That is precisely the point - if anyone can decide the canons for themselves, Luther included, than how do we know the actual canon? Anyone is now free to add and delete to support their own theories. If Luther has authority, than anyone has authority and then it is a free for all.
For up to 30 years after Christ’s crucifixion, no new testament was written yet, and ALL information about him was transmitted orally. So at least those Christians couldn’t say- it’s in the bible -so what did they do? (rhetorical question)
It took years for Christ’s teachings to be written down, and then several hundred years before any texts were considered official. (Council of Hippo, St. Augustine, 393, Carthage, 397).
Christians in the beginning did not have the bible alone - they depended upon oral tradition. Christ was a preacher, not a writer, and the first Christians never saw a complete bible.
“That is precisely the point - if anyone can decide the canons for themselves, Luther included, than how do we know the actual canon? “
Other than cults, who is actively deciding the Canon of the Bible today? Maybe the secular Jesus Project?
It seems you could forge a better argument than this...
“Christians in the beginning did not have the bible alone - they depended upon oral tradition. Christ was a preacher, not a writer, and the first Christians never saw a complete bible.”
And yet we do have a complete canon, and yet some still want to adhere to false tradition that invalidates that canon.
The early Christians had EXACTLY what God intended and provided at the time.
Now we have EXACTLY what God intends and provided for us.
The bigger question is, WHAT will you do with it??
Here's a non-rhetorical answer....
Acts 17:10-12 10 The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. 11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. 12 Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men.
Hmmm, now if they had no Scripture written down yet, how could they have examined the Scripture DAILY to see if these things were so? Or rather WHAT were they examining daily to see if these things were so? (not a rhetorical question)
Sure they did. It's called the Law and the Prophets.
They most certainly had what they recognized as Scripture. Jesus Himself used it to validate His mission and teachings. He used it against Satan when tempted in the wilderness.
If Luther has authority, than anyone has authority and then it is a free for all.
Luther Agreed with Jerome that the deuterocanonical were OK for reading but were not God Breathed Scripture.
Deuterocanonical means second Canon for a reason.
For up to 30 years after Christ’s crucifixion, no new testament was written yet, and ALL information about him was transmitted orally. So at least those Christians couldn’t say- it’s in the bible -so what did they do?
They had most of the Apostles still living and telling them what Jesus said. Much of the NT was penned before the 30 years your talking about.
Roman Church did declare via fiat what the New Testament included! For the New Testament, the process of the recognition and collection began in the first centuries of the Christian church. Very early on, some of the New Testament books were being recognized. Paul considered Luke’s writings to be as authoritative as the Old Testament (1 Timothy 5:18; see also Deuteronomy 25:4 and Luke 10:7). Peter recognized Paul’s writings as Scripture (2 Peter 3:15-16). Some of the books of the New Testament were being circulated among the churches (Colossians 4:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:27). Clement of Rome mentioned at least eight New Testament books (A.D. 95). Ignatius of Antioch acknowledged about seven books (A.D. 115). Polycarp, a disciple of John the apostle, acknowledged 15 books (A.D. 108). Later, Irenaeus mentioned 21 books (A.D. 185). Hippolytus recognized 22 books (A.D. 170-235). The New Testament books receiving the most controversy were Hebrews, James, 2 Peter, 2 John, and 3 John.
The first “canon” was the Muratorian Canon, which was compiled in A.D. 170. The Muratorian Canon included all of the New Testament books except Hebrews, James, and 3 John. In A.D. 363, the Council of Laodicea stated that only the Old Testament (along with the Apocrypha) and the 27 books of the New Testament were to be read in the churches. The Council of Hippo (A.D. 393) and the Council of Carthage (A.D. 397) also affirmed the same 27 books as authoritative.
The councils followed something similar to the following principles to determine whether a New Testament book was truly inspired by the Holy Spirit:
1) Was the author an apostle or have a close connection with an apostle?
2) Is the book being accepted by the body of Christ at large?
3) Did the book contain consistency of doctrine and orthodox teaching?
4) Did the book bear evidence of high moral and spiritual values that would reflect a work of the Holy Spirit?
Again, it is crucial to remember that the church did not determine the canon. No early church council decided on the canon. It was God, and God alone, who determined which books belonged in the Bible. It was simply a matter of God’s imparting to His followers what He had already decided.
The human process of collecting the books of the Bible was flawed, but God, in His sovereignty, and despite our ignorance and stubbornness, brought the early church to the recognition of the books He had inspired.
Read more: http://www.gotquestions.org/canon-Bible.html#ixzz2ZdSNDWbp
This is true at first, but it remains that Scripture was the supreme standard for obedience and testing and establishing truth claims, as is abundantly evidenced . Thus Lk. 24:44; Acts 17:3,11; 18:28; 24:23.
And the fact is that most of the writings of our Bible were established as Scripture by the time of Christ (though as today, it was not universal), and without an assuredly infallible magisterium. Your argument that we must have one to authoritatively determine what writings Scripture all consists of ignores the means by which they were established in the past (due to their qualities an attestation.
And rather than the reality RCs paint as being the result of not infallible magisterium determining the canon, the 66 book Prot canon has seen overall acceptance since early in the Reformation, and Catholicism does not see one identical canon.