When we consider the New Testament composition process, we often envision an aged man with a large white beard hovering over a wooden table, carefully dipping his quill in a bottle of ink as he pensively writes by candlelight. This image is famously portrayed by artists such as Rembrandt and Jan Lievens in their portraits of the apostle Paul, one of the most well-known writers of Scripture. Behind these depictions is the underlying assumption that writing in the ancient world typically took place in quiet, isolated settings, mirroring the solitary nature of modern authorship. If Paul were writing today, we might expect him to flip a light switch before settling in at his desk to work from a computer, but the isolated nature of the task would remain unchanged. This common assumption persists largely because the study of ancient book culture and literary conventions is a specialized academic field unfamiliar to most contemporary readers of the Bible.
While our knowledge of ancient literary practices is far from complete, significant discoveries of manuscripts over the last few centuries have yielded fresh insights into writing in the Greco-Roman world. We now have a greater understanding of literary genres, the materials used to produce manuscripts, and the role written texts played in society. Discoveries at sites like Oxyrhynchus and Nag Hammadi included early biblical manuscripts, such as the Bodmer and Chester Beatty Papyri, alongside a trove of personal letters and business documents. While much attention has focused on what these writings reveal about culture, surprisingly little has been given to the practical question of how writers went about their work. The process varied significantly; a personal letter was a straightforward task compared to the production of a philosophical treatise or historical work intended for wide circulation. In light of these complexities, a fresh evaluation of early NT canon has become increasingly important for modern scholarship.
The study of how writings were composed in the Greco-Roman world is essential to understanding the background of the New Testament. While Christianity was not the only segment of ancient society where literature flourished, its affinity for written texts was a defining characteristic. As Larry Hurtado explains in Destroyer of the Gods, the prominence of reading, writing, and dissemination in early Christianity was unusual for religious groups of the Roman era, with the exception of Jewish circles. By examining these historical processes, we gain a more accurate context for the scriptures, which can ultimately lead us toward a more robust and multiethnic NT interpretation.
There were certainly a number of written accounts that describe the origin and exploits of various deities or address one aspect or another of ancient worship. For the most part, however, written texts appear to have played a less foundational role in Greco-Roman religion than in Jewish and Christian circles. Most people did not attend a weekly study on writings about Poseidon, for example, or carefully scrutinize a collection of religious texts for instruction pertaining to the proper worship of a Roman emperor. In many contexts, religious activity appears to have been largely cultic in nature with a focus on external acts of worship, with most people simply paying their respects to various deities when, where, and how it was deemed appropriate in their particular environment.
In light of the unique role that written texts have played in Christianity for two millennia, it will be helpful to briefly consider what may be determined regarding the manner in which the biblical authors composed and distributed their works. Our concern in this volume, after all, is not limited to how and why certain writings were recognized as part of the New Testament. These matters are certainly of great importance and will be taken up in various ways in subsequent chapters. Ultimately, we are interested in the broader story that began with the composition of individual texts and ultimately culminated with the establishment of a widely recognized collection of canonical works. Before we entertain questions relating to the formation and authority of the canon, it will be beneficial to briefly consider how the biblical authors likely went about the task of composition, and even how they “published” their completed material. Although it is important to carefully assess and evaluate what the biblical authors wrote and why they wrote it, it is also helpful to consider how the biblical authors went about their work. When Luke set out to compose his Gospel, for example, what would have been involved in the process of creating his unique account of Christ’s life, teaching, and salvific work? Did he simply patch together existing traditions that had circulated orally or in a number of existing literary sources, perhaps adding his own literary touch and historical insights along the way? What was the source of the unique material contained in his Gospel? Did he rely on sources that are no longer extant for this information? What about the apostle Paul and those responsible for the Epistles contained in the New Testament? Did they simply receive reports about a particular situation and then retreat to their private quarters to compose written instructions and admonitions in response to the matters at hand? In short, what can we conclude about the actual composition of the New Testament writings and their initial distribution?
A fundamental characteristic of the composition of the New Testament writings that is often overlooked is its collaborative nature. As the content and features of ancient writings are examined, it becomes increasingly apparent that writing in the Greco-Roman world often involved collaboration between an author and a number of individuals, each of whom served a specific role during the compositional process. While the biblical writers were ultimately responsible for the content of their writings, the evidence would suggest that they worked directly with a number of individuals who contributed in one way or another to the composition, publication, and distribution of their writings.
Taken from Creating the Canon by Benjamin P. Laird. Copyright (c) 2023 by Benjamin Paul Laird. Used by permission of InterVarsity Press. www.ivpress.com
