The Old Testament canon of the New Testament Church and its background in early Judaism

Introduction: The historical development of the debate on the Canon -- The present state of the question -- The proper method of enquiry -- The historical problem and the theological problem -- The New Testament Church and early Judaism -- The Witnesses to the Canon -- The early sources of evidence: (a) the Hebrew Old Testament -- (b) the Apocrypha -- (c) the Pseudepigrapha -- (d) the Dead Sea Scrolls -- (e) Hellenistic fragments -- (f) Bible translations -- (g) Philo -- (h) first-century Christian literature -- (j) Josephus -- (k) the early Fathers -- (l) the rabbinical literature -- The schools of thought represented by the sources -- The literary character of the sources -- The Fact of the Canon -- The rise of the concept of a Canon -- The existence of Canonical books -- The Temple as the shrine of the Canon -- The Canon and the different Jewish schools -- The Jewish Canon and the Christian Canon -- The Titles of the Canon -- The Structure of the Canon -- The evidence of Greek Ecclesiasticus -- Evidence from the Gospels -- Further evidence from the Gospels -- The evidence of Philo -- The evidence of Josephus -- Jerome and the Talmud -- The origin of the first section -- The origin of the second and third sections -- The rationale of the threefold structure -- The Order of the Canonical Books -- Patristic evidence -- Jewish evidence -- The evidence of the Gospels -- The Number of the Canonical Books -- The books numbered as twenty-two -- The books numbered as twenty-four -- 'Books' and scrolls -- The influence of continuity and titles -- The influence of the alphabet -- The numbered books, according to early testimony -- The influence of the old Hebrew book-form -- The influence of the traditional order -- Four remarks -- What the numbering of the books implies -- The Identity of the Canonical Books: the Books Included as Canonical -- An open Canon or a closed one? -- The decision at Jamnia -- The significance of Aquila -- The terminology of the rabbinical disputes -- The main grounds of the rabbinical disputes -- The other grounds of the rabbinical disputes -- The difficulties of the Essenes with Esther -- Megillath Taanith and Esther -- Esther and the Hallel -- Esther in the early Christian Church -- Beth Shammai and Ecclesiastes -- The Septuagint and Ecclesiastes -- A rabbinical dispute about Ruth? -- A rabbinical dispute about Jonah? -- Syrian Christian disputes -- The scale of the rabbinical disputes -- The history of the disputes reconstructed -- The negative evidence summed up -- The Canonicity of Ezekiel -- The Canonicity of Proverbs -- The Canonicity of Ecclesiastes -- The Canonicity of the Song of Songs -- The Canonicity of Esther -- The Identity of the Canonical Books: the Books Excluded as Uncanonical -- Once again, an open Canon or a closed one? -- Clearing the ground -- The additional books and their worth -- The nature of apocalyptic -- The ancient attitude to pseudonymity -- The ancient attitude to the book of Daniel -- (a) The scope of the Essene Canon -- The revealed interpretation of Scripture -- (b) The scope of the Pharisaic Canon -- The cessation of prophecy -- Particular books -- The case of Ecclesiasticus -- The case of Baruch -- The fewness of the rabbinical disputes -- (c) The scope of the Hellenistic Canon -- The Hellenistic Canon not distinct from the Palestinian -- (d) The scope of the early Christian Canon -- The question of the Apocrypha -- The question of the Pseudepigrapha -- (e) Was the Canon still open to additions? -- (f) The actual status of the Pseudepigrapha and Apocrypha -- Conclusion -- Appendix 1. The Scrolls From the Cairo Genizah and the Meaning of the Term 'Fifths' -- Appendix 2. The Order of the Prophets and Hagiographa in the Jewish Tradition -- Appendix 3. The High Priests of the First Temple in Scripture and Tradition -- Appendix 4. The Four Greek Versions of Ecclesiastes in Origen's Hexapla -- Appendix 5. The Canon in the Early Ethiopian Church