On the formation of the biblical canon. An extended review of L. M. McDonald's book

Abstract

Summary : I. Introduction. II. The book. III. The notion of Scripture. IV. The notion of Church. V. Appendix.

This is an extended review of L.M. McDonald, The Biblical Canon : Its Origin, Transmission, and Authority (2007). After providing a general evaluation of the book, it focuses on two concepts, “Scripture” and “Church”, in relation with the formation of the biblical canon. It is argued that the Christian concept of Scripture has specific features which McDonald does not take into consideration. And although he never offers a definition of the Church, he seems to conceive it simply as the sum of all Christian communities, without space for any kind of tradition, authority, and divine assistance within it. At the end, an appendix contains a list of errors.