Monday, February 26, 2018

Win a free copy of The Biblical Canon Lists

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It’s time for another ETC blog giveaway! In this edition, we’re giving away a brand new copy of John Meade and Edmon Gallagher’s The Biblical Canon Lists from Early Christianity: Texts and Analysis (Oxford). To enter, do any or all of the things listed below. Entries will be received up to 12am EST on March 3 and a winner will be chosen at random.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About the book

The Bible took shape over the course of centuries, and today Christian groups continue to disagree over details of its contents. The differences among these groups typically involve the Old Testament, as they mostly accept the same 27-book New Testament. An essential avenue for understanding the development of the Bible are the many early lists of canonical books drawn up by Christians and, occasionally, Jews. Despite the importance of these early lists of books, they have remained relatively inaccessible. This comprehensive volume redresses this unfortunate situation by presenting the early Christian canon lists all together in a single volume. The canon lists, in most cases, unambiguously report what the compilers of the lists considered to belong to the biblical canon. For this reason they bear an undeniable importance in the history of the Bible.

The Biblical Canon Lists from Early Christianity provides an accessible presentation of these early canon lists. With a focus on the first four centuries, the volume supplies the full text of the canon lists in English translation alongside the original text, usually Greek or Latin, occasionally Hebrew or Syriac. Edmon L. Gallagher and John D. Meade orient readers to each list with brief introductions and helpful notes, and they point readers to the most significant scholarly discussions. The book begins with a substantial overview of the history of the biblical canon, and an entire chapter is devoted to the evidence of biblical manuscripts from the first millennium. This authoritative work is an indispensable guide for students and scholars of biblical studies and church history.

88 comments

  1. I am interested in this book as a Seminary student and as a future worker in Biblical education. I have often referenced the cannon lists, and can see the tremendous benefit of having such a wealth present in one place.

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  2. Would love to win this volume. An important body of work to assist in shaping a ready defense of the canon and its development.

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  3. I an so interested in the Book, because it helps me to have a pure understanding of How the Early Church Fathers saw the Bible, as it is the goal of the T.C. of the Bible "to reconstruct the original Text."

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  4. I can't wait to read this book - it will be very useful for my teaching on the formation of the NT canon.

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  5. I’m very interested in this book :)

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  6. Seems a bit pricey, I may wait for a paperback.

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  7. I am interested in this book because I find it to be very important to be up to date on technical and scholarly discussions around our sacred text.

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  8. I would love to learn about the development of the canon.

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  9. As a student of church history, an active Christian apologist, and one studying to work in the field of textual criticism, I am very interested in this book. There's too much faulty or biased information on both sides of the spectrum concerning this issue and a measured approach is most definitely needed today.

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  10. Having heard Clare Rothschild present on "Muratorian Fragment as Fraud", I am interested to see what their take is on it.

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  11. Am teaching a class on the history of the Bible and would love to use this resource. Thanks for the opportunity!

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  12. I'd like to learn the history of the canon of Scripture.

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  13. I am very much interested in this topic.

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  14. I've only seen this topic treated generally, so a more in-depth study would be very interesting!

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  15. I teach high school theology and currently we are working through the doctrine of Scripture. Next week we start our discussion of the canon and its relationship to the authority of Scripture. This would be a great resource!

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  16. As a seminary student...I definitely need it

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  17. Count me in. I'm always interested in a good book :)

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  18. I'm interested in this book because I'm doing an extended study on text and canon of the NT.

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  19. Interested in this book to see how much diversity there was in terms of which books were considered canonical. Also curious to see if there are any lists of the Armenian versions

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  20. Looks like a scintillating read.

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  21. Would love to have this as I prepare to enter into ministry!

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  22. As I`m the librarian of a small Seminary in Germany with a small budget, I would donate the book to the library... :)

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  23. I'd love to better understand the history of the canon.

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  24. After hearing John Meade present at HBU, I'm particularly interested to see what he says here.

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  25. Very interested!

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  26. I'm interested in seeing how the book might influence my work within my discipline.

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  27. I'm interested in this book.

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  28. Well, a skim read of the introduction in a library and a flick through the texts certainly makes me want to own a copy. Free would be even better!

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  29. Christian origins (2nd temple period) really inspires me...this book needs to be in my library...lol

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  30. This is an area of ecclesiastical history that I’m interested in and I’d enjoy a copy of this book.
    I’d also write a review of it on my blog, which I often do for books that I’ve read.

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  31. A history of the canon with the various lists compared would be a fascinating read.

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  32. This looks like a great book to read! It's a subject I'd enjoy reading about and studying.

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  33. It's a long time since I read Beckwith. Maybe time to read something new.

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  34. I'm interested in this book as a philologist working in the field of biblical and liturgical studies.

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  35. Early Christianity is a very special era for historians. Therefore every research is special.

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  36. Jordan Litchfield2/27/2018 2:01 pm

    I am interested!

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  37. My ThM was in Historical Christianity focusing on the Early Christian (Patristic) era. I have always been fascinated with canon development.

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  38. I have enjoyed getting to know Dr. Meade this semester while he is visiting my school. I have already ordered a copy, but would give one away if I won it.

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  39. sounds like a great resource - helpful and interesting

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  40. I've already got a purchased copy, but I'd love to have one to give to a student!

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  41. What a great looking book. I'm sure it's excellent and would love to own it.

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  42. I'm interested in this book because in my current doctoral research I am looking at the use of scripture in some early Christian literature.

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  43. Apocalypse is present in all printed NT today, but no portion of it is in the Greek lectionaries. This book can help us to track the different way Apocalypse took to become a kind of banned book in the canon!

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  45. I need to read this book so I can show why John is wrong. :)

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    1. OR "So I can learn something" ;-). LOL.

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    2. Does learning *all* the ways you are wrong count?

      But seriously, it looks like a great book!

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  46. Entering the world of the Early Church and Patristics, the canonization of the Scriptures has been on my mind recently. Questions regarding authority of tradition and the Bible have been ongoing. My interest grows more and more overtime.

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  47. I am desperate to win something. I never win anything :)

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  48. I am interested in this book because all of the data is here and it will be useful for canon studies in the future as I hope to write on it in University or for popular readership.

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  49. I may do a paper for class on canonicity issues. This would help.

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  50. I'm an undergraduate minister-in-training at Spurgeon's College and would appreciate this book (especially for free!) for both my academic studies and pastoral ministry.

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  51. I am interested in this book as a seminary student doing work in textual criticism. I am also focusing on the history of the Bible (from autograph to current translations) and plan to teach in the context of the local Church on this topic.

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  52. I am very interested in this book for my classes at the Greek Bible College and for my own personal research!

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  53. The book looks great. A free copy would be nice!

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  54. This is a fascinating topic, with not shortage of articles and monographs exploring the issues. I would love to read Gallagher and Meade on the analysis of such early lists. Plus, who can turn down a free tome?!

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  55. Brennan Woell2/28/2018 3:50 pm

    I'd love to learn more about canon lists as I help my congregation through some questions they have on the history of the Bible.

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  57. Canon lists are like grocery lists - you need the right list for the right nourishment. Looking forward to reading this book.

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  58. I have been following canon formation for a while. It looks like a good book.

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  59. My students would LOVE me to win (and READ) this...

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  60. Just simple curiosity. The last I heard of such things was in a college course on Roman civilization.

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  61. I am interested in this book because I am in a process of writing my dissertation. The topic is the Old Testament canon and the deuterocanonical books. I live in Poland which is a purely Catholic country, so my work would be the first defending the Protestant position.

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  62. I am interested in finding out why the advice of biblical scholars like Oecolampadius, Erasmus, Zwingli, Luther, Bodenstein of Karlstadt and Cardinal Cajetan on what constituted the New Testament canon was not followed by Christians

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  63. Can’t wait to have it and read it.

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  64. I'm interested in this book. Thanks

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  65. I have been fascinated by the emerging canons for a number of years now. Whether it has been discussing the whole, such as the works of L. MacDonald, or individual texts such as the work of V. Hovhanessian, D. Batovici, or P. Tite. This text will be of great interest and I would be honoured to win it!

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  66. Very interested! I don't know much about Gallagher, but I've loved Meade's passion for Christian scholarship. Hope to have a copy in my hands soon.

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  67. Count me in—always interested in matters related to the canon.

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  68. The canon lists are an important source for understanding more about the historical transmission and dissemination of the biblical texts, and I look forward to learning more about that from this recent publication.

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  69. I have taught the formation of canon and compiled canon lists as part of the curricula. I would value this book in my work and teaching.

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  70. I am interested in this book because I expect it would help me in my study of Early Christianity.

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  71. Interested in this book - doing a PhD on NT.

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  72. Fascinating book, it seems. I am a student of NT as well.

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  73. Seems like an interesting book! Would love to read it, it would serve as a valuable resource in the study of Early Christianity.

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  74. The questions of canon and authority are inseparable. I've read dozens of books and articles on the matter of canon, and though I have come to my own convictions on the matter, I am always looking to increase my understanding.

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  75. I will read anything John Meade writes. He's a boss.

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  76. I'm particularly interested in placements of James in early canon lists.

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  77. I am especially interested in the struggle of 2 Peter to gain a place in the canon, and the possibility that its resemblance to Jude contributed to that. But since I can't see what the three things are that I could do to get a copy, I'll probably have to just keep wondering.

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  78. Our pastor is actually doing a teaching series on Scripture, inspiration, canonicity, preservation, ect. This series has really heightened my interest, especially as I am a currently pursuing a biblical studies degree. I would love to have a resource like this to continue my learning.

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