Biblical Canon?

[WilliamL]

 

...Then we come to the NT, and Jesus mentions the Jewish divisions of scripture many times, further affirming the canon. Jesus did not criticize but affirmed the scriptures meaning the absence of the book of Jasher and Enoch from canonized scripture did not concern Jesus or even be worthy of a mention.

 

These are arguments by presumption. Yes, Jesus affirmed what was in the Jewish canon. But you cannot presume from this that Jesus did not accept any other writing, Hebrew or non-Hebrew, as being divinely inspired. That would be a fallacy of logic. Does Jesus reject the Book of Revelation because it was written in koine Greek? Of course not.

 

Likewise, it is presumptive to say that "the absence of the book of Jasher and Enoch from canonized scripture did not concern Jesus." The Lord has always worked among men according to their own personal and cultural limitations. One cannot say that such wasn't the case here, in respect to the writings acknowledged by the Jews as being divinely inspired. He would have been working within their own cultural limitations, which were sufficient in themselves to carry out his ministry. He would not have held them accountable to other writings with which they were not familiar. However, it is quite possible that he was concerned about a hardness of heart of their ancestors that had limited their knowledge of divinely inspired writings. Respecting which of these views is correct, we'll have to wait to ask him.

[Qnts2]

 

 

...Then we come to the NT, and Jesus mentions the Jewish divisions of scripture many times, further affirming the canon. Jesus did not criticize but affirmed the scriptures meaning the absence of the book of Jasher and Enoch from canonized scripture did not concern Jesus or even be worthy of a mention.

 

These are arguments by presumption. Yes, Jesus affirmed what was in the Jewish canon. But you cannot presume from this that Jesus did not accept any other writing, Hebrew or non-Hebrew, as being divinely inspired. That would be a fallacy of logic. Does Jesus reject the Book of Revelation because it was written in koine Greek? Of course not.

 

Likewise, it is presumptive to say that "the absence of the book of Jasher and Enoch from canonized scripture did not concern Jesus." The Lord has always worked among men according to their own personal and cultural limitations. One cannot say that such wasn't the case here, in respect to the writings acknowledged by the Jews as being divinely inspired. He would have been working within their own cultural limitations, which were sufficient in themselves to carry out his ministry. He would not have held them accountable to other writings with which they were not familiar. However, it is quite possible that he was concerned about a hardness of heart of their ancestors that had limited their knowledge of divinely inspired writings. Respecting which of these views is correct, we'll have to wait to ask him.

 

 

Jesus did correct the Pharisees. Jesus rejected adding a fence around the law, so in essence, Jesus rejected the Talmud as having inspiration. Jesus also rejected other Jewish books as having inspiration which serve the similar purpose to the Talmud. Since the books you are referring to were not considered canon, there was no reason for Jesus to specifically reject what was already rejected. Jesus affirmed the canonized scripture as it stood.  

 

While Jesus does work within a culture to reveal Who He is, Jesus did not work within the Jewish culture of His day. The Jewish culture was the culture of Jesus, as Jesus is Jewish. Jesus corrected the bad teachings, and affirmed the good teachings within Judaism. That of course would be based on the Mosaic law. Some things had to be obeyed according to the Mosaic law because it fell within the authority given by the law to men, but Jesus said to obey, and made it clear that while obedience was required, the requirement made by these men was not the ideal. Jesus being Jewish, and the Jewish Messiah did exercise His authority as the Messiah from inside the Jewish culture as a Jew.