hillel and Shammai in 90AD. This process of codifying the oral tradition became the Midrash containing the Halakah on the civil and religious law and the Haggadah or the biblical stories and ethics.

The outside rabbinical literature known as the “extraneous” consisted of the Old Testament apocrypha written from 132BC-90AD. Any book written originally after Daniel in the Persian period is considered no longer as prophecy nor canon.

The Dawn of Christianity Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews The Dawn of Christianity Between the Testaments and the Early Church Age Lesson 3 The Sacred Writings Steve Plaster