I. Introduction
I believe in God the Father, Almighty and in Jesus Christ his only son who is also God and man. I believe that Christ came, preached, crucified under Pontius Pilate, died, buried, and rose again on the third day. I believe in baptism, fasting, prayer and the love of the brotherhood. I believe that Scripture is God breathed and is sufficient for salvation. I believe God has revealed himself in other ways and these ways must be subject to Scripture. If one is convinced of certain other ways in which God can reveal himself, he must not use this conviction as a stumbling block for the weaker brother. I believe in the Holy Spirit who is also God. Salvation can be found only in Jesus. I believe in the church and the Eucharist.
This book isn’t meant to be a stumbling block for the weaker brother. I would suggest that this book is for Christians who are well established in the faith. It is my hope that you will see what other faithful Christians now or in the past have view the canon of Scripture. It’s not my intention to confuse people about the canon and the ideas of inspiration but to look into what other Christians believed in even up to martyrdom. You will find this book much against Protestant positions. I present my book in this fashion to prod your heart and mind to see what other Christians believe.
I also want to make it clear that this study has little to do with your salvation and that Scripture is sufficient. Not that other things maybe authentic to a degree but that if you aren’t lead by the Spirit to study canonicity, then don’t. This study is sometimes complex but the truth about the Gospel is that it’s very simple. If you are in the study about canonicity, then I suggest this book. I am generally sympathetic for our church fathers and perhaps this is my bias or my greatest strength. Be open minded but filter this open mindedness through the cross of Christ les you become captive of the Devil.
This book isn’t liberal, but most of what I present comes from the most ancient sources of church history. In the past, very little hermeneutics have been given in the study of canonicity. It is my hope that I have given a proper hermeneutics about canonicity. I feel a bit unworthy of this hermeneutics book because it seems that I had to develop much of my own hermeneutics. There seems to be very little canonical hermeneutics out there.
With these hermeneutics, I myself have had many questions. Questions about the author of “The Epistle of Barnabas” or “I Enoch” and the authorship to “The Revelation of Peter” and “The Epistle of Jesus”. It might sound like I’m picking on certain N.T. books, but “I present my book in this fashion to prod your heart and mind to see what other Christians believe”. There will be some things in this book that I present an argument for but I might not fully believe in. There will be things that I do believe in that you will recognize as well. I try not to be deceptive but to present ideas on how other Christians now or in the past might depend there positions. It is my prayer that in al thing, Christ is glorified.
