Think Biblically: Conversations on Faith & Culture

How Did We Get the Bible We Have Today? (with Michael Kruger)

Nov 2, 2023

Michael Kruger, an internationally known New Testament scholar, discusses the formation of the New Testament canon and the confidence we have in the books we have today. They explore the evolution of the canon discussion, the debate over including certain books, the role of the Holy Spirit in recognizing the canon, addressing doubts about the New Testament content, and recommended resources to understand the reliability of the Bible.

33:59

Creator website

Episode guests

Michael Kruger

AI Summary

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

The formation of the New Testament canon was not a top-down decision but an organic process based on the recognition of apostolic authority.

The study of the canon of scripture has seen a growing interest, especially from evangelical perspectives, resulting in an expanding knowledge and contribution by evangelicals.

Deep dives

Formation of the New Testament Canon

The podcast episode explores the process of how the New Testament canon was formed. It discusses the questions of how the Bible we have today came to be, who decided which books were included, and on what basis. The guest, Dr. Mike Kruger, a New Testament scholar, shares his personal journey into studying the New Testament canon and highlights the importance of understanding its formation. It emphasizes the connection between the authorship of the books and their recognition as authoritative, as the books were written by those authorized to speak for Jesus. The overall message is that the formation of the New Testament canon was not a top-down decision, but rather an organic process guided by the recognition of apostolic authority.

Introduction

3min

The Evolution of the Canon Discussion

17min

Debate and Disagreement Over the Inclusion of Certain Books in the Bible

3min

The Role of the Holy Spirit in Canon Recognition

6min

Addressing Doubts about the Content of the New Testament

2min

Recommendation for Understanding the Canon of the Bible

2min

How did we get the specific books of Bible that we hold in our hands today? Who decided and on what basis? How was the New Testament originally formed? How can we have confidence we have the right books today? These are just a few of the questions Scott discusses with our guest, Dr. Michael Kruger, one of the leading contemporary NT scholars who specializing in the formation of the NT canon.

Dr. Michael Kruger is an internationally known New Testament scholar, President and Samuel C. Patterson Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Reformed Theological Seminary, Charlotte campus. He is the author of 11 books and numerous articles and blogs regularly on his site, Canon Fodder.

Read a transcript of this episode at https://www.biola.edu/blogs/think-biblically/2023/how-did-we-get-the-bible-we-have-today.

==========

Think Biblically: Conversations on Faith and Culture is a podcast from Talbot School of Theology at Biola University, which offers degrees both online and on campus in Southern California.

Find all episodes of Think Biblically at: https://www.biola.edu/think-biblically.
Watch video episodes at: https://bit.ly/think-biblically-video.

To submit comments, ask questions, or make suggestions on issues you'd like us to cover or guests you'd like us to have on the podcast, email us at thinkbiblically@biola.edu.

Get the Snipd
podcast app

Unlock the knowledge in podcasts with the podcast player of the future.

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode

Save any
moment

Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways

Share
& Export

Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more